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August 2009
California Oak Report
The Carbon Side of Eden
Once-bucolic Napa County is the jewel in the California wine industry crown, its 45,000 acres of
winegrapes fetching the highest prices and producing superior vintages. Despite a market glut for high-end wines, Napa County winegrape growers are currently proposing to convert another 1,000 acres of coveted hillside oak woodlands to vineyards and they are balking at having to proportionally mitigate the very substantial CO2 biological emissions that accompany these woodland conversions.
California’s wine industry spends copious amounts of money promoting their product, including an extensive public relations campaign demonstrating their commitment to reducing and ameliorating the carbon footprint of wine. The following synopsis examines winegrape growers-vintners carbon emission impacts and professed dedication to addressing climate change:
Wine Forest Conversion Carbon
Napa County’s reactionary CO2 biological emissions mitigation attitude stands in stark contrast to the May 2009 carbon footprint policy statement issued by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, a 975-member partnership between California winegrape growers and vintners: "Oak woodlands, for example, can store huge amounts of above- and below-ground carbon over their lifetime." Clearly growers and vintners recognize the unique capacity of existing oak woodlands to naturally sequester large quantities of CO2 over time. Then why is this industry uniformly refusing to mitigate significant public health effects due to that stored carbon being discharged back into the atmosphere when woodlands are unnaturally impacted for the growing of winegrapes?
After the carbon capturing oak trees are removed the soil is "deep ripped" to improve vineyard yield and remove all vestiges of oak root fungus, which is deadly to grapevines. Deep ripping is a process in which bulldozers drag rippers, consisting of 4-foot to 7-foot metal prongs, through the earth. This activity disgorges biological material behind the ripper with each pass, releasing enormous quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Wine Production Carbon
According to the Napa Valley Vintners (350 wineries), "The Food Processing sector is the largest energy user in the state of California and wineries account for the largest percentage of energy use in this sector. The average Napa Valley winery uses 6.5 gallons of water per gallon of wine. The transport, heating and treatment of water account for 20% of electricity use and 30% of natural gas use in the state. All of this energy use has an associated carbon footprint." Not included in these energy figures are the over 4.7 million tourists that fly, drive and bus in annually to visit Napa Valley tasting rooms and related wine tourism.
The NVV also reports that wines "impact on Napa County's economy alone is valued at nearly $11 billion annually"...While Napa Valley produces just 4% of California's winegrapes, the region is responsible for nearly 30% of the economic impact of wine in California, and nearly 34% of the economic impact of California's wine to the U.S. economy, a mighty $42.4 billion annually."
If Napa County and the California wine industry are going to talk the climate change talk, they need to walk the climate change walk. This luxury commerce can certainly afford to lessen and meaningfully mitigate its Big Foot carbon print and has a social responsibility to do so.
Step Up to Conserve Oak Woodlands
Below are COF comments to the Natural Resources Agency supporting its proposed California Environmental Quality Act greenhouse gas amendments regarding the conversion of native forests to non-forest use. This is a critical moment for the future of oak woodlands conservation and California Oak Foundation urges oak advocates statewide to contact Special Counsel Christopher Calfee in support of these CEQA forest standards. Comment period closes at 5:00 pm on August 20, 2009:
July 15, 2009
Christopher Calfee, Special Counsel
ATTN: CEQA Guidelines
California Resources Agency
1017 L Street, #2223
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: Proposed Guideline Amendments
Dear Mr. Calfee:
The California Oak Foundation (COF) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the proposed California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guideline amendments and our organization writes in full support of the current Initial Study checklist native forest guidance. These forestry amendments will elicit the oak woodlands information necessary for informed public participation and informed decision making regarding carbon biological emission impacts and proportional mitigation measures.
The Resources Agency approach to oak woodland carbon biological emissions analysis mirrors Oak Foundation recommendations to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. Essentially CEQA must: (1) alert local jurisdictions that there are carbon dioxide emission effects to be considered when native forests are converted to a non-forest land use; (2) identify the CARB Forest Protocols measurement methodology as the state-sanctioned standard for forest carbon analysis. As a practical matter, there is not now nor likely to be a CEQA forest carbon measurement alternative to the California grown forest protocols methodology.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his administration are to be commended for placing a premium on conserving California’s native forests by specifically recognizing the unique capacity of existing native trees to naturally sequester large quantities of CO2 over time and the adverse public health effects of discharging that stored carbon back into the atmosphere when forests are unnaturally impacted. A living legacy for future generations will result from this astute decision.
Respectfully,
Janet Cobb, President
California Oak Foundation
Conservation Easement Updates
A recent Federal District Court decision has invalidated the tax deduction of an easement donor because they did not have a letter from the donee describing their donation AND declaring that the donee provided no goods or services in exchange for the gift (or stating the value of goods in the case of a bargain sale). In recent months, the IRS has repeatedly asserted that the requirement for a "contemporaneous written substantiation," required by Internal Revenue Code section 170(f)(8) is NOT met by the signing of a Form 8283.
To help landowners avoid audits on this point, land trusts should send each donor of a conservation easement (or any charitable contribution valued at $250 or more), a separate letter or postcard acknowledging the gift and specifying if the donor received any goods or services in return. The donor must keep this communication -- and the land trust should also keep a copy.
In other conservation easement news, legislation to make the enhanced tax deduction for conservation easement donations permanent is making great strides, but it needs your help gathering additional co-sponsors. The Conservation Easement Incentive Act, H.R. 1831, would permanently raise the deduction a landowner can take for donating a conservation easement, allow qualifying farmers and ranchers to fully deduct their income and extends the carry-forward period for a donor to take tax deductions by 10 years.
Conservationists should contact Senators Boxer/Feinstein and their local Congressman asking them to sign-up as H.R. 1831co-sponsors.
Merchandise
Membership in California Oak Foundation makes a good gift for conservationists, a thoughtful memorial donation, and supports our mission to protect and perpetuate native oak woodlands. Membership levels include Acorn ($25), Seedling ($50), Sapling ($75), Heritage ($100) and more. We are currently offering an incentive to $100 memberships/donors - a free gift of The Life of an Oak by Glenn Keator, a beautifully illustrated and photographed, 256-page, full-color oak-reference book, including descriptions of the flowering and reproductive strategies of oaks, their basic architectural structure and much, much more - a $17.95 (plus tax, shipping and handling) value.
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Fax: 510-208-4435 oakstaff@californiaoaks.org
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