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June 19, 2015 Subscribe to our weekly California email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters CapitalPress.com 9 California Ranchers seek to protect grazing in wildlife plan By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press Tim Hearden/Capital Press A logger operates a hot saw in a private forest near Shin- gletown, Calif., in late April. Drought is taking a toll on forests in California, as a lack of water makes trees more susceptible to pest pressure and disease. Insect infestations killing trees in Sierra By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press DAVIS, Calif. — Drought is taking a toll on Califor- nia forest lands, weakening trees and making them more susceptible to deadly attacks from pests, according to a university study. 86 )RUHVW 6HUYLFH DHULDO monitoring surveys in 2015 showed a large increase in tree mortality in the south- ern Sierra Nevada, as an es- timated 10 million dead trees were spotted in more than 4.1 million acres of public and private land, according to WKH8QLYHUVLW\RI&DOLIRUQLD¶V Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. 7KHODFNRIZDWHULVOHDY- ing trees without the pitch necessary to prevent beetles from burrowing into the tree through the bark, leading to an infestation that overcomes the tree, explained Susie .RFKHU D 8& &RRSHUDWLYH Extension advisor. 7KH EHVW GHIHQVH LV WR space trees widely enough to give them more access to re- sources and thinning the for- est to reduce overcrowding, Kocher wrote in a report on WKH8&¶VZHEVLWH 6LHUUD 3DFL¿F ,QGXVWULHV spokesman Mark Pawlicki said the company is encoun- tering stressed trees on its land and agrees that forest thinning is a solution. ³7KHDQVZHULVWRUHPRYH the dead and dying trees and continue to try to keep the remaining trees healthy by avoiding over-stocking,” Pawlicki said in an email. “And pray for rain!” While the dry conditions make it harder for compa- nies to receive the go-ahead to initiate logging projects in some instances, widespread bug infestations could fur- ther complicate matters for a timber industry that is still one of the mountain re- gion’s leading agricultural industries, generating $128.4 million in value in 2013, ac- cording to a California State 8QLYHUVLW\&KLFRVWXG\ As forests remain dry, thinning projects become PRUHGLI¿FXOWWLPEHUSURIHV- sionals have said. “We’re absolutely going to lose some time this sum- PHUEHFDXVHRIWKH¿UHGDQ- ger,” Larry Strawn, owner of Redding, California-based Blue Ridge Forest Manage- ment, said recently. One of the main culprits killing pines in the Sierra is the western pine beetle, which bore into ponderosa pines, lay eggs which devel- op into larvae in the inner bark and then complete de- velopment in the outer bark, Kocher wrote. In the Stanislaus National Forest, areas with dead trees have doubled since last year, and more than 5 million trees were killed in the Sierra and Sequoia national forests — up from about 300,000 trees killed in the same area last year, she reported. 7KH UHSRUW FRPHV DIWHU 8&0HUFHG UHVHDUFKHUV VDLG in May that increasing proj- ects to thin trees and clear EUXVK IURP IRUHVW ÀRRUV could boost water yields from mountain forests by as much as 10 percent. 6$&5$0(172 ² $ statewide ranchers’ organi- zation is working to dissuade VWDWH RI¿FLDOV IURP VHHLQJ grazing as a threat to wildlife. 7KH &DOLIRUQLD &DWWOH- men’s Association has been taking part in state con- ference calls with affected groups as part of its revision of the State Wildlife Action Plan, for which the state is taking public comments through July 2. Kirk Wilbur, the CCA’s government relations direc- tor, is involved in developing “companion plans” dealing with agriculture and forests and rangelands, and is also crafting the organization’s comments on the plan itself, he said. “It’s kind of an interest- ing process,” Wilbur said. ³7KH\¶UHDOOZHEFDVWIRUPDWV so we all hop on a conference call, and they’ve got … a very VSHFL¿F SURWRFRO WKH\ DVN XV to follow during each of the meetings. It’s really not a IUHHÀRZLQJSDUWLFLSDWLRQDQG pointing out your organiza- tion’s point of view.” 7KHRULJLQDO6WDWH:LOGOLIH Action Plan was developed in 2005 to comply with a federal requirement to submit wild- life management strategies WRWKH86)LVKDQG:LOGOLIH Service to obtain funding for wildlife conservation. 