LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport Police Department is once again participating in the United States Drug Enforcement Administration National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
This year’s event takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at the front lobby entrance of the police station at 2025 S. Main St.
During the event, the agency will accept all over-the-counter or prescription medications in pill, tablet, liquid, cream or capsule form including schedule II-V controlled and non-controlled substances.
Pills need to be emptied out of their containers and placed in a zip lock plastic bag — not paper — so they can easily see the contents to make sure there is nothing in the bag they can’t take.
The department said it will collect vape pens or other e-cigarette devices from individual consumers only after the batteries are removed from the devices.
Items that will not be accepted during the event are illegal drugs, needles, inhalers or aerosol cans.
Since the Lakeport Police Department started participating with the prescription Take Back Program in January of 2019, it has collected over 978 pounds of prescription drugs, many of which were dangerous narcotics including opioids.
“This protects our community by keeping these drugs from being diverted to illegal use and keeps it out of our environment and water,” the department said.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The annual Great ShakeOut is giving people the opportunity to practice earthquake safety skills communitywide.
Thursday, Oct. 20 is International ShakeOut Day! In California.
It’s part of the Great ShakeOut, a worldwide earthquake safety movement now in its 15th year that encourages people to practice how to protect themselves during shaking to reduce injuries and even loss of life.
The ShakeOut continues to support earthquake safety and overall preparedness within schools, businesses, organizations, communities and households.
As participation can be any day of the year, people and organizations can still register drills to be held in coming months at the ShakeOut website.
After two years of COVID, participation is rebounding. Organizers said 44 million people worldwide are participating in earthquake drills in 2022, including more than 18 million Americans holding drills on International ShakeOut Day on Thursday, an increase of more than 2.3 million compared to 2021.
In California, 9.6 million people are taking part, including 65,576 on the North Coast.
In Lake County, approximately 9,734 people are taking part in the ShakeOut, including more than 8,200 in schools, nearly 1,200 in government and almost 200 in health care.
"California is no stranger to natural disasters, like earthquakes," said Cal OES Director Mark Ghilarducci. "That's why it's important Californians have the life-saving information they need to be prepared before the next seismic event."
ShakeOut participants practice "Drop, Cover, and Hold On" and other recommended earthquake safety actions for a variety of situations — if you're near a sturdy desk or table, in a stadium or theater, along the coast, driving a car, in bed, or if you have a mobility disability.
Many ShakeOut participants also secure items that could fall or fly, assemble disaster kits and other aspects of the Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety.
“In 2008, the Earthquake Country Alliance organized the first Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill as a one-time event in Southern California,” said Mark Benthien, Global ShakeOut coordinator and outreach director for the Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of Southern California. “We had no idea that it would grow statewide, then across the country, and around the world.”
Benthien added, “ShakeOut is a way to increase community resilience at all levels," said Benthien. "Earthquakes can be sudden and violent, but if we have taken steps to prepare ourselves, those around us, and the structures we live, work, and study in, we can greatly reduce their effects.”
Any shaking felt along the coast could mean a tsunami is imminent, so get to know your zone, and how to plan an evacuation route at TsunamiZone.org/california.
Older adults ages 65 and older move to a different residence far less frequently than younger adults and when they do move, they’re more likely to stay close to their communities.
Most move within their counties, either to downsize or because they need housing (like one-story or assisted living facilities) to accommodate changes in their health and disability status.
A new U.S. Census Bureau report uses data from the Census Bureau’s 2015-2019 American Community Survey (ACS) to show the number and characteristics of older U.S. adults who moved and how far they moved. The ACS collects data on where people currently live and where they lived in the prior year and on their disability status.
In addition to the moving patterns of older adults, the report also looks at how disabilities affect their likelihood of changing locations. This month is the 77th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Impact of disability on migration
Individuals may experience disability if they have difficulty doing certain daily tasks due to a physical, mental or emotional condition. The ACS considers someone to have a disability if they reported vision, hearing, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care or independent living difficulty.
Annually, during the 2015-2019 period, about 18.2 million older people, or about 36.0% of people ages 65 and older, reported at least one disability.
A disability may create a mismatch between a person’s housing needs and their current housing situation, necessitating a move to a new residence.
