Rim
fire taking ecological toll over thousands of acres [Los Angeles Times]
…The
extent of ecological damage from the Rim fire won't be known until after it
dies out and crews survey the burn area…. When UC Berkeley fire scientist Scott
Stephens and his research assistants were conducting field studies in the
Stanislaus forest earlier this summer, they came across remnant islands of pine
and Douglas fir trees that were 400 years old. The researchers looked at the
dense, younger trees surrounding them and figured the old trees would be goners
if a fire came through. A few weeks later, their fears have probably been
realized….After the 1987 wildfires, the Forest Service also reforested some of
the Stanislaus forest burn area with thousands of acres of pine plantations.
Now those young tree plantations are thick with uniform growth — perfect
wildfire fuel.
"It's
almost like a giant shrub system," Stephens said of the plantations,
adding that most have never been thinned. Although the Forest Service has
approved thinning projects, it hasn't had the money to conduct many of them.
Stephens said Stanislaus forest staff have told him that "we have no
appropriation of dollars to do it. So they're just sitting on the shelf."
Imperial
Valley recovering from weekend storms [Imperial Valley Press]
The
storms that swept through the Imperial Valley this weekend damaged roads and
canal drains, flooded fields and left hundreds of customers without power. But,
there is some good news. “The worst is definitely behind you,” said Marvin
Percha, meteorologist with the National Weather
Service….The
Imperial County Agricultural Commissioner’s office is compiling information on
farm field damages. Reported damage ranged from uprooted date palms in
Winterhaven to damaged alfalfa and alfalfa seeds in the north end of the
Valley, said Connie Valenzuela, Imperial County agricultural commissioner. Some
newly planted winter produce fields were also flooded, she said.
Farr
fields immigration, health reform questions during Santa Cruz town hall [Santa
Cruz Sentinel]
Rep.
Sam Farr said Monday he believes it's still possible this year to achieve
immigration reform in Congress, a long-anticipated change that could affect
many agricultural workers in Santa Cruz County.
"What
we have now is not sustainable," Farr said, noting the estimated 11
million people living undocumented in the U.S. "Eighty percent of
farmworkers in this valley and Salinas Valley are undocumented. Under the
proposed legislation there would be a process for them to become legal."
Farr said his colleagues are working with Republicans, who control the House,
to craft a bill.
Crab-eating
otters aid ecosystem, study says [Associated Press]
The
familiar sight of a sea otter floating on its back, meal on its belly, is more
than a cuddly spectacle, research at a Central California estuary has found. A
study published Monday suggests that by eating crabs, sea otters are indirectly
combatting harmful effects of agricultural runoff and protecting the underwater
ecosystem of Elkhorn Slough, an estuary near Monterey Bay about 75 miles
southeast of San Francisco. Underwater sea grass, which has many environmental
benefits including providing habitat for fish, is typically stifled by algae
fueled by nutrients in agricultural runoff. But with otters present, the sea
grass thrived through the cascading effect of the food chain, according to the
study from UC Santa Cruz researchers published in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
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Gaviota
Coast Plan up for more discussion [Santa Maria Times]
The
Santa Barbara County Planning Commission will resume its discussion of
agriculture along the Gaviota Coast when it meets Wednesday….The commission is
expected to discuss agricultural structures in the plan area and an
agricultural permit streamlining ordinance….Agricultural interests and people
interested in gaining more public access to the Gaviota coast have expressed
conflicting opinions in past meetings. Farmers and ranchers along the coast
have said they have little interest in opening their properties to public trail
access.
Tomatoes
Ripe for Improvement [New York Times]
Science
is trying to build a better supermarket tomato. At a laboratory here at the
University of Florida’s Institute for Plant Innovation, researchers chop
tomatoes from nearby greenhouses and plop them into glass tubes to extract
flavor compounds — the essence of tomato, so to speak….It is easy to find a
better tasting and more nutritious tomato. Go to a farmer’s market or grow one
in the backyard. It is also easy to breed a plant that produces something
tastier than a supermarket tomato — cross a sweet heirloom with the supermarket
variety. In the greenhouse, Dr. Klee pulls one such hybrid tomato off a vine,
and it does taste sweeter. But a hybrid also loses some of the qualities highly
valued by commercial growers — it is not as fecund, not as resistant to
disease, not as easily grown, not as pretty….Dr. Klee’s goal is to tweak the
tomato DNA — through traditional breeding, not genetic engineering — to add
desired flavors while not compromising the traits needed for it to thrive
commercially.
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