Old growth sequoia trees are dying at an alarming rate in California, so land managers across the Sierras are mounting an emergency response. Many of the biggest, oldest trees on earth have fallen victim to mega-fires, bark beetle infestation and drought, all exacerbated by climate change. Jessica Morse with the California Natural Resources Agency says multi-tree die-offs are rare among sequoias – with only about 2 dozen lost between the ice age and 2015 – but now more than 10-thousand old-growth trees have died since 2020.
:16 "This has been an all-hands-on-deck moment where we have state federal, local, tribal and nonprofit partners coming together to really address the sequoia crisis with urgency. You know, we've lost nearly 20% of the monarch sequoias in just two years."
This year, the California Giant Sequoia Land Coalition has cleared dead wood and burned piles from more than 42-hundred acres with about another 22-thousand acres to go. Sequoia groves range from Lake Tahoe down to Sequoia National Park.
Second Cut: Teresa Benson is forest supervisor of the Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument. She says the work will ensure that the groves can be more resilient to fire in the future.
:15 "That work on the ground will result in fires actually having a more beneficial effect versus the high-severity fire effects that we've seen from the massive fire events that have
been occurring in California.”
Third Cut: Clay Jordan is superintendent at Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. He says the coalition is working with U-C Berkeley and others to measure the effects of fire to inform the work going forward.
:11 "We are conducting research and then sharing that information among all the land stewards so that we can make science-driven decisions to protect the resource."
Tag: The coalition has already started planting 200-thousand seedlings, including 25-thousand baby giant sequoia, which will grow into the monarch trees of the next century.
In front of the Ukiah Courthouse some work has been done on an ancient Magnolia Tree. An arborist saw cracking on the base of the tree from weight, so the County of Mendocino agreed to bring out a tree-trimming crew who took some of the weight off with a crown trim. Mendo Fever reports a post on the matter on social media brought out a positive community response to do what was needed to save the tree, which along with another have been in town since the late 1800s. The news site reminds the county continues to work with arborists and others to keep the trees alive. Back in 1925 the trees were used as the town’s Christmas trees and citizens decorated them for the holiday.
It may finally be over… the University of California has reportedly reached an agreement with tens of thousands of graduate student teaching assistants and more academic workers after weeks of striking. 36,000 staffers are poised to get salary hikes and richer benefits, but the workers still need to ratify the vote. Those at the bargaining table say some of the workers could be getting up to 66% more pay over the next two years. There are also better benefits for parent workers, better rights for international workers, protections against bullying and harassment, improvements to accessibility, workplace protections, and sustainable transit benefits. The president of the University of CA says it will place the workers among the “best supported in public higher education”. Workers were arguing it was hard to live in bigger cities where housing was way more expensive.
As the Lake County Board of Supervisors prepares to discuss who might be the next Sheriff, they’re also giving themselves a raise at their next meeting. The Sheriff Brian Martin is retiring and someone needs to fill his shoes until the next election. Tomorrow morning the Board will interview two applicants who could fill the job from next month until January of 2025. The two are, the Lake County Probation head, Rob Howe, and Lt. Luke Bingham. Around lunchtime the Supervisors will discuss the two candidates. Then after that they’ll discuss amending the county code to get themselves a 28% raise, with the Board chair getting 5% above that. If the vote passes, they’ll be paid about $65,000/year except the chair.
Two new members will be sworn into the Lakeport City Council ahead of the New Year. Tomorrow night the council will also pick new leadership, which they do every year. The certification of the mid-term election will be presented by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office too. The council is also meeting the city’s new Fire Chief and get an update on the city’s Clean Water Program.
The Mendocino City Community Services District Board of Directors have agreed to raise rates. Last Monday the Board also reappointed Dennak Murphy and Jim Sullivan, as president and vice president for another one-year term. There are also two new board members, Matthew Miksak and Ishvi Aum who ran unopposed. At the same meeting the board discussed a feasibility study to develop a public water system, which they will continue discussing as the months roll by. As far as the rate increases, sewer rate increases over the next five years will nearly double and groundwater management rates will double. The District is also currently in a Stage 2 drought.
The vice-mayor of Fort Bragg, who chose not to run again, has been commended on a job well done. At last week’s City Council meeting Vice-Mayor Jessica Morsell-Haye resigned her position and will no longer serve, as she opted not to run again. As we reported last week, three incumbents, Marcia Rafanan, Tess Albin-Smith, and Lindy Peters, stay on the council and Jason Godeke was a new council member and sworn in. Continuing as mayor is Bernie Norvell, and new member Godeke was elected as vice-mayor. Morsell-Haye had a plague in her name presented to her for her work on the city council.
There’s an upgrade for the Mendocino Fire Protection District’s fire suppression rating. That means those who own homes or property could save some money on their fire insurance under the new Public Protection Classification (PPC) grade. The International Organization of Standardization (ISO) puts out the ratings which end up being the way insurance companies calculate the price of a property’s insurance policy. The Mendocino Fire Protection District got a 05/10 rating, showing higher fire suppression capabilities for outlying structures related to any structure within five miles of the fire station and all others had no change in their rating. The Fire District also says they’re building a new storage barn to hold fire-fighting equipment on
Comptche Road which could also change insurance costs for those within its five-mile radius.
A new report shows kids were chronically absent to school three times as much as they were before COVID19 lockdowns and online learning. The chronically absent students in California were at 30% for kindergartners and the state overall, and 42.5% for Black students. The California Department of Education reports after one year of distance learning, when schools reopened there were massive absentee students. Ed Source reports one of the rates that stood out the most was that 30% mark for kindegartners, almost double the pre-pandemic rate.
Holiday wreaths have been laid by local 4H clubs, veterans, and community members at the Russian River Cemetary in Ukiah. It was part of the yearly Wreaths Across America that 1,200 wreaths were placed on local veterans graves to note their service and sacrifices. The Daily Journal reports the Redwood Valley/Calpella 4H club along with the Shamrock 4-H club hosted the event Saturday morning where dozens came out in force.
Put it on your calendar… Saturday, January 14th – the County of Mendocino, Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Department, and CTC Mass Notification are having a public meeting at the Redwood Valley Fire Station on the Early Warning Sirens Project. There will be time for Q&A at the meeting and there will be a demonstration of an early warning siren. They’ll get it started around 10:00 AM as the Mendocino County CEO Darcie Antle kicks things off. Then it’s the First District Supervisor Glenn McGourty, Chief Kerry Robinson, and others following the agenda. The project is funded by PG&E with settlement funds from the 2017 Redwood Complex Fire.
