What have Sonoma County Supervisors said about vineyard deforestation ?

Gualala River - Sonoma County

The good news is:

Supervisor Mike Rielly has been instrumental in helping to draft "Option 3" which may protect 147,000 acres of Sonoma County Redwood forest from extinction. He has been an advocate and vocal supporter of placing limits on vineyard deforestation.

2002 Supervisor Mike Reilly
Press Democrat December 23, 2002

"People should not be cutting down redwoods to plant vineyards,'' said Reilly, whose district includes most of the Sonoma County coast from Bodega Bay northward.

"It's a tremendous mistake for the wine industry to cut these trees, and I'm sure many of them wish this wasn't happening. But it is, even with the glut of grapes on the market. I hear all the time about new proposals to convert forest land to pinot noir,
and we should be looking proactively at it.''

Click here to read the Press Democrat Dec. 23, 2002 Article.

The bad news is:
Over the last 5 years deep divisions have appeared as Supervisors from different districts in Sonoma County have taken opposing positions regarding vineyard deforestation projects.

A 1999 Santa Rosa "Press Democrat" newspaper article stated, "Supervisors say they are not ready to consider new regulations dictating where farmers may plant  grapes or how they must tend their crops, but some board members believe it is time to discuss whether current rules provide sufficient protection for the environment. 

In 2004 the story is still the same as it was in 1999.

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The most vocal opponant of placing limits on vineyard deforestation  projects  seems to be Supervisor Tim Smith. He just won his fifth term representing the Wine Industry on the Sonoma County board of Supervisors .  His answer seems to always be the same.  Deny, delay, and more studies. The following newspaper quotes show his strategy for opposing restrictions on vineyard deforestation projects and protecting the Sonoma County Wine Industry from any and all new county regulations.

1999 Tim Smith Press Democrat November 1, 1999 "I'm not afraid of  having the discussion," said Supervisor Tim Smith. "This is the kind of thing we should be looking closely at. I tend to think we  need to keep agriculture free from regulations, but if there's a problem, let's get it out on the table and look at it."

1999 Tim Smith Press Democrat November 3, 1999 Other counties already have adopted laws on matters like hillside planting and water supplies that are surfacing for the first time in Sonoma County, where elected officials are reluctant to antagonize a popular -- and prosperous -- industry. "One of the things that's helped sustain agriculture is kind of a hands-off policy,'' Supervisor Tim Smith said. Smith's comment, echoed by two of his four board colleagues, helps explain why no one expects a moratorium on vineyards anytime soon. Growers, current and former elected officials, and environmentalists nevertheless say the debate will continue to rage for the foreseeable future.

2000 Tim Smith Press Democrat July 2, 2000 Supervisor Tim Smith bristles at the suggestion that he or any other member of the board has backed away from the ground water issue. He said that because staff lacks specific geologic expertise, they have been unable to provide key information needed on the condition of the ground water supply and what impact new wells are having on neighbors. He said. "We ordered staff to bring back information and we are still waiting for it. I'm not going to adopt some new regulation until we have all the data we need to make that decision. (Note: Please see compare this statement with what he said on May 18, 2003 shown further down this page)

2000 Tim Smith  Press Democrat August 3, 2000 In his 2000 reelection campaign Supervisor Smith pulled in a record $212,782 in campaign contributions on the way to gaining re-election.  Smith's record campaign spending included thousands of dollars in contributions from real estate and the construction industries, as well as from grape growers and small-business owners. During the last week of the campaign, for example, Smith received nearly $25,000 in donations. Included among those contributions were $1,000 from Lewis Platt, chief executive officer of Kendall-Jackson Winery; $100 from the Terrilinda Dairy in Santa Rosa; and $1,000 from the California Real Estate Board. The fund-raising total far surpasses the previous mark for an individual candidate in a local election -- the $147,981 also spent by Smith during his first campaign for the 3rd District supervisorial seat in 1988.

2002 Tim Smith  Press Democrat August 18, 2002 "Someone will have to make the case that restrictions of agriculture are based on legitimate environmental concerns. This is not to say that ground-water resources and endangered species issues are not to be taken seriously.''

