Help Support Important Local Reporting, Subscribe Today http://theava.com/ From WILL PARRISH Laytonville If you want to mark a point-of-no-return in the Ander son Valley’s transformation into a full-on satellite of the Napa-Sonoma industrial viticulture complex, as good a choice as any is Duckhorn Vineyards’ takeover of three properties outside of Philo and Boonville in the late-’90s. Founded … Read more
Help Support Important Local Reporting, Subscribe Today http://theava.com/ From WILL PARRISH Laytonville [Update: Investigative reporter Will Parrish will discuss his controversial recent series on the ecological toll of California’s wine industry, with a special emphasis on rapacious vineyard development in the Gualala River watershed: The North Coast Wine Industry: Draining Our Rivers Dry] ~ Don Sanderson: … Read more
Help Support Important Local Reporting, Subscribe Today http://theava.com/ From WILL PARRISH Laytonville The North Coast wine industry has long acted out a pathological conviction that it is entitled to virtually every single drop of water in every watershed it touches. As in the case of Sonoma County’s recent frost protec tion ordinance, which I detailed in the … Read more
By BRETT WILKISON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Grant Davis, the interim head of the Sonoma County Water Agency, has been hired as the agency’s general manager. The appointment was announced this afternoon by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, who also serve as the agency’s board of directors. Davis, 48, has served as the agency’s interim general … Read more
Dear Friends, We appreciate your response to our December letter. Knowing you are still with us is very encouraging. The year 2010 turned out to be a record-breaking year on the Eel River for Chinook. It was amazing to see how different river management and greater flows brought 6,000 to 10,000 Chinook back to the Eel … Read more
Humboldt County group pushes rail-to-trail conversion KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Chris Weston, founder of the Eel River Trails Association, wants to turn an unused rail line between Willits and Humboldt Bay into a trail system for hikers, cyclists and equestrians. By GLENDA ANDERSON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Published: Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 2:39 p.m. … Read more
Help Support Important Local Reporting, Subscribe Today http://theava.com/ Drinking Our Rivers Dry By WILL PARRISH The latest in California’s North Coast wine oligarchy’s long series of legislative coups de grace occurred on December 14. In a 5-0 vote, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors rubber-stamped new regulations on frost protection in the Russian River water basin, … Read more
The new school of fish The Bay Area’s smartest diners, chefs, and purveyors now know (and care) where every cut of grass-fed beef and stalk of pesticide-free produce comes from. Yet nearly all look the other way when fish is on the plate. What will it take to stop the eco-fibbing? By Erik Vance, Photographs … Read more
Help Support Important Local Reporting, Subscribe Today http://theava.com/ From WILL PARRISH Laytonville “When at last the land, worn out, would refuse to yield, they would invest their money in something else; by then they would have all made fortunes.” — Frank Norris, The Octopus, 1901 One of California agribusiness’ oldest traditions is clearing huge swaths of … Read more