Liz Writes Life 7-28-21 -- Need state and federal agencies to help Siskiyou County, CA

Liz Writes Life

July 28, 2021

Sure did appreciate Assemblywoman Megan Dahle’s press release in last week’s edition. It was titled: Illegal marijuana growers pose threat to communities, ecosystems in the North State. Boy, did she hit the nail on the head. The crime syndicates are working hard to take over our county. I am grateful Assemblywoman Dahle was able to take the aerial tour to see the immensity of the illegal greenhouse grows and toxic, garbage-filled areas in the A-12 Shasta Valley area.

State agencies, especially anything to do with the environment, should be aghast at the devastation to the environment. Why the Bureau of Cannabis Control, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Guard, and the Department of Justice are not up here – in force – is frustrating and beyond my comprehension. Our county needs support from these state agencies.

Siskiyou County also needs help from federal agencies starting with more law enforcement. Our California Dist. 1 Congressman Doug LaMalfa is seeking help from federal agencies. He has reported “threats” that have been made towards our sheriff and the county to the FBI asking for help. We also need U.S. Marshals, Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Wildlife Service officials here to see first-hand the destruction and help abate it.

Last week, LaMalfa released four videos specific to the main issues with these organized crime activities. The videos are short from three to six minutes long and packed with visuals and information. You can find the videos on “Rep. Doug LaMalfa” youtube page. The name of the videos are: “Rep. LaMalfa, Sheriff LaRue and Supervisor Haupt at the illegal grows”; “Siskiyou OES visit to discuss Lava fire and illegal grows”; “Inside the grows and the impact on the environment”; and “Bulldozing the grows”.

LaMalfa said, “I went to see firsthand the massive amount of organized crime and illegal cartel grow operations overwhelming Siskiyou County. The rapid growth of this criminal enterprise was staggering. Just a few years ago the area was sparsely populated with juniper and scrub brush dotting the rocky hillsides at the base of Mt. Shasta. Now, thousands of illegal grows have filled the landscape with large greenhouses. Trash, illegally used pesticides, human waste and fuel cover the ground that has been scraped bare of organic matter with nothing but dust left. Nothing about the organized criminal grows in Siskiyou county is legal. These grow sites are destroying our environment. Local wildlife is now nonexistent in the area. This level of criminality cannot be tolerated.”

LaMalfa’s press release also stated: A court order won by District Attorney Kirk Andrus allowed a portion of the over 4000 illegal grow sites to be bulldozed and begin environmental remediation. The good work of Sheriff Jerimiah LaRue enforcing the water limitations into the grow areas has been effective in reducing some of the criminal operations. Siskiyou County needs the help of the Federal and State government to help solve this problem.

I send a big “thank you” to both Assemblywoman Dahle and Rep. LaMalfa for their huge efforts and support on this overwhelming criminal situation.

Garden

Yep, there was another deer problem last week. While visiting with friends in my living room, Ed happened to look out the sliding glass window to see a doe standing there! This meant she had walked up the stairs. By the time I made it to the door, she had jumped the rail and ran out the other side of the porch. Sheesh.

So the next morning, I doubled the plastic fencing and placed in front of the steps. It looks formable with more baling twine hanging on it. I did attach it like a Portuguese gate against the opposite fence. I also unrolled the netting at the other end of the garden fence to block-off that end of the porch. On Thursday afternoon, the doe was spotted standing on the patio looking at the porch. Darn, she will continue to try and get in the garden.

I do feel sorry for the deer and wildlife as there isn’t much food out there due to this drought. I was hand-irrigating the other morning and the doe with twin fawns strolled along the fence (wishful thinking). The babies were bouncing and cavorting around. They are cute until they get in the garden!

Began picking cucumbers last week and made two quarts of dill pickles. Volunteer dill is growing several places. It seems to like to grow with the pink hollyhocks. The garden looks like it is thriving as the pumpkin, tomatoes and zucchini plants are getting big along with the blooming zinnias, Black eye Susans, calendula, pink-petal Echinacea and four-foot tall comfrey. The rhubarb is holding its own in this heat and I continue to give it extra water every day.

May peace and calm be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!

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

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Liz Writes Life 7-21-21 -- Need for much more storage of water in California

July 21, 2021

Liz Writes Life

Yep, wildfires are bad throughout the West. On July 15, 2021, the National Interagency Fire Center reported 68 active large fires burning in 10 Western states affecting over one million acres. Eight of those fires are in California.

