Liz Writes Life 3-27-19

March 27, 2019

Liz Writes Life

POW

Scott Valley Protect Our Water will meet this Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 7 p.m. at the Fort Jones Community Center. I will probably bring chocolate chip cookies; more desserts are welcome. We are so lucky to have Mike and Pauline Cramer, who set up the room (Mike always expects lots of people) and Pauline makes the coffee.

President Andrew Hurlimann will facilitate the meeting. Erin Ryan, staff for Congressman Doug LaMalfa, likes to drive up to Siskiyou Co. from Redding to share info from WA D.C. She will also report on a meeting at the Israeli consulate, in San Francisco, which is on March 26. Erin said Israeli Consul General Shlomi Kofman and Deputy Consul General Ravit Baer will be answering questions. She has had Shlomi Kofman on her “We the People” radio show.

Ray Haupt, Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor said he has plenty to talk about. Some good things are happening regarding forest thinning and (much better) management to reduce the devastation of wildfire. There are still lots of state and federal regulations to deal with or remove, but Ray is involved with several groups that are making headway.

On March 27^th, Ray will be facilitating a committee meeting for the Northern CA. Coordinating Forest Task Force that includes Cal-Fire, USFS, Fire Safe Councils, counties, tribes, government agencies, and the local timber industry. For years, Ray has been frustrated with the lack of ability to thin trees and actually do sufficient fuels treatments. He welcomes this task force.

Last year, CA. Dist. 1 Congressman, Doug LaMalfa, was able to work to approve legislation, which authorized federal agencies to expedite forest thinning and fuels treatments. Then, believe it or not, our previous CA. Gov. Jerry Brown also pushed for exempting regulations. And even more is happening, this year, with the new CA. Gov. Gavin Newsom declaring a statewide emergency to speed up fire prevention efforts. Newsom cited “extreme peril” to life and property in his executive order, last Friday, which exempts forest management projects from some environmental regulations.

LaMalfa immediately praised Newsom and said this move is “recognition that excessive environmental laws are preventing proper forestry work.”

LaMalfa added, “The proposal made today is in line with the work I am doing with the Trump Administration to speed up forestry projects in order to reduce the risks of major forest fires.”

LaMalfa is a ranking member of the Forestry and Conservation subcommittee, which has been working to increase funds to the Forest Service. He reiterated the importance of California and the federal government working as partners to “improve the health of our forests while simultaneously creating jobs in rural America.”

Lisa Nixon, Siskiyou Co. Dist. 4 Supervisor, discussed this same issue on Dec. 12^th at the Siskiyou Republican Women’s Federated meeting, held in Yreka. I wasn’t able to attend the meeting, so I called Lisa and we chatted.

While, she and Supervisor Ray Haupt were sitting in a meeting with President Donald Trump, he announced a new federal attitude towards forestry. This was during Lisa and Ray’s visit to WA D.C., last November, when Pres. Trump said he had just signed a federal action rule to streamline environmental projects. Lisa said because of the early-November drastic fires that destroyed the CA. city of Paradise, including 1,400 homes and killing 85 people, the big issues were fire and forest management.

In streamlining the federal environmental projects, Lisa said Trump’s goal is for a single agency to be responsible as the lead, instead of a variety of agencies duplicating the process and making the process longer.

Lisa also explained Trump’s “Shared Stewardship Project” that allow counties to be equal partners with the USFS to implement forest plans. Trump’s comment was, “Our county leaders are where it’s at.” I take this to mean that county governments understand what needs to happen in their individual county (better than the feds) to improve forest health and public safety. Wow, that is great news! To be fair to the USFS, the agency’s hands have been tied by all the environmental lawsuits and resulting strangling regulations. It is indeed time for a change.

Lisa also said the county supervisors feel they are making headway in working with California officials and regulators, especially in dealing with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. In the past year and a half, state officials have been invited to several Water Tours held in Shasta and Scott Valleys and the result has been a “jaw-dropping” acknowledgement of the extent of water conservation by farmers and ranchers.

During lunch, after one tour, state officials told Lisa they were amazed as they had no idea there was such a cooperative stewardship by agriculture – and they were even more impressed that so much of it was voluntary. Lisa reiterated the “whole goal” is for fish and agriculture to survive together. “Heavy-handed regulations drive farmers out of business,” she said.

