Sierra In Peril- SF 144

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casual conversations it was best to do it speech again just for the record. Carole Whiteside president of the Great Valley Center. That's right. It sounds correct. So be a little bit about the rebel was how started the impetus behind the Great Khali center started in 1970 when a lot of people decided or started looking at the valley and saying the valley is a really important place. It's going through a lot of changes a lot of growth questions of environmental protection farmland urbanization unemployment. And if the valley is not successful. Then that's a huge burden on the rest of California. So people began to understand that the valley was increasingly important and some of the major California foundations were willing to make a commitment to the valley. And so we have a great Valley Center. Really here to help cities and counties and local community leaders deal with the issues on their own terms.

The value of all of these sort of other words the things that draw people here themselves. Well I think that's true that's not always however true I mean certainly some people come here for the small town qualities and agricultural background and that sort of thing but some people come here for jobs who actually work in agriculture and many of the farm workers and some of the immigrant communities. Some people come here because housing is less expensive. And housing is less expensive here than it is in the Bay Area because it uses farmland instead of expensive urban land in other places so some of it is endangered. But if you're coming here for cheap housing there's lots of cheap housing. All the different issues I'm sure coverage of you first of all let's talk about housing. Everybody is drawn to the value rises or sometimes half of which lives elsewhere you know. Yes

so huge. Well I think there's lots of aspects of housing the first thing is is that housing. Itself is the place where we live it's how many bedrooms you have the size of your backyard whether or not you have a swimming pool or a spa or extra space in the kitchen I mean those kinds of choices that we make but it's also the community it's also the parks it's the schools it's the places that you shop maybe the place that you work. And so I think we've sometimes done a pretty good job in the valley of building the house. But we're not necessarily paying attention to the communities that we're building and I think that's the long range concern that we have to charge fees because there isn't a lot of money at local government. So you have to charge fees for parks and schools and things like that and that raises the cost of housing. There are communities in the Valley that are still not charging anything which means that 20 or 25 years from now when other communities have.

Parkways and recreational programs and public facilities and libraries some of these communities still won't have anything and they'll still not offer a whole sense of what people like in the city or the county that they have the. Population. Population growth is just skyrocketed in the valley in fact the demographers suggest that while the rest of the state's population will double in the next 30 or 40 years the central Valley's population will triple. Now about five and a half million people living in the valley and the projections are it'll be 12 million by 2040. So if I have grandchildren or you have a child tomorrow it means that by the time they are. Just in the middle of their careers that the population of this region could be three times greater than it is now. Well depends on what kind of a good job we do the quality of life we believe at the great value

center could be very high in the valley if we're careful about how we construct our cities. If we save the most important farmland if we pay attention to natural resources if we develop strategies not to pollute the air we think the valley could actually contain that many people and still be a good place to live. However if we're not very careful we could end up with polluted air. Cities that aren't very livable. A very weak economy and we destroy agriculture at the same time which would mean the very base that exists now would be diminished so it could be a worse place. I think that the decisions that are being made in the next five to 10 years are critically important to whether or not the Valley is successful. Who are to approach. Well I think so. There are certainly regional issues and I think we have to start owning up to the fact that air quality water transportation land use those are absolutely

regional issues and one of the things that the Valley has not had is a place to have a regional conversation. We don't have councils of government say Coggan Sacramento or Fresno as council of government they all tend to be focused only on their own areas in the Bay Area you have a nine county council of governments that can deal with these issues on a broader basis. So I think when you're talking about high speed rail you're talking about air pollution when you're talking about water policy. We have simply got to get out of our own boxes and start looking at the regional picture. Within the valley let me just say that within the valley there are a lot of ways to divide regions. We talk about actually three sort of major regions within the great valley. The Sacramento Valley in the north also called the North Valley. The Sacramento metropolitan area the six counties around Sacramento and all the people who live there and then the San Joaquin Valley and within that are still Bakersfield Fresno San Joaquin Stanislaus percent there are a lot of ways to talk about regions.

So I think that people who really look at these issues begin to say we ought to talk about regions depending on the issue. If we're talking about commute it's then that defines a region one way if we're talking about an air base and it defines a region another way and we ought to be flexible enough to have those conversations in ways that we could really solve the problems. Wrong approach of the words form what. Well I think we we do need to do both and I think that actually if we're careful again we can do both successfully. The thing that the great value Center talks about when we talk about economic development is trying to find economic activity an opportunity that's compatible with agriculture instead of finding activity that develops at the expense of Agriculture because we have a very strong base here with the base

of agriculture in this region is worth about 16 billion dollars a year annually. And that was a base that we can ill afford to destroy. In fact it contributes positively to the balance of trade payments for the country. It's a very important part of the state's economy and we really ought to be very protective of it. At the same time if we build distribution centers on farmland that take up huge amounts of land and don't provide a lot of jobs we haven't gotten very far ahead. In fact we're taking steps backwards. One of the things that we're looking at through a project called new Valley connections is the use of telecommunications in this region and what kinds of industrial opportunities could come in in ways that are compatible with agriculture. How can agriculture use technology to be more productive and more competitive and there are some very interesting findings about all of that. We're looking at new clusters new opportunities within the agricultural industry like value added agriculture instead of just harvesting lettuce. They wash it for us and put it in bags and we all

