Time to Plant Some Shade Trees!
Help us build Redding’s tree canopy! After nearly a year of gathering interested Redding homeowners’ information, Shasta Environmental Alliance will begin planting 15-gallon shade trees (much larger than what is shown in the above photo!) for qualified residents starting this month! While we will have help from an auger and some California Conservation Corps members to do much of the strenuous work (i.e., digging the hole!), we are seeking a few volunteers to help us with some of the lighter work.
Tree planting efforts will begin on the last two Saturdays of this month, October 21 and 28, and we would love to have volunteers from 8 AM to 1 PM, or anytime in between, to help! We’d appreciate your help for whatever time you can spare!
If you’re interested in helping plant these shade trees, please email David Ledger at david@ecoshasta.org, and let him know what days and times you can help.
Hawes Ranch and Amusement Center Zoning Change
Hawes Ranch has hosted a farm-related harvest festival every fall for many years, at the farm supply and ranch property on Dersch and Deschutes roads near Anderson and the Sacramento River. The festival has been expanding for many years, and has triggered multiple fire code, building, zoning and at least one health and safety code violations. In 2017, Shasta County sent Hawes a letter stating he had to correct all of the code and zoning violations and apply for a zoning change to Commercial Recreation. In 2021, Hawes finally applied for a zoning change, which has been approved by the Planning Commission and will go to the Board of Supervisors on October 2.
While many people enjoy the amusements, which include a corn maze, hay rides, a kiddie railroad, a go-kart track, and carnival rides, many are not permitted. Other activities on the ranch include food booths, rock concerts, and weddings along the Sacramento River. Unfortunately, the noise, light, and traffic from all of these activities is not appreciated by the neighbors in this rural residential area, nor by those living across the river—the noise from the concerts travels a considerable distance, according to statements by residents at the Planning Commission.
Shasta Chapter CNPS is not opposed to the harvest festival itself, but we are concerned about potential effects on native plant habitats, particularly the Sacramento River riparian corridor. We are quite concerned that the Shasta County Planning Commission authorized a Negative Declaration (ND) for a zoning change on the entire 137-acre section that runs from Hawes Farm Supply to the waters of the Sacramento River without doing a biological study or requiring any riparian habitat protections. Even the riparian corridor would be rezoned to Commercial Recreation! The County stated that, because the property had already been degraded by farming, there would be no significant effect on the environment. This is of course an unsupported conclusion and the potential effects on riparian habitat have not been addressed. To blindly state that there will be no detrimental environmental damage to a regionally significant riparian corridor without conducting a biological study or providing any measures to protect this highly valuable habitat is a dereliction of duty.
In addition to the direct loss of riparian habitat, the project could have indirect effects on riparian species due to increased erosion affecting both the site and downstream habitats. As an example, there was a huge pile of dirt on the site last week, with no erosion controls in place. The County has been unable to supply a copy of a grading permit or erosion control plan to Conservation Chair David Ledger. With an extreme weather event, this could lead to substantial sediment deposits in the riparian habitat and even the Sacramento River.
For more articles on conservation issues, please see Shasta Environmental Alliance’s October 2023 Newsletter. ~David Ledger, Conservation Chair