Excerpts from Eric Wilder, Starhawk speeches Annapolis Winery, August 24, 2013 Eric Wilder, Kashaya Pomo artist, grandson of Kashaya tribal spiritual leader Essie Parrish I knew that I was walking on the land my people have been walking on for thousands of years. That is a feeling not everyone can experience. It’s a source of pride. We have village sites …

Who do you believe about Pomo Indian heritage protection? Vineyard developer Artesa, or traditional Pomo elders and a Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology with expertise on Kashaya Pomo? Artesa says their vineyard development site is not culturally significant and has no important cultural or archaeological impacts.Pomo elders who still live in the area and were taught how to harvest food …

KGUA Radio‘s Peggy Berryhill reports on Friends of the Gualala River’s August event, “Gualala River Alchemy: Turning Wine into Water,” followed by an interview with Dave Jordan, recorded on October 24, 2013. KGUA shares interviews gathered at an August rally with the Friends of the Gualala River addressing the issues about the proposed Artesa Winery project. The development of this …

by Beth Buczynski October 25, 2013 Care2 [excerpt:] When do trees become a forest? According to a California winemaker who wants to clear cut 154 acres of redwoods and Douglas firs to make way for grapevines, not until they’re more than 50-years-old and 100 feet tall . . . The winery claims that because the area was clear-cut more than …

Another excerpt of Starhawk‘s talk in Annapolis, contrasting the way the Pomo lived on the land with the plans of the giant corporation, Codorniu (which owns Artesa Winery), to extract profit from the land. Starhawk is author of many works celebrating the Goddess movement and Earth-based, feminist spirituality. She is a peace, environmental, and global justice activist and trainer, a …

Starhawk is author of many works celebrating the Goddess movement and Earth-based, feminist spirituality. She is a peace, environmental, and global justice activist and trainer, a permaculture designer and teacher, a Pagan and Witch. She wrote the neo-pagan classic “The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess” and is a columnist for On Faith, the …

Water Plant Operator Paul Chappell talks about Artesa proposed vineyard project Paul Chappell, California Certified Water Plant Operator for the Kashia band of Pomo Indians, speaks about Artesa and their plan to clear cut over 150 acres of redwoods to put in vineyards. For additional information, see: Artesa Sonoma forest-to-vineyard conversion CAL FIRE has approved the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) …

Annapolis resident Nancy Dew talks about Artesa Winery, which is owned by the the giant Spanish wine corporation Codorníu, and which has permits in place right now to clear-cut coastal redwoods and put in a vineyard that would share a border with her property and destroy her water supply. For additional information, see: Artesa Sonoma forest-to-vineyard conversion CAL FIRE has …

Kashaya Pomo Eric Wilder gives a moving speech about the tribe’s historical land that is set to be bulldozed for a vineyard owned by the Spanish company Codorniu. For additional information, see: Artesa Sonoma forest-to-vineyard conversion CAL FIRE has approved the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Artesa Winery’s controversial plan to clear-cut 154 acres of coastal redwood forest to plant …

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

by Alastair Bland October 18, 2013 NPR blog “The Salt” Environmental groups are fighting to stop the leveling of 154 acres of coast redwoods and Douglas firs to make way for grapevines. [excerpt:] In the California wine mecca of Sonoma County, climate change is pitting redwood lovers against red wine lovers. This Friday morning, a coalition of environmental groups are …

Another winery wants to clearcut redwoods to plant vineyards—and this time, the courts might actually allow it by Alastair Bland October 16, 2013 North Bay Bohemian Redwood and manzanita at the fenced east end of the Artesa-Sonoma property in Annapolis. [excerpt:] There is no forest among the trees. That’s what state officials have said regarding a large stand of second-growth …

Saturday, August 24 1:00 p.m. Annapolis Winery We will attempt to change Chainsaw Wine into water! Be there at the first, fun kick-off event in a public campaign to convince the third largest corporate winery in the world to spare 154 acres of Gualala River’s redwood forest from the chainsaw. They plan to clear-cut more than a million board-feet of …

by Matt Brown August 14, 2013 Santa Rosa Press Democrat [excerpt:] There is finally some good news from environmental scientists studying climate change: as the earth gets warmer, ancient redwood trees are thriving. The huge trees that dot the California coast and the Sierra Nevada mountains soak up carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, keeping the potentially harmful greenhouse gas …

by Jeremy Hay June 28, 2013 Santa Rosa Press Democrat [excerpt:] Winemaker Paul Hobbs has been ordered to stop work on his controversial orchard-to-vineyard conversion near Sebastopol after inspectors found that hundreds of yards of blackberry bushes and bay laurel had been cleared illegally from a protected zone above a creek. “It’s a very serious violation of their permit,” said …

by Peter Fimrite June 14, 2013 San Francisco Chronicle [excerpt:] A giant redwood forest in Sonoma County that was on the verge of being divvied up and plowed over into a patchwork of vineyards has been preserved by a public-private partnership that engineered what is being touted as the largest land conservation deal in California history. . . . “It …

by Laird Harrison June 4, 2013 KQED [excerpt:] Can you preserve a forest by logging it? A land conservation group thinks so. The Conservation Fund announced Monday that, along with some partners, it had acquired 19,645 acres of forest in Sonoma County. The land had been slated for planting vineyards. Preservation Ranch will become part of a larger swath of …

by Louis Sahagun June 4, 2013 Los Angeles Times [excerpt:] . . . Opponents organized under the banner Friends of the Gualala River mounted a campaign against the CalPERS-funded company that included street theater tactics and an online petition signed by 90,000 critics of the development project. Chris Poehlmann, an environmental activist and specialist in designing interactive museum exhibits, appeared …

The Conservation Fund purchases nearly 20,000 acres of timberland and creates the largest protected working forest in California June 3, 2013 The Conservation Fund [excerpt:] In a high-profile win for forestry, a public-private partnership led by The Conservation Fund has completed the largest conservation project in the history of Sonoma County. Together with its partners, the Fund has purchased and …

by Brett Wilkison May 31, 2013 Santa Rosa Press Democrat [excerpt:] Nearly 20,000 acres of remote forest once targeted for vineyard development in remote northwest Sonoma County will be set aside as timberland and wildlife habitat under a landmark conservation deal that closed Friday. The property commonly called Preservation Ranch near the town of Annapolis is now owned by The …