Related News Archive
2010: May | March | February | January
2009: December | October | September | August | July | June
Groups advocate to restore Williamson Act
California Farm Bureau Federation, Steve Adler, May 5, 2010
Amador County winegrape grower Jim Spinetta says farmers and ranchers cannot afford to lose the Williamson Act. He notes that an estimated one-third of California farms wouldn't survive without the program.
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National academies deliver mixed messages on Calif. delta smelt dilemma
The New York Times, 3/19/10
A highly anticipated study of water diversions in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has found federal efforts to protect endangered fish "scientifically justified" but added that problems facing delta smelt and chinook salmon are not entirely caused by thirsty farms south of the estuary.
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Environmentalists, growers agree on farmland reuse for solar
Associated Press, 3/17/10
Cash-strapped farmers in California's agricultural heartland and environmentalists at odds over water rights and wildlife protections finally agree on something: that thousands of acres of cracked, salty farmland is the perfect site for a sprawling utility-scale solar farm. Read article >
How old are our mountains? It's not an easy question
Visalia TImes Delta, Bill Tweed, 3/13/2010
It would seem logical that something as tangible as the Sierra Nevada ought to have a relatively clear geologic history. Guess again. How old our mountains are, and what caused them to rise, remain uncertain and controversial subjects.
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Road to Recovery: Local foods spice up economic picture
The Sacramento Bee, Feb. 16, 2010, Jim Wasserman
A meal at downtown Sacramento's fashionable Grange Restaurant & Bar shows how one segment of local agriculture has room to grow.
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Despite rain, California still fighting over water
Reuters, Feb 12, 2010, Dan Whitcomb
California has been deluged with rain and snow this winter, but its epic tug-of-war over water rages on, this time in the form of a plan by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein to divert more water to the state's farmers.
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Farming for our Future
"California Country," January/February 2010
The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes landowner achievements in voluntary conservation and public education.
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Carrizo Plain gets a new plan
San Luis Obispo New Times, December 3, 2009, Kathy Johnston
A long-awaited plan for taking care of the Carrizo Plain National Monument is now available from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The “Proposed Resource Management Plan” takes a middle ground between a “hands-off” approach and a more intensive management and restoration program.
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Celebrate our land and arts
Visalia Times Delta, October 31, 2009, William Tweed
Here's a question for you: How many of you either work outside or have a job with a window that actually allows you to watch the out-of-doors?
The answer, I suspect, is that aside from the dwindling number of local residents who farm, very few of us have much daily connection with the world of nature. For many reasons, this is our loss.
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Williamson Act: Land program earns county support for now
California Farm Bureau Federation, October, 14, 2009, Steve Adler
Recognizing the important role of the Williamson Act to California's farmers and ranchers—and to maintaining open space and assuring food security—county governments from Siskiyou to San Diego have picked up the nearly $28.8 million funding shortfall created when state support of the program was suspended for this year.
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The hunt to fill Tulare County water reservoirs
Visalia Times-Delta, October 5, 2009, David Castellon
While the underground reservoirs that supply most Tulare County communities with water aren't so depleted as to trigger widespread rationing, many community officials have begun pressing for ways to hold onto more water.
"We're not in any danger of running out of water," said Phil Mirwald, Visalia district manager for California Water Service Co., but the situation is serious.
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Two Visalia teens earn prestigious rank of Eagle Scout
Visalia Times-Delta, September 23, 2009, Marty Burleson
Of the 2,000 Boy Scouts in the Sequoia Council, which serves Tulare, Kings, Fresno and Madera counties, about 40 can be expected to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.
What's unexpected? Finding two in the same troop, Visalia's Troop 317.
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Kaweah Land and Arts Festival to celebrate nature
Visalia Times-Delta, August 28, 2009, Niki Woodard
Sequoia Riverlands Trust, as the regional land trust representing the area from Fresno to Kern Counties, would like to invite you to celebrate this unique land with us.
We are proud to be organizing a three-day festival Nov. 6-8 to call our community’s attention to the diverse landscapes that surround us: from the productive agricultural lands of the valley floor on up to the stunning peaks of the Sierra Nevada.
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A Tip of the Hat to Bats
Talk, Fresno Bee, August 21, 2009, Lisa Lieberman
Let's face it, bats have been given a bad rap. They've been accused of being dirty, disease-carrying, flying mice that will suck your blood any chance they get. But the truth is that out of the 1,100-plus bat species in the world, only three are vampire bats, which mostly live in Latin America. And vampire bats do not attack people; they prefer to get their teaspoon-sized meals from animals such as cows, which are easier targets than humans. The rest of the bat species eat fruit, insects, nectar and pollen.
"On bat, the size of your pinky finger, will eat 600 to 1,000 mosquitoes in one night," says Burleigh Lockwood, a bat expert. "So if you don't like mosquitoes, you better like bats." Read article >
Sequoia Riverlands Trust Receives Grant for Festival
Valley Voice, August 13, 2009, Steve Pastis
Sequoia Riverlands Trust will use its $10,000 grant from teh California Council for the Humanities to sponsor teh Kaweah Land and Arts Festival, a three-day cultural event in November. Teh festival will present stories of the Kaweah watershed told through visual art, poetry, folk music, storytelling, history and natural science.
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County General Plan snag delays money for ranchers for oaks preservation program
Visalia Delta-Times, July 18, 2009
For Exeter's Tom Daly, running cattle on a sensitive oak woodland habitat is all about balance.
Daly grazes cattle on about 3,000 acres in several spots around the Tulare County foothills from Yokohl Valley to Three Rivers to U.S. Forest Service land above the snow line. Although he works with several landowners, from the federal government, to conservation groups to private ranches, he firmly believes that ranching and habitat protection can co-exist.
"We're interested in protecting the oaks, we're interested in the wildlife we're interested in all of those things," he said. "We all have the same goal: What's the best use of the property?"
A growing number of Tulare County farmers and ranchers seem to agree.
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Residents Plea for Oak Trees
The Porterville Recorder, July 7, 2009
Tulare County Board of Supervisors members, at their regular Tuesday meeting, assured protectionists they would make drafting and implementing a plan to provide government protection of the area’s woodlands a top priority.
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Spraying Herbicide on Invasive Weeds Doesn’t Always Pay
Central Valley Business Times, June 30, 2009
It may not always pay for ranchers to use herbicides to kill exotic invasive weeds such as leafy spurge, according to a 16-year study released Tuesday by the Agricultural Research Service and colleagues.
Rangeland ecologist Matt Rinella at the ARS Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Mont., and colleagues conducted the study. Data they collected 16 years after a one-time aerial spraying of herbicide showed that the invasive leafy spurge may have ultimately increased due to spraying. Read article >