Environmental Center of Sonoma County
Notice Archive 2001

• Saturday Sept 29 - Russian River Tributary Monitoring Program:  Matanzas Creek Walk - 10 am - 12 noon. - Meet at Doyle Park, Hoen Ave entrance, Santa Rosa. See 9/8 listing and click on title for more detail.
• Tuesday, Sept 25 - Public Hearing on Syar Industries' Russian River gravel mining permit approval- 2:15 PM - Board of Supes Chamber, Rm 102A County Admin Bldg, 575 Administration Dr, Santa Rosa. See above for more info. NOTE: this session was originally scheduled for October 16. 
• Saturday, Sept 22 - Russian River Tributary Monitoring Program: Mark West Creek -- 10 am - 12 noon - Meet at Mark West Christmas Tree Farm 7125 St Helena Rd Santa Rosa. See 9/8 listing, and click on title for more detail.
• Saturday, Sept 22 - 14th Annual Russian River Watershed Cleanup, 9 am-4 pm. A coordinated cleanup effort along the River and its tributary creeks throughout the watershed. For details and to register by phone call (707) 577-7151, or on the web at www.russianrivercleanup.org. Please register by September 10.
• Sunday, Sept 16 - Russian River Appreciation Festival 2001- 3:00 - 6:00 pm. Hop Kiln Winery, 6050 Westside Road, Healdsburg. Fundraiser for the Friends of the Russian River, Russian River Environmental Forum and Environmental Center of Sonoma County...yep, that's us. Click on title for details and reservation form. See you there!
• Saturday, Sept 15 - Sunday, Sept 23 - Russian River Celebration - Something for everyone, young, old and in between, all throughout the watershed. Click on title for details and full schedule.
• Saturday, Sept 15 - Russian River Tributary Monitoring Program:  Maacama Creek - 10 am-12 noon--Meet at Simi Vineyard site: 14820 Young Road, Healdsburg. See previous listing, and click on title for more detail.
• Saturday, Sept 8- Russian River Tributary Monitoring Program- Fife Creek - 9:30 am-12 noon. Meet at Guerneville Community Church, 14520 Armstrong Woods Rd. Learn more about your local creek and how to monitor its health through training provided by Sotoyome RCD. It is important to make contact prior to the trainings for a head count. Click title for contact info and full details. 
• Thursday, Sept 6 - Public Hearing on approval of Russian River gravel mining permit revision - 1:00 PM - Hearing Room at Permit and Resource Management Dept, 2550 Ventura Ave, Santa Rosa. So Co Planning Commission considers approving a mitigated negative declaration to revisions sought by Syar Industries for an existing permit to continue deep-pit terrace mining of the Middle Reach of the Russian Russian River south of Healdsburg. The powers that be continue to ignore both the damage to the river system from, and available alternatives to, mining the river's gravels. Call or email Ken Ellison, of PRMD: 565-1928 for official records (File PLP 99-0047). Click here for more background on Russian River gravel mining.
• Tuesday, July 24 - Strategy session for Triennial Basin Plan Review - 5-7 pm. At the Environmental Center (here). The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is working on the Triennial Review of the so-called "Basin Plan," the document which will guide state policy on important clean water issues for the North Coast during the next three years. Click title for more info.
• Tuesday, July 24-- Appeal of Shamrock river gravel mining permit - 2:15 PM - Board of Supes Chamber, Rm 102A County Admin Bldg, 575 Administration Dr, Santa Rosa. Support the citizens' coalition at the hearing and/or mail your written protest to Ken Ellison, PRMD, 2550 Ventura Ave Santa Rosa 95403. You can reach Mr. Ellison at 565-1928, and view project details and environmental docs at the PRMD. Click here for more background on Russian River gravel mining.  Click title for press release from POWR! coalition.
• Monday, July 23 - Habitat issues and General Plan Update - 7-9 pm At the Environmental Center (here). Join people who are meeting to decide how best to make use of the opportunity afforded by the update process. Click title for more info.
• Saturday, June 30 - Russian River Tributary Monitoring Program:   Hobson Creek -- see Saturday 6/16 listing.
• Thursday, June 28 - Public discussion of terms of DFG's coho salmon "emergency take" provisions" - 1-5 pm - DeMeo Room, Steele Lane Community Center, 415 Steele Lane, Santa Rosa. CA Fish and Game Commission has filed a Notice of Preparation of a draft environmental document for emergency take provisions for coho north of San Francisco. The environmental project is the terms of the emergency take provisions. Its objectives are "to allow the take of coho salmon north of San Francisco for certain specified purposed during the candidacy period and to ensure that this take authorization will not result in jeopardy to the continued existance (sic) of the species." Along with habitat restoration, the take provisions address activities that include research and monitoring, gravel mining, water diversions, and forest practices. Gail Newton and Bob Coey of DFG facilitate. Info: 944-5500
• Tuesday, June 26 - Strategy session for Triennial Basin Plan Review - 5-7 pm At the Environmental Center (here). The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is working on the Triennial Review of the so-called "Basin Plan," the document which will guide state policy on important clean water issues for the North Coast during the next three years. Click title for more info.
• Saturday, June 23- Water Quality Forum - 10 am-Noon - Santa Rosa Central Library Conference Room, Third and E Streets, hosted by League of Women Voters.  The program will include:
  • Introduction: Lynda Hungerford, President, LWV Sonoma County
  • Moderator: Linda Curry, Member, LWV Sonoma County
  • Our Drinking Water: Mike Burgess, Sanitary Engineer, Sonoma County Environmental Health Services
  • Ground Water and Wells: Marian Jones, Member, LWV Sonoma County
  • Protecting Our Drinking Water Sources: Susan Warner, Supervising Water Resource Control Engineer, North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
  • Gravel Mining in the Russian River: Lynda Hungerford
  • Sustainability: Susan Gorin, Member, LWV Sonoma County
• Saturday June 23- Russian River Tributary Monitoring Program:   Matanzas Creek * Access Pending* -- see Saturday June 16 listing.
• Fri-Sat, June 22-23- Fourth Annual Labor and Social Action Summer School -The LSASS has become a major yearly event, which brings together diverse groups throughout the state. It is the only conference in Sonoma County which provides a venue for labor and social action groups to work together for a common progressive agenda. Opens Friday, 7:30PM at Person Theater, Sonoma State University, with keynote address by Amy Dean, who has been recognized as one of the "most innovative figures in Silicon Valley," by the New York Times. Principal sponsor: North Bay Labor Council. Click on title and/or call 707-545-7349 ext 22 for more information.
• Saturday, June 16- Russian River Tributary Monitoring Program:   Maacama Creek- Learn more about your local creek and how to monitor its health through training provided by Sotoyome RCD. These training workshops are open to anyone interested in learing about volunteer creek monitoring, For times, location and directions: contact Sierra Cantor at (707) 569-1448 or via email. It is important to make contact prior to the trainings for directions and a head count. Click title for more info. 
• Wednesday, June 13 - Gold Ridge RCD Training - 7 pm-9pm - Occidental Arts and Ecology Center Meeting Room. Carol Mandel of the NRCS on behalf of Gold Ridge RCD is convening an evening workshop on creek monitoring for West County Watershed Members. Laurel Marcus will give a slide presentation on creek monitoring. For more information, contact Brock Dolman of the OAEC.
• Saturday, 5/19 - Russian River Tributary Monitoring Program - Mark West Creek - "Riparian Transect & Water Quality Training", by the Sotoyome RCD staff. Click title for complete description, including people to contact for meeting place and time.
• Saturday, 5/19 - Salmon Creek Watershed Day - 10 am - 5 pm - Salmon Creek School, 1935 Bohemian Highway, bet Freestone and Occidental. Watershed information, workshops, history, art exhibit and sale; watershed games and fun for kids; video tour and histories from Senior neighbors; music and poetry. Click on title for more information.
• Saturday, 5/19 - Workshop on Animal Habitat Connectivity - 9:30 am - 12:00 pm - Salmon Creek School, 1935 Bohemian Highway, bet. Occidental and Freestone. "Will Animals Survive?" panelists include:
  • -Brock Dolman (Occidental Arts and Ecology Center)
    -Adina Merenlander (UC Extension, Hopland)
    -Caitlin Cornwall (Sonoma Ecology Center)
    -Allan Buckmann (California Department of Fish and Game)

