In the last MEC Newsletter (Winter 1993), "Option 9 - Clinton's Forest Compromise Pleases No One," an analysis was presented by author Vicki Oldham of what was known at the time of the economic development component of Option 9. Her fine groundwork is the spring board for this article. Ms Oldham states, "Clinton's Northwest Economic Development Plan is the "spoonful of sugar" that he is offering in hopes the Option 9 will be swallowed by rural communities." She goes on to say, "...assuming the money is appropriated by Congress...the 'intent' is to fast tract the awarding of hundreds of millions of dollars to the rural counties and communities of the Pacific Northwest to ease the transition caused by the so called 'timber crisis'." She raised concerns that environmentally devastating, low wage economic development by the same companies and individuals who have exploited the timber lands may well be the result of this "blood money." By micro-focusing and tracking these dollars and politics through Mendocino County, and its residents' attempts to be Option 9 "players", several issues important to the environmental community are revealed, and our worst fears are confirmed.
What is perceived by government to be a "logging stalemate" in the Pacific Northwest between the environmental community and the timber industry is the basis for the massive invasion into rural Northern California by all levels of elected officials and their appointed agencies. In 1991, a Memorandum of Understanding entitled "California's Coordinated Regional Strategy To Conserve Biological Diversity" was signed by 10 California state agencies which, in essence, agreed to take a "bioregional" approach to wildlife and forests issues. The MOU identifies an Executive Council comprised of the 10 state agencies, and chaired by Douglas Wheeler, the Secretary of The Resources Agency of California.
Biologist Gerry Moles was hired directly (and later, in a round about way) by Resources Secretary Wheeler to go into Northern California "bioregional centers" and organize grassroots "biodiversity" groups comprised of the timber industry, state agencies and environmental activists. The directive was to "consense," not only on forestry and wildlife regulations, but on economic development as well. In most areas these "grassroots" groups were quickly co-opted by the Wise Use Movement (WUM). As one result, among many, a piece of work coming out of the Shasta/Trinity "biodiversity" group, to the dismay of local participating environmentalists, was a proposal for a Biomass plant which burns so called "waste" wood to produce electricity.
Mendocino County environmental activists participated with lower level timber industry representatives in the "biodiversity" meetings for our area but, according to Gary Ball of the MEC, "they couldn't co-opt us so they derailed the group and it hasn't met for quite some time." However, since early spring of 1993, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations' Nat Bingham and Zeke Grader have been participating with timber industry CEO's in very quiet "biodiversity" meetings. Recently, Nat has been given the task to bring to the table "certain" environmental groups to work out "local solutions" to the "impact" of the Coho Salmon being designated an Endangered Species.
California Governor Pete Wilson offered up these bioregional "biodiversity" groups, as California's grassroots bottom-up solution to "outside over-regulation", to counter President Clinton's solution to the logging stalemate via proposed Options 1 through 10 Federal Forest Regulations. Option 9 became the Option of preference for some environmentalists and timber industry players, but was still met with resistance on both sides. Clinton tossed in a $1.2 billion (+ or - depending on who you're talking to) economic development assistance package to sweeten the deal. Still being met with opposition, Clinton countered with supposedly untying the economic development package from Option 9 proposed Federal Forest Regulations. Continuing to oppose Option 9, Governor Wilson decided it was now okay for California to take the economic development money: it could be controlled from Sacramento.
* * * * * * *
Ah, but the Clinton Administration then required a state structure to interface with the National Economic Council, home of the plan for the "adjustment and diversification" economic development package. In late summer of '93, Governor Wilson appointed Terry Gorton, retiring as Chair of the Board of Forestry, as Assistant Secretary of Resources for Rural Economic Development under Resources Secretary Wheeler. Gorton, along with Humboldt County Supervisor Anna Sparks, began to organize the California Community Economic Revitalization Team (State-Cert) to interface with the Feds and, in their mind, act as the receiving and disbursing entity for the federal dollars coming into California.
