Environmental Committee

The Environmental Committee works to protect the watershed and to educate the public on forestry issues, erosion control, hazardous waste, recycling and other issues. We also monitor government policies and procedures.

Events

Roadside Cleanup, Highways 9 and 236: Quarterly
River/Road Cleanup: October
Watershed Festival of Events: On-going

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS

Winter 2008 –2009

River & Road Clean-Up
Makes a Difference!

Jeremy Robertson (SLV RR employee), Mary Hammer (VWC), Chase Williams,
Kristy Lone Wolf, Pat Armstrong (VWC), and Megan Parle.

Looking into the elated faces of the 87 volunteers who dedicated their day for the 22nd annual River & Road Clean-Up, it was evident that they were proud of being there and of hauling out over 2400 pounds of trash and 800 pounds of recyclable materials – and appalled that people would purposely leave so much rubbish in and by the River, and along the roads leading to our creeks and River!

Carl Reuter had put on a wet suit and climbed in his kayak to survey the River in Ben Lomond before the Clean-Up. That day, Carl again donned his gear and hauled the detritus he had spotted up to the beach at Highlands, where Beth Lilienthal and her young children, Lennon and Lucy, hauled it up to her car to take to the drop-off spot – thirty pounds worth!

Delbert and Nadja Slaughter hauled in 26 pounds from Love Creek Rd. What a team!

Up the Valley, there was a site right along Hwy 9 north of Boulder Creek where refrigerators, water heaters and washers were illegally dumped – and SLV Water District truck drivers Matt Lombard and Howard Oliphant made two trips there, mounding the dump truck with appliances that easily could have been taken for free to the Transfer Station for disposal. Then they continued hauling the materials brought into the drop-off points in Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond.
Dustin of Boulder Creek filled his pick-up truck up repeatedly, bringing in a couch, mattress, and lots of plain trash.

White Oak students, Chase Williams and Kristi Lone Wolf, worked very hard, bringing in 150 pounds of materials, and earned 6 hours of community service credit for school, and found they really enjoyed it!

Hilary Stanley, who lives on Hwy 9 in Boulder Creek, picks up litter there regularly throughout the year. She found that there was less litter than last year by the bus stops, but she still kept busy bringing in over 80 pounds of trash.

In Felton at least ten SLV Middle School 6th graders joined their teacher, Matt O’Brien, and hauled out material by hand and by car, from along the River over by the lumber yard. Mr. O’Brien had brought another group last year and had not been able to get it all, and sure enough, it was still there and they got it out, 460 pounds worth!

Austin Wesley Eastridge, Jr., who has volunteered for the Clean-up for many years, was back again and was impressed by the number of folks working this year, and did his part to help.

The Andersen’s – Suzanne, Rachael and Paris – found almost 80 pounds of trash and carried it in!

The Felton volunteers – 41 of them – found virtually every kind of debris, from bicycles to couches to tires and trash. And Remi, the driver from Santa Cruz County Public Works, hauled it all to the Transfer Station, keeping the trash and recyclable materials separate, making sure valuable resources were preserved.

The River & Road Clean-up is a remarkable institution. It was originally the brainstorm of Al Haynes, then Watershed Manager of the SLV Water District, which sponsored the first Clean-up in the mid-1980’s. At Al’s urging, the Valley Women’s Club took over and has coordinated it ever since, with Nancy Macy leading the effort.

Valley Women’s Club volunteers staff the sign-in/drop-off sites in each town; for many of them this is an annual gift to the River’s well being. The Water District continues its support, providing a dump truck and two employees to help load and haul materials, and the County provides a dump truck and driver, and free dumping of the trash, as well as follow-up pick-up of materials the volunteers couldn’t get out. All this, however, would be worthless without the volunteers who come by the dozens, year after year, working for hours to help protect the health of our beautiful and valuable waterways. This is the way the VWC gets things done! Bringing government agencies, businesses, and individuals together to solve problems.

The SLV Community has another job to do: put pressure on neighbors and friends to use the free disposal of appliances at the Ben Lomond Transfer Station; remind drivers of trucks to stop using the truck beds as trash cans because so much blows out; demand that Sheriff and CHP enforce litter laws; and pick up the debris and trash along the River, Creeks, and roads near your homes and property and workplaces, since the roads all lead down to our fragile waterways and a once yearly clean up can’t begin to get it all. AND let no more cigarette butts fall to the ground, to be washed into the waterways where their concentrated toxins harm the critters living there. Pass it on…

PG&E Confronted With Ire Over Excessive Cut Back
Environmental Committee Finds Answers

Dozens of phone calls and emails were being sent to the Environmental Committee (EC), and to Supervisor Mark Stone, the County’s Public Works Department, Mount Hermon Conference Center and the local press. The extensive downing of dozens of trees along the precipitous slope above Graham Hill Rd. just above the Roaring Camp curve, had provoked outspoken concern – Who did it? Why was it done? Why were the trees left like torpedoes ready to shoot off the slope onto the road?

