Eco-Bulletin ~ March 2, 2007

Small Wilderness Area Preservation (S.W.A.P.) invites volunteers to help with erosion and weed control in the Elfin Forest. The next workday will be Saturday, March 3, from 9am to noon. The El Moro Elfin Forest in Los Osos is adjacent to the Morro Bay Estuary. Small Wilderness Area Preservation raised funds for its purchase in 1994, and turned the land over to San Luis Obispo County Parks. SWAP signed a 10-year Adopt-A-Park agreement with the County, which includes helping to restore and maintain the Elfin forest.

SWAP First Saturday work parties are held at 9 a.m. to noon on the first Saturday of each month. Volunteers meet at the north end of 15th Street off of Santa Ysabel in Los Osos. Dress for sun and wind and bring work gloves if you can. Some work gloves, tools and drinking water are provided. Please park carefully, avoiding driveways and mailboxes.

Find out from a national expert why you should buy Fair Trade products to help the environment and give workers a decent living. Peter Buck from Equal Exchange will give a presentation on Fair Trade at 7:00pm on Monday, March 5, 2007, at the Congregation Beth David, 10180 Los Osos Valley Road (near Foothill) in San Luis Obispo.

Fair Trade means:

• Fair prices: Democratically organized farmer groups receive a guaranteed minimum floor price and an additional premium for certified organic products. Farmer organizations are also eligible for pre-harvest credit.

• Fair labor conditions: Workers on Fair Trade farms enjoy freedom of association, safe working conditions, and living wages. Forced child labor is strictly prohibited.

• Direct trade: Importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to strengthen their organizations and become competitive players in the global economy.

• Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers decide democratically how to use their Fair Trade revenues.

• Community development: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers invest Fair Trade premiums in social and business development projects like scholarship programs, quality improvement trainings, and organic certification.

American singer-songwriter, teacher and social change activist, Holly Near, will perform in concert at 8pm on Friday, March 9, at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts (487 Fair Oaks, Arroyo Grande). During her long career in folk and protest music, Holly Near has worked with a wide array of musicians and she has been recognized many times for her work for social change, including honors from the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild, the National Organization for Women, NARAS, Ms. Magazine (Woman of the Year), and the Legends of Women's Music Award.

Tickets to this concert, a fundraiser for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Luis Obispo County, are $25 for General Admission and $22 for Seniors/Students. Tickets are available at Volumes of Pleasure Bookstore in Los Osos, Boo Boos in Grover and SLO, Clark Center Box Office.

Daylight Saving Time has been used on and off, with different start and end dates. Currently, Daylight Saving Time begins at 2am on the second Sunday of March and ends at 2am on the first Sunday in November. Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour.

According to the Association for the Study of Peak Oil, worldwide oil production is currently reaching its peak and beginning a decline. ECOSLO and the SLO Air Pollution Control District (APCD) are hosting an Electric Vehicle Forum from 1:30-4pm on Sunday, March 25, to explore our energy and transportation options as we plan a smooth transition to a sustainable economy.

Former Pentagon analyst, Sam Smith, is an insightful, articulate and visionary speaker who will discuss the financial opportunities in the emerging EV industry, energy security and the need for rapid commercialization of alternative technologies such as electric vehicles and solar-thermal power generation. Smith has worked on numerous electric vehicle development programs and is currently a financial analyst with an international brokerage firm. As a military program analyst in the 80's, he reviewed the viability of multi-billion dollar programs and applies that experience to the current economic viability of electric vehicle and alternative power generation technologies. He also served as a speechwriter for President Reagan. Mr. Smith has a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a Masters of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California.

Learn Ancient Wisdom to fine-tune your sacred space...and help ECOSLO’s bottom line! Feng Shui Expert Holly Ziegler, MA.Ed. invites you to her upcoming workshop in San Luis Obispo, “Feng Shui Secrets to Empower Your Home, Your Office, and Your Life!” Learn techniques you can put to use immediately in any property or environment at the workshop, from 12:30 to 4pm on Tuesday, March 27 and Wednesday, March 28, in the Community Room at First American Title Co., 899 Pacific St., in San Luis Obispo.

Enroll now for $99.00 (regular price is $149.00) and Holly will generously donate 15% of your ticket price to ECOSLO. Included in price of the course:

• Holly’s books, “Sell Your Home FASTER with Feng Shui” & “Buy Your Home SMARTER with Feng Shui” (compliments of Rockview Lending Group)

• A beautiful, personalized Feng Shui Certificate of Training

• REALTORS receive 6 CEUs from Calif. Dept. of Real Estate

The California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC) Network is offering docent-training sessions on Saturdays in February and March in the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden.

- Adult Docent Training (for adult, family, and community group tours) will occur from 9am to 11am on March 17, 24, 31, and April 7 at the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden. Contact Ron Kindig by emailing ronkindig@charter.net or calling (805) 481-4451.

The Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo County (ECOSLO) has a long history of advocacy for smart land use planning, protection of open space and preservation of our rich agricultural heritage. In an effort to continue this important work, we have joined with the Citizens for Planning Responsibly to ask the Court to analyze the legality of Measure J.

We believe that the initiative was written to avoid the normal review process required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The purpose of CEQA analysis and the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report is to identify significant effects on the environment, to analyze alternatives and to mitigate or avoid significant impacts. The areas of analysis include impacts to aesthetics, agricultural resources, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, geology and soils, noise, public services and utilities, traffic, water, land use, and wastewater. The City of San Luis Obispo prepared an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a previously proposed Annexation Project on the same site. This EIR identified many significant environmental impacts including unacceptable traffic conditions, the conversion of 60 acres of prime agricultural land, and potential land use conflicts between the agricultural and non-agricultural uses. The City set forth many conditions for approval of the Annexation Project to mitigate the identified impacts. The project proposed under Measure J is more intensive in many ways, yet the conditions in the initiative are weakened or eliminated in comparison to those proposed by the City of San Luis Obispo. In addition, the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments has expressed serious concerns about the traffic impacts and the fact that the initiative is written in such a manner as to allow the developer to escape the responsibility to mitigate its traffic impacts. The $4 million developer contribution falls far short of the expected costs of necessary improvements if this land is developed and also places time limits on state, regional and local agencies that would allow the traffic mitigation funds to revert to the developers if their timeline is not met. This places an undue burden on the affected agencies and shifts the responsibility and cost for mitigation onto the public. Another concern is that the initiative does not dedicate 65.5 acres of agriculture/open space as required by the City’s 1994 General Plan.