Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center

Winter 2006

Medicine Lake | The Nestle Plant | Watershed | Poetry
Items: Sustainable Living, Deep Ecology, Recreation Fees

Save Mount Shasta

MOUNTAIN THIN PROJECT-GROUND TRUTHING
—by Michelle Berditschevsky

The way the Mountain Thin project is going clearly demonstrates an element that is key for forest protection in a political climate that undermines legal and policy protection. The key is local public involvement (is this a surprise?). For that matter, this is the key to protection of just about anything—water, meadows, scenic quality, open space, sacred place….
Process is everything in the current political atmosphere: becoming informed, giving input, talking to each other, requesting forums, thinking outside the box to the real values at stake, and being committed for the long haul from beginning to end.
For the Mountain Thin project on Mount Shasta, this has meant over four years of involvement at every stage in the process, from the first public scoping meetings, comment periods, appealing the project, and now on the ground….

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Save Medicine Lake Highlands

CALPINE CLOSE TO BANKRUPTCY

2005 PLANS HALTED

by Michelle Berditschevsky & Peggy Risch

IN LATE SUMMER, CALPINE UNEXPECTEDLY ANNOUNCED intentions to clear four sites and build a road in the Telephone Flat project area, one of two projects approved by BLM and the Forest Service in the near pristine Medicine Lake Highlands northeast of Mount Shasta. One of the sites would be for the power plant, and the other three for well pads.
Calpine's attempt activated the Group Oversight Committee, which is called for in the 2002 decision that reversed the agencies' original decision to deny the project. Composed of the interested parties in the issue, in-cluding the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center, Native American Tribes, other environmental groups and the County, the Committee met on September 29th and bought up numerous issues dealing with the inadequacy of Calpine's mitigation plans that are required by the Re-cord of Decision and the EIS.

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Update on Nestlé Bottling Plant
Threatening Mount Shasta’s Aquifer

by Diane Lowe, Concerned McCloud Citizen

It has been two years since Nestlé snuck into McCloud and within three months sweet talked our McCloud Community Services Board (MCSD) into signing a 100 year deal for the sale and purchase of spring water from McCloud’s three springs. The District agreed to multiple terms of which the most egregious is the sale of the insufferable amount of 1,250 gallons of spring water per minute to be bottled at a plant in McCloud, becoming one of the biggest water bottling facilities in the country. The district would drill bore holes and wells for the proposed plant. At full build out, the plant size, one building, could accommodate every existing building in the community of McCloud.
The project is pending however, based on the completion of the CEQA processes and the results of a court appeal by Nestlé.
Not only is our watershed threatened by this sale, but hopes for a solid diversely based and economically sustainable community of McCloud is at risk.

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Edge Wireless Pushes Again for Cell Tower
in Deetz / Hammond Ranch neighborhood
by Karen J. Rogers

Edge Wireless is trying once again to get a permit to install a 100' tall cell phone tower on pristine Dogwood Ridge, overlooking the Deetz and Hammond Ranch areas. Their plan is to erect the tower on a 96 acre ridge top parcel owned by Glenn and Corky Addcox. The structure would tower 30% higher than the tallest trees on the ridge, and at full build-out would hold antenna and panels from up to 4 different wireless providers.
This proposal is fraught with problems and much opposition, and brings up issues of cell tower proliferation, visual aesthetics, and private neighborhood rights, including utilizing private dirt road easements in residential areas for commercial purposes.

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Peak Oil and the Great Turning
by Molly Young Brown

The signs of global climate change are already evident in strange weather patterns and melting polar ice caps and glaciers. And now we learn about "Peak Oil," the point in time when discovery and production of oil can no longer match the worldwide demand. This means that oil will become more and more expensive as supplies decrease, until ultimately it is gone altogether. The end of plentiful cheap oil may mitigate a primary cause of global climate change, but it could also spell the end of "civilization" as we have come to know it, the collapse of our entire economic and political structure—so dependent on cheap oil for manufacture and transportation. On the other hand, it could initiate a "Great Turning" toward a more fulfilling and sustainable way of life for us all.

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Bringing the GMO Debate to Siskiyou County
by Rose Taylor and Bonnie Thomas

A group of six local citizens has been working to educate our County Supervisors, farmers and the public about the possible dangers of growing genetically engineered (G.E.) plants, or GMOs (genetically modified organisms). The original group (Kirsten Olson and John Tannaci of Hunter Orchards, Matilde and Michael Unruh of Shasta Foods, Rose Taylor, and Bonnie Thomas) has expanded to include the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center, Mt. Shasta HOPE, Meadow Barr of Meadow Industries, and Amy Hansen of Shasta Energy Group, who are all collaborating in sponsoring a Forum on GMOs. (See enclosed Events Calendar.)

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H.O.M.E.’S 9TH SEASON WAS EVENTFUL!
by Ginger Farnell

First we have to acknowledge the team of H.O.M.E. volunteers—over 20 people this year—who gave almost 2,500 hours in the course of the 2005 season. They worked at Bunny Flat, Red Fir Flat, Everett Vista, the Old Ski Bowl (which is thankfully reverting to its natural state year by year), and of course, Panther Meadows. "Huge praise for the volunteers, who were totally with it," said Cheryl Boerger, Volunteer Coordinator par excellence. "It was always covered!" This translates as community hospitality to visitors, and of course, continues to keep parking fees off the mountain.
Volunteers included June Tucker, Michelle Criste, Myr Skipper, Nancy Krause, Sean, Paul and Cheryl Boerger, Yvonne Malee, and the crew at Panther Meadows: Curt Farnell, John McKinnon, Johnny Dame, Ellen Meadows, Karen Perry and a number of people who just showed up and helped.

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First Annual Autumn Harvest Dinner a Success

The Ecology Center held a very delightful and successful First Annual Autumn Harvest Dinner on Saturday November 12th, at the Stage Door in Mount Shasta. The planning for this event came together miracuously in the final weeks (well after the last newsletter was out) and was also promoted in the local newspapers.
Close to 80 attendees were treated to a scrumptious gourmet dinner, catered by the recently reopened Buddha Belly of Weed, that included wild salmon, stuffed portabello mushrooms, and braised organic vegetables.
Live harp music by Anne Johnson set the atmosphere for elegance as guests arrived for the silent auction and socializing. Pianist Ruth White entertained with classical pieces during dinner. Richard Lucas was a gallant and eloquent Master of Ceremonies.
A highlight of the evening's program were two exquisite solo dance performances by Claire Lightfoot Gaillard, who held the crowd mesmerized with her renditions of a Classic Indian dance, and as a closing piece, her Celebration of Nature, with a Native American theme.
Also in the evening program was the first showing of a new Power Point presentation, “Our Mount Shasta Bioregion,” narrated by Michelle Berditschevsky. This presentation highlighted the work of the Ecology Center over its 18-year history, and touched upon the multiplying environmental issues surrounding us in the 21st century. The presentation was preceded by the seven-minute Medicine Lake video.
A live auction then followed, hosted by auctioneer extraordinaire DeLeon Grabowski. Donated auction items included original paintings, river raft trips from local companies, gift certificates from area businesses and services, and outrageous desserts.
We wholeheartedly thank all the many individuals who volunteered their time, or donated auction items for this even. Without all of you, we couldn’t have done it.
Designed to become an annual tradition to celebrate nature's bounty and give back to nature in the form of support for the preservation of our magnificent Bioregion, we plan to hold this Autumn Harvest Dinner each fall. Keep your eyes open for next summer's newsletter and the date of next year's event – you won’t want to miss it!

Poetry