The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s Board of Directors unanimously voted last night to appoint a new Director to the Board seat left vacant by Deane Little’s resignation on August 11, 2006. The appointment to Ward 4, which includes Mountain View and Los Altos, will have to be made by October 10, 2006, 60 days from the effective date of the vacancy.

The District’s Board has a statutory duty to fill the vacant Board seat either by calling a special election or by making an appointment.  At last night’s public meeting, Directors cited the high cost of a special election as their main reason for choosing the appointment process.  Based upon 50,271 projected registered voters, the Santa Clara County Elections Office had provided an estimated cost of $770,378 to call a special election for District Ward 4.

If you oppose the YMCA’s logging of Camp Jones Gulch [pdf of plan], you must send a letter to the California Dept of Forestry (CDF) by September 7.

Details: YMCA San Francisco, owners of Camp Jones Gulch (aka Science Camp), have submitted a logging plan to the CDF to log 733 acres of the 907 acre property [Coastsider story], cutting 60% of redwood and fir trees 18 inches in diameter or larger, on slopes of 5% to 80%. Though old growth (40+ inches) would likely be excluded in the first round of cutting, the permit would be in perpetuity, and every 15 years another round of logging could occur with no more public input, and old growth could be cut then. The proposed logging would result in ten truckloads per day for 8-10 weeks, winter harvesting, impacts to local creeks and to our community.

Points to make:  This plan should be withdrawn by the YMCA, and if not, it should be denied by CDF; the YMCA should consider land stewardship that does not include timber harvesting.

For more info and to sign the petition urging the YMCA to withdraw this plan, call Patty Mayall 650-851-1902 or go to Coastsider.com for local updates.  Saturday, August 26 from 10:30am—1:30pm sign the petition at the table outside of the La Honda Post Office

In your letter put your name, address and the plan’s name: YMCA NTMP #1-06NTMP-014 SMO

Send To: 
C.D.F. (Ca. Dept. Forestry)
Leslie Markham at 135 Ridgway Av.
Santa Rosa, Ca., 95401
Or email: [email protected]

Send a copy to:
Bill Worthington
YMCA Camp Jones Gulch
11000 Pescadero Rd.
La Honda, Ca. 94020
Phone: 650-747-1200
Or email: [email protected]

UPDATE:  BIll Worthingtons email address has been corrected.

The California Fish and Game Commisssion plans to ban or severely limit fishing in 18 percent of California’s oceans from Half Moon Bay to Santa Barbara, reports the Mercury News in an extensive report.

The plan ranks as one of the most significant ocean protection measures in the state since Congress established the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in 1992, which banned offshore oil drilling from San Francisco to Hearst Castle in San Simeon.
The five-member commission considered four options, each with complex maps and rules, drawn during the past two years amid public meetings and scientific studies.

The option supported by fishermen would have put 5 percent of central coast waters off-limits to commercial and recreational fishing. The environmentalists’ plan went furthest, setting 13 percent off-limits. In the middle, a plan drawn up by a blue-ribbon task force appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would have placed 10 percent off-limits. And the state Department of Fish and Game staff recommended putting 8 percent off-limits. New fishing limits were put in place in an additional 6 percent to 10 percent under each plan.

The final plan was a compromise between the blue ribbon option and the Fish and Game staff version.

A University of California-Davis researcher estimated each option would cost commercial fishermen about $1 million a year.

A logging plan has been submitted to the California Department of Forestry (CDF) by the YMCA San Francisco, owners of Jones Gulch. The organization plans to log 733 acres of the 907 acre property, cutting 60% of redwood and fir trees 18 inches in diameter or larger, on slopes of 5% to 80%.

Though old growth (40+ inches) would likely be excluded in the first round of cutting, the permit would be in perpetuity, and every 15 years another round of logging could occur with no more public input, and old growth could be cut then.

The proposed logging would result in ten truckloads per day for 8-10 weeks, winter harvesting, impacts to local creeks and to our community.

The CDF’s only public meeting will be Thursday, August 17,  at 7pm at the La Honda Fire Station. CDF just sent out public notices for this meeting and would not postpone it, so PLEASE  ATTEND!

Tell them what you think: YMCA Camp Jones Gulch: phone 650-747-1200. Fax 650-747-0986.

Patty Mayall
La Honda

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.