(Below is a letter that one of CGF’s outside attorneys, Paul Carroll, wrote to the Santa Clara County LAFCO agency when it approved Morgan Hill’s expansion based on a Negative Declaration stating that no significant impacts to farmland could occur, when LAFCO’s own staff said such impacts had in fact occurred. -Brian) April 20, 2007...
Category: News
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CGF Comments on the Water District Performance Audit
(We submitted comments on a performance audit for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. I’m the environmental representative on an advisory committee, discussed briefly here. -Brian)—— The following are my comments on behalf of the Committee for Green Foothills regarding the Watershed Operations Audit Memorandum of the March 2007 Comprehensive Performance Audit Final Report prepared...
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The Secret Society of Survey Stake Pullers
Last week I had the opportunity to attend one of the Peninsula Open Space Trust’s Wallace Stegner Lectures. This lecture was by Richard Louv, author of the book “The Last Child in the Woods,” about the decreasing contact that children have with nature. Louv talked about being a member of the Secret Society of Survey...
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Why Reject Alpine Road Sidewalk Expansion
This article was submitted to the Menlo Park Almanac last May (2006) but covers some of the history about why the Committee for Green Foothills thinks moving ahead with the Alpine Road sidewalk expansion is not wise. The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on Tuesday, March 27th at 10 am...
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CGF’s oral comments on the San Jose Water Company logging plan
I attended the California Department of Forestry hearing on Wednesday, January 31 that was held to receive public comment over the San Jose Water Company proposal to log 1,000 acres of redwoods and Douglas-Fir trees in Santa ClaraCounty. Hundreds of people attended, and I would guess 90% were opposed. The best argument against the type...
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Keeping drugs out of the water
The Mercury News reports about a successful program in San Mateo County encouraging people to turn in their old medicines for proper disposal, instead of pouring them down the toilet. The powerful drugs, even in minute quantities, are harming the fish and amphibians in constant contact with medicated water. Other jurisdictions are looking to copy...
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Ainsley Timber Harvest Plan Threatens Butano State Park
Lennie Roberts, CGF’s San Mateo Legislative Advocate, submitted these public comments on the proposed Timber Harvest Plan of the Ainsley Forest. January 23, 2006 Ms. Leslie MarkhamDeputy Chief, Forest PracticeCalifornia Department of Forestry and Fire Protection135 Ridgeway AvenueSanta Rosa, CA 95401 Re: THP 1-06-127 SMO, Ainsley Forest LLC Dear Ms. Markham, The Committee for Green...
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Logging and Fire Hazards: Why does Logging Create Additional Fire Hazards
It seems to come up in any logging plan, that the purpose of logging is to reduce fire hazards. CGF has uncovered information about why logging in redwood forests can actually increase fire hazards, at least in the first few years after the harvest. The following is a handout prepared by Lennie Roberts that we...
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CGF Letter to YMCA Encouraging a Stewarship Approach to Camp Jones Gulch
Lennie Roberts, CGF’s San Mateo County Advocate, wrote this letter to the YMCA in December urging them to consider a more stewardship-based approach to managing the land at Camp Jones Gulch. The YMCA has now established a Stewardship Advisory Committee to review their timber harvesting plans and to help the camp develop alternatives to the...
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CGF Letter on Camp Jones Gulch County Use Permit Application
Lennie Roberts, CGF’s San Mateo County Representative, sent this letter to San Mateo County concerning the YMCA-Camp Jones Gulch’s application for a use permit. February 14, 2007 George Bergman, Zoning Hearing Officer455 County CenterRedwood City, CA 94062 Re: PLN 2003-00377 – Item #5 on ZHO Agenda, February 15, 2007 Dear Mr. Bergman, On behalf of...