Press

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 …

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

by Larry Hanson May, 2013 Sonoma County Gazette Now that the coastal forest area called Preservation Ranch has been officially saved, there will be some backslapping and congratulating going on over this success. And there should. The effort of changing some twenty thousand acres from a land development project into conservation status takes the work and love of many individuals …

by Brett Wilkison May 7, 2013 Santa Rosa Press Democrat [excerpt:] Sonoma County supervisors hailed a landmark conservation deal Tuesday as they unanimously approved $4 million in open space dollars to help with the $24.5 million purchase of Preservation Ranch in the county’s northwest corner. “It’s a great day for residents of the county and the entire North Coast,” said …

by Frank Robertson March, 2013 Sonoma West Times & News [excerpt:] The effort to buy Preservation Ranch still needs money and a state board’s okay before the controversial timber-to-grapes conversion proposed near the town of Annapolis is officially halted. “We’ve got some work to do,” said 5th District Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo regarding the milestone $24.5 million purchase now …

by Denny Rosatti March, 2013 Vibrant Bay Area reprinted with permission The modern-day Northern California land rush to convert forests to vineyards lost some steam last month. The Preservation Ranch project, located in the northwestern hills of Sonoma County near the small hamlet of Annapolis, was a 20,000 acre proposal that would have permanently converted nearly 1,800 acres of timber …

by Brett Wilkison March 1, 2013 Santa Rosa Press Democrat [excerpt:] Sonoma County wine industry representatives and grape growers are voicing some relief over news this week of the tentative conservation deal that would shield nearly 20,000 acres in northwestern Sonoma County from a disputed forest-to-vineyard conversion project. The large proposal called for clearing almost 1,800 acres of former commercial …

by Brett Wilkison February 26, 2013 Santa Rosa Press Democrat [excerpt:] A national conservation group has reached an agreement to buy nearly 20,000 acres of timberland in northwestern Sonoma County, a move that derails the long-disputed, forest-to-vineyards conversion project pushed by CalPERS, the giant state workers pension fund. The $24.5 million purchase of the so-called Preservation Ranch, to be completed …

by Matt Gleeson December, 2012 California Northern Magazine [excerpt:] I’m here to visit a major flash point in the North Coast’s battle over what is called “forest-to-vineyard conversion,” a bland term that doesn’t quite capture what is an intensive reworking of the land. To plant a vineyard where there was a forest, first you have to clear-cut all the trees …

Por: Mikel López Iturriaga October 22, 2013 El País blog “El Comidista” La matanza de Sonoma. [excerpt:] Puede que de forma ingenua el vino se asocie al amor por la tierra y al entendimiento con la naturaleza. Cuando piensas en esta bebida, te vienen a la cabeza bucólicas colinas cubiertas por viñas, agricultores con cestos llenos de uvas y pajaritos …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friends of the Gualala River and supporters protested and presented the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors with an 18 foot long copy of the 90,000-signature petition opposing the giant redwood forest destroying vineyard conversion projects,Preservation Ranch and Artesa Winery / Annapolis, at the supervisors’ public meeting on Tuesday, February 7, 2012. click to enlarge An 8 foot high walking “Chainsaw Wine” bottle …

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