Older people with at least one disability were more likely to move (8.3%) than older people without a disability (5.1%).
However, older adults with disabilities made more short-distance moves and fewer long-distance moves than those without a disability. Of those who moved, 61.8% of those with a disability stayed in the same county compared to 54.6% of older movers without a disability.
About 240,000 older adults with a disability made interstate moves.
Out of the four U.S. regions, the South had the largest net migration gain (17,500) among older movers with a disability in a typical year during the 2015-2019 period. The net number of movers from the West was not statistically significant from zero, while the Northeast (11,500) and Midwest (7,400) both had net losses.
Florida had a net gain of about 9,730 people with a disability. Both Texas (about 4,780) and Arizona (about 4,390) also had net gains of at least 3,000 people with a disability.
Do most older adults migrate short distances?
Only about 6.2% of adults ages 65 and over (over 3 million) moved during the prior year in a typical year during 2015-2019. People ages 85 and over were slightly more likely to move than those ages 65 to 74 and 75 to 84.
Most older movers stayed in the same county – about 58% – while only 19.7% or 620,000 moved to another state annually during the 2015 to 2019 period.
What regions draw older adults?
The South had the largest net migration gain (more moving in than out) of older people of any region: about 72,900 during a typical year in 2015-2019.
This far outpaced the West, which had a net gain of about 8,800 older people from migration.
The Northeast and Midwest both had net losses in the number of older adults from migration: a loss of about 46,800 and 34,900 respectively.
These patterns echo longstanding trends of older adults moving out of the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West. Some make these long-distance retirement moves to warmer climates and amenities-rich areas. However, the states they choose to move to within these regions vary substantially.
What states gained most older movers?
Florida gained more older adults from net migration than any other state: 53,150 annually during the 2015-2019 period. This was more than twice the 21,440 older people that Arizona added.
New York had larger net losses (23,420 people 65 and older) annually during the period from domestic migration than any other state. And California had the second-largest net loss (19,200) of any state.
The net migration rate gives a better sense of the size of the influx relative to a state’s population. The reason: it calculates the net number, in this case of older adults, added to a state from migration per 1,000 people living in the state.
By that measure, Arizona had the highest net migration rate at 18.2. Florida and Idaho were also among the highest of any states in the nation with rates of 12.9 and 11.3, respectively.
Where did older movers come from?
State-to-state migration flows illustrate the geographic origin and destination of people moving across state boundaries.
Many older adults who moved to Florida during 2015 to 2019 came from New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
For Arizona, Idaho, and Nevada, the highest inflows came from nearby California, Washington, and Oregon.
This research was supported in part by the National Institute on Aging.
Peter Mateyka is a statistician in the Housing Statistics Branch of Census Bureau’s Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division. Wan He is director of the Aging Research Program in the Census Bureau’s Population Division.
As our youth learn to get behind the wheel, their safety and protection is of critical importance.
The California Highway Patrol, with the support of the grant-funded Start Smart Teen Driver Safety Education Program XV, has launched new Start Smart classes.
These classes coincide with National Teen Driver Safety Week, which runs Oct. 16 to 22.
Drivers between 15 and 19 years of age are at greater risk of being involved in fatal crashes.
The Start Smart program is designed to help teens learn how to avoid distractions and address the dangers typically encountered by drivers in their age group.
According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, there are nearly 792,970 licensed teenage drivers in California, which increased by 6% since last year.
Data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System indicated that in 2020 there were 6,644 fatal and injury crashes involving teen drivers between 15 to 19 years of age.
This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted at the time of the fatal crashes.
Start Smart is a free class aimed at helping teenage drivers become aware of the responsibilities that accompany the privilege of being a licensed California driver.
Parents or guardians are required to attend with their teenage driver as they participate in this
two-hour Start Smart class, completion of which may lower the cost of a young driver’s vehicle insurance. The class is being offered at CHP Area offices throughout the State.
“The Start Smart program exists to save young lives as they move into their journey behind the wheel,” said CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray.
Parents and teenagers can register for a Start Smart class by contacting their local CHP Area office. More information about Start Smart and California’s provisional licensing law is available on the free CHP Start Smart mobile app.
This mobile app includes access to the California Driver Handbook and a trip logger to track driving time as teens prepare to obtain their driver license.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Mendocino National Forest officials have taken action to move forward on a project to restore fire-damaged forestland.