Fierce competition between the Pacific Northwest states slated for the federal dollars resulted in road blocks for California in the "funding fast track". California doesn't have the National Forest old growth timber, and displaced logger base of Oregon and Washington. Wilson's posturing had placed California behind schedule in organizing its interfacing S-CERT. Timber molls Gorton and Sparks quickly activated the squeaky wheel effect. They called a meeting, inviting various County Supervisors (Liz Henry and Supervisor de Vall went from Mendocino County), bioregional "biodiversity" groups, State and Federal Senators and Congressmen, and others. Those who attended strutted and fretted their hour on the stage and then were selectively dismissed.
Supervisor de Vall tenaciously fought to keep Mendocino County part of the process. Alone and isolated as pro-environment in the pro-timber industry make up of the S-CERT, de Vall struggled with a Mendocino National Forest/displaced logger ratio which was even smaller potatoes when compared to the already comparatively small ratio in the rest of Northern California. As our county's only participant, de Vall's official appointment by Governor Wilson to the S-CERT would determine if Mendocino County could receive Clinton's economic revitalization dollars.
Starting in the fall of '93, at the encouragement of Supervisor de Vall (still not officially appointed to the S-CERT), Dave Nelson, aide to Congressman Dan Hamburg, invited anyone who was interested to meetings in Mendocino County about the Option 9 economic package. These folks hurriedly sifted through tiny bits of political posturing non-information and waited for something of substance to happen.
Meanwhile, the S-CERT, getting ready to administrate the yet to be seen federal funds, worked on California's Strategic Plan, which included economic development, interfacing with Oregon, Washington and the Feds, and S-CERT tribal and minority representation. At one point the S-CERT agreed to operate by "consensus", and Supervisor de Vall's appointment became a glimmer of hope for balancing the pro-timber industry agenda. In fact, watershed and fisheries restoration showed up at the top of the S-CERT's goals. High on its list: worker retraining, woods related jobs, and long term sustainable employment. But, it is important to note, the Biomass proposal from the Shasta/Trinity "biodiversity" group also appears on this list.
Concurrently, a variety of Native American tribal representatives and individuals in Northern California and Oregon organized to form a Community Economic Revitalization Team of their own. Realizing that even though many tribes are recognized by the Federal Government as Sovereign Nations, they were being cut out of the process. Unemployment rates due to the closing of mills and loss of timber jobs were soaring up to 90% in some Native American communities. One Native American tribal representative attempted to participate in the California S-CERT conference calls, but was able to only sporadically attend the non-financially subsidized, distant, roving meetings.
Early in November 1993, things start to cut lose. In Oregon and Washington the "Round One" of five rounds for acceptance of proposals for economic development was underway. Meanwhile, the White House had not completed the Option 9 Plan. It was really unknown if the cutting of the old growth in the National Forests was funding the economic development package or not. Congress certainly hadn't appropriated any money to fund the economic package. The funding was not supposed to be tied to Option 9. Where was the money coming from? Never mind. Round One of Option 9 was happening.
Supervisor de Vall put out the word: it was happening, fast. He explained to our Board of Supervisors that a citizen's review committee was needed to rank local proposals. Mendocino County had in place a large citizen's group which had worked together for 18 months, and produced a federally approved Overall Economic Development Plan (OEDP) for the County. The OEDP identified economic development which preserves and/or enhances the resource base of the county, the only kind of economic development supported by the Plan. It also emphasized the need to create a Mendocino Business Development Center as the infrastructure for implementing this OEDP goal. Supervisors Sugawara and Henry scrambled all over themselves to placate the lobbying group attempting to derail this citizens group's well established consensus process (which in this case, worked to level the playing field for minorities, women and environmental representatives in a group dominated by the good old boy power structure). The Board of Supervisors approved Henry's and Sugawara's recommendation for appointing a new committee comprised of the OEDP Committee and several new citizens: 25 people all together. By Board decree, the Option 9 Review Panel was not obligated to operate by consensus.
* * * * * * *
In mid-November Supervisor de Vall was officially appointed by Governor Wilson as Mendocino County's representative on the S-CERT. The S-CERT, not to miss the '94 Federal Funding Cycle, requested local proposals for economic development with a deadline for citizens, local government and state review and ratings to be completed in one month.
