A note on toxicity: besides using Round up for herbicide, vineyards also spray various fungicides, some repetitively. I have just learned of things like Vivando and ammonium polyphosphate as well...

I was at a candidates night and Evans actually touted her expertise at bureaucracy. In my experience bureaucracy can be used by a professional politician as a way to obfuscate and delay getting stuff...

There has been a lot of chatter about Round-up after recent tests found traces of it in bottled wine, even organic wine. A Napa biodynamic grower wrote that even the CA Pesticide Safety Manual...

<br><br>I gotta jump in here ...Noreen may have been Ok to represent us in her Samta Rosa district, but she felt she couldn't win there. Everything I read about about her is about her experience as a...

yes - i recently met tim sergent in occidental, spoke with him at some length and really liked him and his values.
he has actually worked within the DC beltway for a couple of years, worked abroad,...

Based on what I've been reading, you won't get any help from Hopkins on the pesticide issue. Right to Farm, is sounding more like right to poison.

We have another option for the 5th District who hasn't taken big Ag-winery money, Ratto Group money, nor is he an opportunist who moved here just to prolong an already exceedingly lengthy run as a...

My take on Hopkins, based on what she said about pesticide drift, is that pesticides are OK, and the rules say they are not supposed to drift. What it sounds like is that pesticides are OK with her....

I also don't understand Lynda's comments. How do ordinances prevent pesticide drift? Even rules that say a farmer cannot spray once wind speed gets too strong does not mean they will always adhere...

Agreed ... "Pesticide drift" is not the only way that the use of pesticides can affect us all ... I'm really getting sick of finding dead and dying bees ... can't we just ban pesticides county wide?...

I don't understand Hopkins saying that pesticides shouldn't drift. If she is an organic farmer why would she not be opposed to pesticide use? Am I missing something?

This is one of the most meaningful things that I have seen on this thread. Environmentalist Bill McKibben of 350.org describes most Americans with a phrase something like ultra-individualist or...

The land is the heritage of human beings. It was never intended for privatization. It was once considered sacred. Every part of life was once considered sacred. Our systems have warped the intention...

I want to echo the paragraph below. The Agricultural Commissioner and others contend that orchards demand more pesticides and water than vineyards to be productive. This has not been my experience...

"Industrial 'farming," as mentioned below, has taken over. Those regimented stakes in the ground insult nature, which is diverse, rather than ordered by humans. The bloated wine industry rules Sonoma...

Linda mentions the Right to Farm ordinance... which is what I also saw,read, and mentioned. We bought our house in 1999. This went into effect in 2000. We were never notified anything about it...

The Right to Farm should not be interpreted as The Right to HARM, which is what the over-grown wine industry here does. It is the main user of the cancer-causing RoundUp and other deadly poisons,...

Housing-or-Vineyards certainly aren't the only options, as all of the old orchards attest to. There are certainly those too in the equestrian world, another major "economy" in Sonoma County, that...

Mega vineyards and and event centers: BAD
Industrial farming: BAD
Small organic farms: GOOD.
Noreen Evans will have our back on this.
Big wine will do whatever they can to stop her from getting...

Thank you so much for the suggestion to go to the Board of Supervisors. I have looked into the Right to Farm Ordinance, and it is pretty bad for home owners. I noticed that Mike Reilly was the only...

The Board of Supervisors has the power to adopt standards regarding vineyard development and their environmental impact. The County of Sonoma bends over backwards to assist vineyards. Regulations are...

not shy about letting your own opinions taint the way you setup your survey, are you? not that I intend a criticism - it's your survey! But no, it doesn't bother me, and I have exactly the...

Hello, I am a resident of the Ft. Ross area, and have watched as this lovely land has been taken over by moneyed interests with the wine industry, and their "event centers"! I agree with this post...

This letter is very good. The only thing I might add is that the vineyard operations are more industrial than farming... due to the heavy equipment (usually diesel powered) and amount of traffic...