Cathy Bussewitz, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The wine companies that dominate the vineyard landscape in Sonoma County frequently have played a weighty role in shaping public and environmental policies in the region.
As the industry amassed greater land holdings in the 1990s during a planting boom that nearly doubled the vineyard acreage in Sonoma County, regulators saw the need to tighten the rules on how farmers use the county’s land and water.
Growers from top companies like Rodney Strong Vineyards and Silverado Premium Properties were there every step of the way to shape the rules on how farmers use water from the Russian River and how vineyards are planted on hillsides.
via Vineyard owners shape environmental policy | The Press Democrat.