Supervisor de Vall encouraged and excited county residents in an amazing, only in Mendocino County, rural word of mouth announcement that there was a one week deadline for submission of 2 page proposals. Visions of earth lovers seeking to restore forest habitat, rappelling down the sides of isolated mountains clutching expert proposals written by candlelight, danced in our heads. Criteria was confusing and helpful guidelines were nowhere to be found. As federal funding novices, we courageously guessed at what we were doing. Hamburg's aide, Dave Nelson, claimed that most of the money available would be for retraining displaced timber workers in rehabilitating the federal forests with only a small pot of money available for other types of economic development. He also explained that the money would not go to the planning arena, but to those endeavors which would put the bucks into the pockets of displaced workers via employment opportunities.
In the next week 98 proposals were submitted to Supervisor de Vall. It was believed, at the time, that local citizen's rating groups would have some say in what type of economic proposals were submitted to the Feds. Rating criteria and process were consensed (!) on rather quickly by Mendocino County's Option 9 Review Panel. The logistics of dividing 10 copies of 98 proposals (a stack a 1 1/2 high) between 25 people, who had a week to read and rate all the proposals dominated the only meeting of the Review Panel. The two page proposal criteria was completely ignored by most of the submitters. The rating criteria was subjectively used or totally ignored by most of the Review Panel. The proposals themselves ran the gamut of economic development, social program, ecosystem rehabilitation,and municipal infrastructure projects... from a heartfelt handwritten letter from a man wanting to "get some fish growing in a stream near his house" to 15 very thick federal agency pre-applications packages for City of Fort Bragg infrastructure projects. Dave Nelson told us that proposals not meeting the local review deadline would be passed on into the state review process anyway. de Vall told us S-CERT policy was to return non-reviewed proposals.
A collective scream complaining to the Feds about the local citizen's rating processes, local government's rating processes, state agency review, and the S-CERTs rating process of submitted projects resounded from across the political spectrum and from all corners of Northern California. Next thing we knew, the Feds were not going to accept any rating done by the citizen's Review Panels, local government,state agencies, or the S-CERT. The Feds wanted all 600 + of the proposals from the 8 participating counties, and would review and rate them on their own. Also, California's S-CERT would not be administrating any federal funding. The unidentified federal agencies would contact the proposals they chose and deal directly with the proposal contact person.
The S-CERT had been reduced to a proposal facilitating structure for gathering local proposals, making copies and passing them on for state agency review, and the final federal review, rating and "funding". (There was still only a bare inkling of information about federal agencies and funding.) One bit of constructive work accomplished by the S-CERT, however, was identifying each county's local infrastructure for receiving and disbursing federal funds in preparation for the manna coming in from the unidentified federal agencies. Supposedly, the federal agencies have restrictions on directly "giving" money to private enterprise. For example; the Feds can fund revolving loan projects, non-profits and government entity projects or government entities can act as "sponsors" for private enterprise projects. Mere details of no consequence if you are Big Timber.
* * * * * * *
The S-CERT identified Mendocino County as the only county in Northern California not to have a county wide business development infrastructure to assist hopeful local small entrepreneurs. Again, Mendocino County was about to fall out of the S-CERT/Option 9 funding, since this infrastructure became a criteria for continued participation. At the 11th hour, Supervisor de Vall wrote an Option 9 proposal for a business development center and satisfied the requirements.
Lack of county business development infrastructure is due to political shenanigans back in February of '93, which set the stage for a dramatic loss of environmental and minority participation in economic development now. While Ukiah City Administrator, Chuck Rough, along with Madeline Holtcamp of West Co.(a small business assistance firm), were putting together a business development center for the City of Ukiah, Rough was also "unofficially" put in charge of organizing a Mendocino County Business Development Center (MBDC) under the Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG) funded by Rigg's (this is another story) pork barrel money.The OEDP environmental and minority representatives' complaints about the lack of minority/women/environmental representation in Rough's "behind closed doors" plan were successfully resolved. However, even though a broad base of community input into an infrastructure plan had been ensured, MCOG directors (Liz Henry, Bruce Alfano, John Cimilino, Frank McMichaels, et al) still deliberately allowed the MBDC, which would use the environmentally progressive guidelines established by the OEDP, to languish. Meanwhile, the City of Ukiah, in partnership with West Co., has the only community business development center (for Ukiah, only) totally funded and in place. The rest of the smaller cities and unincorporated areas of the county which are dependant on the formation of the MBDC do not.
