Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
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Mendocino Group Report Mary Walsh | |
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The Mendocino Group met in Boonville on April 8. The ExCom met prior to the general meeting and among other business voted to make a $50 award to be matched by Sonoma County as a prize at the juried environmental art show to be held Sept 17-Oct 10, 2004 at the Gualala Arts Center. The as yet unreleased video THIRST was shown at 7pm to a modest general attendance crowd. The video deals with water privatization around the globe, highlighting struggles with local workers and residents in the Raj State of India, Cochabamba, Bolivia and the Californian city of Stockton. This video will be shown on PBS and will be available on CD for a very nominal purchase price in June. ******** It was noted that the Friends of the Gualala River (FoGR) will make a presentation at 7pm on May 22 at the Gualala Community Center titled "The Garcia River Success Story: Recovering salmon populations - could it happen on the Gualala?" ******** Mark Massara will visit the north coast on Sept. 7 at the Town Hall in Fort Bragg to promote the Great Coastal Places Campaign. ******** |
Forestry Chair Linda Perkins reports that the California Department of Forestry (CDF) is in chaos because of position eliminations forced by budget cuts. Only four forestry inspector positions remain. Those individuals previously holding forestry inspector positions have opted to move to the Fire side of CDF where they will serve in the rank of captain. ******** Through efforts of the local Group and other concerned coastal residents, the fireworks display proposed to be held on the Mendocino Headlands has been cancelled. These are some Sierra Club concerns from our letter: "Our group is concerned about the impacts to the delicate coastal bluffs and the inter-tidal areas of the Mendocino Headlands State Park, and to the sea stacks that have recently been designated a National Monument. There are rare plants and archeological sites on the headlands, birds nesting on the sea stacks, and fish and other tidal creatures offshore. This is a wholly inappropriate location to have an event involving bright lights and concussive explosions that would also leave behind chemical residues in this fragile site. In addition, having that number of people present on the headlands at night could be both damaging to the headlands and dangerous to the spectators themselves." Something for the win column. |