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UPPER LAKE – Following last year's record number of illegal marijuana seizures in the Mendocino National Forest, several members of the forest's law enforcement team were honored this month with a national award.
On March 14 the Mendocino National Forest Law Enforcement team received a national Director's award from the President's Office of National Drug Control Policy for their outstanding service to the nation in combating marijuana trafficking on the national forest last year.
Officers Walt Bliss, Mike Casey, Matt Knudson and Ramon Polo received the award from Director John P. Walters in a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Forest spokesperson Phebe Brown said Polo is based in Covelo, Knudson in Upper Lake, Bliss in Paskenta and Casey in Willows, but all of them travel all over the forest as part of their enforcement duties.
Last year, the team spent more than 300 days eradicating 405,399 marijuana plants from 55 illegal marijuana sites on the Mendocino National Forest. “We were No. 1 in the state,” said Brown.
In fact, Walters' citation to the officers reads, in part: "More marijuana was taken by this team than any other group within the Forest Service in 2006.”
Illegal marijuana eradication was a major issue for Lake County in 2006.
Last fall, when then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced the results of the state Department of Justice’s 2006 Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), Lake County led the state's 58 counties with the most plants seized – 314,603, almost 100,000 more than the second-ranked county, Shasta.
Statewide, Lockyer reported, CAMP set a new record with the seizure of 1,675,681 plants worth an estimated $6.7 billion during the eradication season – more than three times the number of plants seized in 2005.
Sheriff Rod Mitchell said the illegal marijuana growers are attracted to the Mendocino National Forest – not necessarily Lake County itself – as a location.
The forest's fertile soils and remote locations are a haven for illicit marijuana growing, he explained.
“This is an area that is deeply troubling to me and my staff who work in the area of eradicating marijuana,” he said.
That's because it involves trespassing on both private and public lands, said Mitchell.
Worse, threats are posed to humans who happen across the illegal grows, he said, and the growers show wanton disrespect for the environment.
“This is a huge area of concern and should be even for people who are pro-dope,” he said.
The Mendocino National Forest's officers expressed their thanks to agencies like Mitchell's for help in the marijuana eradication effort.
"We could not have been successful without the teamwork with the Sheriff's Departments of Glenn, Colusa, Tehama, Lake and Mendocino Counties, the California National Guard, and Department of Justice CAMP teams," Casey said. "We all worked together to locate and remove this illegal use of our public land."
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – Employment numbers for Lake County improved in February, according to a recent report from Dennis Mullins of the state Employment Development Department.
Mullins reported that Lake County's February 2007 unemployment rate was 8.3 percent, down 0.2 percent from January 2007, but up slightly from the year ago February 2007 rate of 8.2 percent.
This compares to a California seasonally unadjusted rate of 5.2 percent and 4.9 percent for the nation, according to Mullins' report.
Other surrounding county rates included 6.3 percent for Mendocino, and 4.2 percent for Sonoma, he noted. Orange and Marin Counties again tied for the lowest rate in the state at 3.5 percent and Colusa had the highest with 18.1 percent.
Total industry employment grew by 190 jobs (1.3 percent) between February 2006 and February 2007, Mullins said, ending the year-over period with 14,470 jobs.
Year-over job growth occurred in the following categories: farm, natural resources, mining and construction, information, financial activities, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and other services, according to Mullins.
Year-over job losses, Mullins said, occurred in trade, transportation and utilities.
Industry sectors with no change for the period included manufacturing, private educational and health services, and government, Mullins said.
Industry gainers easily outnumbered decliners for the year-over period with natural resources, mining and construction, and leisure and hospitality leading gainers with 60 each.
Farm and other services each added 40 jobs. Information, financial activities, and professional and business services gained 10 each.
Trade, transportation and utilities was down 40 for the period.
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CLEARLAKE – The City of Clearlake is looking for volunteers to help chart the course for the city’s future.
The Clearlake Vision Task Force will be part of a community-driven effort that will produce plans for how the city should grow and develop.
Task force members will attended between 15 and 20 meetings, where officials expect there will be lively discussions, heated arguments, tough compromises and ultimately, consensus.
City Administrator Dale Neiman said the process will produce a plan for Clearlake created by city's residents and business owners, the stakeholders who will decide what sort of community will be left to their kids and grandkids.
The results of their efforts will be the policies that will be the backbone of plans, programs and priorities affecting all aspects of community life, Neiman said.
The Task Force will set the agenda, addressing a variety of community concerns including infrastructure, such as streets and utilities; economic development; residential development; services to residents, such as public safety, youth and senior activities; and much more.
Neiman said the objective is to present a report to the City Council that represents the community’s view of what needs to be done in order for Clearlake to become the best it can be, and to generate the interest and enthusiasm to keep the process moving forward in the years to come.
The qualifications for participating in the Vision Task Force process are simple, said Neiman. Members must want to plan for the city’s future while protecting those qualities that make the city special; care deeply about the kind of community they want to leave to future generations; and think in terms of tomorrow, not yesterday. Those who only want to complain need not apply, he said.
Irwin Kaplan, the city's interim Community Development director, said a community-driven process is needed because change doesn't come easily.
“We need to find solutions to difficult problems that have only gotten worse over the years,” Kaplan said. “But the motivation to change comes from knowing that change is already happening and that our choice is either to take control of our destiny, or be the victims of change. Just look at what has been happening with land speculation and new development, large and small.”
An overview of recent activity presented to a joint meeting of the City Council and the Planning Commission on Jan. 27th indicated the following:
– Residential permits issued last year: 195 new residential units.
– Permits in process: Commercial, 22,000 square feet; residential, 1,156 units.
– Pending redevelopment projects (commercial and residential): Airport Business Park, Austin Harbor.
– Exploratory interest: Borax Lake, 1,000 acres; 500+ acre project for vineyards, condos ranchettes and commercial.
Originally developed as a community for summer cabins, Clearlake has been transitioning to a community of year-round homes that it was never designed to accommodate, officials say.
Without the street improvements, water and sewer systems in place, the community finds itself in the position of trying to accommodate development with outdated infrastructure, often being called upon to make instant decisions to do what is best under the circumstances while under the pressure to approve projects.
“This is like building the airplane while flying it,” Kaplan said. “People investing in the community are the wind in the community’s sails. The city can choose to ignore it and go wherever the wind blows it, or the city can take control of its destiny and decide where it wants the ship to go.
“But make no mistake,” Kaplan added, “the wind is beginning to blow. Just look at what is happening to land values.”
And Clearlake shouldn’t be sold short, Kaplan added, “because very, very few communities are blessed with the natural gifts of Clearlake.”
The committee will represent a wide range of interests -- youth and the elderly, men and women, businesses and residents, owners and renters, etc. -- so that the plan for Clearlake can be for all its residents.
If you are interested in serving on the Task Force, you can find an application on the City’s Web site at www.clearlake.ca.us, or call City Clerk Melissa Swanson, 994-8201, Extension 106, to have one sent to you. You also may stop by City Hall Monday through Thursday to pick up an application.
Applications should be returned by April 2, so that the selection process can be completed by April 12.
A recent decision by the City Council makes Vision Task Force membership open to anyone who owns property within the city limits, and to any business owners who have a business in the city but who do not necessarily live in Clearlake.
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UPPER CACHE CREEK WATERSHED – March was a productive month for three of the county’s local watershed groups, along with the citizens who live in the Kelsey Creek, Middle Creek, and Scotts Creek watersheds. April may be even better!
The residents of these watersheds proved that they have much more in common than they have differences. Common concerns voiced by citizens in all three watersheds were water quality, fire safety, flood damage, erosion, wildlife habitat, invasive weeds, the preservation of the Clear Lake hitch, development concerns and sustained agriculture land use.
More information is needed on these issues, and who better to provide the answers than the residents of these communities?
Thanks to a grant awarded to the West Lake Resource Conservation District, studies are being conducted in these three watersheds which allow the groups to gather information about both the historical and current conditions of the natural resources in these areas.
These watershed assessments will be used in making management decisions and obtaining funding for restoration, fuel load management, habitat improvement, water quality and various other projects in the future.
The assessments also will contribute current information to the Clear Lake Basin Management Plan; another much-needed document that will be updated and completed, under this grant.
These studies are all essential documents for planning and resource management in our communities. Along with other important uses, they’re a necessary tool for obtaining funding for projects in these watersheds.
They also provide information that will help volunteers plan and complete the tasks they want to accomplish. The grant provides support for the watershed groups in the Upper Cache Creek Watershed.
