California: New Napa land clearings for Vineyards will not be offset by “mitigation.”
Popular article on this subject from NYtimes from 2002: Legal Fighting in Paradise: Fury Over Napa Vineyards: http://bit.ly/opHr
Five new vineyard development projects totaling more than 1,000 acres,
set on land between Lake Hennessey and Soscol Ridge, are on the
drawing board before the Napa County Planning Commission. One new
vineyard already has been given the green light and four others are in
various stages of the public comment process. The one poised to break
ground first is Stagecoach Vineyards, 107 acres of vines in the Rector
Canyon watershed between Rector Canyon and Sage Canyon.
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The state Department of Fish and Game wrote a letter warning that the
vineyard would “further encroach into wildlife corridors and further
impair wildlife movement” in the area. A letter from the California
Native Plant Society voiced concern that the development would hurt
the prospects for many types of native vegetation and that “genetic
flow of many plant species may be interrupted.” Nonetheless, the
county found the property owners had properly mitigated the impacts
and approved the Environment Impact Report in August 2008.
The so-called Circle S Ranch project would plant 337 acres of cabernet
sauvignon on land that has been a working cattle ranch for more than
100 years. The site is off Atlas Peak Road in Foss Valley. A draft
environmental report for the Circle S Ranch project is being
circulated and the comment period ended in early January, according to
Tom Adams, consultant to Circle S developers Premier Pacific
Vineyards.
Adams said he hopes vineyard development could begin this
summer. “But it might be next year. It all depends on a number of
things. “We plan to do a lot of work that will restore Milliken Creek
… we’ll be taking the cattle off the property … that should have a
major positive impact on water quality and improving the riparian
habitat on the creek.
We will be establishing a 550-acre oak woodland
preserve to guarantee (the oak trees’) longevity,” Adams said. The
Sierra Club expressed concern that 289 acres of native oak trees would
be destroyed for the project. And the Napa Solano Audubon Society said Circle S Ranch provides nesting and foraging habitat for the white-tailed kite. As recently as the 1970s, prior to the conversion of many slopes on the edge of the valley to vineyards, this species nested in Foss Valley.
State Department of Fish and Game wrote it was “concerned that the project
could result in impacts to in-stream resources by the diversion of
water from sensitive riparian areas.” In particular, the agency is
concerned that there would be impact to the rainbow trout, foothill
yellow-legged frog and other aquatic species. Adams said Premier
Pacific is taking steps to address the issues. “We have put a lot of
time and energy to come up with a project that balances environmental
concerns with our economic interest in the property. We think we have
a balance that is good for everyone,” Adams said.
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