So, I thought it was significant when I read that a bipartisan press call was held, on July 15, 2021, by four congressmen to discuss firefighting efforts and the drastic need for prevention of wildfires. Our CA. Dist. 1 Congressman, Doug LaMalfa is a member of the Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus. He, along with Congressmen Joe Neguese (D-CO), John Curtis (R-UT) and John Garamendi (D-CA) provided up-to-date info to news reporters and the public.

Also, last April the wildfire caucus sent a letter to Appropriators in Congress asking for a huge increase in funding for wildfire resiliency and prevention in this year’s appropriations bill. I don’t know if that happened. I will check with LaMalfa’s staff, Erin Ryan.

Congressman LaMalfa continues to be frustrated over California’s “failure to plan for drought.” Before being elected to congress, he served as a California Assemblyman and then state senator. So, he knows firsthand the need to store water and advocated to get the Sites Reservoir near Maxwell approved. Unfortunately, Sites still hasn’t been built -- which is a really sad situation.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called for the reduction of water usage – by about everyone, except fish. Last week, Newsom issued an Executive Order for residents to reduce their home water usage by at least 15 percent. LaMalfa couldn’t let Newsom’s response to the drought go without making a comment.

LaMalfa said, “The problems we face today are a failure of management and a failure to invest in new water storage before another inevitable drought. Governor Newsom failed our state by not calling for a statewide emergency early this spring. Urban household water use has seen mandatory cuts, agriculture has endured drastic cuts, to as low as zero in large acreages of our state. “Allowing environmental water flows to go unscathed in meeting pre-drought goals when it could have been conserved for when and for who it was most needed is a colossal failure.

“It means we all suffer now, agriculture and urban people. It’s past time for Governor Newsom to spread the pain to his environmentalist friends and for them to bear their share of the shortage burden.”  

Boy, do I agree.

Go Bag

Well, I took retired Cal-Fire Capt. Dan Dorsey’s advice and came up with a plan for what to take – if I need to evacuate. I pulled down several suitcases that are on rollers and organized what was most important. Deciding is the hardest part!

Last September, Callahan was threatened with a wildfire coming down South Fork of the Scott River. This was a week after the Happy Camp Slater Fire and the Almeda Fire in Southern Oregon burned well over 2,300 homes. Even though, I was just outside the evac zone, I thought I should load up my car with my most important items.

Well, it took me over three hours, because I wasn’t organized and had not prioritized anything!

So, I am pleased to report that I have my items in groups of importance. And the list is made. Unfortunately, I don’t move as fast as I once did, so what all actually makes it to the car will depend on how close the fire is and how much time I have. Good luck getting your plan ready!

Garden

The deer saga continues: Again, I was lucky to be looking out the window and watched a doe walk up the garden fence line, then sniffed the plastic deer fence that crossed in front of the porch steps. She looked like she knew what she was doing! By the time I stepped out the sliding glass door, she had squeezed between the wooden pole and the fence. Luckily, she went back the way she came through, but I knew that I needed to make a better barrier. So, the next morning, I used the last large piece of eight-foot tall plastic fencing and secured a firmer barrier, but this time to the stair rail.

Every morning, I spend 30 minutes to an hour hand-irrigating and weeding; and I am OK with that, since the only way I can keep up with the weeds, fertilizing and checking on the plants is to be out there each day. The vegetable plants are hand-watered in the morning and then the soaker hose runs for 45 minutes in late afternoon. Soaker hoses on hand-timers irrigate the flowers and perennials.

There were several quart jars with dried oregano, in my cupboard, so I really didn’t need to dry oregano. But, I harvested two small batches anyway. They fit into a paper bag. Couldn’t believe it when it dried in just a few days in the warm (closed-off) bedroom.

Also, was surprised at how tall the chocolate mint patch had grown, so I decided to cut about half of it and divided among four paper bags to dry in the warm bedroom. I sure do like the chocolate mint for hot tea in the winter. Do not care for it as well as the fresh wild peppermint that I use to flavor cold water kept in the refrig in the summer.

Oh, I almost forgot to brag that I harvested my first two small zucchini back on July 5th. Tomatoes are growing, but will be another month before they are ripe.

May peace and calm be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!

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 can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 7-14-21 - Congressman LaMalfa and Sheriff LaRue headline Republican Siskiyou County meeting

Liz Writes Life

July 14, 2021

Congressman LaMalfa and Sheriff LaRue headline Republican meeting

On July 8, 2021, California Dist. 1 Congressman Doug LaMalfa visited Siskiyou County holding several meetings and speaking at the Siskiyou Conservative Republicans’ meeting in Montague and later speaking to the Siskiyou Patriots’ at in Yreka. I was able to attend the earlier Republican meeting and quickly learned that Siskiyou Co. Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue would also speak. So, I pulled out my trusty notepad and went to work taking notes.

