COUNTY'S VINEYARD VS. FOREST DEBATE ESCALATES: SUPERVISORS DECIDING ON WHAT TYPES OF RESTRICTIONS NEEDED, IF ANY, FOR CONVERTING TIMBERLANDS TO GRAPES

Published on August 21, 2005


By KERRY BENEFIELD
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A proposal to place greater restrictions on conversion of forests to vineyards is being called the most-watched issue to come before Sonoma County officials in almost a decade.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider seven options -- ranging from no action to an outright ban -- on how to address the practice of clear-cutting timberlands and planting grapevines.
Environmentalists contend the practice is becoming increasingly common, but opponents of more government intervention say the practice is limited and any action by the board would be unnecessary and duplicative.

The California Department of Forestry, the agency that oversees forest conversion applications, is remaining neutral until the county chooses its course.
Supervisor Mike Reilly, who in June successfully lobbied the rest of the board to consider the proposal quickly, is backing a plan that would ban conversions unless a public benefit can be established. More people have called, written and e-mailed him on this issue than any other in his nine years on the board, Reilly said.
But the county is mindful of not overreaching its authority and interfering with state agencies, he said.

``Of course, turf is always a consideration,'' Reilly said. ``Our attorneys have been very careful to try to craft opinions that are clearly within the county's authority.''
From 1989 to 2001, the California Department of Forestry approved the conversion of 721 acres of timberland, less than 0.5 percent of the county's commercial forests, which are largely concentrated in the northwestern parts of the county.
But proponents of stricter regulations say the number of applications is on the rise and the board must act to protect the county's 230,000 acres of commercial timberland.

``We feel there is plenty of ag land in the county for folks who want to grow grapes. There is no real reason to convert forest land,'' said Mike Sandler of Town Hall Coalition, a 2,000-member environmental advocacy group based in Sebastopol.
``There is a lot of feeling among environmental groups that the Department of Forestry is not properly regulating timber conversion,'' he said.

Untrue, said Lex McCorvey, executive director of the 3,000-member Sonoma County Farm Bureau. Although the bureau has no official position on the timber conversion debate, McCorvey said the state's review process is ``rigorous'' and there is concern among landowners about the potential for over-regulation. ``We don't need another layer of government to make things more complicated,'' McCorvey said.
Supervisor Paul Kelley, the lone dissenting vote in the board's decision last June to move quickly on the proposal, said involving the county would add ``another layer of bureaucracy.''

``All timber harvest plans go through an environmental process, they are all regulated by the state Board of Forestry, so I don't see a necessity for local regulation,'' he said. After a series of hearings before packed houses, the Planning Commission voted 3-2 in June to make no changes to local regulations.
The board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

You can reach Staff Writer Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kbenefield@pressdemocrat.com.

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