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Current Conservation Efforts
Sierra Club Comments on Tulare County General Plan
February 12, 2007 - Sierra Club Comments on Draft Tulare County General Plan Goals and Policy Report (PDF) While supporting the values and goals of the draft, the Sierra Club is concerned that the draft GPR lacks adequate implementation measures and mitigation to assure these values and goals will be achieved.
May 30, 2006 - As part of the Tulare County General Plan update, the County has determined that an environmental impact report (EIR) will be required. As part of the EIR process, Tulare County has prepared a Notice of Preparation which outlines the County's intent to prepare an EIR and invited public comment on the environmental analysis to be performed. The Sierra Club Mineral King Group delivered our comments on the Tulare County General Plan Notice of Preparation on May 29, 2006. We hope that the County planners will recognize that the county is at a crossroads where it can choose to travel the path towards sprawl, pollution, and loss of wildlife, or travel the path to protect community, clean air, water, and environment.
Yokohl Valley Development Proposal
March 1, 2006 - As has been widely reported, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors voted to accept an application for a general plan amendment from the J.G. Boswell Company for its proposed Yokohl Ranch project. This was in spite of some 100 people in attendance opposing this action and several hundred more who signed or sent letters of protest.
Mineral King Group representatives addressed the Board urging them to wait until the general plan update is complete before considering Boswell’s general plan amendment application.
The Visalia Times-Delta had an excellent editorial in last weekend’s edition which stated:
"… it would have been prudent to ask Boswell to wait until the county’s general plan update is completed…[and]… we wish supervisors had acknowledged the outpouring of initial opposition to the Boswell plan and made some provision for responding to those critics."
The Times-Delta gets it, too bad our supervisors did not. The T-D reports that this new development could have as many as 50,000 residents, which is the most we’ve heard yet. We will keep you updated as to the status and encourage you to be part of the process and let your supervisor know how you feel.
Tulare County General Plan Update
Let’s Plan Tulare County for a Better Future!
Will we choose clean air, preserved farmland, and adequate water, or will we choose sprawl?
Please join your local Sierra Club to watchdog the County general plan update. The update is now being worked on by the Planning Commission.
Several public hearings have already been held. Additional workshops and sessions will be held in thefuture. To read about past, current, and future activities involving this major land use plan, see the offiical web page: Tulare County General Plan Update.
To get involved in Sierra Club efforts to encourage sustainable “smart growth” in Tulare County, please subscribe to our free e-mail News list and contact Group Chair Kim Loeb at kim.loeb@kernkaweah.sierraclub.org.
Please see our national web page for more information about Sierra Club's nationwide efforts to stop sprawl!
California Clean Air Campaign
The Mineral King Group is actively working on clean air issues.
Central Valley sets smog fees on builders
Central Valley air quality officials, looking for ways to battle deteriorating air quality in the fast-growing region, voted unanimously on December 18, 2005 to place an air pollution fee on new large-scale residential and commercial development -- the first action of its kind in the country.
"We know vehicle miles traveled is a huge factor in air pollution and in climate change," said Bill Allayaud, a Sierra Club Legislative Representative in Sacramento. "This is a very welcome move to get serious about land-use patterns."
Link to full story:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/16/MNGAKG93SQ1.DTL
- Valley Air Quality: Is It Really Getting Better? by Mineral King Group Chair Kim Loeb
For information about the California Clean Air Campaign emphasizing the San Joaquin Valley, see: http://www.calcleanair.org/. Where you can take action to help clear the Air in California's San Joaquin Valley. To get involved, contact Group Air Quality Chair Kim Loeb at krloeb@mindspring.com.
California Wild Heritage Campaign
The Mineral King Group has been active in supporting the California Wild Heritage Campaign. Several Group members have had their letters to the editor published in the Visalia Times Delta and the South Valley section of the Fresno Bee. Especially notable - Group members have obtained, as of this writing, eleven �business supporters� to sign-on supporting Senator Boxer�s California Wilderness bill. Do you know a business that would sign-on? Or are you willing to seek such businesses? Will you help by writing a letter to the editor? Your help is needed! Please e-mail or call Cynthia Koval, Wilderness Committee Chair: cynthiakoval2@yahoo.com or call 559-635-2526. For more information and a sample business support letter, see www.sequoiawild.org.
Other Issues we are involved in: