Vineyards

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, August 2, 2023 [excerpt:] A new program targeting 1,500 commercial grape growers in Sonoma and Mendocino counties and designed to improve water quality in local creeks and rivers is drawing criticism from members of the agricultural community. The draft rules include reporting requirements, annual fees, well and groundwater monitoring, ground cover requirements and restrictions …

by Alastair Bland, Nation Public Radio’s “The Salt,” November 18, 2019 [excerpt:] After California wine industry mogul Hugh Reimers illegally destroyed at least 140 acres of forest, meadow and stream in part to make way for new vineyards sometime last winter, according to a report from state investigators, state officials ordered the Krasilsa Pacific Farms manager to repair and mitigate …

 by Guy Kovner, The Press Democrat, January 3, 2016 [excerpt:] They say money doesn’t grow on trees, but a nearly 75,000-acre swath of redwood and fir forests blanketing the wildlands of Sonoma and Mendocino counties is generating millions of dollars as it contributes to California’s ambitious campaign to curb greenhouse gas emissions. In a reversal of forest profiteering that dates …

by Clark Mason, The Press Democrat, October 17, 2015 [excerpt:] The Lytton Band of Pomo Indians has added remote coastal property to its growing Sonoma County real estate portfolio, including 300 acres once owned by a large Spanish wine company that had a controversial plan to clear-cut timber and plant vineyards there. The tribe, which bought the forest land once …

by Guy Kovner Santa Rosa Press Democrat August 12, 2015 [excerpt] Environmentalists are mobilizing in protest of a would-be bill backed by the local wine industry that would create an irrigation district intended to protect the water rights of about 1,000 grape growers in the Russian River region. . . . The move comes in fourth year of California’s historic …

[excerpt] …California’s ongoing drought has hit the region hard, reducing grape yields and depleting the vast aquifer that most of the area’s vineyards and rural residents rely on as their sole source of water other than rain. Across the region, residential and vineyard wells have gone dry. Those who can afford to — including a number of large wineries and …

Download pdf version:  2014-FoGR-fundraising-letter.pdf Support Friends of Gualala River

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR), along with Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club, has filed a suit against Sonoma County to close a major regulatory loophole. This time it’s not our typical campaign to stop destruction of redwood forest. It’s to fix a serious problem in a Sonoma County permitting process that is allowing developers to circumvent the California …

State legislation to regulate the depletion of groundwater is moving forward as the current historic drought continues and reservoirs draw precipitously down. State water agencies support legislative proposals to monitor and regulate groundwater in the public interest as the drought threatens both surface and below-ground water supplies. But North Coast grape growers and the wine industry are opposed to this …

Friends of Gualalal River (FoGR) is a member of the North Coast Stream Flow Coalition, which supports rational management and regulation of groundwater to protect streamflows. FoGR endorses Chris Malan’s policy analysis and recommendations in her op-ed essay, below. Protect state’s groundwater and the public interest now! by Chris Malan Chair, North Coast Stream Flow Coalition Op-ed published in the …

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 …

The Press Democrat analyzed land records on 3,171 vineyard properties obtained from the Sonoma County Assessor’s Office, which were updated in August 2013. The locations of the vineyard parcels were mapped using GIS data from the Sonoma County Information Systems Department. Click on the image below to visit the interactive map on the Press Democrat’s website: Interactive map of Sonoma …

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 …

A fly-over of the Artesa Winery / Codorniu proposed vineyard area. Sonoma County Superior Court has rejected the environmental impact report for the project, however Artesa has not withdrawn the application despite widespread public outcry. For additional information, see: Artesa Sonoma forest-to-vineyard conversion Cal Fire approved the environmental impact report for Artesa Winery’s controversial plan to clear-cut 154 acres of coastal …

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 …