Deane Little, who has represented Mountain View and Los Altos on the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Open Space District since 1998, last night announced that he will resign his seat, effective Friday, August 11, 2006, in order to move to Colorado to pursue new professional opportunities and to be closer to his family and his parents who are in their eighties.

“I love what the District has done to preserve our beautiful coastal mountain landscapes, and I’m honored to have served with all of you and the District staff,” Little wrote in a letter to the Board.  “You should all be proud of what we have accomplished in recent years.”

A biologist by training, Little is a passionate advocate for the preservation of California’s wild lands, which he sees as the most important legacy that his generation can leave to future generations.  As a Board member, Little promoted the growth of native plants, preserving wildlife, and controlling or removing non-native species on open space lands.

Because Director Little made his decision to move to Colorado only in recent weeks, his seat cannot be filled at the next regularly scheduled election in November 2006. Little would have had to resign by late June 2006 in order for the Board to have been able to call a November election for his seat.  Therefore, the other six Board members will soon consider whether to hold a special election, at a District cost of about $800,000, for the remainder of Little’s term, which expires in November 2008, or whether to appoint a replacement for the next two years.

The Board is expected to address this matter at their August 23, 2006 Board meeting.

The Surfrider Foundation San Mateo Chapter, based in El Granada is hosting a beach cleanup this Saturday at 10:00 AM at Surfers Beach.

Due to many sunny days we had this summer, the beach and nearby area need extra cleanup. The chapter provides gloves and trash bags, and a free Surfrider San Mateo Chapter T-shirts for the first-time participants. 

Patty Mayall is a resident of La Honda.

NOTE: There will be a public information table Saturday from 11am to 2pm in front of Safeway in Half Moon Bay.

The San Mateo County Public Works Road Department sprays RoundUp (Glyphosate) an herbicide, along the unincorporated county roads before sunrise on an unspecified morning between January and April, without any notification before, during or after the application.  For the past 30 years or so, on the 320 miles of these roads, over half are sprayed once or twice a year. The County does mow along these roadsides, which many of us local residents strongly support, as well as all of their hard work to maintain our roads.

In March of 2006, a few of us La Honda area residents volunteered our time to collect signatures on a petition which requests that spraying is stopped and that mowing is supported.  We are working with the Public Works folks to make this change, with the help of Supervisor Gordon and his staff.  Due to our signatures and calls, for the first time ever, notifications were posted in the La Honda area before spraying in June of 2006.  Pescadero residents spoke out and stopped the spraying on their county roads in the 1990’s. Marin County has not sprayed for the past 30 years and mows twice a year.  Santa Cruz County has a moratorium on spraying for 3 years.

Leland Yee is Speaker pro Tempore of the California State Assembly

In March, I joined a number of environmental organizations publicly expressing concern with the nomination of then Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne as the Secretary of the Interior, a department responsible for overseeing our National Park system, wildlife refuges, monuments, and recreation areas, and tasked with protecting the nation’s natural and cultural heritage.

Recently, Secretary Kempthorne confirmed one of our major fears when he visited the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and carelessly stated that the expansion of offshore oil drilling may be the answer to high gas prices. 

The Granada Sanitary District’s quarterly recycling drop-off day for special items is this Saturday, 9am to noon.

All Seacoast Disposal customers in Clipper Ridge, El Granada, Miramar & Princeton may dispose of non-curbside recyclable items, such as large household appliances (including refrigerators), furniture, mattresses, box springs, car parts, computer monitors, fluorescent bulbs, metal, tires, TV’s and other electronic equipment free of charge. Read the official flyer [pdf] for details.

No motor oil, paint, or hazardous waste will be accepted. The next Special Item Recycling Drop-off Day will be on October 28, 2006. Drop off is on Obispo Road in El Granada, across the street from HMB Fire Station

The Granada Sanitary District is at (650) 726-7093 and Seacoast Disposal is at (650) 355-8400

Much lower than normal populations of krill in the Pacific is threatening the bird populations in the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge, according to an AP story in the Mercury News.  Scientist say that changes in west coast climate patterns have reduced the krill populations near the Farallones.

Tiny Cassin’s auklets live much of their lives on the open ocean. But in spring, these gray-and-white relatives of the puffin venture to isolated Pacific outposts like the Farallones to dig deep burrows and lay their eggs.

Adult auklets usually feed their chicks with krill, the minuscule shrimp-like crustaceans that anchor the ocean’s complex food web.

But not this year. Almost none of the 20,000 pairs of Cassin’s auklets nesting in the Farallones will raise a chick that lives more than a few days, a repeat of last year’s unprecedented breeding failure, according to Russ Bradley, a seabird biologist with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory who monitors the birds on the islands.

California State Parks is looking for volunteers interested in helping in three parks in the San Mateo Coast Sector--the Pigeon Point Light Station Historic Park, Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve, and Half Moon Bay State Beach.  Volunteers may choose to help in one or more of the three parks. The sector also has a special need for highly trained volunteers to present programs for school groups in the parks and in local schools.  Free training for new volunteers will begin in August.  Volunteers receive passes for free parking at nearby state parks.

San Mateo County Resource Conservation District (RCD) announces the recent appointments of Jack Olsen and T.J. Glauthier to its Board of Directors.  The mission of the RCD is to help people protect, conserve, and restore natural resources through information, education, and technical assistance programs. The RCD is a public agency dedicated to the protection of the 157,000 acres of coastline in San Mateo County including all watersheds in the county that drain into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Coastside County Water District (CCWD) is looking to fill the vacancy created by John Muller’s resignation from the CCWD board to join the Half Moon Bay City Council.

Applicants should submit “a brief statement of interest and qualifications” to the district by Thursday, August 3. The board plans to fill the vacancy at its next regular meeting on Tuesday, August 8. Candidates for the position must reside in and be registered to vote in the district.

The candidate appointed would serve the remainder of Muller’s term, which ends November, 2007.

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District received 6,500 hairy weevils that will be released by the District today and tomorrow on Skyline and Foothill-area open space preserves as part of an effort to control and reduce the spread of the non-native, invasive weed yellow starthistle and restore the natural values of the preserves. The hairy weevil, Eustenopus villosus, one of several insect species researched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has been an effective biocontrol agent in the control of yellow starthistle.

“By introducing the weevils, a natural enemy of yellow star thistle, the District reduces removal costs and provides a long-term, sustainable method of control,” said Lisa Infante, the District’s Resource Specialist. “In effect, introduction of the weevil is an effort to recreate the natural system of ecological checks and balances that prevent this non-native, invasive plant from eliminating desirable native plants and habitats in the open space preserves.”

Originally from Greece, the hairy weevil is 6-8 mm long, has a distinctive long snout with antennae, and an overall brown-gray striped color and hairs covering much of its body. The hairy weevil attacks with adult weevils feeding on developing buds and larvae feasting from within on immature seeds, effectively diminishing the yellow starthistle seed production. To lay eggs, fertile females chew a hole in the side of buds shortly before the flowers open and deposit an egg. The larvae hatch in about three days, and after about two weeks of feeding, the larvae pupate inside the flower bud. Adults continue to feed on late-developing flower buds and then overwinter in seedheads or ground duff.