  Part of Salmon Creek Watershed Day. For more info e-mail Zeno Swijtink

• Thursday, 5/17 - Public Hearing on Gravel Mining Permit renewal - 1:00 PM - Hearing Room at Permit and Resource Management Dept, 2550 Ventura Ave, Santa Rosa. So Co Planning Commission meets to approve a mitigated negative declaration concerning an 87-acre in-stream gravel skimming permit in the Russian River, in the environs of Cloverdale. River gravel mining is not compatible with water supply and cold water fish habitat. This will pass without proper hearing if there is little or no comment from the public. Call or email Ken Ellison, of PRMD: 565-1928 for official records. Click here for more background on Russian River gravel mining.
• Tuesday, 5/15 - Conversion of Forest Lands to Vineyard -   6:30 - 8:30 PM - Gualala Community Center, 47950 Center Street, Gualala. A panel of experts from U.C. Extension, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, and others will discuss the issue of forest land conversions to vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties and answer questions. Issues to be discussed include: the application process to convert -- vineyards expansion -- pending local conversion applications -- biodiversity impacts -- water rights -- pesticides -- landowner rights -- water diversion and aquifers -- tourism -- wildlife corridors -- zoning. Sponsored by the Gualala River Watershed Council. Email for more info.
• Thursday 4/19 - Sustainable Sonoma County Seasonal Celebration - 6:30 - 9:30 PM - Sebastopol Teen Center, 425 Morris Street, Sebastopol. Celebrate Spring, our network of friends, and the important work in which we are all engaged. You can meet, mingle, eat, talk, sing, swap information, calculate your Ecological Footprint, hold discussion groups, and help begin a local Sustainability Alliance Network. Music by "Simple Gifts." Bring information for tabling and post upcoming events on our calendar. Bring friends, instruments, songs, and discussion ideas. Free. Information: 829-7333.
• Saturday 4/7 - Russian River Tributary Creeks Stewardship Program Symposium 9 AM - 12 PM - Steele Lane Community Center, 415 Steele Lane Santa Rosa. Slides and talks on past efforts, and discussion future plans in tributary watersheds, including Fife, Hobson, Hulbert, Maacama, Matanzas, McNab, Parsons and Upper Mark West Creeks. Free and open to the public; residents in the participating watershed are encouraged to attend. Sponsored by Sotoyome RCD Russian River Creek Stewardship Program. Coffee and donuts will be served. Space limited, RSVP by March 30, 2001. Sierra Cantor at (707) 569-1448
• Saturday 3/31 - Enviro Dinner 2001 - 5:30-9 PM, Sebastopol Vets Auditorium. Click on title for full info and reservation forms.
• Saturday 3/31 - Water Rights Workshop - 9 AM - 5 PM - Finley Center, 2060 West College Ave (at intersection of Stony Point/Marlow), Santa Rosa. What are the legal underpinnings of the way we use and abuse the most precious resource of our region? Familiarity with water rights issues is indispensable for advocating on behalf of public trust values. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters and Mendocino County Water Agency.
  • 
    Opening remarks by Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey
    
