October 2, 2018
Liz Writes Life
What a great rain most of Scott Valley enjoyed Saturday
afternoon. I went down to the Kidder Creek Orchard Harvest Fest to visit with
my daughter-in-law and grandkids. You could pick apples, play games, enjoy a
free pony ride and jump in bouncy houses. I hadn’t attended for several years
and was surprised there were so many people. Lots and lots of cars were parked
in the upper field and nice open-air vans transporting us down to the
festivities.
Marion Steelman’s band was set to play music on the open
field at 6 p.m., but at 5:40 p.m. there was a down poor. Rain ruined the
activities, but what a welcome relief to our drought-worn area. Most everyone
headed for home, including me! I heard that Etna had several good rains, but
when I arrived home, near Callahan, the dust hadn’t hardly been settled. Nuts!
Rumor has it, the buck hunters were excited by the change in
the weather!
Autumn
It is officially fall and the leaves are turning gorgeous
yellows, orange and reds. My cosmos have dried-up, but the yellow zinnias are
still putting out and a last-gasp of volunteer purple morning glories are
climbing on them. Very pretty!
My tomato plants and lemon cucumber plants look pretty
straggly, even without a frost. I did hear that there was some frost outside of
Fort Jones last week. I need to get two more batches of Green Tomato Sweet
Relish canned and cut-up ripe tomatoes and freeze them on a big pan. After they
are frozen, I gather them up and put them in a zip-lock plastic bag. It is easy
to grab a hand-full of frozen tomatoes to put in taco hamburger or soups. I’ve
been doing this for several years and appreciate their fresh flavor in winter
dishes.
Then, the vegetable plants and a lot of flowers need to get
pulled-out and much of my irrigating will be done for the year. Yahoo! Funny,
how we can hardly wait to get the garden going in spring and by mid-September,
I am ready to wind it down.
I have put off starting a fire in my stove and it is almost over-flowing
with paper garbage. With that cool spell several weeks ago, I anticipated
building a fire and began saving more burnable stuff. This reminds me of a cute
Ace Reid cartoon that was published in my dad’s weekly Western Livestock
Journal newspaper. The skinny cowboys in the cartoon were in Texas from a time
period before I was born. In the one I am thinking about, they are in the
bunkhouse and the woodstove is over-flowing with garbage. One says he can tell
it must be close to winter, cuz no more garbage will fit in the stove. That was
back when there wasn’t nearly the pre-packaged stuff that we have today.
POW
Ray Haupt, chairman of the Siskiyou Co. Supervisors’ Board
and our Dist. 5 Supervisor, was our speaker at the Scott Valley Protect Our Water
meeting last week. He had lots to share, so let’s get started.
Ray learned that the law enforcement side of the CA Dept. of
Fish and Wildlife is, once again, pushing for water right holders to purchase a
permit in order to open their headgate. This issue has been in limbo; and is
why Protect Our Water organized back in May of 2010, when the state agency was
demanding a first-year $100 fee for a permit to obtain our legal water. The
agency was planning on increasing the fees in future years. We protested and it
went into limbo.
Apparently, there is a disconnect between the administrative
side of the CADFW and the law enforcement side, which gets its marching orders
from Chuck Bonham, the state director. By mid-October or November, most
irrigators will be shutting-off any water that is still available for use. It
is the end of growing season and end of the use of their water right. So, this
will likely be a battle next spring.
Then, some ranchers have received letters claiming huge fines
are owed the state for not reporting water usage or not reporting it on time.
One rancher told Ray that he was three days late and the fine was over
$200,000! This has not been resolved, but is certainly an over-the-top threat
by a state agency. This new demand for reporting water usage is still in its
infancy as a new state regulation. Hopefully, the Farm Bureau and Cattlemen
Associations are tracing down the problem.
It is budget time and the supervisors will be working all day,
today, on what was a $3 million shortfall. Department heads have been cutting
back over the years and -- without a robust economy in the county – there just
isn’t enough money. Ray said he is butting heads with Sheriff Jon Lopey and
District Attorney Kirk Andrus over the policy of when employees can use county
vehicles. To fix the situation, there will be more discussion today and Ray
hopes to get an ordinance in place. Apparently, there has been no set policy to
guide the situation.
I remember when there were complaints about our previous Dist.
5 Supervisor, Marcia Armstrong, using a county vehicle to drive from her home
in Quartz Valley to her meetings. Ray said he uses his own vehicle and is
re-paid for the mileage he uses for county business.
One of Ray’s long-time friends, James Hubbard, has been
confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and
Environment of the USDA. Ray knew Jim from his fire fighting years in the
Forest Service and said he is a good man to try to get sensible firefighting
back into the Forest Service.
Then, Ray announced he received an invitation from the White
House to attend a meeting with key White House staff on Oct. 23, 2018 in
Washington D.C. The discussion will be specifically about fires in Northern California.
One of Ray’s comments to the federal government staff will be: Your policies
are chocking my constituents with smoke! Hopefully, this meeting will improve
how the USFS fights fires. The agency needs to put them out!
Meetings
Brandon Criss, Siskiyou Co. Supervisor for Dist. 1, will be
speaking at the Crebbin Ranch at 6438 Lower Little Shasta Road, outside of
Montague, this Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. on local issues. Also, Grace Bennett,
a past Siskiyou Co. Supervisor and Yreka City Mayor, will share information on
Measure L regarding the need to support our cemetery districts. All are
invited. Bring a coat as the meeting will be held outdoors.
Also, the Etna FFA is holding its annual fundraiser
barbecue/auction this Sat., Oct. 6, 2018 at 5 p.m.
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. Check out her blog at:
LizWritesLife.blogspot.com
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