Linda Perkins
Mendocino Wilderness Chair

Water Grab Update

The following excerpt from an October 28th press release issued by the Western Environmental Law Center on behalf of several groups, including Sierra Club, gives a quick update on the Albion and Gualala River Water Grab issue:

"The State Water Resources Control Board has acknowledged that the public notices for controversial proposed water bagging operations on the Albion and Gualala Rivers in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties were inadequate and must be redone. The Board announced that it will reissue notices for the applications in the next few weeks and that a 60-day protest period will follow the date the notices are reissued. Protests already submitted remain valid and do not need to be resubmitted, said the Board." Forums to help people fill out the protest forms will be held during the 60-day comment period. Please check the calendar on the website for dates and locations.

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Montgomery Woods State Reserve Under Assault

Montgomery Woods State Reserve suffered an assault on October 19th when adjacent landowner Jonathan Cook began cutting and moving sections of fallen old growth trees within the reserve in preparation for building a road along Pruitt Creek, a fish-bearing stream that runs through the reserve and into Big River.

Cook holds an easement through the park that dates back to the creation of the reserve - now designated as critical habitat for the marbled murrelet and a refuge for the federally protected steelhead trout. The easement runs alongside Pruitt Creek tracing the path of what was once a road, now a foot trail only a few feet wide with old growth trees as few as ten feet apart on either side. The adjacent creek is recovering from past logging upstream; on a recent visit, Fish and Game found steelhead trout in its pools. So close is the proposed road reconstruction to the stream that it would be impossible to keep sediment from running into the water and damaging the fishes' spawning gravels. It would also be impossible to avoid damaging the old growth trees crowded along the route.

Cook initially applied for a permit from Department of Fish and Game - required when doing work next to a stream - and DFG, noting the obvious potential for damage, began writing conditions for the work - among others the necessity for doing marbled murrelet surveys and looking for less damaging, alternative routes for the road.

the advice of his lawyers - withdrew his permit application, wrote to State Parks that he was beginning work and started in on the fallen trees. Luckily, a Fish and Game warden was at the site and demanded that he stop work until DFG finished its environmental assessment. Further evaluation, however, has consisted only of a private meeting at the park between Cook, his lawyer, and Fish & Game, with the public, and State Parks, excluded. Even worse, it now looks as if DFG, having cast a fearful eye at Cook's law firm, has decided that no permit, and no public review, is required after all.

The obvious solution, buying the property and adding it to State Parks, failed when it was determined that Cook's asking price for the property far exceeded its appraised value.

This is a state reserve, belonging to the public. We have every right to demand the utmost protection for the trees and wildlife within its boundaries. No decisions should be made about this incursion into the old growth grove without the benefit of our oversight. We need both Fish and Game and State Parks to step up and demand this on our behalf.

What You Can Do

You can help protect Montgomery Woods State Reserve by calling the following people and insisting on a process that is both credible and open to the public:

• State Senator Wesley Chesbro:
  916-445-3375
• State Parks Director Ruth Coleman:
  916-653-8380
• Fish and Game Director Bob Hight:
  916-653-7667

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