By Richard Cornett
Communications Director
Let’s give a round of applause to landowners in the heart of California’s premiere winegrowing area who have volunteered to forfeit 135 valuable acres of prized farmland, so riverbanks along the Napa River can be stabilized and salmon spawns restored.
Many stretches of the 55-mile-long Napa River – a region that produces sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon – have filled with silt over the years as floodwaters and non-native plants took a toll on the river banks. The river drains into the San Francisco Bay and is considered the most important watershed in the region for steelhead and Chinook salmon spawning.
The 40 landowners who have volunteered to give up a portion of their lands, some valued as high as $235,000 an acre, admit it’s valuable property but they want to be good stewards of the land and environment so their businesses can be passed on to future generations. The project is seen as a model for private landowners initiating environmental improvements before they’re mandated by government.
You know if our U.S. Congress could function in the spirit of cooperation that these 40 landowners have displayed, maybe we could extricate ourselves from the mess we’re in. Napa Valley volunteers – We salute you!
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