By John Hankins
Our work is never done in our fight to Explore, Enjoy and Protect the planet (Sierra Club’s motto). Please get involved and have fun too. Join our activities and activism and free hikes.
Donations help a lot, and the money stays here at home doing good stuff. Donate here: sierraclub.org/donate/1000
Jan 25: Flood warnings about two ‘thousand-year’ storms are coming to SoCal in the coming weeks into February with Ventura County mentioned, causing Gov. Newsom to declare an emergency. The nickname is an event with only a 0.1% likelihood in any given year.
Jan 25: Oil Where? EdHat reports a surprising development that a Michigan-based oil firm wants to drill an exploratory well on a private ranch on an acre of North Fork Ranch off School House Canyon Road, in the Cuyama Valley. County planners were surprised as no one has proposed new oil in the region in over a decade where most oil rigs are past their prime. But the company will drill down over two miles, more than twice the depth of other oil wells. It’s called the Hidden Canyon Test Well in an area near an 840-acre vineyard.
Jan 21: Fireplace Replacement: Get up to $5,000 to replace wood-burning fireplaces and stoves with cleaner-burning and more effective devices, thanks to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. To apply or get more details, visit http://vcapcd.org/Woodsmoke.htm
There are also more clean-burning wood fireplaces, check it out: http://tinyurl.com/EPAburnwise
Jan 20: Cape Cod in Oxnard? That’s the plan by a new developer named KARLS which is touting the Eastern flavor to revitalize the Fisherman’s Wharf area that fell into disrepair since 1996, when ‘Bud’ Smith (Wagon Wheel) sold the property. The project is expected to go to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in March or April. Meanwhile, your input is wanted during a series of public forums in February. To find the dates and more information (will it be eco-friendly?), go to: ChannelIslandsHarbor.org
Jan 13: Citizens Climate Lobby of Ventura County held its first community event in Newbury Park to help people make the shift to electric appliances and vehicles. The non-profit is seven years old, created by retired physicist Richard Elsley of Thousand Oaks. To learn more or join the effort, go to: https://cclventura.org/
Jan 7: Hedrick Ranch Nature Area located near Santa Paula had people joining the Friends of the Santa Clara River to clear invasive plants in favor of native plants. The State Coastal Conservancy has given grants for this effort, supported by Sierra Club members. It’s an ongoing effort, to sign up, go to: https://fscr.org/support-fscr/volunteer/
Jan 4: Future of composting is happening now in Ventura County. Agromin won a $10 million award via CalRecycle. “The funds will energize a major leap forward for recycling in Ventura County, partially funding development of a commercial-scale composting operation on the Limoneira Farm near Santa Paula,” wrote David Goldstein in his Eye on the Environment column, published in the Ventura County Reporter. Agromin expects to open another site, its Mountain View Food Waste Processing Facility in Oxnard, this year. This site may mash over 100,000 tons of residential and commercial food waste per year. More info in Goldstein’s column at: http://tinyurl.com/CompostVta
Jan 1: "Building with Nature," is an essay about bio-based architecture, published in the Jan/Feb 2024 issue of American Scientist magazine by Ventura’s own Robert Chianese. “Existing examples of bio-architecture prove that nature can inspire both greater sustainability and more soothing aesthetics,” he writes. He also notes that “when 19th-century homesteaders arrived on the Great American Prairie, they built homes with the only construction material widely available: sod.”
Dec 29: Giant Waves sloshed along our coast, wreaking ‘significant damage’ to the Ventura Pier, closure of Emma Wood State Beach (and washing out some campsite) and reaching into 65 homes in the Pierpont neighborhood. In Santa Barbara County, Carpinteria State Beach was closed, numerous ocean rescues occurred, and parts of SB Harbor were closed, notably low-lying parking lots and the breakwater. Notably, a video of people running from a wave at the beach end of Seaward in Ventura went viral. Here it is: http://tinyurl.com/RogueWaveSeawardAve
Dec 24: Killer Whales (aka Orcas) were spotted by Island Packers crew during a whale watch trip. “This is unusual to have three different populations of killer whales in one area during the same period,” said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, lead research biologist for the California Killer Whale Project in an article in the Ventura County Star.
Dec 21: “Your work continues to go beyond mere participation. You embody the spirit of the Sierra Club, showing an exceptional blend of leadership, collaboration, unwavering commitment, and kindness. You are the organization's heart and soul,” reads an email from the club’s president (Allison Chin) and Executive Director Ben Jealous to our hardworking volunteers.
Dec 21: Oxnard suffered from a storm that delivered “a month’s worth of rain in less than an hour,” according to the LA Times.
Dec 20: We thank Heal the Ocean for a lot of things, but this time for including our Sierra Club in its Santa Barbara Resource Guide, designed as a centralized platform to access information about local environmental organizations and resources. Check it out here: https://healtheocean.org/santa-barbara-resource-guide
Dec 20: Action Alert for club members and the public to urge Congress to pass the Farm Bill “benefiting land, climate and communities,” according to our national Sierra Club. Go here: http://tinyurl.com/FarmAction
And did you know our club chapter is part of the better farm practices committee? Locally Jan Dietrick of the Rincon/Vitova “Bug Farm” is our chair. You can get on our mailing list by contacting her: jdietrick9@gmail.com
Dec 18: “Just in time” for the holidays, Caltrans announced it is reopening State Route 33 to the public between Matilija Hot Springs Road and Lockwood Valley Road in Los Padres National Forest. About 32 miles were closed since January 10, 2023. This section of SR-33 experienced extensive mudslides, rockslides, erosion, and sections of collapsed roadway. Repairs and traffic controls will extend this year at an estimated cost of $35 million. There will be five different locations with one-way traffic control managed by solar powered traffic signals.
Dec 14: Energy regulators voted to allow the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant to operate for an additional five years, despite calls from environmental groups – including the Sierra Club -- to shut it down. Reasoning by the three officials was that there was not enough ‘clean energy’ available to replace the 2,200-Megawatt facility, which had shut-down date of 2024 and 2025.
Nov 28: Meiners Oaks will be getting a community park on the 2-acre county-owned parcel, located at 312 E. El Roblar Dr. Assemblymember Steve Bennett, in partnership with State Senator Monique Limón, secured $500,000 from the State Budget to create such a park there.