* * * * * * *
In January '94 Supervisor de Vall announced that the S-CERT had received the specific federal agency's ratings and proposed "funding" of Mendocino County's proposals. The S-CERT sequestered all the meaningful information. (One wonders about insider information and new land purchases/business investments by some S-CERT members.) Since we don't have a MBDC, Supervisor de Vall appointed Madeline Holtcamp of West Co. as the County's Business Development liaison. She also had the sequestered information. All the proposal submitters knew was that if their project had a 1, 2 ,or 3 by its name it would, probably, or possibly, respectively receive some sort of "funding" by some unknown federal agency. Supervisor de Vall told us to expect a phone call in a few weeks.
Here are the Mendocino County proposals which should receive funding:
Can the environmental community organize, let alone, prevail in the face of fast track, fully funded development like desalination plants, biomass plants, and hardwood mills, touted as put starving loggers back to work? Remember the Biomass proposal that came out of the WUM biodiversity group, which was then, much later, listed as an economic development goal by the pro-timber S-CERT? The US Forest Service will grant the dollars for a feasibility study to get it underway. This is only Round One; there are four or five more rounds.
As we begin to hear the US Forest Service bellyache that they haven't got the bucks to fully develop and support all the rehabilitation studies, and the "we do wood chips, we might do potato chips, but we don't do micro chips " proposals that have come their way, one can see them protecting turf in order to receive and administrate the proceeds of sale of the old growth. The US Forest Service, by the way, is attempting to take the lead over all the other Option 9 federal and state agencies by coordinating all the selected proposals for joint funding, and organizing the agencies themselves into a US Forest Service support structure. They were the first of the federal agencies to come into our communities and tell us how the "cow ate the cabbage" for detailed Option 9 project funding procedures. They also just finished, as I wrap up this article, derailing any remaining influence the S-CERT may have had over economic development and met directly with Big Timber CEOs to lay out plans for the rest of the funding rounds.
We now know too that the Option 9 Plan for logging regulations in the National Forests comes before Seattle court Judge William Dwyer in February 1994, with a "record of decision" to follow in March 1994. What we don't know is how "funding" will be affected if the Option 9 Plan is rejected as being in noncompliance with National Environmental Policy (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, The Endangered Species Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, etc.
Congressman Hamburg is noticeably silent. It's hard to imagine that all this is going on in his district without his political spin on the Option 9 ball.Hamburg has, however, already delivered out-spoken support for the Fort Bragg desalination plant, and refused to intercede in behalf of residents with environmental concerns about mega-coastal development.
Environmentalists' original concerns about the beneficiaries of the economic development package were not misplaced, and provide a framework for further observing, participating in the process, developing strategies for the environmental impact of "funded" proposals, and understanding that accepting project money is at best, a Catch 22. This week, for Big Timber, the US Forest Service would like to funnel Option 9 dollars through community based non-profits for rehabilitation plans, sustainable forestry research and value added wood manufacturing plants. No one can safely predict the political spins on Option 9 for next week.
It's time the environmental community came to grips with our role in economic development. We have, as we have always had, an opportunity to put our own special brand of "political spin" on Option 9. This doesn't mean just showing up when a particularly outrageous economic development item is being discussed. It means fully informing ourselves about, and attending all government and quasi-government meetings on a regular basis. The shadow government doesn't really operate so much behind closed doors. It just pushes its agenda forward at all those little meetings we don't seem to have time or people power to attend.
Roanne Withers has represented the MEC committee concerned about economic development for 2 years on the OEDP, and recently the Option 9 Review Panel. She wrote the PanTerre proposal for Option 9 funding which was rated a #1 locally and nationally. As a result, PanTerre was offered a California Trade and Commerce Agency "Sudden and Severe Economic Dislocation Loan Program." Her research indicates that there are other, better loan programs available outside the Option 9 arena for manufacturing industries which use recyclables as feedstock. She cautions entrepreneurs about using public dollars for business feasibility studies based on the consequence of using public funds for the PanTerre Preliminary Business Plan and going through the Option 9 process. L-P has now expressed interest in the publicly owned PanTerre information and possibly producing a similar product.
More detailed information about Option 9 funding agencies, loan and grant programs in and outside Option 9, and environmentally sound economic development information and assistance is available by calling Roanne at 961-1953.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1998
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited