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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

June 9, 2004

Forestry protection advances

Supervisors' move may pit county against state over regulating timberlands

The board directed county planners and lawyers to draft regulations that would restrict the conversion of commercial timberlands to other uses, a process ordinarily overseen by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The move could put the county on a collision course with the state over regulating timberlands. But the conversion of forests to vineyards has emerged as one of the hottest political issues in the county, with environmentalists urging supervisors to clamp down.

The board's 4-1 vote followed testimony from more than 20 people, mostly in favor of increased protections for forests.

"I don't think this is an issue that we should wait around until there's a problem," said Kelly Brown, a field representative with the land conservation group Greenbelt Alliance.

Santa Rosa rancher Bill Puissant objected to the plan.

"I don't believe anyone has the right to say you can't cut down 10 acres of forest and plant vineyards," he said. "It's un-American."

County Supervisor Mike Reilly, who requested that the proposal be put on a fast track, said he hopes the county can have an ordinance in effect by the end of the year. He claims the department of forestry is too lax in approving timberland conversions, and he is worried the trend would continue.

"We've never seen the department of forestry turn one (timberland conversion) down," Reilly said.

From 1989 to 2001, the California Department of Forestry approved the conversion of 721 acres of timberland -- less than 0.5 percent of the county's commercial forests, which are largely concentrated in northwestern parts of the county.

The recent push for new rules to protect the county's 230,000 acres of commercial timberland follows the sale of 19,000 acres of coastal mountains near Annapolis to a Napa-based vineyard company.

The company maintains it will only plant 500 acres of grapes on orchards and pastures, and has no intention of clear-cutting forests to make room for vineyards.

Supervisors Valerie Brown, Mike Kerns and Tim Smith joined Reilly in directing staff to prepare timberland protections. But Brown said she still has a lot of questions on the issue.

She asked whether some timber conversions are beneficial if they prevent a landscape from being clear-cut.

Supervisor Paul Kelley cast the lone dissenting vote, saying there is no indication that timber conversions are out of control. Protecting commercial forests from vineyard conversions would not prevent them from being logged, which Kelley said many environmentalists would still find objectionable.

"My suspicion is most people we've heard from today would fight timber harvest plans," he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Spencer Soper at 521-5257 or ssoper@pressdemocrat.com.

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