 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
 |
 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
cutting funds, which pertains to any landowner who still has a Heritage Tree. This way, people will brag about having some, and it will become a source of pride to the landowner -- and the developers will have an incentive to build around them, as SB754 requires. Following is the very interesting account of Joey Racano's somewhat quaint journey to present the case for forest preservation to the CDF, sometimes characterized as the "heart of evil", but really, having 2 faces: fire suppression, and forest anagement. /Doug
FORWARDED FROM JOEY RACANO. ~WINDS OF CHANGE~
*On this date in 1960, the Democratic Party nominated John F. Kennedy
for president* -Santa Ana Station- The big Greyhound left Santa Ana Railroad and Bus Station 45 minutes late, and they never checked my ticket. Loaded up on pretzels and bottled water, I climbed aboard. After claiming a seat toward the rear, I pulled out my trusty clipboard and worked on the speech I would deliver before the California Board of Forestry.* I was Aptos bound. (text of speech included at end of this e mail*)-jr -Los Angeles- During a two hour lay-over in L.A., I made the mistake of stepping outside the bus terminal for a newspaper and a look around, and was almost immediately approached by a junky panhandler who tried to impress me with a gang tattoo. He shook my hand, and then grabbed on while his 'homey' stood by glaring a 'mad dog' look at me. Indignant, I put the kind of a crush on this predators hand that will play on his mind on the day his life passes before his eyes. He was very happy when I released him, and I wisely went back inside. "Greyhound to Santa Cruz!" came the shout... "Santa Cruz, now boarding, gate nine!" I jumped aboard, and once again, settled in. Darkness had crept up, and L.A. was a great place to leave behind. A tap of the horn, and we rolled out backward. We rolled down a nameless highway, and through the smog I could see the biggest jumble of unnecessary lights, skyscrapers, ego's, despair and disrepair in the world, all in the name of...I knew not what. I knew it was the belly of the beast... ...Ocean dumping, air polluting, and forest consuming. I munched pretzels, and watched them in abject horror as they faded in the distance.
-The Road to Santa Cruz- Onward we droned through the night, as lights reflected in every window like the multi-chambered eye of a dragonfly. Sleep came in short fits, broken up by difficult trips to the restroom, where I held on for dear life, peering down as I tinkled into a witches cauldron of violently bouncing urine. The thought occurred to me that, in case of an accident, this might be the worst possible place to be. I forced myself to sleep, as the back of the bus coughed in several languages.
Arriving in Santa Cruz, I walked across the street to the city bus center, and caught a quick ride to Aptos. The lady bus driver was so-o-o nice, asking me all about the meeting, as I commented on how absolutely beautiful the tree filled town was, and how clean the air smelled. After a short ride, I was there. "Right down there, around the corner and down, it's the BEST WESTERN on the right over there, and good luck!" she shouted.... Off in the distance, I could see a bird on a light pole overlooking the road, and heard it's raspy call- as I drew closer, I saw the royal crest on it's crown, and knew it was the king of all Jays, a STELLAR JAY! "Right here, joey!" he squawked, guiding me to this important meeting... "Right down there!"
-The meeting- I walked into the Inn, and saw a large Koi pond, with a waterfall...a pale imitation of the natural splendor that we were here to save. I ducked into a restroom, finally unloading my heavy travel bag from an aching shoulder. In about 10 minutes, jeans became sharply pleated dress trousers, and hooded green sweatshirt became gray suit jacket, shirt and tie, and pins on my lapel from every eco-mission I ever fought. Within a few hours, I would add a CDF pin. I saturated the still empty meeting room with flyers I had conjured back in Huntington at the local Kinko's. They came straight off the California Democratic Party environmental website- I didn't want any doubts about where the State Dems stood on the Heritage Tree issue! -The Fight- There they were, all around the room. Nice people, nice smiles, well dressed in their nice white CDF FIRE shirts- all looking so clean, smelling so fresh, and yet- KILLING THE FORESTS.
