The following is a letter sent Jan 28, 2003 to the Napa County Board of Supervisors, formally introducing the STEWARD proposal.
STEWARD, The Education Alternative
An educational program designed to win the hearts and minds of the true stewards of the land (those who live and work on it), and structured to empower and motivate them to protect and enhance their watershed, will be far more productive than the currently proposed regulatory restrictions that would be difficult to enforce and therefore easy to circumvent, and whose complexity and cost of compliance would encourage such circumvention. An educational program will have an even greater positive impact on the health of our watershed than would the proposed Stream Setback Ordinance, because generating enthusiasm for a healthy watershed will be far more productive than generating resentment.
The Education Alternative (which we have tentatively named STEWARD), if properly designed, funded, implemented, and promoted, can serve the needs of all parties and result in real immediate and long term improvements to the health of our watershed. The Board of Supervisors should enact this Education Alternative in lieu of the currently proposed Stream Setback Ordinance.
Such action would set us all on the best course to preserving our environment, send a strong message that the health of our watershed is important to all of us, and set a positive and inspiring example for the rest of the state and for the nation.
It could also save a lot of trouble when it comes time to defeat the Malan initiative, because the voters will never be fooled by the Stream Setback Ordinance or other token efforts to appear "green". Just like the rest of us, they will easily figure out that the Stream Setback Ordinance isn't really based on science, doesn't have specific, measurable goals, and can never be evaluated for its effectiveness in actually benefiting the watershed. What will impress the voters and all the rest of us is the sight of people rolling up their sleeves to identify, quantify, and solve specific watershed problems with cooperative, concerted efforts delivering measurable results.
Instead of squandering resources on application fees, staff reviews, expert reports, and legal challenges, let's devote those same resources to productive projects such as bank reconstruction, telemetry-sending submersible stream gages, fish ladders at the dams, supplementing, monitoring and preserving stream water flows, reducing watercourse velocities, and otherwise addressing the Limiting Factors we already know about. An educational program like STEWARD can identify specific needs, inform residents of those needs, provide them with the tools and the motivation to do their part, and recognize and reward jobs well done. Favorable publicity surrounding just a few successful projects of this nature will let everyone know how important it is, how effective individual property owners can be, and how each person can make his own contribution.
Enthusiasm is infectious, and well-intentioned people given good information can accomplish wonderful things. Why not harness those positive energies and synergies to ensure a popular and continuing effort to enhance the quality of our watershed? And if "only" 80% or 90% of the adjacent owners participate in a given project, and the remaining 10% or 20% get a "free ride", rejoice that such a high participation rate was achieved, and that so much was accomplished. After all, the goal is to get the work done, not to envy and resent those who did not participate. Voluntary participation is always more pleasant and rewarding than forced participation, and always accomplishes more.
Napa Valley Land Stewards Alliance squarely supports true conservation measures leading to definable environmental gain. The Education Alternative (STEWARD) program is a preliminary outline designed to illustrate the idea, suggest possibilities, stimulate discussion, and generate support for a flexible educational approach to achieving those environmental gains. Our idea has broad appeal and can quickly achieve momentum. If such an educational program is ultimately pursued, all stakeholders should have a voice in designing and implementing the final program, including the content of the course and the wording of the ministerial ordinance that will authorize, fund, implement, and promote the program. (A ministerial ordinance might require only submission of plans and a certificate of completion of the STEWARD course in order to get a permit.) NVLSA encourages all interested agricultural groups, legitimate environmentalist groups, and all other interested parties to take an active role in this development process, in order to ensure that the program is ultimately the best it can be.
Supervisor Dodd has expressed an interest in having all the cities in Napa County adopt STEWARD, in order to secure the maximum environmental gains throughout the watershed. STEWARD could also be a model for other counties in the state, which have so far been reluctant to enact meaningful environmental protections for fear of encountering the same problems with the Sierra Club and CEQA that Napa County has had. A program like STEWARD would afford those counties the opportunity and the means to rally public support for environmental preservation, yet avoid exposing themselves to extortion by environmental extremists.
STEWARD might be a way to get us all back onto a truly rational track and provide us a reasonable, viable, and credible program to sell to voters in lieu of the irrational Malan initiative in March' 2004.
I have attached a copy of the draft STEWARD program for your review. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
George Bachich
NVLSA chairman