A strong grading ordinance is needed to halt the ongoing degradation that has made Mendocino County one of the most heavily damaged in the country. Sediment is destroying our fisheries, erosion clogs county road culverts, and riparian habitat is being lost in the absence of a law to regulate earth-moving.
It is not too late for us to educate ourselves on the issue or to become involved in the process. The county Grading Ordinance Committee has finished drafting a grading ordinance. Finding the draft too weak on environmental protections, some members of the environmental community, led by David Drell and the Willits Environmental Center, drafted their own version of a grading ordinance. Yet another version was drafted by Dr. Hillary Adams. All three drafts were submitted to the county Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission will be involved with the grading ordinance well into April and maybe even May. The draft they approve will then go on to the Board of Supervisors, who have the final say.
Hal Wagonet, who was elected to the Board of Supervisors last November, has the option of appointing a new member to the commission as representative for the Third Supervisorial District. Jim Little, the current commissioner from the Third District, works for Harwood Lumber; he has not been an advocate for the environment. Call Wagonet and ask him to appoint a different commissioner. In the First District, long time commissioner Ed Berry recently resigned, but Michael Delbar, the supervisor from that district, is not likely to appoint an environmentalist to replace him.
The Mendocino Environmental Center, along with other community organizations and individuals, is sponsoring a series of educational forums on this issue. Forums will be held in Point Arena, Anderson Valley, Ukiah, Fort Bragg, Willits, Covelo and Laytonville. The forums will begin in March and will run through April, long before this issue is forwarded on to the Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors will have an opportunity to do the right thing and develop a good ordinance. These forums are designed to educate the public and mobilize them to take an active role when the Board starts its deliberations. For more information, contact the MEC at 468-1660.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2003
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