News Update

• Bill would offer incentives to end state's damaging sprawl ... Editorial; 07/01/08
• Groundwater pumping into Calif. Aqueduct begins; 07/01/08
• Ranchers forced to sell herds because of drought ... The Tribune; 07/01/08
• Atwater Council Defines Future During Slowdown ... Scott Jason; 07/01/08
• Tough Decisions for Westside Farmers ... Carol Reiter; 06/28/08
• Los Banos Keeper Has Never Seen it So Bad ... Carol Reiter; 06/27/08
• Report: State's pastures dried up: Agency says ranchers forced to buy feed - or sell herds ... Jim Downing; 06/25/08

Worth Reading

• Steadily Increasing Growth in the Central Valley Continues to Push-Out Farmers ... Kerry Fleisher; 06/28/08
• Help Develop a Blueprint for the Valley's Future ... Martin Tuttle; 06/27/08
• Incentives for Bikes ... Letter to the Editor/Merced Sun-Star; 06/27/08

Web Sites Worth Visiting

American Farmland Trust: California - Paving Paradise

One out of every six acres developed in California since the Gold Rush was paved over between 1990 and 2004, concludes a new AFT report, Paving Paradise: A New Perspective on California Farmland Conversion. In all, more than a half million acres were urbanized during this period, almost two-thirds of it agricultural land. Among AFT's other findings: More than 60% of the land developed in the San Joaquin Valley, which accounts for half of California's agricultural production, was farmland of the very best quality. The attached report includes both a database and text that explains and analyzes the data.

Plumas Sierra Counties: Land Use Information

18 Different Fact Sheets (1 to 4 pages each) written in layperson terms to help us all better understand aspects of community land use planning.

Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association

The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) provides educational and business opportunities for farm workers and aspiring farmers to grow and sell crops grown on two organic farms in Monterey County, California.

The Story of Stuff.com

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.