Sonoma County’s Plan for Oak Trees is More Smoke and Mirrors

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Sonoma County’s native oak forests and woodlands are under attack and we have a great opportunity to make a real impact in our county’s future.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is currently formulating their 5-year strategic plan and they must include real oak and forest land protections. For decades Sonoma County’s iconic oak forests have been excessively cleared in the name of development and vineyards. Much of this county-permitted cutting is being done without rigorous regard for the ecological importance of native oak and forest lands.

It’s proven that mature forests store significantly more carbon than younger trees. Oak forests sequester carbon in the form of biomass, deadwood, litter and in forest soils. Photo provided.
It’s proven that mature forests store significantly more carbon than younger trees. Oak forests sequester carbon in the form of biomass, deadwood, litter and in forest soils. Photo provided.

Oak woodlands destruction is an attack on Sonoma County’s wildlife and scenic identity. Residents of Sonoma County can make their voices heard and urge the Board of Supervisors to enact a moratorium on tree cutting, immediately. While vineyards are a landmark of our scenery, so are the native oak forests.

A moratorium on tree cutting is imperative for our native habitats as well as our ecological footprint as a county. If we are to really become carbon neutral by 2050, we need a moratorium on cutting until we have a clearer picture of the situation and have developed a realistic climate-oriented tree ordinance to regulate cutting in the future.

On September 17, 2019, the Board of Supervisors of Sonoma County declared a Climate Change Emergency and pledged to support a county-wide framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and to pursue local actions that support, among other goals, to protect and enhance the value of open and working lands and increasing carbon sequestration. We need to hold our elected officials to their word via an immediate moratorium. Yes, we need to plant trees to sequester carbon and replace the trees we have lost, but we also need to protect our existing mature forests.

Native woodlands fight climate change with carbon sequestration, storing atmospheric carbon that would otherwise warm the planet. It’s proven that mature forests store significantly more carbon than younger trees. Oak forests sequester carbon in the form of biomass, deadwood, litter and in forest soils. The sink of carbon sequestered in forests helps to offset other sources of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, such as deforestation, forest fires, and fossil fuel emissions. We have a powerful tool to fight climate change “right in our backyard,” and we are chopping it down without a careful study of the repercussions.

Oak trees are a keystone species with over 100 species dependent on them. Oaks are the backbone of many different forest communities and provide immeasurable ecosystem services. Oaks are already plagued by sudden oak death in our region so there is absolutely no reason for us to be cutting down healthy, mature carbon sequestering trees that perform so many ecosystem-wide essential services.

Oaks are already plagued by sudden oak death in our region so there is absolutely no reason for us to be cutting down healthy, mature carbon sequestering trees that perform so many ecosystem-wide essential services. Larry Hansen photo.
Oaks are already plagued by sudden oak death in our region so there is absolutely no reason for us to be cutting down healthy, mature carbon sequestering trees that perform so many ecosystem-wide essential services. Larry Hansen photo.

Email our County Board of Supervisors and tell them you support a tree clearing moratorium at: https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Board-of-Supervisors/Contact-Board-of-Supervisors/

District 1 Susan Gorin – Susan.Gorin@sonoma-county.org

District 2 David Rabbitt – David.Rabbitt@sonoma-county.org

District 3 – Chris Coursey – Chris.Coursey@sonoma-county.org

District 4 – James Gore – district4@sonoma-county.org

District 5 – Lynda Hopkins – district5@sonoma-county.org

To get involved or for more information, contact Aja Henry at aja@conservationaction.org

Aja Henry is a Humboldt State graduate and Assistant Field Manager with Sonoma County Conservation Action, she is taking the lead in Conservation Action’s efforts toward tree preservation and climate change resilience in Sonoma County.

Support Healthy Soil Funding

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Proposal:

Help us tell the legislators of California that the state’s Healthy Soils Program and the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) deserve more funding! Please take a minute to voice your concern by signing this letter, and show your support so these programs can continue to be funded!

 

SWEEP was very successful in 2016-17 across the state, showing the importance of continuing and supporting this funding.

 

Impact:

The Healthy Soils Program’s objective is to build soil carbon and reduce agriculture greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging farmers and ranchers to adopt new management practices that are beneficial to the climate. SWEEP provides financial assistance to growers for on-farm improvements that both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save water by micro-irrigation or drip systems, improved energy efficiency, increased compost use that increase soil water-holding capacity, and many others.

 

There are significant benefits in increasing the soils’s organic matter, including water retention, which is extremely important in times of drought, as well as enhanced soil stability and more efficient nutrient use, which helps improve our water and air quality by reducing run-off and air emissions.

 

Governor Brown’s proposed 2018-19 budget falls flat of what is actually needed. Your elected representative may be on the budget committee that will soon meet to discuss how to appropriate the state’s $1.25 billion revenue of the fiscal year. Let them know their constituents value the agricultural programs that are climate friendly.

 

What You Can Do:

Add your name to this letter!  You can also email your elected representatives and let them know you care, and please share this with anyone: ranchers, farmers, businesses and organizations in your area. Use this link to find your representatives.

 

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Shoutout to these amazing local organizations who are championing the healthy soil initiative: CalCAN, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, and the Farmers Guild.

Open Space

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Green Belt

Sonoma County Community SeparatorsThe community separators and greenbelts between Sonoma County’s cities that we voted to preserve nearly 20 years ago will expire in 2016. (more…)

Lafferty Ranch

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Lafferty Ranch

View from Lafferty RanchIn accordance with our dear friend Bill Kortum’s final wish, we are continuing to support the effort to reopen Lafferty Ranch to the public as a wilderness park. It’s time for the Bill Kortum Regional Park at Sonoma Mountain, and you can help make it happen.

 

This dream has been in the works for a long time, and there’s no time like the present to continue the effort to improve and maintain this beautiful natural park for this and all future Sonoma County generations. Contact us to find out how you can help, or donate to the Kortum Legacy Fund to make this a reality.

Kortum Legacy Fund

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Bill KortumIn December 2014, Sonoma County lost one of its most dedicated activists and champions – Bill Kortum. Widely regarded as the dean of the Sonoma County environmental movement, Bill’s love of Northern California’s splendor ran deep. He was instrumental in numerous major environmental accomplishments in Sonoma County and the State of California, including the creation of the California Coastal Commission, Coastwalk California, preventing the PG&E nuclear plant at Bodega Head, SMART Rail startup, and many others. From his childhood in Petaluma to a lifetime of preservation efforts, our county would not be what it is today without his influence and passion.

 

In recognition of Bill’s extraordinary contributions to environmental activism, Conservation Action has pledged to continue his work through the formation of the Legacy Fund to support upcoming programs, and we’re asking everyone with the passion to preserve our beloved Sonoma County to help with a donation. Give today to sustain the natural beauty of our county!

Kortum Legacy Fund