Joseph Rechsteiner, acting forest supervisor for the Mendocino National Forest, has signed a decision on the North Shore restoration project.
The purpose of the project is to improve community wildfire safety by reducing fuels within the wildland urban interface while also restoring and reforesting burned areas from the 2018 Ranch Fire.
The project area is located in Lake County, about 11 miles southeast of Upper Lake, near communities on the north and northeast shores of Clear Lake.
"This decision allows for reforestation on just over 2,600 acres located on the Upper Lake Ranger District in areas that experienced high levels of tree mortality during the 2018 Ranch Fire, as well as fuels reduction on approximately 40,000 acres. This is a significant milestone for the Mendocino as the largest project decision signed to date,” said Rechsteiner.
Some of those fuels treatments could include prescribed burning, pile burning, hand thinning and mechanical treatment on areas with slopes less than 35%.
The forest’s interdisciplinary team consulted with tribes and other state and federal agencies throughout the environmental analysis.
The team also incorporated feedback from the public, which was collected during comment periods, a public meeting and during field trips to the project area.
Project implementation is expected to occur over several years.
Now that the decision is signed, forest managers will begin prioritizing areas to be treated within the project footprint.
Partnership agreements with the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center and the Tribal Eco-Restoration Alliance are in place.
A third partnership with the North Shore Fire Protection District’s fuels crew is also underway. These partnerships will be instrumental in getting the work done on the ground.
The Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest and Pacific Northwest Research Stations and the University of California-Davis will be conducting research on the North Shore restoration project.
The varying degrees of fire severity across large areas provide a unique research opportunity, and the regimented monitoring required of research will provide a robust review of conditions before treatment as well as short-term and long-term impacts of treatments.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of Americans living with behavioral health issues has increased.
According to a recent study conducted at Columbia University, 1 in 10 adult Americans reported living with depression, and nearly 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults also reported experiencing some sort of depression.
Unfortunately, many of those experiencing depression and other behavioral health concerns are not seeking timely treatment, according to Lake County Behavioral Health.
Taking action to close the “treatment gap” is critical; there is a great need to ensure individuals are being screened for anxiety and depression, and made aware of treatment resources.
October is National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month, and Lake County Behavioral Health Services invites the community to join in raising awareness at this crucial juncture.
People experience depression in different ways, and it can affect anyone, any time.
Depression, which may be coupled with dementia in older adults, can have an adverse effect on one’s quality of life; it can also contribute to lost productivity at home and at work, and increased risk of death.
Help is available.
Lake County Behavioral Health Services offers a range of supports for county residents facing behavioral and mental health concerns, including depression and substance use disorder services.
If you need immediate support, and it is after business hours, Lake County Behavioral Health Services 24-hour Crisis Hotline is available. Dial 800-900-2075; our Crisis Team will be ready to assist.
This year La Niña returns for the third consecutive winter, driving warmer-than-average temperatures for the Southwest and along the Gulf Coast and eastern seaboard, according to NOAA’s U.S. Winter Outlook released Thursday by the Climate Prediction Center — a division of the National Weather Service.
Starting in December 2022 through February 2023, NOAA predicts drier-than-average conditions across the South with wetter-than-average conditions for areas of the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest.
“The hardworking forecasters at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center produce timely and accurate seasonal outlooks and short-term forecasts year-round,” said Michael Farrar, Ph.D., director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. “NOAA’s new supercomputers are enabling us to develop even better, more detailed forecast capabilities, which we’ll be rolling out in the coming years.”
NOAA forecasters, in collaboration with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), continue to monitor extreme, ongoing drought conditions that have persisted in the Western U.S. since late 2020, as well as parts of the central U.S. where historic low-water conditions are currently present.
“Drought conditions are now present across approximately 59% of the country, but parts of the Western U.S and southern Great Plains will continue to be the hardest hit this winter,” said Jon Gottschalck, chief, Operational Prediction Branch, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “With the La Niña climate pattern still in place, drought conditions may also expand to the Gulf Coast.”
Temperature
• The greatest chance for warmer-than-average conditions are in western Alaska, and the Central Great Basin and Southwest extending through the Southern Plains. • Warmer-than-average temperatures are also favored in the Southeastern U.S. and along the Atlantic coast. • Below-normal temperatures are favored from the Pacific Northwest eastward to the western Great Lakes and the Alaska Panhandle.
Precipitation
• Wetter-than-average conditions are most likely in western Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, northern Rockies, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. • The greatest chances for drier-than-average conditions are forecast in portions of California, the Southwest, the southern Rockies, southern Plains, Gulf Coast and much of the Southeast. • The remainder of the U.S. falls into the category of equal chances for below-, near-, or above-average seasonal total precipitation.
Drought
• Widespread extreme drought continues to persist across much of the West, the Great Basin, and the central-to-southern Great Plains. • Drought is expected to impact the middle and lower Mississippi Valley this winter. • Drought development is expected to occur across the South-central and Southeastern U.S., while drought conditions are expected to improve across the Northwestern U.S. over the coming months.
The California Highway Patrol announced that it received a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety to help promote safe driving behaviors for teens.
The Teen Distracted Driving II grant announcement coincides with National Teen Driver Safety Week Oct. 16 to 22.
The No. 1 killer of teens in America is car crashes. Using cell phones, eating, drinking, changing the music, or simply talking with friends are all activities teens engage in every day, but these activities become life-threatening hazards while driving.
Distracted or inattentive driving presents a significant danger to all motorists.
The grant-funded Teen Distracted Driving campaign consists of an education component that will allow for CHP officers and traffic safety partners to make appearances at schools and community events throughout the state.
Distracted driving enforcement operations will be conducted during National Teen Driver Safety Week in October and National Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April.
According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, there are nearly 792,970 licensed teenage drivers in California, which increased by 6% since last year.
Data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System indicated that in 2020 there were 6,644 fatal and injury crashes involving teen drivers between 15 and 19 years of age.
This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted at the time of the fatal crashes.
“The combination of inattention and inexperience behind the wheel can lead to tragedy,” said CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray. “This grant will assist our officers in keeping California’s roads safe, while addressing California’s distracted driving crisis among the state’s teens.”
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
As the midterm elections approach, much of life has returned to its busy post-COVID-19 normal, even as the pandemic continues. Being busy and wary of sharing space with large numbers of strangers are among the many reasons people might consider skipping Election Day.
In most states, you can skip Election Day and still vote, though. In many ways, the most convenient way to vote is by mail – even if many states require you to file a form or use a website to request a ballot. You can examine the choices of candidates and questions, and consider your choices, as you would if you were to vote on Election Day. When you are ready, you can mark your ballot in your own time and either mail it back or drop it off at a local ballot drop box or government office – as long as you do it before your state’s deadline.
Many people have questions about the integrity of this process, how they can be sure their vote will be counted accurately and how they can make sure it is even counted at all. Several scholars have written articles for The Conversation U.S. describing aspects of this system and explaining why it’s trustworthy and safe.
1. ‘Built-in safeguards’
Charlotte Hill, a former local election official in San Francisco who now studies voting laws at the University of California, Berkeley, and political scientist Jake Grumbach from the University of Washington write about six ways mailed ballots are protected from fraud. Those include the facts that it’s very hard to make a fake ballot and a fake envelope and that eagle-eyed postal and municipal workers are always on the lookout for irregularities.
“The mail-in voting process has several built-in safeguards that together make it hard for one person to vote fraudulently and even more difficult to commit voter fraud on a scale capable of swinging election outcomes,” Hill and Grumbach write.
2. Lessons from Oregon
Since 1998, all elections in Oregon have been held by mail. Over that entire time, Priscilla Southwell, a professor emerita of political science at the University of Oregon, has watched how the system has worked and how people have reacted to it, and then she has analyzed its integrity.
Her conclusion reflects broad public support of the system: “Perhaps the strongest evidence that the system is equitable, fair, reliable and safe is that in two statewide surveys I have conducted over the years, a nearly identical percentage of Oregon Republicans and Democrats strongly support voting by mail, and the same is true of elected officials in the state.”
3. One caution
In an article crediting the convenience and integrity of voting by mail, political scientists Susan Orr of The College at Brockport, State University of New York, and James Johnson at the University of Rochester note one potential pitfall: Because it happens outside an official polling place, the act of voting isn’t necessarily secret.
A person voting by mail may be more susceptible to the influence of a relative, friend or employer, or may even be observed while marking their ballot.
“The voter marks the ballot outside the supervision of election monitors – often at home. It’s possible to do so in secret,” they explain. “But secrecy is no longer guaranteed, and for some it may actually be impossible.”
4. Some ignore the evidence
There have been several lawsuits, especially in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, alleging that voting by mail is fraudulent or suspect. Rutgers University Newark law professor Penny Venetis has observed that some judges accept those claims:
If you’ve decided to vote by mail, in most states you can keep tabs on your ballot and make sure it arrived safely at your local election office.
Law professor Steven Mulroy at the University of Memphis explained that many states have “a unified system [that] allows all voters to see when their request for a ballot by mail was received, when the ballot was mailed to them and when the completed ballot was received back at the local election office.”
Check to see if your state is one, and you can rest assured that your ballot is on the way, that you’ve successfully mailed it back and that it has been accepted and counted.
Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archive.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The city of Clearlake is working to create a new homebuyer assistance program to help it retain employees.
The Clearlake City Council gave staff direction to develop a proposal for the program at its Oct. 6 meeting.
“One of the more difficult tasks we face as an organization is retention, and retention of high performing and committed employees,” said City Manager Alan Flora.
While the city has a great group of employees now, Flora said homeownership is the one of the keys both to bringing people to the city and keeping them as staff.
Access to housing locally is a challenge, and Flora said the city is trying to come up with ways to keep employees here. So he wanted to bring the matter to the council.
“There’s not very many examples of this type of program out there,” he said, although they did track down four such programs in California.
Some of the program’s requirements could include a specific incentive amount, a requirement that the home purchased be within the city and owner-occupied. Other considerations are for there to be a requirement for applicants to be employed with the city a certain amount of time as well as an effort made to be sure that the incentive itself is tax-free.
Councilwoman Joyce Overton said she liked the idea and recalled the city having done such a program for police officers. Councilman Russ Perdock said that program was done through a federal grant.
Councilman David Claffey asked about other city retention programs. Flora said the city doesn’t have any other programs per se. They try to give people meaningful work and training opportunities to advance.
Flora said the city has had a few employees apply for the homestead program — which the city established about two years ago to help develop quality housing for professionals — as well as others outside of the city organization.
“It is even more of a challenge to build a new house,” Flora said, noting that there is a real deficit of quality housing in the city.
The average home price in Clearlake is $230,000 to $240,000. Flora said he spoke to a contractor who said new construction would cost around $420,000 for a 1,200 square foot home. He added that he hates hearing about people taking second jobs to afford a home.
During the discussion Flora said the funding would not come from the general fund but from housing set aside money, the same funding source for the homestead program.
Flora said most of the city’s hires have been from out of the area, and sometimes it has been a real scramble to find them a place to live. “This isn’t going to solve the inventory problem.”
He said he was thinking initially that the program could offer $20,000 or $25,000. Flora said he liked terms in Walnut Creek’s plan, which allows a maximum amount of $65,000 or up to $200,000 under a special exception for hard-to-fill positions. The borrower has to be able to pay closing costs of mortgage and 5% down payment.
That program is structured like a loan in which the employee doesn’t make payments or accrue interest and when the house is sold, the increase in value of the home is split with the city.
Councilman Russ Cremer wanted a requirement that the house not be sold for a certain number of years. Flora said that makes sense, and pointed out that most of the programs he’s looked at require a five-year term before the home can be sold.
Claffey wanted to take a step back and consider whether such a program would be important to employees, adding that housing isn’t unaffordable in Clearlake.
Mayor Dirk Slooten said he thought it is a great idea, that it would definitely help with retention and community building.
Perdock suggested the funds also could be used to buy down interest rates for homebuyers.
The council gave Flora direction to come back with a program proposal at a future meeting.
Also during that meeting, Mark Harden was sworn in as the newest police sergeant, the council presented a proclamation declaring October 2022 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Curt Giambruno to the Lake County Vector Control District Board for a term of four years.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council is set to consider an agreement with the Konocti Unified School District to offer a variety of programs at the city’s youth center.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
On Thursday, the council will consider a joint use agreement with the Konocti Unified School District for the use of the Clearlake Youth Center at 4750 Golf Ave. for youth- and recreation-oriented activities.
