Free Republic

In a ruling that could open up hundreds of properties to logging in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a state appellate court in San Jose has sided with logging interests in striking down Santa Cruz County laws aimed at limiting where trees can be harvested. The decision, released Tuesday by the three-judge panel of the 6th District Court of Appeal, sent shock waves through environmental groups concerned that farmers, ranchers and other landowners with forested properties would rush to chop down timber on their mountain properties. County law banned logging on any land not zoned specifically for ``timber production'' -- meaning...

<p>The family-owned Wetsel-Oviatt Lumber Co. -- a fixture of the Sierra Nevada for three generations -- announced Friday it will close in 60 days due to skyrocketing workers' compensation costs and a glut of foreign competition.</p> <p>The closing of the El Dorado Hills sawmill, in business since 1939, will eliminate work for 120 people, some of whom have been with the company for decades.</p>

YREKA - The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) recommendation to acquire more land along the Klamath River as part of its Management Plan Environmental Impact Statement process was not favorably received by the Siskiyou County Supervisors. The BLM recommendation, one of four options under consideration relating to the 20 mile segment of the Klamath River five miles of which are in California, is an option the supervisors have said following several presentations is unacceptable to them. It involves removing land now owned by PacifiCorp out of private ownership and into the public ownership of BLM, something that would further reduce...

<p>WASHINGTON - Dazzled by views of mountains, deserts and wildlife, visitors to America's national parks rarely notice that there also are missing signs, rotting buildings and fewer rangers to answer questions.</p> <p>On Sept. 13, 2000, presidential candidate George W. Bush posed before the Cascade Mountains in Washington state and warned that national parks were ``at the breaking point.'' He vowed to eliminate a $4.9 billion backlog in deferred maintenance.</p>

Where and when will President Bush be in Santa Clara tomorrow? Where will proponents gather?

McCloud lumber mill will close McCLOUD -- The last sawmill in Siskiyou County is scheduled to close this summer, announced California Cedar Products Executive Vice President Jon Reed. Reed said California Cedar Products, the company that owns the subsidiary company known to the residents of Siskiyou County as P&M Cedar Products, provided about 100 employees at McCloud with phased-in layoff notices. He said about 90 percent of the people working at McCloud will be laid off by mid-September. "A mill closure has not been announced," Reed said. "We have announced a curtailment of production for an indefinite amount of time."...

<p>Stanford -- In an unusual alliance between one of the nation's top research campuses and some of the country's most polluting industries, Stanford University will receive a huge donation for research on energy, climate and environmental problems.</p> <p>The grant -- which could reach nearly a quarter of a billion dollars -- will come from oil, gas and other energy companies such as ExxonMobil and General Electric.</p>

FELTON — A German conglomerate wants to buy the company that supplies water to Felton and export water to Perrier, said county Supervisor Jeff Almquist, who wants to put the brakes on the deal. Two weeks ago, the water company, California-American Water Works, asked the state for permission to raise rates by 57 percent. The company has 1,350 connections in the Felton area, where water rates already are among the highest in the county. The water company maintains rates have become unreasonably low. Almquist called the rate-hike request "extremely high and inappropriate," and will discuss the proposal at today’s county...

<p>Julia Butterfly Hill, California's well-known tree sitter and environmental activist, has been jailed in Ecuador for protesting a proposed oil pipeline that would penetrate a virgin Andean "cloud forest" that teems with rare birds.</p> <p>Hill, 28, was arrested Tuesday with seven other demonstrators in Quito outside the offices of Occidental Petroleum, a U.S. oil company.</p>

It appears residents of the unincorporated area will have a little more change in their pockets. Measure L, the voter initiative to repeal the tax on water, natural gas, electricity, telephone and cable TV service and sewer, was winning by 10 percentage points, or more than 5,000 votes. And that left proponents of the measure jumping with joy. "Hey, Martha, look at this," said Tom Walsh, who helped gather signatures to get the measure on the ballot. Martha Montelongo, a member of the Latino Chamber of Commerce, hopped up and down in the lobby of the Scotts Valley Hilton Hotel ...

YREKA -- The Siskiyou County Supervisor's room was filled yesterday with county officials and friends welcoming Anne Marsh as the new District 5 supervisor. This was Marsh's second supervisor's meeting since her appointment by California Governor Gray Davis to fill the position made vacant over one year ago by the death of Kay Bryan. Marsh is scheduled to serve for one year with the candidate winning in the November general election to be seated on the first meeting of January 2003. Marsh is one of those candidates. A reception was held to welcome Marsh following the Siskiyou County Supervisor's ...

Skim the following: Bush, Daschle frame the tax debate DEMOCRATIC Sen. Tom Daschle seems to be one of very few politicians in Washington to have learned from experience how to steer the nation out of a recession. In the early '80s, we followed the Republican approach -- massive, irresponsible tax cuts along with a huge increase in spending that created a decade of budget deficits. In the early '90s, however, the Democrats put in place a sound approach to economic recovery -- investments in job training and education, and new approaches to health care and retirement security. The result was ...

I've extended an offer to the recipient of a holiday card sent via send message

CRESCENT CITY -- By now, Del Norte County knows the language of layoffs. Timber mills in the far northwest corner of California have closed, going from 50 to just a handful. Commercial fishing in this coastal community has dried up. Today, even government employees are threatened with layoffs, because Del Norte County is going broke. County officials say they've cut as much as they can in their $34 million budget and now need $1.7 million from the state to pay for increases in state-mandated programs, such as foster care, to balance their books. California, with its own budget problems, won't ...

Assemblyman Fred Keeley's fight to keep the Central Coast's voice united and strong in the state legislature has officially ended. The U.S. Department of Justice upheld new boundaries approved by the legislature for Senate Districts 11, 12, and 15 Friday. Keeley, Assembly speaker pro tem, filed an appeal in October because he said the boundaries muffle the voices of Santa Cruz County residents as well as the Central Coast's emerging Latino majority. "I am deeply disappointed. ... I had hoped that the Department of Justice would recognize that the proposal was the result of political decisions, rather than respect for ...

DAVENPORT — Plans to provide public access to 7,000 acres of undeveloped North Coast land are taking shape.snipWormhoudt called the latest report a significant step toward saving the land. "It’s a wonderful thing," she said. "Almost all the coast from the Santa Cruz city limit to the San Mateo County line are in public or nonprofit hands. I can think of no greater legacy to leave than a North Coast that looks very much the way it does now."

Klamath fisheries task force orders Salmon River study YREKA -- Important decisions affecting the management of fish and habitat in the Klamath River Basin were discussed for two days in Yreka this week with very little public input.

PORTLAND, Ore. –– A panel expected to report to Congress next year heard warnings from conservationists Wednesday that urban growth, sprawl, and waste runoff are threatening the East and West coasts. The Pew Oceans Commission is looking for ways to limit or reverse coastal pollution and marine habitat damage. Members heard several suggestions, including one that coastal states buy farm land near the ocean to restore it to its natural state."When the agricultural economy is weak, as it is now, that's when opportunities exist,"said Sara Vickerman, director of the West Coast office for Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group.

BOULDER CREEK - An Earth First! tree sitter was badly hurt Wednesday when she slipped from a redwood and fell to the forest floor. Jenna Griffith, 20, was climbing the tree with at least four others around 3 a.m. when she apparently lost her footing and fell 30 feet, hitting her head on a stump.