To Protect California Landscapes (including farms) They Must be Valued

By Jeannette Warnert, UCANR Communications Specialist

The ecosystem services of landscapes in California are essential to the state’s future, but many people take them for granted.

In addition to direct economic outputs, working landscapes – farms, rangelands, forests, and fisheries, to name a few – sequester carbon, capture water, support wildlife, offer picturesque views and make space for hiking, skiing, boating, and other recreational activities.

“We need to put a value to ecosystem services, from an economic standpoint, that incentivizes people who own and manage these landscapes so they can continue to manage them for everyone’s benefit,” said Stephanie Larson, UC Cooperative Extension rangeland advisor in Sonoma County.

When ecosystem services have been monetized, proper compensation can be calculated, ensuring benefits like clean water, fresh air and a livable climate are protected for future generations.

In November,  UC Agriculture and Natural Resources released a report at the California Economic Summit in Fresno on the value of California’s working landscapes. The report determined the state’s working landscapes generate $333 billion in annual sales and 1.5 million jobs. That number does not include ecosystem services.

“The value of ecosystem services is probably higher than the $333 billion direct economic contributions of working landscapes outlined in the report,” said UC ANR vice president Glenda Humiston. Humiston is chair of the economic summit’s working landscape task force. “The problem is, when we don’t have that quantified, it’s hard to make investments to make sure those ecosystem services are maintained.”

Humiston said that, in time, systems can be developed for the public to support the ecosystem services they enjoy.

“You might have a small surcharge on binoculars,” she said. “That money could be used to protect bird habitat so birders can go somewhere to see birds. Water districts might assess a surcharge on your water bill to pay for the forested watersheds where they are getting your water. There are many different mechanisms to do this. We’re trying to figure out what would be the best mechanism.”

During the summit, a team of researchers, policymakers and industry professionals launched a new phase of work to calculate with scientific accuracy the value of ecosystem services. Larsen is a member of the leadership team, along with executive director of the Central Valley Partnership Dan O’Connell and Sequoia Riverlands Trust director of pubic planning and policy Adam Livingston.

The team is working with partners to secure funding and technical support to integrate data sets already available from the Council of Governments’ Rural-Urban Connections Strategy into an open-source, statewide system for mapping ecosystem services.

Once the tool is established, the team will be ready to pilot test it in four areas of California that provide ecosystem services.

“I love this concept,” said Kenny Spain, economic development specialist with the Headwaters Fund in Humboldt County and a member of the task force. “It’s a valuable tool.”

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren to Introduce Immigration Reform Bill

Oct. 30 Press Conference Scheduled at Nisei Farmers League Office in Fresno 

A Press Conference is planned on Wednesday, October 30, 2019, at the same time Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Chair of the Judiciary Committee will introduce her bill in the House of Representatives. This is an immigration reform bill to improve agricultural job opportunities, benefits and security for undocumented workers in the United States. This bill also allows for the petition of spouses and children to be granted status as well. The title of the legislation is “Farm Workforce Modernization Act.”

Manuel Cunha, Jr., President of Nisei Farmers League praised representative Lofgren, “Congresswoman Lofgren has worked tirelessly and is committed to getting much-needed immigration reform, which has been long over-due. She is working with other representatives in our Valley, including Congressmen Costa, Panetta and LaMalfa, who also believe our hard-working laborers and their families must feel safe and be granted legal status.”

Please join in supporting the “Farm Workforce Modernization Act” being introduced in Washington, D. C. and standing with our Congressional representatives, our religious groups, our law enforcement, education institutions, the sports world and other agricultural groups by attending our Press Conference. Details are below:

Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Time: 11:00 a.m.

Place: Nisei Farmers League office

1775 N. Fine Avenue, Fresno, CA 93727

Following Small Fruit Last Year, Navel Crop is Back to Good Size

The California navel orange crop looks better this year than it did in 2018 when so much of the crop was never harvested due to poor sizing.

Craig Kallsen is a UCANR Kern County Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor focused on citrus and tropical fruits. “Last year the navel orange industry was plagued with very small fruit sizes and a lot of people didn’t even harvest it,” said Kallsen. “It looks much better this year, so growers are happier. And while the fruit size is up, it can also mean that the number of fruit per tree is down.”

The small fruit in 2018 may have been due to a big crop in 2017. Last year, the trees only had enough stored energy to devote to smaller fruit. But this year, the industry is back to bigger fruit, and probably less crop.

“We also had a lot of hot dry winds in the 2018 summer which caused a lot of fruit to drop,” noted Kallsen

Central Valley Faces Threat from Invasive Swamp Rats: Without Action, State Could be Infested Within Five Years

Representative Josh Harder (CA-10) is calling on the Trump Administration to reverse its plan to disband the National Invasive Species Council (NISC), which unifies all federal efforts to combat invasive species into a single body.