Administrative Services Director/City Clerk Melissa Swanson’s report explains that in June the council approved the formation of the Recreation and Events Division of the Administrative Services Department “with the intent to increase public engagement and activities through the creation of recreation programs and community events.”
Since then, she said city staff have met with community groups and potential collaborators to develop the best and most effective means to serve the community.
Swanson said staff has formed a valuable partnership with Konocti Unified School District to jointly bring youth and recreation programs to the youth center.
The school district “has agreed to assist with funding and completing much-needed repairs and remodeling in return for cooperative use of the Youth Center for planned after-school activities, youth camps, and City and District employee daycare. Additionally, the City would retain the flexibility to allow use by many other youth activity groups such as the South Shore Little League, scout troops, and Children’s Museum of Art and Science.”
Swanson said if the council approves the agreement, it will be presented to the Konocti Unified School Board for approval.
In another business item, the council will consider amendments to the city's environmental guidelines to include internal guidance for management of tribal cultural resources and consultation.
City Manager Alan Flora’s report to the council explains that in 2016 the city adopted a set of environmental guidelines in order to implement the requirements of AB 52, adopted the previous year by the state Legislature, which requires public agencies to consult with Native American tribes and consider tribal cultural resources.
Flora explained that, historically, there have been three tribes with ancestral lands within the city’s boundaries: the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria, the Koi Nation of Northern California and the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California.
“While in large part consultation and coordination between the City as lead agency and the tribes has worked quite well, more recently new staff within the tribal environmental community have resulted in a inconsistent, confrontational, and difficult approach to complete projects. Staff believe that by adopting a more comprehensive policy framework related to tribal cultural resources would result in more predictability, less room for disagreement, and a more streamlined and economic project completion,” Flora explained.
He said the draft policy is adapted from several similar policies adopted within the past few years by various California municipalities.
“While this policy framework is well vetted with tribes in California, it has not been discussed with any Lake County tribes. The Council may wish to pursue this discussion, however staff believe at a minimum an interim policy is needed to guide staff in tribal relations,” Flora wrote.
Also on Thursday, the council will meet one of the adoptable dogs from the city’s shelter, receive a presentation by the Health and Social Policy Institute on second and third-hand smoke and aerosol exposure and their health effects on community members, and hear from the Scotts Valley Energy Corp. on bioenergy and wildfire mitigation.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are considered routine in nature and usually adopted on a single vote — are warrants; consideration of acceptance of the property located at 16331 6th Ave.; authorize the city manager to sign the certificate of acceptance; authorization of the subrecipient agreement with Lake County Rural Arts Initiative to receive $474,700 of the Clean California grant; the minutes of the August and September meetings; award of the bid for roofing repairs at 6805 Airport Road; and authorization of the Main Street Project Agreement with Lake County Rural Arts Initiative for an art project development.
The council also will hold a closed session to discuss a lawsuit against the county of Lake and liability claims against the city.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The effort to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include the Walker Ridge area took another step on Monday.
Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) led members of California’s Congressional delegation on Monday in a letter calling on President Joe Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include adjacent federally owned land known as the Walker Ridge tract.
Garamendi and Padilla’s letter also requested that Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland order the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename “Walker Ridge” to “Condor Ridge” and “Molok Luyuk” in the Patwin language of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and other Native American peoples from the area.
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument stretches from Napa County in the south to Mendocino County in the north, encompassing 330,780 acres of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Much of the monument is in Lake County.
President Barack Obama designated the national monument in 2015, responding to a call from Representatives Thompson and Garamendi, then-Senator Barbara Boxer, other Members of California’s Congressional delegation, and community leaders to permanently protect these lands.
The proposed expansion area is located on the eastern edge of the existing monument. These BLM managed lands include oak woodlands, rocky outcroppings, wildflower meadows, the world’s largest stand of McNab cypress, and dozens of rare plant species.
“Molok Luyuk is a special and sacred place for area tribes and for many local residents who enjoy recreation activities like hiking and mountain biking,” said Lake County Supervisor E.J. Crandell, a member of the Robinson Rancheria tribe. “The natural beauty of our home also drives tourism, which is key to the economic vitality of the region. Protecting these beautiful lands would be a gift to future generations.”