6WDWH RI¿FLDOV VD\ WKH updated plan will analyze threats and stresses to habitat by region, consider potential climate change impacts and recommend conservation ac- tions. An early outline of the SODQGUHZ¿UHIURPWKH&&$ and California Farm Bureau Federation, which expressed concerns about language that lists “livestock farming and ranching” as a potential threat to habitat in some re- JLRQV 7KH JURXSV IHDU WKH language could lead to more restrictions on grazing. 2I¿FLDOV IURP WKH VWDWH Department of Fish and Wildlife told the Capital Press when they started up- dating the plan in 2013 that Online State Wildlife Action Plan: https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/ SWAP/Interim-Products structured in a rigid enough PDQQHU WKDW LW¶V GLI¿FXOW WR UHDOO\ LQÀXHQFH WKH SODQ WRR much with your constituen- cy’s concerns and interests,” he said, adding that too many groups may be involved to al- ORZDIUHHÀRZLQJGLVFXVVLRQ Tim Hearden/Capital Press 7KH&)%)LVSDUWLFLSDWLQJ Kirk Wilbur (right) of the California Cattlemen’s Association talks in the talks for a companion with Ben Letton of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Con- SODQ RQ DJULFXOWXUH 2I¿FLDOV trol Board before a meeting in Redding, Calif., in January. Wilbur from the state’s Farm Bureau has been participating in state conference calls on a proposed did not immediately respond wildlife management plan. to an email requesting com- ment. 7KH6:$3SURFHVVLVVHS- they understand that grazing privately owned, according arate from the Grazing Regu- managed correctly can bene- to the state’s Farm Bureau. ¿WZLOGOLIH “I’m pleased that they’re latory Action Project, which Farm groups want the new doing the companion plans the State Water Resources SODQZKLFKZLOOEH¿QDOL]HG and involving groups like Control Board began work- later this year, to recognize CCA, the Farm Bureau and ing on earlier this year. Water that science has shown in other groups,” Wilbur said. ERDUGRI¿FLDOVVD\WKHSURMHFW recent years that proper graz- “It gives us a little more in- would enhance the environ- LQJ DFWLYLWLHV DUH EHQH¿FLDO ÀXHQFH LQ VKDSLQJ WKH 6WDWH PHQWDO EHQH¿WV IURP JUD]LQJ About 40 million acres are Wildlife Action Plan than or- while addressing its impacts grazed in California, nearly ganizations had in 2005 when on water quality, but ranchers argue such a regulation is un- 40 percent of the state’s total WKH¿UVWRQHFDPHRXW land mass, and most of it is ³7KDWVDLGWKH\DUHVRUWRI necessary. California tries to save salmon in Wine Country creeks week will consider ordering world-class wineries and thou- sands of other landowners along SONOMA, Calif. (AP) — those creeks to stop all watering California is taking desperate of lawns and to start monitoring steps to save the last endangered how much water they are using. salmon in Wine Country creeks “Fish rescue is an emergen- that are going dry because of cy-room action. It’s not a solu- over-pumping and the drought, tion,” said Andrew Hughan, RI¿FLDOVVDLG7KXUVGD\ spokesman for the California Water has run so low in the Department of Fish and Wild- four tributaries of the Russian OLIH³7KHVROXWLRQLVZDWHULQWKH River in Sonoma County that creek.” state workers have been dis- 7KH VWDWH LV QRW DVNLQJ WKH patched with nets and buckets wineries to cut back on water- to rescue the last surviving coho LQJRIJUDYHYLQHV7KHVWDWHVD\V salmon. pumping from wells near the 7KUHDWHQHG VWHHOKHDG WURXW creeks is helping draw down the are also being pulled from dry- levels in the waterways. ing stretches of the waterways. Landowners and vineyard In addition, the state Water managers are trading blame for Resources Control Board next draining the streams. By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press “It’s more than just” drought, said Jim Doerksen, a ranch own- er along Mark West Creek, one of the four tributaries. “Vine- yard wells are pretty substantial wells.” Sonoma County’s billion-dol- lar wine industry contends it’s cutting water use as much as it can. “Cohos are in a pretty dire sit- uation here in these watersheds,” said Doug McIlroy of the Sono- ma County Winegrape Commis- sion. “A lot of us are aware of that and a lot of us are doing ev- erything we can to help on that.” California is caught in its dri- est four-year period on record. Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered 25 percent mandatory conserva- tion starting this month in cities and towns. Many agricultural areas, mostly in Central and Southern California, also have been told to cut water use. 7KHPHDVXUHVXQGHUFRQVLG- eration in Wine Country would apply to 13,000 property owners along the Russian River tributar- ies running through Sonoma and Napa counties. 7KHFUHHNVRQFHVXSSRUWHGD thriving commercial catch that took thousands of coho salmon D\HDU7RGD\ORFDOSRSXODWLRQV of coho survive only through government breeding programs. 7KHZDWHUERDUGZLOOFRQVLG- er ordering wineries and home- owners to use only recycled water on lawns and other land- scaping. Water board members also will decide whether to require everyone along the creeks to start measuring how much wa- ter they are drawing from the creeks and from wells along the streams. 7KH JURXQGZDWHU WUDFN- ing requirement would be rare in California, which has long abided by Gold Rush-era laws allowing landowners to pump groundwater unregulated and at will. Legislation passed in 2014 will gradually phase in ground- water regulation. McIlroy noted that many vineyards along the creeks have granted access to the ZLOGOLIHRI¿FLDOVZKRDUHWU\- ing to move salmon to areas of the streams that still have more water. Courtesy of Assemblyman Brian Dahle California Assemblyman Brian Dahle addresses the media at a recent water rally at the state Capitol in Sacramento. Dahle’s bill to give preference to California-grown lumber in state contracts is EHLQJFKDOOHQJHGE\&DQDGLDQWUDGHRI¿FLDOV Bill to set preference for wood products irks Canada By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press 6$&5$0(172 ² $ noncontroversial bill in the Legislature encouraging state contractors to buy local lum- ber has become the source of a budding international trade dispute. 7KH ELOO E\$VVHPEO\PDQ Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, would require that contractors build- ing state road signs, guard rails and other projects pro- cure their wood from Califor- nia sources when prices and quality are equal. 7KH OHJLVODWLRQ DSSHDUHG headed for easy passage af- ter receiving unanimous ap- provals from two Assembly committees and the full lower chamber, but Dahle temporar- ily pulled the bill from Senate consideration after lawmakers received a complaint from the Canadian consulate. 7KHELOO ³VHQGVWKH ZURQJ message to businesses and investors” considering that Canada purchases 10 percent of California’s foreign-bound goods, Cassie Doyle, the Ca- nadian consul general in San Francisco, told the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee in a June 8 letter. “Canada is a proud trading nation that believes in open and reciprocal trade,” she wrote. “While we fully under- stand that governments need to support industries in their jurisdiction, measures aimed at limiting the market access of top trading partners often results in more harm than good to workers and busi- nesses on both sides of the border.” Doyle’s letter notes that California and Canada are SDUWLHV WR WKH :RUOG 7UDGH Organization’s Government Procurement Agreement, which aims to provide trading partners with greater access to procurement markets. Canada’s sustainable for- est management practices are internationally recognized and the nation’s trade in goods with California totals $46.1 billion annually, supporting more than 1 million Califor- nia jobs, Justin Currie, the consulate’s foreign policy and GLSORPDF\ RI¿FHU WROG WKH Capital Press in an email. 7KHGLVSXWHFRPHVDV&DQ- ada is riding high after victo- ULHVLQWKH:72RYHUWKH86¶ mandatory meat-labeling law. 7KH86+RXVHRI5HSUHVHQ- tatives has voted to repeal the law as Canada and Mexico are SUHSDULQJ WR VHHN WKH:72¶V approval to initiate retaliatory WDULIIV RQ 86 JRRGV SRWHQ- tially including lumber. Dahle said he wanted to hold his bill back for several weeks to try to smooth things over with the Canadians, but he may move forward with the legislation with or without their support. 25-2/#4x