Over a dozen federal agencies and organizations share responsibility for combating invasive species, making the NISC one of the most important tools in the fight against these threats. In a letter, Rep. Harder noted the mounting challenge his district faces regarding the nutria, an invasive species and giant rodent – originally from South America – which can cause substantial economic and ecological damage.

The text of the letter is below, and an original copy is available here.

I write today regarding reports that the administration plans to defund and disband the National Invasive Species Council (NISC). I urge the Administration to reconsider this course of action given the importance of this council for combatting invasive species, including nutria in California and across the country in other nutria-impacted states.

My district in California’s Central Valley is facing an invasion by the nutria, an invasive species of rodent originally from South America.  Disbanding this important committee may have detrimental effects on the local and national effort to stop the nutria.

Nutria threaten local farmers, water infrastructure, and indigenous wildlife. They can weigh up to forty pounds, eat a quarter of their body weight every day, and reproduce at a shocking rate. One female nutria can result in 200 offspring in a single year. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that without aggressive action to contain the species, the population of nutria in California could explode to 250,000 nutria within five years.

The ramifications of undermining or slowing down this effort could be costly for the state and federal government. This is an extreme situation. We require the full force of all federal partners in this fight. Disbanding the NISC when we face such an imminent threat is imprudent.

As you know, over a dozen different agencies and organizations within the federal government are responsible for sharing the fight on invasive species.  The NISC unifies all of these disparate efforts and also provides high-level expertise through the NISC’s Secretariat. The full-time professional staff at the Secretariat produce high-quality training materials that help partner departments in their efforts to stop invasive species. This is all done at a low-cost to the taxpayer that yields a valuable impact to local communities.

California is in the fight of its life against a giant, invasive swamp rat. This is not the time to disband the federal body charged with leading the charge against invasive species. I respectfully ask you to reconsider this decision without delay.

Rep. Harder is leading federal efforts to stop the onslaught of nutria in California’s Central Valley. In June, he introduced legislation to reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003, which was considered successful in the Chesapeake Bay. The bill would direct $7 million in funding towards management of the species in California. Programs supported by the bill encourage habitat protection, education, research, monitoring, and capacity building to provide for the long-term protection of wetlands from destruction caused by nutria. 

Without help, it’s estimated that there could be up to 250,000 Nutria in California within five years. Nutria were originally introduced to the United States as part of the fur trade in the late 1800s but were eradicated from California in the 1970s. The species was rediscovered in the Central Valley in 2017. Nearly 700 nutria have been removed from the Central Valley since this first sighting. They can devour up to 25 percent of their body weight daily and have up to 200 offspring per year.

EPA Calls Out California’s Environmental Failure on Protecting Water

Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom raising several issues with the state’s failure to protect Californians from degraded water, outlining deficiencies that have led to significant public health concerns in California and the steps the state must take to address them.

“California needs to fulfill its obligation to protect its water bodies and, more importantly, public health, and it should take this letter as notice that EPA is going to insist that it meets its environmental obligations,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “If California does not step up to its delegated responsibilities, then EPA will be forced to take action.”

For years, California has pushed policies that have resulted in a homelessness crisis that now threatens human health and the environment, with potential water quality impacts from pathogens and other contaminants from untreated human waste entering nearby waters. California has been responsible for implementing the water discharge permitting program under the Clean Water Act since 1973; however, the state’s recent lack of urgency addressing serious issues in San Francisco resulting from lack of proper oversight and enforcement is concerning. This, among other issues identified in the administrator’s letter, is a failure to properly implement federal programs and has resulted in the subsequent need for more direct EPA oversight to ensure human health and environmental protection.

Administrator Wheeler also raised concerns about the state’s years long approval of the discharges of over 1 billion gallons per year of combined sewage and stormwater into San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Despite California having abundant financial resources – which includes a significant tax base and EPA providing over $1 billion in federal grants and a $699 million loan through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act – San Francisco has not come into compliance with federal clean water standards and must still invest billions of additional dollars to modernize its sewer system.

California has 30 days to provide a written response to EPA outlining in detail how it intends to address the concerns and deficiencies identified in the letter.

To read the full letter, click here.

David Dudley is New Marketing Director/Category Management

David Dudley is the new marketing director of category management for the California Table Grape Commission. Dudley’s responsibilities include expanding the retail demand for California table grapes in the U.S. and Canada through enhanced category management.

“We are very excited to welcome David to the team,” said Kathleen Nave, president of the commission. “David’s nearly 10 years of experience in produce management and his experience in the retail sector will be key to the development of future retail programs.”

Dudley joins the commission after more than five years at Save Mart, most recently as a senior produce category manager. Dudley also worked for Markon Cooperative as a product manager. According to Nave, Dudley will primarily focus on developing a strategic marketing plan to drive California table grape sales. Dudley will be part of a four-member retail team and will manage numerous retail accounts.

Dudley is a California native, born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley. He is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with a bachelor of science degree in agribusiness with a concentration in marketing.