Winners of the Earth Day coloring contest see Page 8
Earth Day activities see Page 5
A special section of The Healdsburg Tribune, The Cloverdale Reveille, The Windsor Times and Sonoma West Times & News
April 21, 2016
Sonoma County’s Earth Spirits County was green before it was mainstream
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he spirit and legacy of 1970s Earth Day is not only alive and well in Sonoma County, but it has become codified in the law of the land and in a dozen public programs supporting environmental protection, energy conservation, open space preservation and mass transit development. If we were to take a brush and paint the United States in symbolic “green” Earth Day tones, we would have to reserve the greenest hues for Sonoma County, equal in shade to other regions such as the Pacific Northwest, rural New England and small dots of smart growth urban enclaves. Why and how did the lessons of the original Earth Day become such an endurable and living part of Sonoma County and its people? Although eternally blessed with a native beauty and expansive diversity of plants, animals, landscapes and abundant natural resources, Sonoma County in the 1970s also was part of a California with a booming population, historical public infrastructure development of dams, highways and new cities and a dominant political belief in a gold standard of “the more growth the better.” But a funny thing happened on the way to this Golden Temple of Eternal Expansion. One of the biggest jolts was the offshore oil spill at Santa Barbara in 1969 when 100,000 gallons of oil spilled from offshore drilling rigs onto the beaches, killing thousands of birds. Only a few years earlier, protesting citizens had blocked PG&E’s nuclear power plant development at Bodega Bay on the San Andreas fault line. An awakening had begun over some of the dirty and hidden costs of this Golden dream. In 1975, a major court case over the “Petaluma Plan” gave new growth control powers to local communities for the first time in America. The county’s most southern city had tripled in population since 1950 and Petalumans sought far-reaching protections against suburban sprawl and erosion of their small town rural character. The citizens won, and big parts of the “Petaluma Plan” were incorporated five years later into the county’s first modern General Plan, that has been steering Sonoma County’s city-centered growth ever since. Sonoma County’s proximity to San Francisco, Berkeley and the Bay Area also brought a shaggy,
to work with private owners to both protect private lands and provide new public access. Recent success stories have included the Mt. Taylor Regional Open Space and Healdsburg’s Fitch Mountain. The Open Space District was part of the effort to place the Gualala River watershed’s Preservation Ranch in open space protection and just recently celebrated the opening of the Sears Point marshlands. Sonoma Clean Power (sonomacleanpower.org) Created in 2008 by county voters, Sonoma Clean Power now serves all residents and businesses (except Healdsburg) with renewable and hydropower sources that has decreased overall greenhouse gas emissions by 53,579 metric tons in the last four years. SCP is a public-owned organization and is also becoming a major local employer. Center for Climate Protection (climateprotection.org) Founded in 2001, this non-government, nonprofit clearinghouse and action center today helps coordinate local actions by individuals, communiwalk beside me — A “grandfather” oak at Shiloh Park beckons the hiker to take to the trail. ties and 10 local governments to PHOTO BY raY HOlleY reduce greenhouse emissions through educational, monitoring and direct-action programs. The colorful and counterculture wave (It wasn’t just the young and fresh m) This nonprofit, volunteerstrong organization is dedicated to Solar Sonoma program is also of new settlers. Included were beards. Already here fighting the based here offering local residents young drop-outs from San good fight for open space and open both advocacy and education proand businesses information and grams about the health of the Francisco’s hippie days and cause- politics were Bill and Lucy support for solar power installaRussian River watershed. Topics seeking student graduates from Kortum, Rose Gafney, Barry tions, water and energy conservathat volunteers are currently UC Berkley and the new Sonoma Keane, Marty Griffin, Huey engaged in include riverside habi- tion projects and lending proState College in Cotati, opened in Johnson and other earth elders.) grams. tat restoration, water quality and 1961 with 250 students. Today, some 46 years since the SMART Sonoma-Marin Area quantity, gravel mining and forIn 1970, and for several years