“Molok Luyuk is a rare treasure of rich cultural heritage and sacred history, diverse wildlife and rare plants, and stunning natural beauty and accessible recreational activities,” said Sandra Schubert, Executive Director of Tuleyome, a local conservation organization. “We are deeply grateful to our Congressional champions Reps. Garamendi and Thompson and Sens. Padilla and Feinstein for shepherding this effort. We encourage President Biden to expand the existing monument and permanently protect Molok Luyuk.”
Garamendi and Padilla’s letter was cosigned by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Representatives Mike Thompson (D-CA05), Jared Huffman (D-CA02), Barbara Lee (D-CA13), Katie Porter (D-CA45), Doris O. Matsui (D-CA06) and Mike Levin (D-CA-49).
“Conserving California’s special places has been a lifelong passion throughout my tenure in the state legislature, as Deputy Secretary of the Interior to President Clinton, and now as a member of Congress representing Lake County. Walker Ridge, soon to be known as Molok Luyuk, is one of those special places. I am proud to work with Senator Alex Padilla and our Congressional colleagues from California in calling for President Biden and Secretary Haaland to use the powers bestowed upon them to protect and expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument for future generations to enjoy,” said Congressman Garamendi.
“The sacred lands within and around the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument are central to thousands of years of indigenous origin stories,” said Senator Padilla. “That’s why I’m leading calls with Representative Garamendi urging President Biden to use his existing authority to expand the Monument and permanently protect Molok Luyuk. It is our duty to protect the abundant natural resources and the rich history of Molok Luyuk for today’s children and for future generations.”
“Molok Luyuk is home to both profound natural beauty and deep cultural significance. It is a special place, so it's fitting that California’s tribes and the U.S. government create a special relationship to protect it,” said Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation Chairman Anthony Roberts. “We commend Representative Garamendi and Senator Padilla for their work to protect our homelands.”
Presidential proclamations under the Antiquities Act of 1906 only apply to federally owned land and do not affect privately owned or other non-federal land in any way.
Over 50 local and national organizations have endorsed the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act,” including: Lake County Board of Supervisors; Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation; Conservation Lands Foundation; Sierra Club; California Wilderness Coalition; The Wilderness Society; Lake County Land Trust; Backcountry Anglers & Hunters; California Native Plant Society; Hispanic Access Foundation; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Tuleyome (Woodland, CA-based nonprofit); Audubon California; Vet Voice Foundation; Native American Land Conservancy.
Timeline of Events:
As Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 1995 to 1998 and now as a member of Congress representing Lake County since 2011, Congressman Garamendi has a lifelong passion for conserving California’s special for future generations to enjoy.
February 2014: Congressmen Mike Thompson, Garamendi and Huffman introduced bicameral legislation with then-Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to establish the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.
December 2014: Congressmen Thompson and Garamendi host then-Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Obama Administration officials on a tour of Berryessa Snow Mountain Region, urging National Monument designation.
July 2015: President Obama declared the federal land surrounding Lake Berryessa as a National Monument, at the Congressmen’s urging.
May 2017: Garamendi defends Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument against Trump Administration’s review to downsize national monuments designated by President Obama under the 1906 Antiquities Act.
July 2021: Garamendi sought public feedback on the proposed Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument expansion and his draft legislation.
January 2022: Garamendi introduced the “Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act” (H.R.6366) with Congressman Thompson.
March 2022: Garamendi testified before the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands on his “Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act” with Tribal Chairman Anthony Roberts for the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.
April 2022: Senator Padilla introduced the companion legislation (S.4080) with Senator Feinstein.
June 2022: Senator Padilla testified before the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining on his companion legislation (S.4080).
July 14, 2022: U.S. House of Representatives passed Garamendi’s Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act” as part of the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023” (H.R.7900).
July 21, 2022: U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources passed Senator Padilla’s companion legislation (S.4080) with bipartisan support.
In addition to the letter cosigners, the “Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act” is also cosponsored in the House by Representatives Jerry McNerney (D-CA-9), Jim Costa (D-CA-16), and Ro Khanna (D-CA-17).