Simply put, my friends? This is what we must now change, in order to save the TREES. No more CDF/FIRE- It must be broken into two separate agencies. PERIOD. AND IT WILL BE. The first thing these guys did, was to tell us there wouldn't be any PUBLIC COMMENT on the OLD GROWTH which was item 14 on the agenda- This is the reason Senator Burton had this meeting held, was to talk about the snowballing issue of old growth and public participation in the first place! I didn't spend twelve hours on a bus NOT to speak! I got pretty mad. I was ready to call the press to come observe the Democratic Delegate to the State Central Committee as he was arrested when, just in the nick of time, Jim Wilson (Deputy Chief of Forest Practice Enforcement) intervened to save the day. He not only made sure the public could comment, but even gave me a cool CDF pin for my lapel! He also promised to mail me a SMOKEY THE BEAR pin! I got a good look at how this CDF/FIRE agency has been the proverbial 'Fox guarding the Hen-house', and I also got to speak to the issue before the Board of Forestry.... But the most important thing that happened, was I got to mix with perhaps the most powerful and important activists in the country- Kent Stromsmoe*Traci Thiele*Addie Jacobson Warren Alford*Ida Hill*Kevin Collins*Linda Piera-Avila Jodie Frediani*Laurie Wayburn*Kate Anderton ...and the best friend the future has, RICHARD GIENGER himself! Some of us spoke together briefly, and I will tell you this- PLANS WERE MADE. On my way out of town, I ran into that same Stellar Jay, and he left me with a very up close and personal encounter! I knew it was a sign. ~Winds of Change~ epilogue.... ...I had six hours to kill after the meeting, and spent them in downtown Santa Cruz. While sipping java, I stopped into the HOUSE OF BREAD, and bought two loaves of BANANA-NUT for the ride home, and stopped out in front to feed the Pigeons. I love Pigeons. Hell, I love EVERY CREATURE!!!!!! One, an elderly female, was sitting in such a way as to show me she was in some pain. I walked closer to make her reveal her problem, and her legs were tied tightly, having been entangled by hair and thread. Judging from the look in her eye and advanced state of her wounds, I knew this was a long suffering bird. I knocked on the now closed store, and asked 'Megan'... (who is now on the list with us- hi megan!!) Me- ..."I want to help that bird- got any old bread?" She- "Here, take this!" It took about two hours, but, with a quick move, she was caught! Megan rushed us inside, produced two pair of scissors, and we lay the old woman on wax paper for the operation... Poor thing, she never even fought us! In another hour, she was untangled and free. Fly on, littlewing! Fly on!! Love, your pal, joey xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox Speech to California Board of Forestry/ Fire Control Aptos, California "We all feel the wind blowing through the trees...and it is a wind of change, my friends. As a people, we have compromised away 97% of our forests, and it is not hard to see what further compromise will do for the remaining 3%. Across the state of California, concerned citizens now recognize the plight of our Heritage trees and stand near as tall, rising to defend them! As environmentalists, whether sitting in an Oak, a Redwood, or on the Board of Forestry itself, we are all too often called upon, as a matter of duty, to be the bearers of bad news. So it is with gladness that I stand here before you today, the bearer of good news! With bold moves toward preservation, the Democratic Party of the state of California has begun a return to the environmental ethic that historically made the party great. This leadership has many names, such as Chesbro, Sher, Lockyer, and Boxer. And not just Democrats have come out strongly for the preservation of Heritage trees, but citizens throughout the state as well!
Speaking on behalf of all members of 'FOLKS FOR OAKS' now protecting imperiled
Heritage Oaks in Trabuco Canyon, I reach out to our ecologically minded
friends in the north as well as to the Board of Forestry itself, as we
submit that meaningful change resulting in the preservation of our remaining
forests must necessarily include As the winds of change blow through our Heritage trees, this agency needs adapt to that change.... ...or risk it's OWN EXTINCTION."
Joey Racano 67th AD Democrat Back to T.O.C. 3
|
|