2002 Tim Smith Press Democrat December 2002 "I really don't have a feel for how many conversions are actually taking place,'' said Supervisor Tim Smith. "I'm willing to look at it but, as always, I want to be very careful about legislating solutions when other options might work better.''

2003 Tim Smith Press Democrat May 18, 2003 In 2003 Supervisor Smith used the same answer on disappearing Groundwater near vineyards. According to the Press Democrat: "Supervisors Tim Smith and Mike Kerns are undecided over whether regulation is needed, and want the county to learn more about the issue and identify areas with problems before they impose any restrictions. "There's a tendency to regulate first and ask the questions later," Smith said. "We need to do information gathering to determine if a problem does exist.""

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What have other Sonoma County Supervisors said?

1999 Mile Cale
Press Democrat November 6, 1999
Supervisor Mike Cale, who represents the Sonoma Valley and is himself a winemaker, said he does not think vineyards pose
significant environmental problems.

"The idea that we have too many vineyards and that the county needs to stop farmers from planting anymore, I find difficult to
understand,'' he said. "This is one of the great grape growing regions of the world. We are recognized as that. I don't see why
more vineyards can't be accommodated.''
(Update note: Mike Cale was replaced by the new Supervisor Varerie Brown. Supervisor Brown has not expressed an opinion on the issue yet. She needs to hear from you.)
2000 Mile Cale
Press Democrat July 2, 2000
We don't know yet if there really is a problem, or where it might be,'' said Supervisor Mike Cale. "I'm not afraid of dealing
with the issue if there is something for us to deal with, but I'm not going to get out front with this.''
(Update note: Mike Cale was replaced by the new Supervisor Varerie Brown. Supervisor Brown has not expressed an opinion on the issue yet. She needs to hear from you.)
1999 Supervisor Kelly
Press Democrat November 6, 1999
Supervisor Kelley said he will be a strong opponent of any effort to impose new regulations on farmers. "I don't think there's anything wrong in Wine Country,'' he said. "I don't have any problem with the expansion of vineyards."

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5 years ago, in 1999, Sonoma County Supervisors pointed to a  study by the University of California identifying some 150,000 acres locally suitable to conversion to grapes, nearly triple the acreage dedicated to grapes today. 

The study determined there were about 30,000 acres of mixed forest and oak woodland, where vineyard development would be most disruptive to wildlife.

Unfortunately, as you can see from the map below, the 1999 study did not include the forest land in North West Sonoma County that is being cleared for vineyards in 2004. 

In fact, the area of Sonoma County that is now experiencing heavy vineyard deforestation was rated as low suitability for vineyard development in the 1999 study.

Click here to see the UC Study

5 YEARS LATER THERE STILL ARE NOT ANY 
SONOMA COUNTY RESTRICTIONS PREVENTING VINEYARD DEFORESTATION !

5 years of County Supervisor delay tactics and procrastination have only led to continuing vineyard deforestation. 

Action on the County level could place tighter restrictions on C.D.F. deforestation approvals. But, only if the County Supervisors who are owned by the Wine Industry do not stand in the way !

5 more years is too long to wait !

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Isn't there now a "glut" of grapes on the market due to worldwide over planting ?

Many people believe this to be true. The worldwide price of wine has fallen sharply. Many farmers in Sonoma & Napa counties were unable to harvest their crops last year because they could not find buyers for their grapes. Over two thirds of the grapes planted in the last 4 years have not even begun to bear fruit yet.

Unfortunately plummeting grape prices has not slowed the expansion of vineyard deforestation. Any crash of the wine speculation bubble, should one occur, would be much too late for the forests that are being destroyed today.
 