This grant opportunity is specifically designed for the citizens in each of these watersheds to participate in the process, and help in developing the information that goes into these assessments.
In order to put together the most comprehensive documents possible, it is vital that the local communities participate in these studies. At the March meetings, citizens of these watersheds did just that, and there’s more to be done.
The three watershed groups in the participating areas will be holding meetings in April, and citizens in these areas are once again urged to attend. Now is your chance to share your opinions, your concerns, and your knowledge of the area you live in.
If you reside in the vicinity of Kelsey Creek from Forest Lake on Cobb Mountain to Clear Lake itself, you live in the Kelsey Creek Watershed, and are encouraged to attend the Big Valley CRMP meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, at the American Legion Hall, corner of 2nd Street and Gaddy Lane, Kelseyville.
If you live in the vicinity of Clover Creek, Sam Alley Creek, the town of Upper Lake, or the areas near the East Fork and West Fork of Middle Creek to Rodman Slough, you reside in the Middle Creek Watershed. Please make it a point to attend the next meeting of the Middle Creek CRMP at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, at the Upper Lake Fire House, 9420 Main St.
If you live in the areas of Saratoga Springs, Witter Springs, Bachelor Valley, Blue Lakes, Scotts Valley, Cow Mountain and Tule Lake to the confluence at Rodman Slough, you live in the Scotts Creek Watershed. The date to mark on your calendar is 6 p.m. Thursday, April 19. The Scotts Creek Watershed Council will host the meeting at the Scotts Valley Women’s Clubhouse, 2298 Hendricks Road, Lakeport.
Greg Dills, watershed coordinator for East Lake and West Lake Resource Conservation Districts, will also be on hand to answer questions and guide the watershed groups through the assessment process.
For clarification’s sake, the term “assessment” has nothing to do with taxes – it is simply an inventory of the current conditions of the watershed.
What do you want your watershed to look like in five, 10 or 50 years? Now is your chance to have a say in the future of your own community, so don’t miss this opportunity to get involved.
Are you interested in helping, but hate going to meetings? There are other ways you can contribute information and support for this project, so don’t hesitate to call.
For questions or additional information on how you can help, call Dills at 263-4180, Extension 12, or Linda Juntunen at 263-4180, Extension 16.
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COBB – More than 200 people gathered in Cobb on Saturday at a place not far from the home of Karlie Breeden, who died on March 1 of an inoperable brain tumor.
The memorial for Karlie included prayers, verbal remembrances of the much-loved daughter of David and Renada Breeden, a seemingly inexhaustible stream of videos and slides of the lively little blonde, and even the singing of Karlie's favorite Christmas song, "Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer," by all in attendance.
The amazingly large crowd included neighbors, friends, relatives and many others who had kept the vigil for Karlie through her illness, diagnosed in April 2006. There were numerous children.
Karlie's shoes in front of her photo lent a somber note and there were tears. Among them were those of grief-stricken Kyle Gibson, a 9-year-old neighbor and playmate of Karlie's, being comforted by his mother, Jen.
"They were growing up together," Jan Gibson explained.
Other parents, with their own tots of Karlie's age, such as Jill Pressley of Sonoma with her 3-year-old daughter Emma, showed their empathy for David and Renada in their loss.
The Breedens, though, had not intended the memorial for their daughter to be a wholly sad affair.
And, indeed, as they remembered the wiles and antics of this 4-year-old girl, more than a few people laughed.
E-mail John Lindblom at
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LAKE COUNTY – If you couldn't resist planting tomatoes or other tender annuals this weekend, be prepared for the possibility of frosty mornings the next few days and take precautions.
The National Weather Services (NWS) in Sacramento is warning of a cold storm moving towards Lake County Monday and Tuesday which will bring unsettled weather with the possibility of thunderstorms and hail – and even tornadoes in some Central Valley areas.
Snow levels on Monday night will drop to 3,000 feet with the west winds 10 to 20 miles per hour with temperatures in the low 40s, according to NWS.
On Tuesday, NWS says there's a slight chance of thunderstorms and unsettled weather - but lows should remain in the upper 30s.
But the Weather Channel is predicting that temps will drop near freezing on Monday night and below freezing on Tuesday night.
So, just in case, take precautions and cover any tender plants and get your ice scraper back out.
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
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