Press

Gualala Redwoods, Inc. (GRI) said Tuesday it signed a definitive purchase and sale agreement to transfer the majority of its timberland holdings in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties to the Burch family of San Jose. According to Henry Alden, senior vice president of GRI, under the terms of the agreement, GRI will sell approximately 29,000 acres to the Burch family, representing …

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, November 25, 2014 [excerpt:] Nearly 30,000 acres timberland straddling the Sonoma-Mendocino county border and stretching across the mouth of the Gualala River have been put on the auction block, creating what conservationists are calling a prime opportunity for a landmark preservation deal that could permanently protect and restore a giant swath of forest, allow …

by Guy Kovner,  The Press Democrat,  June 13, 2014 [excerpt:] Three environmental groups are challenging Sonoma County’s approval of a 54-acre Annapolis vineyard in a case that reflects long-standing conflict over expansion of the county’s $600 million a year grape industry. If the lawsuit were to succeed, it would wipe out the county’s vineyard development law, itself born amid controversy …

By ROBERT DIGITALE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT June 3, 2014, 7:29 PM [excerpt] Artesa Vineyards and Winery of Napa has shelved its hotly disputed plans to plant a vineyard on forest land near Annapolis and has put the 324-acre property on the market for $1.5 million, the company announced Tuesday. The decision was hailed by environmentalists, who last year persuaded a …

Eight minute video produced for the America Tonight news broadcast on Al Jazeera America. Update: Unfortunately, this video is no longer available. Redwoods for Red Wine (rough cut), produced by Blackbeard Films. 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 …

KGUA Radio “Peggy’s Place” January 7, 2014 Listen to the interview on: SoundCloud. KGUA 88.3 FM is a full-powered non-commercial radio station established to educate, entertain and inform. KGUA 88.3 FM will give voice to the people and issues that affect all the coastal residents of the southern tip of Mendocino County and the Northern tip of Sonoma County. KGUA …

by Chris McManus December 13, 2013 © Independent Coast Observer Reprinted with permission Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Elliot Daum has sent a plan to clearcut 154 acres of forest near Annapolis back to the drawing board, saying the Environmental Impact Report prepared by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) …

Judge rules that winery needs to review environmental impact; Artesa argues land is zoned for farming by Kasey Carpenter December 13, 2013 Wine Spectator [excerpt:] The battle over more than 300 acres of undeveloped land on Sonoma’s coast owned by Artesa Vineyards and Winery isn’t over, but environmental groups have won a key round. A county judge has rejected several …

by Brett Wilkison December 6, 2013 Santa Rosa Press Democrat [excerpt:] Environmentalists are hailing a court ruling this week that deals a significant setback to a hotly disputed vineyard project in northwestern Sonoma County. If it stands, the decision could serve as a bulwark against the push of vineyards into a mostly untilled swath of the region’s coast range, blocking …

Por: Alana Moceri November 25, 2013 El Huffington Post [excerpt:] Los árboles más altos del mundo tienen raíces poco profundas. Las secuoyas costeras (coastal redwoods) no son solitarias como los robles sino que crecen sobre una base de raíces entrelazadas en una red de apoyo mutuo. Solo llegan al cielo con el soporte de su comunidad. Me parece imposible pasar …

by Kimberly Burr October, 2013 Redwood Needles Sierra Club Redwood Chapter newsletter “Exporting Wine to China” was the title of a recent conference in Napa, one of many promoting sales of California wine to virtually unlimited markets. This is an indication that the making of local wines is being overtaken by big business with its characteristic disregard for the web …

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 …

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 …

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 …