June 19, 2015
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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.
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statewide ranchers’ organi-
zation is working to dissuade
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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