Free Republic

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed Natural Resources Defense Council western director Felicia Marcus to the Delta Stewardship Council. The seven-member panel, created as part of the 2009 water policy package, is tasked with crafting and implementing a plan for the future management of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Marcus, a former EPA administrator and Los Angeles Board of Public Works commissioner, replaces another Schwarzenegger pick, Richard Roos-Collins. Roos-Collins, an attorney for the Natural Heritage Institute, resigned earlier this month after his nomination was opposed by environmental groups.

DAVENPORT, Calif. - The state acquired five miles of beaches and rugged coastline in Santa Cruz County on Friday, bringing public ownership to one of the longest stretches of private beachfront property in Northern California. The state Public Works Board voted to accept 407 beachfront acres of Coast Dairies Ranch, which consists of 6,845 acres of redwood forests, artichoke fields and rolling hills northwest of Santa Cruz. The beaches, including Panther Beach, Bonny Doon Beach and Davenport Bluffs, will become part of a new state park that will be opened to the public and patrolled by rangers over the next...

Developer Ralph Horowitz is puzzled by all this talk about an offer from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office to buy his 14 acres at 41st and Alameda streets.. “‘An offer of a proposal’ — I never even heard of that,” Horowitz told the L.A. Weekly. “I don’t know what that means, it has no significance whatsoever.” Villaraigosa, speaking at City Hall just hours after the South Central Farmers had been evicted early Tuesday, somberly told reporters that Horowitz turned down an offer from the Annenberg Foundation and the Trust for Public Land to buy his property for $16.35 million. But there...

In an unusual campaign to hedge their political bets, a coalition of 11 leading environmental groups has quietly drafted a ballot measure asking California voters next year to approve the largest parks and water bond in state history. The proposed measure, now awaiting a title and summary from California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, would raise $5.4 billion to shore up aging levees in San Francisco Bay's delta, build new drinking water treatment plants, fund flood control, restore salmon runs and purchase new parklands from Monterey Bay to Lake Tahoe to inner-city Los Angeles. --snip-- ``We're hopeful the governor and the...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Bridgett Luther Thompson to head the state Department of Conservation Friday. Thompson, 50, was previously a regional development director for Hands on Bay Area, which matches its network of volunteers to local charities. Prior to that, she was national development director for Republicans for Environmental Protection. "Bridgett shares my dedication to protecting our environment and ensuring our natural resources are wisely conserved," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. Thompson, a member of both the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society, has also served as program director for the Trust for Public Land in Charlotte,...

Eight towns would love to land the new Sierra Nevada Conservancy headquarters, projected to eventually have 70 employees and a $10 million budget. But only two showed up at the historic first meeting of the conservancy board Thursday in Sacramento, and both were from Nevada County. Nevada City used a laid-back approach in its pitch, but Truckee came on like a runaway snowboarder. Auburn, Colfax, Placerville, Amador City, Ione and Jackson were no-shows. “Give us your serious consideration,” said Truckee Mayor Craig Threshie in a lengthy speech that trumpeted the town’s location, history and commitment to the range. “We have...

Tejon Ranch and its conservation partner, The Trust for Public Land, have figured out which 100,000 acres of the ranch's 270,000 acres will be carved out into a preserve. If the deal goes through, some of Tejon's majestic peaks and canyons in the Tehachapi Mountains could forever be saved from development. A step is being taken in that direction today, though an actual deal is much further away. The majority of the land is in the southeastern portion of the Tehachapis. There's also a swath next to Interstate 5 intended to connect the future preserve with the Wind Wolves Preserve...