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Vol. 81, No. 26 • Feather Publishing Co., Inc.
f the Indian Valley Area
• 530,284-7800 • Wednesday, May 18, 2011
50¢
Supervisors edge closer to redistricting
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
dmcdonald@plumasnews.com
As the deadline for draw-
ing new county district
boundaries draws closer,
both of the final two propos-
als seem to be OK with the
Plumas County Board of Su-
pervisors.
The Tuesday, May 10,
meeting -- the first of two
scheduled public hearings in
the redistricting process --
morphed into a discussion
about the county's shrinking
population.
The exodus of residents in
the once-booming resort
area around Lake Almanor
in District 3 has been signifi-
cant.
More than 16 percent of
the 3,869 people counted in
the 2000 census have van-
ished, leaving empty homes
and tumbling property val-
ues in their wake.
"There's only 50 people
living on the east shore
now?" District 2 Supervisor
Robert Meacher asked.
"Full-time? Yes," an-
swered Sherrie Thrall,
whose District 3 boundaries
will be expanded because of
the loss.
Thrall said that if the ap-
proved lots and vacant
homes in the Lake Almanor
area were occupied, nearly a
third of the county's popula-
tion would live in that area.
It would take a significant
economic turnaround for
that to happen.
"But right now I know
that Almanor West is like a
ghost town in the winter,"
Thrall said. "It's almost all
second homes, summer
homes. The peninsula has
become that way because of
the economy, I think,
"And we've lost a lot of
our full-time residents who
have just aged-out of being
able to live in the snow the
last couple of years."
The 2010 census revealed
that the county's population
(which fell by more than 800
people since 2000) has shift-
ed to the south.
By law, the five districts
must each contain as close
to 20 percent of the county's
20,007 residents as possible.
Under one of the two redis-
tricting proposals presented
by the county's planners,
Meacher's District 2, which
already covers a large swath
of the county from the east-
ern border to the western
border, would get even big-
ger.
It would encompass about
a third of the county's land.
"District 2 has been and
always will be the most diffi-
cult district to govern,"
Meacher said.
The communities of
Greenhorn and Cromberg
could end up being added to
District 2.
"Just put in the budget
that I need a helicopter,"
Meacher said, drawing
laughter from the board and
the audience, "... since I
don't have an airport."
District 5 Supervisor Jon
Kennedy said he sympa-
thized with Meacher.
"I just feel bad for you,
honestly," Kennedy said.
"This just even makes it
worse for you geographical-
ly."
And the geography could
change again if the economy
improves and the county
starts growing again.
If that happens, the county
could conduct its own
mini-census before 2020.
Though it's hard to imagine
in today's economic climate,
it could happen.
"So our decision could be
that it's unfortunate that the
census fell when it did,"
Meacher said. "But these are
the (redistricting) lines for
now. The board recognizes
it's an awkward districting.
"And as soon as we see
economic indicators that
justify us to re-look at the
lines to make them look
more equitable, we will do
so. Please bear with us."
Most of the board mem-
bers said they have had feed-
back from their constituents
about the redistrictingl
None of those constituents
were in the audience for the
meeting.
One county resident who
spoke prompted a roar of
laughter and approval when
he talked about doing what
he could to help boost the
county's population.
Todd Anderson; who lives
in Crescent Mills, said he re-
ceived census forms three
times.
"I filled out each one and
sent it in," Anderson said
with a straight face. "I went
ahead and did it because I
felt like there were people
who were going to be
missed."
A smiling Meacher shout-
ed out above the laughter be-
fore Anderson 'was even fin-
ished speaking, "There ya
go! We need more folks like
you, Todd!"
The second public hearing
was scheduled for yester-
day's Board of Supervisors'
meeting.
The board had the option
to pick the final new district
map at that time.
Library group
nearly finished
Alicia Knadler
Indian Valley Editor
aknadler@plumasnews.com
Has the Herger-Feinstein
Quincy Library Group Pilot
Project met the goals in
Plumas and Lassen of spotted
owl protection while allow-
ing use of natural resources
at the same time?
Meeting to hear the ninth
annual report in late April
were ForestService scien-
tists, officials and other ex-
perts and interested parties.
The Town Hall Theatre in
Quincy was filled for presen-
tations about different as-
pects of project monitoring,
including talks about small
mammal and bird population
dynamics, fuel treatment ef-
fects, spotted owl response to
management practices, fuel
and watershed treatment re-
sults and other topics.
While the planned moni-
toring of the project ends in
fiscal year 2012, officials ex-
pect some ongoing monitor-
ing to continue, perhaps with
help from land managers.
Study has already been ex-
tended twice past the origi-
nal ending date in 2005.
The main purposes of the
study are to explore three ar-
eas of significant interest.
How do species dependent
on "old forest" habitat re-
spond to vegetation manage-
ment over space and time?
Do fuel management ap-
proaches effectively address
fuel loading without nega-
tively affecting species via-
bility?
