1. The watershed conditions would not be suitable for the uses proposed if the conversion were approved.
Wildwood Roads, Compaction, Sedimentation and the cumulative
effects on Salmonid Reproduction in Little Creek Watershed, Buckeye Creek
Watershed and the Gualala River Watershed
Ridgetop Partners
vineyard truck on Little Creek Road/Flournoy Road crossing the one- lane
9 foot wide flat car bridge over Little Creek. Dust and sediment from these
trucks directly enters Little Creek (a class one stream known to be a spawning
ground for Steelhead)
I believe the proposed Hansen/Whistler 16 acre THP/conversion/Negative Declaration will cause harm to the Little Creek watershed, the Buckeye Creek watershed, the Gualala watershed, and will harm the salmonid populations in those watersheds.
I believe the existing three acre conversion combined with the new 16 acre THP conversion/negative declaration, combined with the other existing and proposed conversions on Little Creek Road will cause harm and are already causing harm to the Little Creek watershed, the Buckeye Creek watershed, the Gualala watershed, and will harm the salimonid populations in those watersheds.
15064. Determining the Significance of the Environmental Effects
Caused by a Project(CEQA)
(f.)(1) If the lead agency determines there is substantial evidence
in the record that the project may have a significant effect on
the environment, the lead agency shall prepare an EIR (Friends of B Street
v. City of Hayward (1980) 106 Cal.App.3d 988). Said another way, if a lead
agency is presented with a fair argument that a project may
have a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency shall prepare
an EIR even though it may also be presented with other substantial evidence
that the project will not have a significant effect (No Oil, Inc. v. City
of Los Angeles (1974) 13 Cal.3d 68).
Little Creek Road/Flournoy Rd. runs along and crosses Little Creek.
Little Creek Road is the only access for both the timber operations in the THP and the vineyard operations in the conversion.
Little Creek Road is the only access road to the all of the proposed and existing industrial vineyards within Wildwood Subdivision.
Little Creek is a Class I stream with spawning grounds for steelhead.
“The most valuable fish habitat is in Class I waters”(Final Report on Sediment Impairment and Effects on Beneficial Uses of the Elk River and Stitz, Bear, Jordan and Freshwater Creeks - Prepared August 12, 2003by Humboldt Watershed Independent Scientific Review Panel(Attached Exhibit 4))
Little Creek empties into Buckeye Creek which empties into the Gualala
River. The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB) lists
the Gualala River as sediment impaired in accordance with the Clean Water
Act section 303(d).
South Fork of the Gualala River