Genji Schmeder

Thollander Dinner a great success

About 130 diners enjoyed an evening of fine food and wines at the Yountville community hall on April 23. This was our fifth annual Earl Thollander award dinner, named for the late Napa Valley artist and author of "Back Roads of California". Our honoree this year, Mike Rippey, spoke about his vision for open space recreation and protection from Napa County to the Carquinez Strait. Mike was an energetic leader of the first attempt to create a Napa County open space district in 1992. We look forward to working with him to realize this vision.

The annual dinner is also our major fundraiser. This year's net proceeds of more than $5000 will be dedicated to publication of our newsletter, preservation of Clair Tapaan Lodge in the Sierra Nevada, education and outreach efforts, and advocacy for redevelopment at Lake Berryessa. Exact distribution will be decided at our June 7 ExCom meeting.

Land Stewards attack county land use authority

The initiative is profoundly unfair to the residents of Napa County, who are being asked to pay landowners to protect the environment. Oregon Measure 37 was passed by the voters last November and applies retroactively to require compensation or waiver for land use restrictions. It has thrown planning throughout that state into disarray, since every locality is faced with the stark choice of either abandoning community standards to approve private projects or paying the owners not to develop. A similar measure in Nevada County California in 2002 failed by a huge margin when the voters realized their county government would go bankrupt trying to protect the local quality of life.

Lake Berryessa