Post Office Box 1505 Cambria, California 93428 (805) 927-2866 - Phone e-mail: rick@GreenspaceCambria.org www.GreenspaceCambria.

org

THE ON N ! TIO MA LOT ANCE R O N INF POSED ORDI PRO ARING CLE

90% post-consumer waste process chlorine free 10% hemp/flax totally chlorine free

e e Walk on the Wild Side e e

Greenspace 4th Annual Red Mountain Wildflower Walk Led by noted botantist Deborah Hillyard

Call the Greenspace Office for details - 927-2866

Sunday, April 15th

(includes lunch) Time: 9:30 am to 2:00 pm

Space is limited
$35.00 per person
RSVP is a must
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Permit #37 Cambria, CA 93428

Volume 6, Number 3

March 2007

The
Ordinance 01-2007 (Agenda Item VII.A) was quietly introduced at the February 22, 2007 CCSD meeting for a public hearing and placed on the agenda for adoption at the March 22, 2007 CCSD meeting. The proposed ordinance was 6 months in the making and written without the knowledge of the public or the Cambria Forest Committee. View the Ordinance at www.greenspacecambria.org. This ordinance, if passed, will adversely alter the health and vigor of the Cambria Forest permanently. It contradicts several specific laws that protect areas in our county designated as Sensitive Resource Areas (SRA). These areas are often rare ecosystems, such as the entire Cambria forest, which contains one of the very few natural stands of Monterey Pines in the world. Consequently, the proposed ordinance is not consistent with the County General Plans Local Land Use Ordinance or the California Environmental Quality Act. The Ordinance likely is not consistent with the California Coastal Act. More importantly, the proposed ordinance has virtually nothing in common with the Cambria Forest Management Plan, even though the preamble of the ordinance suggests otherwise. The Cambria Forest Management Plan, which has NOT been implemented, was developed over a two-year period by a diverse crosssection of Cambria interest groups (including the Cambria Forest Committee, two members of the CCSD, the California Department of Forest and Fire Protection and one member of the Cambria Fire Department) and was funded by the State of California. The Plan was developed in open public meetings and was totally transparent to the entire community. This Plan was given the nod of approval by the CCSD in 2003, but has neither been funded nor implemented. If you want to read the Cambria Forest Management Plan please go to http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/pitch_canker and click on Research and Reports. If you do not have access to a computer and would like to read the ordinance and the Cambria Forest Management Plan, please call our office so we can share them with you.
Photograph by Galen Rathbun

Insider
Some of the more extreme and damaging features of the proposed ordinance include:

PROPOSED LOT CLEARING ORDINANCE DREADFUL FOR FOREST HEALTH

Requiring ALL land in town to be denuded of dead and live plant matter within 2 inches of the soil. Creating a forest of lollipop-looking trees by requiring all trees (native and ornamental) to be limbed six feet up from ground level. Ignoring the Cambria Forest Management Plan

Causing most conservation easement holders

in the Cambria forest (including the Fiscalini Ranch) to be in conflict with their land management responsibilities Severely degrading bird and mammal habitats

Creating avenues for increased forest patho-

gen infections Increasing soil erosion

Reducing native vegetation cover by encour-

aging non-native annual weeds Decreasing water retention, carbon sequestration and native plant regeneration Requiring virtually every lot owner to carry out ornamental and native vegetation clearing, sometimes twice a year Placing a severe financial burden on individual landowners to carry out the ordinance Irreparably damaging the unique character or our town. Our forest needs to be managed, but not only for fire protection. It provides many benefits that should be considered, including quality of life and aesthetics, which are directly linked to shade, water retention, soil production and protection, wildlife habitat, etc. Please write, phone or email the CCSD board of directors and indicate that you are concerned about our forest being destroyed by managing it only for fire hazards, and that you would like the CCSD to implement the Cambria Forest Management Plan by hiring a trained forest ecologist. This ecologist would work in cooperation with the fire department so that we may prevent serious fires while sustaining the valuable and unique qualities of the Cambria forest and our town.