Savory Sonoma by Stephanie Hiller - July 2017

The Sonoma Land Trust got the big $100,000 award from the Impact100 group this year. John McCaull, the SLT Land Acquisition Program Manager, said it would go a long way toward funding the next phase of the process to secure a Protection Lease on the undeveloped part of the 863-acre property.

A summary of the Impact100 award reads: “This proposed program would ensure that the people of Sonoma Valley have a strong and active voice in the state’s final decision-making process with the goal of permanently protecting the 600 acres of undeveloped land and wildlife habitat of the Sonoma Developmental Center.”

The SLT was turned down three years ago because Impact wanted assurance that the state would work with the land trust. “Three years later we were able to show that the state is working with us.”

That will reassure Valley residents who fear commercialization of this choice property. Even better is the news that, according to McCaull, the state has no intention of selling it.

On May 15, the Department of General Services announced that it is undertaking a $2 million assessment of the buildings and infrastructure of the entire property. Wallace, Roberts Todd (WRT Design) is likely to be the lead contractor.

But DGS’ Bob McKinnon assured the county that “the state would not over-ride the county’s plan,” which had been a concern of Supervisor Gorin.

Said McCaull, “By the time they close the Development Center we want to have an agreement to protect the undeveloped part of the open space. Essentially we’ll be designing a park for human recreational use.

“Camp Villa, which was built in the ‘40s and ‘50s for residents and staff might become a campground.

“A big sensitivity is the wildlife corridor. Wildlife travel from Sonoma Mountain to the Mayacamas range.”

The second part of the grant is for holding meetings early next year “to engage the community on re-use ideas and alternatives,” including the campus itself. A coalition of 12 organizations will be involved in the process.

The Big Question, said McCaull, is “what’s the institution that’s going to run the place.”

A big job, and General Services is not going to do it.

Protecting open space for wildlife and recreation has been well-supported in the Valley. Approximately 50,000 acres have been protected countywide.

But all this open space will look like pure luxury if we are not growing enough food to feed ourselves. Currently the county only grows about 5 percent of the produce we consume here. Most foods travel 1500 miles to our kitchens!

Affordable housing, of course, must be a number one for the SCD campus.

Maybe housing can be combined with an organic farming operation under a community land trust?

We’ll be following this fascinating project as it unfolds.

Speaking of land, we’re grateful to the Congregational Church’s Earth Care group and Transition Sonoma Valley for airing the beautiful film Tomorrow, a heartening study of innovative practices already in use that attempt to address the urgent matter of climate change coming toward us like a global roller-coaster.

Our ignorant and corrupt federal officials may choose to ignore this pressing issue, which means that we are going to have to rely on local agencies to do more. We are lucky to live in California where our government has committed to signature climate policies; but other pressures on the state’s $183 billion budget appear to have pushed climate change into the background for now. What will it take for us to recognize the seriousness of this threat? Here in wine country, where cars line up all along West Napa Street bearing vacationers to our many wineries, we seem to be a bit slow to catch on.

A new organization has formed which may or may not have its priorities straight. After the release of the study, Hidden in Plain Sight, revealed that despite its many nonprofits the Valley is not adequately addressing major issues, Sustainable Sonoma was formed with Richard Dale (Sonoma Ecology Center), Patricia Shults (Chamber of Commerce) andJuan Hernandez (La Luz) at the helm. You can share your vision and concerns for the Valley atsustainablesonoma.net/

On the activism front, Indivisible Sonoma has changed its name to Sonoma Valley Resistance, and its Facebook page is public. Check them out!

Finally, we’d like to say how sorry we are that Superintendent of Schools Louann Carlomagno has resigned. Sonoma schools will really miss her.

Sonoma continues to be a busy little hub, increasingly connected with the neighboring Springs and far too busy for this column to cover.But if there’s something important we’re missing, please let me know! hiller.stephanie@gmail.com