Yep, current issues related to fires, the outside media calling Siskiyou County “racist” over illegal cannabis grows and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s recent decision to approve the transfer of the license for the four Lower Klamath Hydroelectric dams from PacifiCorp to the non-profit Klamath River Renewal Corp. were major topics.

Sheriff LaRue spoke first and was upbeat. “No matter how bad things get, we still need to smile,” he said, “Good will prevail.” I sure like his can-do attitude!

He expressed his appreciation for the support he has received from his department and throughout the Siskiyou community during his first nine months in office. LaRue then admitted there has been “a lot of noise that isn’t true” relating to the Lava Fire, started by lightning on June 25, 2021 -- and Hmong residents living in the A-12 Road area. He said it is “strange” to have a shooting death during fire evacuations, but it happened. Also “strange” was the fact that 14 arrests were made, because individuals were running the blockades. A-12 and Highway 97 were shut-down at various times in the early days of the Lava Fire. It was a very serious time.

Evacuating the Lake Shastina area went “very smooth,” he said, “but the evac process in the Shasta Vista area was more difficult.”

This is the area that recently saw hundreds of large greenhouses built and they are full of illegal grows of cannabis with thousands of people living in camping type of situations. Not in homes.

Adding to the chaos was the fact that firefighters were being threatened and blocked from getting into and out of fire fighting areas -- by these local residents. Yep, it was a “hostile” situation, said Sheriff LaRue. Besides encouraging life-saving evacuations, law enforcement also needed to be there to protect the fire fighters. Outrageous for sure!

Sheriff LaRue said his department received backup from many law enforcement agencies with 50 extra officers arriving to help.

Sheriff LaRue also mentioned: Because of the recent strict county ordinances that do not allow farmers to sell or transport their water pumped from agricultural wells to off-property, (the water was going to the illegal cannabis grows) he has been able to accomplish stronger enforcement. More than 20 water trucks have been confiscated from these actions, the sheriff said!

After a fine lunch of barbecue ribs and salads by Dave and Kathy Tyler and cupcakes by Jackie Twilliger, Congressman LaMalfa accepted the microphone and discussed several of his votes on bills in congress and his interactions with fellow congress people.

LaMalfa continues to work on saving the four Klamath hydroelectric dams. Doug said that FERC made its most recent decision, so it wouldn’t get saddled with liabilities. He said that because the states of California and Oregon have been named (by FERC) as co-licensees with the non-profit KRRC, they “cannot escape the liability of environmental damages.” This could be very costly!

It has been estimated at least 20 million cubic yards of sediment is backed up behind the dams and will cause tremendous environmental and water quality damage to the Klamath River, when released. Doug said that number has been increased by three fold and it is more likely that 60 million cubic yards of sediment will pollute the entire region out to the Pacific Ocean if the dams come out.

The public scoping process has begun, which is part of the information that must be obtained to complete the Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act. The four meetings will be held on zoom, but LaMalfa said we should demand that at least one of these sessions must be held in Siskiyou County in a town hall-type meeting, so more individuals will be able to voice their concerns – on record.

There is hope regarding the NEPA process. Doug explained that there are many environmental arguments that should prove the terrible detrimental aspects of dam destruction.

On that note, I wanted to let you all know Siskiyou County began its process of using the administrative steps that must be taken before a lawsuit can be implemented to stop dam destruction. At the July 6, 2021 Siskiyou Co. Supervisors’ Board meeting, Chairman Ray Haupt moved to file a rehearing petition with FERC on the relicensing decision from PacifiCorp to KRRC for de-commissioning the dams. It was seconded by Michael Kobseff and passed.

This is an appeal on FERC’s decision in (legal) petition form. Ray told me it is a long process with many legal steps that must be taken. It is comparable to walking up to a gate – before it can be opened. And because the administrative process is complicated, there will be more gates that must be opened before a lawsuit can be filed.

So, even though the threat of dam removal is real, it is still a few years away and is not final.

Go Bag

During the Republican meeting, Dan Dorsey encouraged everyone to have a “Go Bag” ready, because in extreme situations you may only have five minutes to decide what is important if you need to evacuate. Dan is the new chairman for the Siskiyou Co. Republican Central Committee, but he is also a retired Fire Captain for Cal-Fire and has been involved in drastic fire situations.