    Morning speakers on water law
           Harrison Dunning, Professor of Law, UC Davis
           Antonio Rossman, Professor of Law, UC Berkeley
           Carl Hauge, California State Water Resources
    
    Afternoon panels on Russian River
           Main Stem Water Rights
                  Jerry Johns, Division of Water Rights
                  Bill Hearn, National Marine Fisheries
                  Stan Griffin, Trout Unlimited
                  Paula Whealin, Wagner & Bonsignore
                  Park Steiner, Steiner Environmental Consulting
    
      Tributary Water Rights
                  Rich Satkowski, Division of Water Rights
                  Bill Cox, California Dept of Fish and Game
                  Bill Trush, Coastal Stream Management Project
                  Stephan Volker, Brecher & Volker LLP
    
    Closing remarks
                  Maria Rea, State Resources Agency
                  Lt. Colonel Timothy O'Rourke, US Army Corps of Engineers

  Event is free, but reservations are encouraged, as space may be limited.  Purchase lunch by sending $8 with your reservation (check payable to "Sonoma County League of Women Voters").  For more information or to reserve your space, contact Linda Curry, Russian River Watershed Council Coordinator, PO Box 3908, Santa Rosa, CA 95402, phone (707) 526-7865

• Saturday 3/10 - Transportation Options: a moderated discussion - 10 AM - Forum Room of Main Library in Santa Rosa. In the light of Federal and State money imminently to be applied to Highway 101, it is important to apply environmental perspective to the transportation options developing for Sonoma County. Can we define a Big Green Tent to encompass the views on mobility of the many environmental groups and individuals in this county? Sponsored by the So Co Transportation and Land-use Coalition. For more info and questions about participation, call or email George Ellman: 996-0601.
• Friday 3/9 - "Your Water, Your Wallet, Your Health" - 7 - 9:30 pm -Santa Rosa Vets Memorial Bldg - Lodge Room, 1351 Maple Avenue (across from County Fairgrounds). A free public forum on Sonoma County's rising water rates, increased threats to the safety of our drinking water and the deteriorating health of our watersheds. Join Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin and a lively panel of experts to find out how Sonoma County Water Agency contracts and other development in your watershed will affect you, your family, public health, water rates and the future of Sonoma County!
  • PANELISTS include:
    Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin
    David Keller - Former Petaluma City Council member
    Laurel Marcus - Watershed Scientist
    Brenda Adelman - Dir. of Russian R Watershed Protection Committee
    Sonoma County Water Agency Representative
    Nadananda - Executive Director of Friends of the Eel River

    SPONSORS (and information):
    Town Hall Coalition - 707-874-9110 / townhall@sonic.net
    Russian River Environmental Forum - 707-431-7107 / Fax: 707-433-8162
    Northern California River Watch - 707-874-2579 / rvrwatch@sonic.net
    Russian River Watershed Protection Committee - 707-869-0410
    Western Sonoma County Rural Alliance - 707-829-8717

• 2/28 - 3/5 Local government commissions, councils, etc.,; compiled by the indefatigable Board Watcher.
• Thursday 2/15 - No Spray Action Network public meeting - 7-9 PM, Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm, 655 Willowside Rd. bet Guerneville and Hall Roads, West of Fulton Rd. Organizing and informational meeting. Speakers will include wildlife biologist Brock Dolman of the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center and Sebastopol Mayor Larry Robinson. For further information: www.freestone.com/nospray, (707) 874-3119.
• Monday 1/22 - Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation Docent Training - 12:00-4:00PM, sessions meet through May (excluding holidays). If you want to help stir a sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students, check out our fifteen-week Laguna Docent training course. Learn about the Laguna de Santa Rosa from experienced docents and experts. Training sessions include topic presentations, field trips, and environmental interpretation techniques. For information and application materials, contact Raini Vallarino: 829-5490.