How effective are land-
scape-level fuel management
strategies in modifying fire
behavior anCl reducing the
extent and sgverity of wild-
land fires?
There was a shift in priori-
ties related to study objec-
tives in 2009, because the
main funding for the study
now comes from Storrie Fire
settlement funds.
More focus is on restora-
tion considerations in pre-
venting large, high-severity
fires and in land manage-
ment.
For the spotted owl, moni-
toring work gathering popu-
lation, distribution and other
demographic information
over the Plumas and Lassen
forests continues.
Specific study areas in-
clude the Moonlight Fire
area, where about 88,000
acres burned, mostly at a
high severity.
About 70 percent of the for-
est was suitable spotted owl
See QLG, page 4A
Greenhouse growers
Geoffrey Guthrie helps out in the Greenville High School greenhouse in preparation for the first plant sale Tuesday, May 24,
from 4 - 6 p.m. There will be a variety of plants for sale, including tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and flowers.
Photo by Alicia Knadler
Early deadlines
All Feather Publishing
offices will be closed Mon-
day, May 30, in observance
of Memorial Day. This will
affect the deadlines for the
June 1 newspaper.
Deadlines for the
Wednesday, June 1,
Plumas-Westwood edi-
tions:
All Display Advertising
and Legal (Public) Notices
for the classified and other
newspaper sections is due
by Wednesday, May 25, at
noon.
News releases -- includ-
ing letters to the editor,
births, obituaries and
cards of thanks are due
by Thursday, May 26, at
noon.
Classified reader ads are
due Friday, May 27, at 9 a.m.
To subscribe to the Record,
call 530-283-0800
FRC tru,,stees reluctantly OK staff cuts
Mona Hill
Staff Writer
mhill@plumasnews.com
Despite the inevitable out-
come, classified staff and stu-
dents at Feather River Col-
lege packed the college dis-
tricrs board of trustee meet-
ing Tuesday, May 10, to ask
the board of trustees for con-
sideration.
On the agenda was a reso-
lution to eliminate 5.23 full-
time equivalency (FTE) clas-
sified staff positions and 1.5
FTE management positions.
A combination of full- and
part-time cuts will affect a
dozen staff members and
managers whose positions
have been reduced or elimi-
nated.
Karen Paiva, Classified
Senate president, told the
board, "The resolution today
to eliminate classified staff is
a disservice to the students
we serve and will produce
turmoil in all departments,
including classrooms. This
proposal is not only in-
equitable but the long-term
effects have not been thought
through."
Her comments to the board
itemized the effects of the
cuts on the individuals and
departments, including her
own as faculty secretary.
Paiva also alleged pro-
posed reductions targeted
seven of 11 employees with
longevity or documented dis-
abilities.
In a later telephone conver-
sation, Human Resources Di-
rector Jamie Cannon disput-
ed that characterization, say-
ing nearly 70 percent of the
employees have longevity.
In addition, Cannon said,
every employee with a dis-
ability, perhaps three, had
received reasonable accom-
modation as required by law.
Paiva warned trustees the
reduction could spark filing
of an unfair labor practice
charge with the labor rela-
tions board.
She concluded, "It didn't
have to be this way. We have
always cooperated with the
district in regard to budget
issues, and we were in the
process of negotiating
See FRC, page 4A
Board p00tns Fish and Game's dredge study
Delaine Fragnoli
Managing Editor
dfragnoli@plumasnews.corn
P.lumas County supervi-
sors have weighed in on the
California Department of
Fish and Game's draft envi-
ronmental review of its suc-
tion dredge mining program.
The last day to comment on
the impact report was May
10. The supervisors approved
a letter to DFG at their May 3
meeting.
DFG released its draft sub-
sequent environmental im-
pact report Feb. 28. The
study concluded that contin-
uing the current moratorium
on suction dredge mining
was the best thing for the en-
vironment.
The next preferable alter-
native woUld be to cut the
number of suction dredge
permits by more than haft
from an average of 3,650 over
the past 15 years to 1,500 an-
nually -- while limiting
dredging to 14 days a year for
each permit holder and re-
ducing the allowable nozzle
size from 8 inches to 4.
The study was the result of
a lawsuit, spearheaded by
the Karuk tribe, which ar-
gued that the practice was
harming fish habitat by
churning up pollutants de-
posited in streambeds by a
century and a haft of mining
activity. In 2009, a court or-
dered the agency to overhaul
its regulations and issued an
injunction to prevent it from
processing any permits until
it had done so.
The Legislature fol0wed
up in August 2009 with a
bill, signed by then-Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, to
temporarily ban suction
dredging on all California
rivers and lakes.
In introducing the issue at
the May 3 board meeting,
Chairwoman Lori Simpson
said, "We do understand the
concern -- I want to make
that clear -- about preserv-
ing habitat for fish. But
there's a lot of issues I think,
See DFG, page 4A
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