Dan said to get a set or two of clothes, important documents, water bottles, food and remember medicines and prescriptions should be gathered into one spot for easy access. Don’t just think about it, Dan said to “do it!”

May peace and calm be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!

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 can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 7-7-21 -- More than 12 cannabis are illegal

Liz Writes Life

July 7, 2021

Thorny issue

The Shasta Valley Lava Fire has certainly caused more bias and calls of racism, which is frustrating. I just wish news reporters (and others) would refer to the massive greenhouses growing marijuana as “illegal,” because that is the correct adjective for the illegal greenhouses that burned in Shasta Vista area. Siskiyou County’s ordinance allows for the “legal” growing of 12 cannabis plants. If more than 12 plants are growing in any area, it is a “criminal” activity and should be referred to as such. If you question the situation, you need to ask Siskiyou Co. Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue. Or, count the burned cannabis plants inside the wildfire- burned greenhouses that can be witnessed in published photos.

More Garden, but no peril

The soaker hoses seem to be doing their job. With this terrible heat, I have been hand-irrigating some plants a second time each day. It doesn’t take much for the pumpkins, zucchinis and an Echinacea to get weepy in mid-afternoon. But, I now have four different lines of soaker hoses going off in night time and spend only about a half-hour each morning doing supplemental irrigation. Yay! The other six hoses are hand-timers; three need to go off every day and three every-other day – and I can get that done easily enough.

Last week, I made bigger water bowels around the pumpkins, tomatoes and zucchini; then weeded and made trenches on both sides of the eight cantaloupe and seven cucumbers. After doing this, I added manure and bark mulch to all the plants. Boy, it looked great! The bark mulch was over a year old, because I didn’t use it last year. I also added the mulch to several flower beds, including the one by the house with cosmos that are 10-inches tall. They should reach four-feet by mid-August, when they really put out the blooms.

Surprisingly, I feel like I was able to keep up with all that needed to be done in May and June, while the plants were getting their roots. Some years, it has seemed like I was always behind.

Before the end of June, I decided to dig the garlic out of the ground. Hadn’t watered for a week and the soil was getting hard. My shovel did ding five garlics, but ended up with 25 nice big bulbs. Guess the one dose of sulfate-of-potash and fertilizing several times did the trick! Gardening advice says to dry them in a cool dry place. Well, no place is cool right now, so I put them in two paper grocery bags and brought them into the house. So far, my bedroom doesn’t smell too garlicy!

Summer flowers are starting to bloom. Humming birds and bees are happy sipping on the red-crowned bee balm (five-feet tall) and pink or red hollyhocks. Volunteer rose campions are blooming on the fence line and anywhere that I didn’t dig them up. But, they are a happy bright companion to the small daisy-like, but tall fever few – that are also volunteer. The orange daylilies popped open just before July and the large Shasta Daisies are just getting started. I keep forgetting to mention the begonias are doing just ok. They get shade from the pine tree in the afternoon, which is good, and I am trying to fertilize them more often, but they take their time growing big. They do have blooms, so I shouldn’t complain.

Congressman LaMalfa

Our CA. Dist. 1 Congressman, Doug LaMalfa, continues to advocate for wildfire reform. During the past five years, his district has been hit hard by wildfires like the November Camp Fire that destroyed the City of Paradise, to hundreds of homes and business lost by fires attacking the City of Redding, and then the loss of much of Happy Camp on the Klamath River in Siskiyou County last September.

Last week, LaMalfa issued the following statement to influence U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration:

“Extreme environmentalists have weaponized the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act and are using frivolous lawsuits to block nearly every forest thinning project or salvage sale that the U.S. Forest Service proposes. As President Biden begins his discussions on how to address wildfires, I urge him to focus on litigation reform as we desperately need that for proper forest management.

“The decline of responsible timber harvesting and the lack of active management have created overstocked forests. This decline has resulted in the closure of the majority of California’s lumber mills, thus eliminating the very tools needed to help get our overgrown forests under control. We need a sustained commitment to decades of increased thinning to bring our western forests back to the majestic jewels they were at the turn of the 20th century. Until everyone, regardless of party, gets serious about fixing our broken forest management, we will continue to see catastrophic fires.”

LaMalfa added that over 68 million acres burned in the last decade and over 10 million acres burned in 2020 alone in western United States.

 

LaMalfa issued another statement after he voted against the House Democrats partisan infrastructure package, H.R. 3684, the “Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act.” He said he voted against the bill, because the legislation will spend $548 billion during the next five years. Half of that – about $276 billion – will be spent fulfilling the goals of the Green New Deal. As a result, the Highway Account, which collects gas taxes to pay for road and bridge projects across the U.S. could go bankrupt within two years!