Garden

Sure did like the rain we received and it can keep on coming, so I don’t have to irrigate the perennials. It was so warm that I did water the tiny lettuces that are under the clear plastic tub. Then I noticed the garlic is up about two-inches and the rhubarb is emerging with its crinkled leaves. I remember two years ago, the spring was so warm with little snow or rain that the rhubarb was two-feet tall and ready to harvest the end of March. Not so this year. I haven’t noticed any asparagus poking up, yet.

Oh, several weeks ago I purchased 20 gladiolus bulbs and I really need to get them planted!  

Mary Poppins

The Yreka High School Drama Club is holding its Spring Musical 2019 at the Yreka Community Theater. I went on opening night and thoroughly enjoyed the show. There were a few technical difficulties, as happens on the first night, but the actors and actresses did a great job. There were lots of set changes, yet they flowed easily. I can’t believe how well the lead students knew their lines and there was a lot of talking. The crowd really enjoyed the group musical sets. If you like to support our youth performing the arts (and adults and students playing in the orchestra), be sure to attend this Thursday or Friday at 7 p.m. or Saturday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 3-20-19

March 20, 2019

Liz Writes Life

March Madness

Typically, an issue pops-up, which gets a significant number of people upset this time of year. Yep, it happened. Unfortunately, I have heard some pretty outlandish rumors regarding the Scott Valley Area Plan issue and fingers are pointing to the county supervisors. I don’t believe they deserve these accusations because the issue is not at their level of determination, yet.

Remember, there is a legal process that a proposed ordinance must follow. This one is still in committee and in draft form. Gee whiz, it was not a done deal – not even close.

I didn’t jump on the bandwagon when someone sent me an on-line petition to sign that was against the draft ordinance, which people seem to think will amend the Scott Valley Plan. From my discussions, I don’t believe this agri-tourism or agri-marketing ordinance will amend the Scott Valley Plan at the planning commission level; and I don’t sign any on-line petitions. The only petitions I will sign are hardcopy, where I have read the petition and then write my signature and residence, if I choose.

Michael Stapleton brought the subject up at the Feb. 28, 2019 Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting. Ray Haupt, our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, said it was at the Siskiyou Co. Planning Commission level. This means the supervisors were not yet involved, and shouldn’t be, because, and I repeat, because it was still in the draft committee stage. It is the members of the committee, who should be contacted. If you are not satisfied, then talk to your planning commissioner. This ordinance is not in front of the supervisors at this time.

Here in Siskiyou County we do not elect the planning commissioners. They are appointed by our county supervisors, who are elected from his or her district. These are our supervisors and the appointed planning commissioners: Dist. 1 Co. Supervisor Brandon Criss appointed Blair Hart. Dist. 2 Supervisor Ed Valenzuela appointed Tony Melo. Dist. 3 Supervisor Michael Kobseff appointed Danielle Lindler. Dist. 4 Supervisor Lisa Nixon appointed Dusty Veale. And Dist. 5 Supervisor Ray Haupt appointed Jeff Fowle.

Today, March 20, 3019, the draft ordinance will be brought to the Siskiyou Co. Planning Commission to approve or disapprove or to send back for revisions. I hope it will be revised to meet with more agreement from the community as there are likely legitimate concerns.  

The commission’s monthly meeting is held the third Wednesday of each month at 9 a.m. at the county courthouse in the Siskiyou Co. Supervisors’ board room. This is where you also voice your questions and frustrations and complaints. Submit your comments, so they will be part of the “record,” which then must be addressed.

Also, just because I am concerned about the lack of civility and the apparent lack of understanding of a legal county procedure, doesn’t mean I am for the draft ordinance. I have not read it. I do believe we need to define agri-tourism and agri-marketing better. I do believe in niche marketing. I am for businesses doing more than just survive in our county. Yet, our open space must be a priority. Those who have feelings on the subject should get involved.

And, some of the rumors, I have heard, also lumped several different issues into this draft ordinance. Be careful as they are different issues and must be dealt with separately. Hopefully, after today’s planning commission meeting tempers will have abated into sensibility -- or be directed at me!

Yep, March Madness is a mess. Real communication – not gossip -- is the key plus heavy doses of objectivity and calmness. But, today is the first day of spring! Maybe we all can get along.

Correction

After believing I had found the correct information on the snow measurements by the USFS in the mountains surrounding Scott Valley online, and reported it last week, I learned it was wrong. Don’t know why that info was not correct? But this week KNF, emailed its regular report stating the employees were only able to measure Swampy John above Etna at 5,500 feet above sea level. The official report said there was 106-inches of snow, which was way above the average of 71-inches making it 149 percent of average. This is really good news.

