There may be better ideas out there than the STEWARD proposal. And we should take all the time necessary to develop and explore those ideas. However, we are not the ones that are rushing. We are on the defensive, playing catch-up as newcomers in a game that went on for years without any thought of inviting us to the table. This ordinance was coming down on us like a freight train. By rallying hundreds of people to tell their stories of how unfairly this ordinance would treat them, we bought enough time to put together at least the outline of another idea. Now we need to make sure we have enough time for our idea (and all other ideas) to get a fair hearing. - George Bachich
But my feeling is: United we stand, Divided we fall. The MO of the environmental movement has been to ask for the sky, then settle for small gains in their agenda. We then all breathe a sigh of relief because it "could have been worse". Two years later another attempt is made to restrict property rights on another front with the same results. Little by little property rights are restricted for the common good. - Dennis Watson
If one person gets hurt by passing this ordinance then the Supes, Ag community, and NVLSA have all failed. - Jeremiah Ciudaj
By the time ALL the exemptions are handed out; so few landowners are left to bear the entire burden of the ordinance as to create an issue of unequal enforcement. - Mike Rodrigues
Point of interest....Due to the heavy rains in mid Dec 2002, the Napa Co Dept of Public Works cleared up a large amount of woody debris from creeks and roadways to prevent flooding and hazardous driving. The Dept of Public Works stored the woody debris on Silverado Trail. I see the debris every time I go to town. It is a large pile approximately 1 mile up from Trancas. - Ken Manfree Jan 13, 2003
Today I visited the U.S. Corps of Engineers Bay Model at Sausalito. One of the items the Corps of Engineers highlighted was clearing the SF Bay and navigable waters leading into the Bay of large woody debris. The U.S. Corps of Engineers considers the Napa River a navigable waterway. The Corps of Engineers spends a great deal of taxpayers' money cleaning up the Bay and associated waterways. Incidentally, adjacent to the Bay Model is a large pile of woody debris that had been cleaned from the Bay. - Ken Manfree Feb. 18, 2003
"The Mediterranean climate of the Napa River basin results in naturally higher summer water temperatures, compared with other Steelhead streams in the Pacific Northwest. It is therefore likely the resident Napa River basin steelhead populations are reasonably well adapted to these conditions."- Napa River Basin TECHNICAL REPORT prepared by Stillwater Sciences, Section 6.3, Water Temperature
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