The local Sierra Club leadership, at the urging of activist Chris Malan, qualified an initiative petition called the Forest and Water Protection Ordinance of 2002 for the March 2004 Ballot. That initiative, also known as the Malan Initiative and the Sierra Club Initiative, appears as Measure O on the March ballot. - The following is a recent letter to the editor outlining many of the problems with Measure O.
'O' is bad for Napa
from the Napa Register, Friday, February 6, 2004
By JULIE NORD
Under the guise of timber protection, the anti-farming faction of our community has put Measure O on the March ballot with the goal of stopping any development in the county.
There are several issues of real concern to landowners in Napa regarding Measure O. This initiative is so thorough in limiting timber harvest, it would disallow cutting down almost any tree in Napa. Timber operations are defined as cutting or removal of forest products of any tree species including conversion of "timberlands" to other land uses. This initiative states it is trying to prevent timber harvest on steep slopes, yet does not consider slope restrictions within it.
The major concern with this initiative is the huge setbacks. The 1,000-foot setback from wetlands and houses appears to be the most restrictive. There are many small wetlands which would meet the definition in the ordinance. For example, a 5-foot square wetland would prevent any tree removal from the surrounding 72 acres. Often small wetlands are located on a parcel, unbeknownst to neighbors. For instance, your neighbor could have a wetland on the back corner of their property. Your property one-fifth of a mile away would be prohibited from removing trees for agriculture or a home site. Other property owners could not even replace non-native species (e.g., eucalyptus) with native vegetation (e.g., valley oak). If there are homes within 1,000 feet on either side of a property, the owner is precluded from any development if any tree is to be removed.
Many wetlands have not been officially delimited, but are still wetlands. Many vineyards have small wet areas which are not farmed, nor have they been officially mapped as wetlands. Neighboring parcels may not realize where these wetlands are and could easily remove a scrub oak tree within 1,000 feet and unknowingly violate the initiative.
The stream setback restrictions are excessive and severe. They even include a 50-foot setback from Class IV creeks. These are defined as manmade ditches and run throughout the valley.
The definition of timber harvest is so broad it would eliminate any tree removal within the defined watershed boundaries. It tries to change the state definition of timber harvest. Any tree, of any size, native or exotic, would be subject to this initiative. It would not have to be economically viable to harvest trees to have them be considered harvestable under these definitions. Any tree which could be burned in a fireplace would be covered.
This measure is written to appear as protection to the forested areas of our watershed. In reality, it will prevent any future development on land which has any type of trees. Even environmentally friendly practices of replacing non native plants with native plants will be prohibited. It will affect valley floor as well as hillside growers. Land in Coombsville, Pope/Chiles Valley and Mount Veeder would likely be the most affected.
In addition to the timber and waterway issues, the initiative attempts to place agricultural land under "permanent land use protective controls." Land currently used for grazing will not be allowed to be converted to other forms of agriculture. The county is ordered to initiate studies to "develop a comprehensive understanding of the S surface and underground water supplies. ..." How will this be paid for?
Measure O is purposely vague in its definitions. This will allow numerous lawsuits to be filed against the county for not properly enforcing these regulations. Please vote No on O to prevent unnecessary regulation which will not be beneficial to the environment and our county.