ecological awakenings of the first Rail Transit est-to-vineyard conversion issues. after, these newest county resiEarth Day, Sonoma County has (sonomamarintrain.org) A tax Annual projects include stream dents lived, sang and flaunted the become a place where Earth Day authority and government agency cleanups and a Great River Race, spirit of Earth Day. They moved can be celebrated every day of the was approved by Sonoma and back to the land, into communes, year and the opportunity to honor scheduled this year for May 21. Marin county voters in 2008 to Laguna de Santa Rosa tree houses and old farmsteads. Mother Earth is as close as a few build a commuter train and pedesFoundation They created food co-ops, open-air steps from local residents’ front trian/bicycle pathway along a 70(lagunafoundation.org) celebrations, creek cleanups and door or driveway. mile corridor between San Rafael Established in 1989 and hiring its tie-dyed fashions. They talked the Here are a few Earth Dayand Cloverdale to reduce congesfirst staff in 2002, this organizapolitics of honoring Mother Earth inspired resources and pursuits: tion keeps hundreds of volunteers tion on Highway 101 and decrease and they trashed mass conSonoma County Parks busy with habitat restoration and overall vehicle greenhouse gas sumerism. They started their own (parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov.) emissions. The first sections of the educational programs. The newspaper, the Sonoma County There are more than 50 parks, train service are scheduled to Laguna de Santa Rosa is a 22-mile Stump. They helped get Gov. trails and public access areas oper(Moonbeam) Jerry Brown elected ated by the county parks staff. An long fresh water estuary that sup- begin late this year. The development of the SMART train has ports 200 species. Ongoing issues and their most popular reading annual pass ($69, $49 for seniors) allowed the Sonoma-Marin region continue to be nearby agriculture material was the Whole Earth is a true bargain. County parks to win increased federal transit activity, urban wastewater disCatalogue. staff also offer interpretative proand energy conservation funds. charges, coordination of Guess what happened next? grams, group education sessions private/public land ownership and The massive infrastructure project These longhaired, barefoot, idealand volunteer work programs. has not been without controversy flood control. istic and (some) hedonistic young There is also the Sonoma County where long-range financial susSonoma County Agricultural people didn’t go away. They Parks Foundation (sonomacountytainability, adequate ridership and Preservation and Open Space became teachers, nurses, lawyers, parksfoundation.org) for anyone delayed completion of the most elected officials, mainstream jour- wishing to make further donations District (sonomaopenspace.org) northern segments still await testCreated by county voters in 1990, nalists and influential policy mak- or legacy contributions. ing. this public district has preserved ers. Look around — or look in the Russian Riverkeeper (rus– Rollie Atkinson over 106,000 acres and continues mirror — they are still here today. sianriverkeeper.drupalgardens.co
The Russian River: lifeblood of the region
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he Russian River Watershed drains 1,500 square miles of fertile farmland, forests and towns. From Willits to Jenner, the river meanders 110 miles through two counties on its way to the Pacific Ocean. It provides clean drinking water to 600,000 people and is home to a remarkably diverse population of aquatic, terrestrial and flying creatures. A watershed is more than a river, even more than the smaller flows that feed that river. A watershed starts on a mountaintop or a ridgeline. Precipitation, geology and gravity combine to form rivulets, streams, creeks and washes. Seeds, sediment and silt are transported by water, ending up as farmland. The river itself heaves out of its banks in certain years, chang-
ing course, creating or reclaiming land, and always depositing rich sediment on the land of grateful farmers. The watershed encompasses multiple habitats. Kingfishers chatter and dive along waterways, Mountain Lions prowl the grasslands and King Snakes hunt for rattlers. The watershed – a river at its core – flows through communities of humans as well. Always an amenity, sometimes a peril, a source of pride and prosperity, the Russian River is a constant reminder of our connection to the coursing life of the land. The river was revered by our earliest natives, who were followed by settlers who sought to tame it. It’s now appreciated by the people who fish it, swim it, drink from it and have come to love it. – Ray Holley