Acre of Trees Cut Illegally? City Orders Vinyard Project Halted

Forest Newsie #1

Acre of Trees Cut Illegally? City Orders Vinyard Project Halted

Novato Advance

By Dan Stebbins/Executive Editor

An Ignacio, California is in hot water over a large-scale illegal tree cutting to create a vineyard. Homeowners, Robert and Marsha Lang, have been ordered by Novato’s code enforcement officers to immediately stop work on the harvesting of their four acre lot , on which they also reside.

An estimated 40 trees on one acre had already been cut when neighbors reported the crime. The fallen trees reportedly consist of mostly oaks, some madrone and bay.

The property is merely a “stones throw away,” from the Ignacio Valley Open Space Preserve (to the west). Because of the closeness of the property in question to this preserve more agencies than just the city of Novato are involved in this incident. Possible pollution of a seasonal creek on the property with wood chips has caused the state Regional Water Quality Control Board, the state Fish and Game Department and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to potential