News Update

• 3 posh projects go bust as Valley dreams bite the dust ... Dale Kasler and Jim Wasserman; 10/12/08
• Local builders find few looking to buy new homes ... Jim Wasserman ; 10/10/08
• Livingston Council Delays Plan Vote ... Jonah Owen Lamb; 10/08/08
• Riverbank Proposal Eyes a Healthier, Leaner Populace ... Leslie Albrecht; 10/06/08

Worth Reading

• Amid the gloom, legislators have some notable successes: The No. 1 example is a 'smart growth' plan to control suburban sprawl, build homes closer to downtown and reduce commuter driving to help cut climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions ... George Skelton, Capitol Journal; 10/07/08
• Will State Now Shift to Vertical Growth? ... editorial by Dan Walters; 10/05/08

Current Water Levels

Daily Reservoir Storage Summary

Monthly Editorial for October, 2008

Valley Land Alliance will publish a monthly editorial from our readers. If you wish to appear on this site please send your editorial to the email address on our contact page. We wish to state that these pieces do not necessarily reflect the mission of Valley Land Alliance, but are opinions from our readership.

Cheap Ag Land?

By Katherine Schell

I must admit...when it comes to words and word usage

Weird things interest me

Why we "knock on wood"

Where the names for the days of the week came from

Why nation and station are spelled with a "tion"

When physician and statistician are spelled with a "cian"

How words will change in meaning or acquire new meanings over time

Like "surf", "net", "web", and "text"

But if there was one group of words that turns my stomach and I wish could be eliminated from the American Lexicon...It would be the phrase "Cheap Ag land"

"Cheap Ag Land"...whether it is a discussion about building High Speed Rail, A highway or a hospital, someone always wants to save money by building it on "Cheap Ag Land"

That phrase "Cheap Ag land" conjures up a derogatory mental picture of land not fit for much, just sitting empty and worthless and distorts the true value of agriculture to our economy and our survival

You only have to watch the news and read a newspaper or two to realize what a world of hurt we will be in if we become as dependent upon foreign food sources, as we are on foreign oil

If we continue to view that "Cheap Ag Land" as the best value price wise for development, our grandchildren and their grandchildren will end paying a much higher price for food

Just so we can build stuff today on that "Cheap Ag Land"

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.