Was the County preparing for the long-anticipated widening of Graham Hill Rd.? Was it to remove Sudden Oak Death? Was PG&E expanding clearing along its right of way? Was Mount Hermon responsible? What about erosion? Tree cover? What about safety? What WERE they thinking?

It was determined that the trees had been cut by PG&E to protect their wires, so the EC decided to go directly to PG&E to find out what their policies and procedures are that would have allowed so many trees to be cut. EC Co-Chair, Carol Carson, contacted PG&E’s Government Relations official, Wendy Sarsfield, and arranged for representatives to come to the October 4 EC meeting. It was very informative, and gives us something to work from.

Four PG&E representatives came, including Ms Sarsfield, Forester Johanna Fogolin, Vegetation Management Program Manager, Eric Brown, and Rasheed Kamran, a regional Manager. Forester Fogolin provided a summary of the policies and procedures governing the types of trimming required by law or established by PG&E.

Eric Brown discussed a 5-year study recently completed that identified specific areas with frequent outages, and the types of trees and problems causing those outages. They are implementing a plan based on that research designed to reduce those outages. Graham Hill Road’s cut was a part of that. Brown also discussed the way the cutting was done, the shredding of the branches and leaves into mulch for ground protection, and lining the trunks up so they would not roll into the road.

A lengthy series of questions from EC members brought out more specifics and details, including the safety concerns about the “torpedoes,” the excessive number of trees cut, the probable erosion with canopy removed and ground exposed on the steep slope. Mr. Brown committed to arranging for their removal, if Mt. Hermon so allowed; this was undertaken within days with the support of the County. He would not admit to any overcutting of trees in dealing with the area, nor to the possibility that their procedures would not prevent erosion from the site.

Ms Sarsfield offered to arrange for a yearly community meeting where the public would be informed of upcoming “management” of vegetation. This is an excellent idea, which we will help establish as a yearly tradition.

Other questions, of deep concern to the EC, were brought up during the discussion. These included, why so many PG&E poles have outdated equipment necessitating a huge circle of herbicide-denuded space around them, and what PG&E was doing about what we feel is illegal canopy removal and herbicide use in riparian corridors. Mr. Brown offered to investigate the former if we provide them with a list of locations. The issue of adhering to the County’s Riparian Corridor ordinance was “under consideration,” or words to that effect.

We appreciate PG&E’s representatives’ quick response to the important safety concerns and their thorough follow-through. We look forward to a continuing relationship and the establishment of a regular community meeting report.

There were, however, some questions that were not addressed and there is still the overriding concern about their general indifference toward environmental harm – not of the individuals at the meeting, but of the corporation itself – the attitude that their needs override other concerns.

It is obvious that the 5-year study is resulting in wide-ranging tree removal. A Davey Tree unit in Lompico told an EC member that they were on a 3-year heavy cut program. We’ve seen swaths of trees cut down in other areas of the County. We assume the program is being implemented throughout PG&E’s service area.

If you know of a power pole with a large denuded area around it, or an area along a waterway which may have been impacted by this program, please let the Environmental Committee know (338-1728).

Felton Affordable Housing Update
South County Housing at November EC Meeting
By Carol Carson, EC Co-Chair

South County Housing recently updated the Environmental Committee on environmental issues concerning the affordable housing project proposed for Felton. Most of the questions revolved around projected water runoff and detention. According to spokespersons Andy Lief and Jan Lindenthal, the development will create three acres of impervious surface between the road and rooftops.

What does an impervious surface do? According to one definition, it “allows many types of pollutants, derived from a variety of sources, to accumulate upon them. Many of these pollutants are subsequently washed into water bodies by storm water runoff, severely degrading water quality. This type of pollution is known as nonpoint source water pollution and is linked to land-use activities. Water quality problems increase with increased imperviousness and intensity of land use.”

Leif stated that, “12 acres, or 80% of the site, will continue to create storm runoff in the same way it does today. Obviously we need to deal with the 20% of the site that will now have a higher runoff rate.” Proposed storm water detention ponds and underground detention chambers will take care of the 20% plus some of the 80%, and will drain within 72 hours after filling, Lief claimed. Although, some members wondered how this was determined and will it hold true during a wet winter.

One member was concerned that if the ephemeral ponds do not drain quickly, they could attract turtles and frogs that would then die when the ponds dry. He believes an adaptive management approach should be taken on the property in the event that mistakes were made on estimates of runoff and leach field percolation.

SC Housing has made an application for service with the San Lorenzo Valley Water District and district staff is processing it. Jim Mueller, District Manager, said that originally the project was designed with an independent, hybrid water system in concurrence with Cal-Am before SLV Water took over the Felton system. He said that now the question is, “Do we have the ability to serve them?” A letter of clarification will be sent in the next two weeks for more information. They would have to return to the well system if SLV Water cannot handle the project, bringing back up several questions relating to the aquifer and supply.

The Committee expects more data from Leif soon in response to questions from the participants.

Thirty-story Redwoods in Your Backyard
First Article in a Series
By Lise McGilvery

The San Lorenzo Valley features some of the finest parks in Central California. It is home to Sequoia Sempervirens, which means “ever-living conifers”, the tallest living things on earth. The two parks made for wandering in the Valley are Big Basin State Park and Henry Cowell State Park.

Located at the outskirts of Felton, Henry Cowell State Park is the most “user-friendly” of the local parks, with walks that a person of any age can manage, in addition to other more challenging walks. the popular trail by the new Nature Center, passes by the famous cross-section of an approximately 2000-year-old tree with dates marked on the rings, including such notable events as when Christopher Columbus arrived in America and when Jesus walked the earth.

One of my favorite memories of this trail was when a couple of dozen English-language students from my school came here on a field trip from San Jose. I showed them a little-known secret of the park: you can crawl into a huge burned-out (but still living) tree, shine your flashlights upward, and see the inside, which has been burned up to a height of a two-story house. We looked straight up into the heart of the redwood tree.

On another field trip, we went to the eastern side of Henry Cowell, where we took the Roaring Camp Railroad Train ride. The old locomotive was built in 1912, and it takes visitors at five miles an hour up the mountain, through the 1,100-year-old trees, while the conductor describes the history of the trees and the Valley. One of the most surprising facts I learned on this trip was that a mother redwood, whose higher branches block the sun and water from her own babies, spreads the water of the morning dew through her root system to her seedlings. This is essential for the towering trees in the dry summers of our California climate.

A much larger park, Big Basin State Park is located over 12 miles north of Boulder Creek on Hwy 236, with dozens of trails meandering by some of the oldest trees in the area. The Redwood Loop, a level half-mile walk, passes the tallest tree in the park, the “Mother of the Forest.” Nearby, the “Father of the Forest” is even more massive in circumference. Against all odds, my nine-year-old daughter fed a wild deer out of her hands at Big Basin many years ago. Not all animals are so “wild”, after all. (Now we know that taming and feeding the deer and other wildlife is not wise for their wellbeing, so visitors are discouraged from doing so. But it’s a wonderful memory, nonetheless.)

Check out Part II of this personal series on San Lorenzo Valley’s parks in the next newsletter.

Natural Pest Repellents
By Tai Stills

Sometimes you feel you have to use toxins to deal with pests. However, here are some safer alternatives to commercial pesticides, proven to work. They smell good too!

Ants – Sprinkle cinnamon, bay leaves, cayenne pepper or baby powder in problem areas around baseboards and window sills.
Cockroaches – Sprinkle equal parts of baking soda and confectioners’ sugar in problem areas.

Mice – Place cotton dipped in peppermint oil near problem areas. Used kitty litter is another repellent – used outdoors, in garages or sheds.

Mosquitoes – Mix 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water placed on your deck or balcony or dab lavender oil on your wrists and elbows.

Flies – small sachets of crushed mint placed around the home will discourage flies. So will a potted sweet basil plant.

Sempervirens Hires New Executive Director
By Linda Yule, Forest Programs Manager

I am delighted and excited to tell you that Reed Holderman will be our new Executive Director. For the last 10 years he has been managing the 6 state Western Region of Trust for Public Lands, following 14 years with the California Coastal Commission.

Reed’s proven abilities to collaborate with other agencies, foundations, donors, and landowners offer us the prospect of greatly expanding our activities and achieving our Vision in exciting new ways. His demonstrated competence in management should also help us in improving our systems, our performance, and our harmony. His commitment to conservation is life long.
Reed will take office on January 20.

Green Drinks, Cool Ideas

“Green Drinks, Cool Ideas,” is a monthly forum for creative solutions and critical thinking about climate change and sustainability. Each event features a local scientist, policy maker, or green entrepreneur discussing a different facet of the climate challenge. Emphasis is on audience engagement with the speaker and with each other. Supporters see this as a bridge between the town and the university, and between younger and older generations; part networking event, part green think tank.

Every 3rd Friday of the month at the Greenspace store, 1122 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz www.greenspacecompany.com. Check back prior to this event to receive detailed information on scheduled speakers and topics. Sign up to receive an email notification prior to this event. Call 831-426-5925 ext. 125 for more information.

Florescent Bulbs Go Where?

Florescent bulbs are finally cheaper and fit in most lamps and sockets – and they use far less electricity. However, they have mercury in them (evil!) and MUST BE DISPOSED OF PROPERLY. Take them to Household Hazardous Waste, Thursdays and Sundays only, 7:30-3:30, free, at the Ben Lomond Transfer Station. Spread the word! Also, just recently Best Buy & Home Depot started taking them too, if that’s more convenient.

We’re Worried About Global Warming, But… Nuclear Power?

For a look at the economics of nuclear power, check out this website.

The economics do NOT work, so even if environmental issues could be solved, it is not a viable alternative. (Surprise!)

Photos of Underwater River & Creek Critters

Eric Haucke spends a lot of time underwater (and on the ground and above the earth) taking photos. His creek critters are found in Soquel Creek, but they are the same as those in SLV waterways. Enjoy…
www.erichaucke.com

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