The other measuring stations were unable to be measured on March 1^st, because of the heavy storm conditions. The reports said this was a rare event in the 72-year history of measuring the five stations. So, if it doesn’t get too warm, the April 1^st measurement should be quite high. Yay!

Yep, these past days have been spring-like. Makes us want to get out and clean-up the gardens and lawns. One batch of yellow daffodils started blooming along the west side of the house. I need to check and make sure there is enough moisture under the clear plastic tub, where I planted the lettuce seeds on March 9, 2019.

PacifiCorp

Last month, PacifiCorp submitted its response to the CA. State Water Resources Control Board’s Draft Environmental Impact Report on the non-profit Klamath River Renewal Corp’s Definite Plan to remove the dams. Whew, that’s a mouthful. I read the first six pages of the 314 page document. In it PacifiCorp expresses major concerns regarding the removal of the four Klamath hydro-electric dams. This is really good stuff.

PacifiCorp’s Managing Director of Renewable Resources, Mark Sturtevant, signed the letter. In the introduction, PacifiCorp said it, “fully supports the KHSA (Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement) as a balanced outcome for its customers, so long as all the customer protections embodied in the agreement are achieved.” Later in that paragraph, the letter said, “From the outset, PacifiCorp has consistently held that its customers must be protected against the unknown costs and risks of implementing these policy preferences, and the liability and indemnification provisions of the KHSA were expressly negotiated to accomplish these protections?” Well, that is good to know.

PacifiCorp is quite concerned about liability and mentions there are many uncertain outcomes and significant risks from environmental impacts of dam removal. The best statement is the final paragraph.

“The issues we identify in our attached comments must be addressed to ensure the final EIR and water quality certification are legally justified and defensible. As detailed in our technical and legal comments, the Draft EIR does not meet the requirements of CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act). Critically, it relies on outdated data, inaccurately evaluates the impacts of sediment discharges and minimizes impacts to listed species while also overstating adverse impacts related to continued operation of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project. Our comments are intended to inform and improve the environmental analysis contained in a revised and recirculated Draft EIR, and further the KHSA signatories’ efforts to successfully fulfill all the conditions of the KHSA.”

This pretty much sums-up what the County of Siskiyou, intervener and local landowner, Loy Beardsmore, Siskiyou Water Users Association and many other concerned citizens have been saying for years. Klamath dam removal is not a done deal!

Thank you, PacifiCorp, for your thorough analysis of the Water Board’s Draft EIR!

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 3-13-19

March 13, 2019

Liz Writes Life

POW

Last week, I said I would share info from the 37-page rebuttal by Siskiyou Co. to the CA. State Water Resources Control Board’s draft Environmental Impact Report regarding Klamath dams removal. Ray Haupt talked about this at the Protect Our Water meeting held in Fort Jones on Feb. 28, 2019.

First, the county found the draft EIR failed to analyze the effects of sediment on the river beyond the five-mile mark below the Irongate Dam. Also, the draft EIR did not investigate the heavy metals and hazardous materials believed to be in the sediments below the shallow samplings back in 2012. 

The county believes any conclusion from the EIR is premature because it pre-dates any decision by FERC or additional NEPA analysis’ that FERC may require.

Later, Ray explained to me that the state also failed to do any up-to-date Endangered Species Act consultation with federal agencies for the draft EIR. Oops! Apparently, the Water Board used the old antiquated data from the 2012 federal Endangered Impact Statement. Under legal terms that data is too old to use.

The county also found the Water Board used something it called “recommended” mitigation as a measure to protect the environment, but, in law, remedies to environmental impact must be “required” mitigation. To guarantee that mitigation will actually happen, it must be legally required and funded. This is important information to a lay-person like me. Mitigations must be funded by the government! So, “recommended” mitigations won’t work. Did the Water Board try to come up with a way around mitigations?

Also, under federal and state laws, NEPA and CEQA, these required mitigations are expected to reduce impacts to fish and to the environment.

Then, last week, the county received a copy of PacifiCorp’s 314-page response to FERC regarding the Water Board’s draft EIR. Wow, I think 314 pages of comments must be significant.

“They responded with documents that voice their concerns,” Ray said, adding, “PacifiCorp is very engaged in the future of its facilities or consequences that may occur.”