 

PRESS DEMOCRAT articles on Sonoma County's WINE GRAPE GLUT SONOMA COUNTY GRAPE REVENUE FALLS 18% Published on February 11, 2004  Article ID: 0402110294  BYLINE:    TIM TESCONI THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Mother Nature and market forces teamed up to slash revenues for Sonoma County grape growers by 18 percent last year, a $66 million drop in the value of the county's leading agricultural crop from 2002 levels. GRAPE GLUT Published on August 13, 2003 Article ID: 0308130482  © 2003- The Press Democrat PAGE: B6 What a difference two years can make. Back in 2001, despite evidence of slowing sales, growers continued to expand vineyards at a rapid pace. In that year, ranchers and wineries planted an additional 2,400 acres of grapes in Sonoma County alone. Between 1998 and 2001, local growers added 13,000 acres of vineyards, bringing the total to 56,000. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now a glut of grapes (and wine) and a weak economy have growers and vintners scrambling. WINE GRAPE GLUT PUSHES COUNTY PRICES DOWN 5 PERCENT Article ID: 0302110150  Published on February 11, 2003  BYLINE:    TIM TESCONI THE PRESS DEMOCRAT For the first time in 10 years, Sonoma County grape prices have decreased, dropping 5 percent last year as a huge supply of California grapes overwhelmed limited demand for wine. STATE'S GRAPE GROWERS MAY DUMP 75,000 TONS Article ID: 0209190569  Published on September 19, 2002  BYLINE:    BOB NORBERG THE PRESS DEMOCRAT  California growers this harvest season may leave some 75,000 tons of grapes to rot on the vine -- most of them in the interior valleys -- rather than sell them into a spot market where prices may not cover the cost of harvesting.

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If there are too many grapes planted won't vineyard developers stop planting more grapes ?

It seems the answer to this is no.

Many developers hoping to make a fortune growing grapes seem to be in denial. They speculate that the grapes they grow will be of much better quality than any one else's grapes. They hope their grapes will be in demand, while other growers are unable to find buyers. They are determined to plant even more vineyards.

Also, the real estate industry, wine industry, tourist industry, and County Governments are all making a lot of money selling the dream that "OWNING A VINEYARD IS NOW THE ULTIMATE SYMBOL OF SUCCESS". 

The super wealthy are now cutting down the forest and planting vineyards as a symbol of status with little concern for profit . Preserving the forest and watersheds for future generations is the least of their concerns.

Annapolis, CA  ---  Sonoma County
Vineyard run-off that flows into Buckeye Creek, a tributary of the Gualala River (Notice the brownish foam)
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Could the deforestation projects in Sonoma County contribute to climate change?

Deforestation is known to cause temperature changes along with other changes in wind and weather patterns. The satellite image below clearly shows a rise in temperature associated with deforestation in Brazil. 

 

Deforestation & Climate Change       Deforestation clearly has a major and immediate impact on the distribution of water. A 350-hectare tea plantation in tropical Africa showed a two-fold increase in moderate flooding and a four-fold increase in more serious flooding compared with the nearby natural forest. Molion points out that the Amazon forest canopy intercepts on average about 15 per cent of the rainfall and that its removal would lead to as much as 4,000 cubic metres (tonnes) per hectare per year hitting the ground. Because of soil compaction much of that water would run off directly into the rivers, rather than being retained and maintaining some soil moisture. The net result would be 'sandification whereby the heavy drops of rain hitting the ground cause the selective erosion of finer clay particles, leaving behind increasingly coarse sand. With time, the remaining 'soil would have virtually no water-retaining properties and the forest would be unable to regenerate itself. Soil under intact forest absorbs ten times more water compared with nearby areas that have had pasture for five years. Outside the forest and away from its soil-protecting attributes, erosion increases a thousand-fold.(Footnote 1).         Moreover, when the forest is cleared, the contrast between day and night temperatures becomes more extreme, so leading to gustier winds that dry out soils and send dust swirling into the air. Even if some forest is left around the edges of clearings it will be under siege from water-stress as the water table plummets. Large areas of the Amazon Basin are far closer to water-stress than scientists once thought and the clear cutting and burning of large areas of rainforest would inevitably precipitate die-back and death of the nearby forest. 1. Harald Sioli, The Effects of Deforestation in Amazonia, The Ecologist, Vol. 17, No. 4/5, 1987.

Does anyone believe that the effects of vineyard deforestation in Sonoma County is any different than deforestation for agriculture in the Amazon?

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