Apparently, significant funds will not be going where they should – like pouring concrete and pavement to improve infrastructure of roads and bridges. Yep, I agree with our congressman.

May peace and calm be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!

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 can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 6-30-2021 -- Water Board meeting on Scott and Shasta Rivers is July 1

Liz Writes Life

June 30, 2021

Garden update

Yep, it is hot! But as long as the plants have water they are growing by leaps and bounds. It is time to fertilize, again, with the Hawaiian Buds and Blooms this week. I weeded everything in the vegetable garden, last week, and will need to do it again later this week. Doesn’t take long for the weeds to grow, when they get water too – from the soaker hoses!

My gardening is always an adventure and I had a surprise last Wednesday. I just happened to look out my bedroom window about 4 p.m. and a scrawny yearling deer was climbing through the boards in the garden fence. He or she has been hanging around the place here by itself. One doe just had twins and another doe was hit by a car three weeks ago on Hwy 3 and died. So, I don’t know what is up with this one.

I actually felt sorry for the poor thing, but was not about to let it eat the tomato or other vegetable plants. It did get a few bites of a foot-tall amaranth and much taller hollyhock. So, I opened one garden gate and went through the opposite gate to calmly try to push it out. It missed the gate opening several times and then jumped and cleared the six-and-a-half-foot tall fence! (The top two feet is just several lines of wire.) Whew, at least it was out – without a wreck.

So, what should I do to make the garden deer-proof? And how much money would I have to spend? I am cheap.

Last fall, one doe was walking up on the porch, jumping in the garden; then, after munching, jumping back over the short-railing onto the porch and out. I watched her do it one day – it was full daylight! Most of the garden was done. I had canned and given away most of the tomatoes, so I let her eat. But, I knew I would have a deer problem sometime this summer.

After thinking and thinking and sleeping on it, the next morning I remembered some large one-inch squared plastic netting I had purchased at least 10 years ago. Hum? It has been folded-up and laying outside the garage in the weather, so I was quite shocked when it looked like it was worth using. It had been 100-feet long and eight feet wide, but was now in several shorter lengths from previous uses.

Took me about two hours to get it up about half-way around the garden fence, which was quite fast for this old gal. At least I thought it was fast.

Being thrifty, I found the orange baling twine I picked up from Highway 3 (fell off a rancher’s pickup), cut it into smaller pieces and used it to tie-up the plastic netting to posts and boards and even the wires. I have a nice little two-step stool that worked perfect to safely reach the higher places, since I am height-challenged!

The next day, I was able to purchase much smaller-squared netting that is also 100 feet long, but only seven-feet wide. And, it took another two-hours to get this up around the rest of the fence -- on Saturday morning. I left extra at both ends, so I can barricade the porch from deer entry!

Gotta say, I am pleased to have accomplished this task in just a few days. It doesn’t look pretty, but if it works I don’t care what it looks like. After all, I am proudly a Redneck!

So that is my garden saga from last week!

Drought is bad

A friend sent me a notice from the State Water Resources Control Board about a public meeting that will be held, tomorrow, July 1, 2021 regarding drought actions that could be implemented in the Scott River and Shasta River watersheds.

The meeting is from 2 to 4 p.m. and can be attended using zoom through the internet. A quorum of the State Water Board may be present at the meeting. However, no State Water Board action will be taken. But, management plans will certainly be put forward. To join the zoom meeting, go to the Water Board website and do a search.

This is an ongoing situation. On June 1, 2021, the State Water Board issued Notices of Water Unavailability to 102 diverters in the Scott River watershed. On June 15, 2021, California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife sent a letter to the State Water Board that recommended drought minimum instream flows for the Scott River and Shasta. CDFW also requested the State Water Board adopt emergency regulations. Nope, this is not good.

On June 25, 2021, CDRW sent another letter about the low flows in both rivers.

So, the State Water Board is assessing a number of actions that may be taken to address water shortages in the watersheds, including funding for water conservation or efficiency projects, temporary urgency changes, use of instream flow dedications under Water Code section 1707, forbearance, a drought emergency regulation, and increased enforcement.

Back on May 10, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom extended the drought State of Emergency to cover 41 counties. He cited critical low flows in locations, including the Klamath Basin. Stats show that the annual precipitation levels are half of normal across much of the Klamath Basin and that includes Shasta and Scott Valleys.

You can bet our county is working on the issue. But, the state agencies are going to be making mandates and soon.

May peace and calm be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!

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 can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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