Remember, it is FERC that will decide if the non-profit Klamath River Renewal Corp. will be allowed to obtain PacifiCorp’s hydro-electric licenses. It is also FERC’s decision if KRRC can destroy the dams.

To me, it looks like the Water Board’s draft EIR may not have covered all the legal bases and put the cart-before-the-horse. Remember, KRRC is certainly not the decision-maker, just a real loud strident voice. The destructive removal of the Klamath dams is not a done deal!

Garden

It is a good thing that I have to report to you every-so-often otherwise I would procrastinate and procrastinate and, well, you get the idea. I finally planted the organic butterhead “Cherokee” variety of lettuce seeds in a small 16 x 20-inch spot and covered it with a clear plastic tub. Because the soil was so moist, I used the little hand rake to scrape and dig down an inch or two. The tiny cress weeds were not growing in this spot, so the process took less than 15 minutes – even with searching for a usable plastic tub in the garage. It is so silly to put-off such a simple little project. I also sprinkled a few seeds outside one end for about 10 inches as I find they grow almost as quickly at those under the plastic tub. I put a square of chicken wire over this area to keep the cats out.

Then, I noticed that a small bunch of violets are blooming. Daffodils are budding-up. Tulips, daylilies, Shasta daisies and feverfew are poking up a few inches. And the chives are growing through the dead ones that did not get cleaned-out. Yep, it is almost spring – just one more week. And the time changed last weekend. Ugh, losing that hour sure puts me behind for a month or so.

Water

Rain and snow storms have continued to hit California. My niece, who lives down by L.A. (on the coast) reported a skiff of snow two weeks ago. And, according to the L.A. Times, this is the coldest February in that county in 140 years of record-keeping.

Blizzards have pounded the Sierra Nevada mountain range and the Mammoth Mt. resort measured 47.8 feet of snow at the summit. Wow, that is a lot of snow. A large part of Southern California – which is anything below Mt. Shasta in my opinion (ha, ha) -- depends on the Sierra snowpack for agricultural irrigation and metropolitan water. The State Dept. of Water Resources recently reported the Sierra snowpack is 153 percent of average. That is good news.

Run-off from the Russian River flooded its banks swamping homes and businesses in Sonoma County. I have noticed headlines blasting California for not having the capability to store more water from the high-running creeks and rivers. Yep, pretty stupid. The Sites Reservoir, in Colusa County, is still languishing at the drawing board. At least, from my understanding the bulldozers have not started work.

Our Congressman Doug LaMalfa constantly pushes the Sites project and even has Democrat support, but the wheels of government agencies roll way too slow. Last July, the state awarded $816 million from Prop. 1 funding to build the reservoir. Over $52 million has been spent on studies. The off-river reservoir is not considered to directly affect fish migration and could be a source of additional cold water for fall-run Chinook and coho salmon. So, what is the problem? Why the hold-up? This situation is disgusting, because storing more water will help the environment much more than hurt it.

I did not receive my usual update from the Klamath National Forest regarding our local March 1, 2019 snow surveys in the mountains surrounding Scott Valley, so I did a Google search and found an article on the KNF site. It sounded like the storms last week stopped the employees from reaching several of the sampling sites. Those were Dynamite Meadow, Middle Boulder #1 and Middle Boulder #3, which are above my place. So, they did not have a full coverage to report. 

Measurements and equivalent water content values were obtained from Scott Mt., which showed a 93 percent of average and Swampy John above Etna on Salmon Mt. at 77 percent. An automated station site at Middle Boulder #3 showed 92 percent. Pretty good news. This winter, I have noticed the snow seems to stay above the 5,000 ft. level at this south end of the valley.

Oh, my brother, Steve Dillman, called me Sunday night March 3^rd. The power had come on at 5 p.m. up there in Douglas Co., Oregon. They were without power for eight days and some snow was still on the ground. Pretty surprising! They had moved from the RV back into their house. Yum, more space!

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 3-6-19

March 6, 2019

Liz Writes Life

There was more rain and snow making closures on Forest Mt. and on Interstate 5, last week, but it has barely snowed at my place near Callahan. Buckets of water are still in my bathtub to flush the toilet, which has made the power stay on! Lots of other folks haven’t been so lucky. My brother, Steve Dillman, called on Wednesday and said his power had been off since Sunday night. It started snowing and didn’t stop until it was 14-inches deep up there in Douglas County, near Roseburg, Oregon. He is at 600 feet of elevation!

