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Someone asked about how to get in touch with Monterey CFB. One can reach them in Salinas at (831) 455-2600 monofb@redshift.com

Our county has resisted HCPs, although large timber companies such as Fruit Growers and Sierra Pacific have tried to go in that direction. The last example is the notorious "5 County Plan." NMFS did not want to deal with small stuff, so the state helped to broker a Coalition of the 5 Counties effected by coho. Part of the action was to go together on shared staff, conservation protocols (such as road treatments) and grant applications. The kicker was when "model" conservation ordinances began to assert themselves. These were ordinances on new building, grading, etc. that were supposed to be adopted universally throughout the region.

Locals put up a stink with the result that Siskiyou dissolved its formal ties with the coalition. (It still works with them on a collaborative and coopertaive basis.) My board wanted to back the Supervisors with a show of confidence, which meant they backed continued contractual ties with the 5 County Group. I disagreed. One of a few times that I took a public stand against my board of directors.

Anyway, I am not a fan of HCPs. I have long supported voluntary, incentive-based approaches toward conservation/habitat enhancement and non-point source pollution.

A note of interest, I have already taken the oath of office. They did it in December when I filed my papers as a candidate. I guess they do it to get the paperwork on file as there has been some stink in the past over office holders not having a signed oath on file.

I imagine that I will take it again when I am sworn in next January. I would like a formal ceremony. It is rather a momentous event in my life and I take the matter seriously. It should be marked with a bit of ceremony and witness.

The UN/enviros are not just hitting farmers and landowners with HCPs in the Monterey Bay. All these things sound good on the surface, but they are deadly to property rights. Here is another tool in their diabolical plans:

"Resource Conservation" zoning districts were discussed at community meetings around the County of Monterey in May 2001, as part of the development of a new general plan. The county raised the possibility of applying this zoning to lands now included in other zoning districts. Farm Bureau has reviewed the county zoning code and prepared some notes:

All zoning districts in the Monterey County Codes list a wide variety of potential land uses. At the beginning of each zoning section is a paragraph that spells out the "Purpose" of that zoning district. Land owners should consider whether this stated purpose is consistent with their needs. Allowed land uses could easily be changed in the future, consistent with the statement of purpose.

Resource conservation zoning puts protection of specified resources ahead of economic use of the land. Regulatory agencies such as U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service or California Department of Fish and Game could use this stated purpose as a basis for demanding restrictions on property.

Statements of purpose from sections of the Monterey County Codes include:

Resource Conservation Zoning Districts:
"The purpose of this Chapter is to provide a district to allow development in the more remote and mountainous areas in the County of Monterey while protecting the significant and substantial resources of those areas. Of specific concern are the highly sensitive resources inherent in such areas such as viewshed, watershed, plant and wildlife habitat, streams and riparian corridors. The purpose of this Chapter is to be carried out by allowing only such development that can be achieved without adverse effect and which will be subordinate to the resources of the particular site and area." (Emphasis added.)

Agricultural Industrial Zoning Districts
"The purpose of this Chapter is to provide for the orderly and balanced development of agriculturally oriented industrial uses that support existing and future agricultural activity. Further, this Chapter provides a broad spectrum of agricultural industrial uses that contribute to the maintenance of agriculture as a major industry of Monterey County."

Farmlands Zoning Districts
"The purpose of this Chapter is to provide a district to preserve and enhance the use of the prime, productive and unique farmlands in the County of Monterey while also providing opportunity to establish necessary support facilities for those agricultural uses."

Rural Grazing Zoning Districts
"The purpose of this Chapter is to provide a district to preserve and enhance the use of productive grazing lands in the County of Monterey while also providing the opportunity to establish support facilities for grazing uses and clustered residential uses."

Permanent Grazing Zoning Districts
The purpose of this Chapter is to provide a district to preserve, protect, and enhance those productive exclusive grazing lands in the County of Monterey.

Limited Agricultural Zoning Districts
The purpose of this Chapter is to establish a district providing for some agricultural use of land while placing limits on the number of animals and intensity of agricultural uses in those areas which are not suitable by size, terrain, neighborhood uses or similar constraints for extensive agricultural uses.