A Change in the Wind

Santa Anas in February

Although certainly not unheard of in winter, Santa Anas in Southern California were once much more common in late fall. A couple of years ago when I reported on global warming in our part of the world, a spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department revealed out that the VCFD had changed its policies to take into account the fact that now Santa Anas often crop up much later in the year...such as around Christmastime, which is when the spectacular Ranch Fire raced across Upper Ojai, costing millions.

Today a fire is burning out of control in Orange County, virtually all of coastal Southern California is under a "Red Flags" warning, it's windy, and temps tomorrow are expected to be in the 80's. But the evening sky is beautiful...

Time to Drill?

Judith Lewis, who helped inspire this blog, takes a thoughtful look at the possibility of new oil wells popping up in the Los Padres National Forest. At the heart of her story is a warm, richly-detailed portrait of Al Hess, the man the Forest Service has put in charge of the decision-making process.

Hess, an outdoorsy type with a full head of gray hair, large-framed wire-rimmed glasses, and socks in his Birkenstocks, considers himself a “reasonable person.”

He is well-regarded by oilmen and environmentalists alike, including [Pamela Flick, of the Defenders of Wildlife] as a man who gives straight answers and isn’t beholden to any one side. “You couldn’t have a better man working on this project,” says Bruce Palmer, the former coordinator of the condor-recovery program for U.S. Fish and Wildlife. But Hess clearly misses the days before endless lawsuits and appeals followed every decision.

“Some people just won’t see the other side,” he griped. “I personally don’t have any use for those people, because they just stifle progress. There’s usually room to find a solution, if you really look at it. If people are reasonable, they can get there. But if you start out ‘I’m over here and you’re over there and that’s all there is to it,’ what can you say?”

Fair, open-minded people such as Al Hess make me proud to live in Ventura County. Our politics are diverse, but one thing is clear: Ventura county residents care deeply about the land we share.

Mine Plans Surprise Ventura County

In the last month, three different companies have announced plans to mine rock and gravel for development purposes near Ventura County. East of the county, Cemex Inc of Arizona announced plans to mine rock on Soledad Canyon Road. As discussed in the Santa Clarita edition of the "Daily News" from last Friday, "the project includes mining 150,000 tons per years of anorthosite ore, a rock mineral that is used to bind concrete for building."

Amazingly, according to Andy Fried, president of the Agua Dulce Town Council, the Forest Service asked for a response from local governing bodies within two weeks, even though it has known about the project for the last five years. Another company, Pacific Industrial Minerals, proposes to build a bridge across the Santa Clara River to mine rock ten miles east of Santa Clarita, generating as many as 25 truckloads a day, according to the proposal.

North of Ojai, on Highway 33, a "new sand and gravel mine threatens to turn Scenic Highway 33 into an industrial thoroughfare," according to the Keep the Sespe Wild newsletter. The Diamond Rock Mine, expected to be a 100-acre industrial site operating 24 hours a day, "would be capable of generating three times as much traffic as the project's Draft Environmental Impact Report suggests," director Alisdair Coyne points out.