Steve was ready for such a situation with a generator to keep the freezer and refrig going in the house. He and wife, Janet, moved out into the RV, which has propane for heat, stove and refrig. Besides lots of trees and limbs crashing down throughout Oregon, he said the cell tower was out as well. So, after driving 10 miles towards I-5, he found cell service and was getting more propane. Sounded like they were doing OK and he called the situation “an adventure.” When you are a helicopter pilot, most of life is a pretty good adventure!

Garden

I didn’t get the lettuce seeds planted. The package is still sitting on the kitchen table as a reminder, so maybe this week …

Veterans

I was happy to see a “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” will be held on March 30, 2019 at 11 a.m. at the Siskiyou Golden Fairgrounds with good organizers Mark Dean, Tom Jackson and Dan Morgan. Our county supervisors passed a resolution extending their “congratulations, respect, and sincere thanks to all Viet Nam Era veterans.”

Scammers

Last week, I received several more scammer calls. One wanted to consolidate my credit cards – before I hung-up. As if in answer to my frustration of the telemarketers and scammers, Siskiyou Telephone Co. sent an FCC Consumer Advisory with info on the situation. The Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission are now sharing responsibility for enforcing the National Do-Not-Call list. If you haven’t registered for the list the number to call is 1-888-382-1222. I don’t recall if I am on it or not and my cell certainly isn’t, so I will do it this week and see if it helps.

The advisory says that if the person is “live” you should tell them that you are the telemarketer do-not-call list and get his or her name. Then make a note of the time, date, business or request from the call as you will need this info to file a complaint.

Here are the reasons of how and why to file a complaint. Note: Apparently, complaints cannot be filed against charitable groups. Violations that should be reported are: Calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.; or the telemarketer leaves a message, but fails to leave a phone number that can be used for the company specific do-not-call list; or you receive telemarketing calls from organizations you have requested not to call you; or the telemarketing firm fails to identify itself; or you receive a pre-recorded commercial message that you do not have an established business relationship.

You can file a complaint by calling 1-888-225-5322. It may take several months for your request to be on the do-not-call list actually happens, so call and complain until at least three months has past, according to the advisory info.

Klamath dams

With all the letters to the editor talking about the Klamath dams this past week, I would like to again say – the four hydro-electric dams are not yet coming out. It is not a done deal.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is proceeding with the relicensing process that was petitioned by PacifiCorp back in 2004. As a news reporter in the late 1990s, I began attending meetings where PacifiCorp was beginning the process to re-license the dams. You see, it had obtained licenses back when the dams were built and those licenses were about to expire in 2000. Typically, hydro-electric dams are licensed by FERC for 40 to 50 years. Companies like PacifiCorp need to have certainty they will be able to be in business for quite a while. I often wondered why PacifiCorp has never been given the 50-year license, but has only been granted a one-year-at-a-time license during the past 19 years. Bet it has something to do with the politics by those who want the dams to be destroyed. You think?

After the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement failed to obtain the millions of dollars needed from Congress to take the dams out, the KBRA became defunct around 2016. Since then, the non-profit Klamath River Renewal Corp. was established with the sole purpose of taking the four dams out. As PacifiCorp has been backed into a corner for nearly two decades, it has allowed KRRC to enter into a relicense agreement. That decision is now in front of FERC, which must follow federal government processes regarding such a project.

At the Feb. 19, 2019 meeting of the Siskiyou Co. Supervisors, the county provided a presentation of its response to the CA. State Water Resources Control Board’s release of the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Lower Klamath Project. No one was there to hear it, including me. Oops, so I am reading it from the agenda on-line.

The county’s response is daunting explaining not only the bad and old science that the Water Board used in its draft EIR, but outlines the correct federal procedure that FERC will follow.

One sentence in the 37-page response by Siskiyou County hits the nail on the head. It states: “The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) applies to projects that are carried out, financed, or approved in whole or in part by federal agencies; therefore, FERC must prepare an environmental impact statement prior to taking action with respect to the Proposed Project.”

I think this means the release of the Draft EIR by the state put the cart before the horse as the federal EIS has not been developed or released by FERC.

Our county’s response to the State Water Board’s Draft EIR looks like it blew a lot of holes in the Draft EIR as well as the Definite Plan provided by KRRC. I’ll provide specifics next week.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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