pay extra for it provides new jobs related to agriculture. People are doing things like. Food processing fresh apples different kinds of carrots. All those things are value added and they create jobs within the industry. There's also a lot of movement toward vertical integration. What kind of upwardly mobile job support agriculture the advertising industry the accounting industry the all the back office kinds of things that are necessary for global marketing transportation distribution. So there are job opportunities within agriculture in addition to the other kinds of new economy jobs that are beginning to emerge throughout the state. So to really like what you can. Well I think we have to start getting very serious about what has to be done and I think we have to

negotiate with our industries with our developers with our communities with the air district and try to come up with some strategies now that are proactive rather than waiting for the heavy government regulation to shut us down which is entirely possible. In fact I was reading in the paper just yesterday that if the most severe regulations are imposed on this region it would be the equivalent of a building moratorium which would be devastating to the local economy. I think people ought to be very serious about looking at alternative fuels about looking at transportation alternatives to the single occupant vehicle the one person per car thing. I think people ought to be looking at community design and how they can build communities so that people can walk two or three blocks to get to the grocery store. Maybe even if they're fortunate to their job instead of moving their car all the time. I think we ought to be looking at trains again sort of back to the future. You know we used to have trains all the time there used to be electric trolleys that ran on the downtowns of many of

our valley cities and they're gone now. But I think we have to look at all of those things and I think we have to get serious about it. One of the problems that I have is that everybody talks about it it's like the weather everybody talks about it. Nobody wants to do anything about it. But I think right now is the time for people to collaborate and say OK how are we going to do this and negotiate as they say with the air district to avoid those regulations. You just justice was responsible a little bit more about transportation obviously highly structured not just ward the rejected population. People can have to move around. This is coming from somebody who took three hours to get here from the Bay Area today. Right. There are a lot of talk about different alternatives in the valley. Some people want to use I-5 interstate corridor for more urban purposes. That has enormous ramifications for our ability to move produce and

truly interstate commerce on that one the last link goes from Canada to Mexico. There are other people who want to widen Highway 99 and Caltrans is floating a new proposal to build another highway at the foot of the Sierra between. Highway 99 and Highway 49 so there are lots of alternatives but no regional consensus again. These are regional issues and we have to have that discussion. Probably one of the most innovative proposals is the high speed rail proposal that's currently being surfaced in Sacramento by the High Speed Rail Authority and that proposal would move people from Los Angeles and San Diego right up the 99 corridor through the Central Valley into San Jose and eventually into Sacramento. That's a 22 billion dollar project with enormous costs some significant benefits also some unintended consequences that we have to look at. But I think the encouraging thing is that we're beginning to have those conversations were beginning to say what are the alternatives what should we be thinking about

how are we going to deal with these issues in this population in the region. Sure. I think there are two things that have to be done the first thing is is that we all have to get past our own immediate short term. Benefit. We all have to look a little bit about what it is that we're creating right now for the kids the grandkids the generations to come it's a legacy question what kind of a legacy are we leaving. The second thing is is that people have to demand more from their elected officials elected officials will respond to the constituent demands and if people say we want transportation alternatives we want to stop developing on farmland. We want better cities. We want a different kind of economic opportunity elected officials will respond. But if everybody stays home behind their closed front door in their own backyard with the TV on in their ear plugs plugging up the neighborhood sounds then I suppose

we'll continue to march down the same road and in 30 or 40 years we'll look like Los Angeles with Worth worse air greater poverty and more pollution. So I think there are opportunities but it's up to each one of us to help make it happen. Oh sure. Well I think the other thing that the only other thing I'd say is that the Valley has some other resources that people don't pay attention to. There's wildlife here there's herds of Tooley elk. There are tens of thousands of migratory birds that come into the wetlands of the valley. There is oak forests and there's some natural resources that are very important and I sometimes think that people undervalue the region people who live here don't understand how important it is and why it's worthy of some special consideration. So I would hope that as people think about the value they get out a little bit beyond their small circles of everyday life and begin to appreciate some of the really significant places and some of the beautiful things that happen in the

Central Valley. And you're right you're good. Yes yes yes yes. And you know it's mostly that's it. Thank you very much. You're well just doing things here to make it look like. It's quieter trying to get this the 10 would you guys like to stay for a while. That.

Sounds like this thing you're whatever you truly are welcome to come any time or to borrow books and just go and that's what's there. Now. So I really surprise two things if I travel without. I just feel totally. It's.

OK. Give me your name and scale for me would you. KING Why. King in your title Prince agricultural programs. OK.

What have you been able to observe about the valley farmland in terms of what's happening to which in the last five 10 15 20 years. Well there's a lot of different statistics out about of about loss of farmland. Point to the fact that we are losing. You look at the federal census of Agricola. Oh murther very good night. Very nice and we lost four or almost 14 1/2 percent of our farmland when. The Department of Conservation has numbers that cover the two year period from 94 to 96 indicate that urbanization of farmland is up 8 percent from the previous year. So. The trends are all consistent. The number sometimes are larger smarter players. What do all these just yeah sure just get closer. Sure and you want to use that. Yeah he sells pretty good. Use of. Its function. So what do all these figures underscore

and do they underscore sort of a region wide a lack of planning and forethought and development of uncontrolled development. I think what they reflect is there's a lot of population moving into the valley and. The impacts of what we've done historically are showing up. But we also have a wonderful opportunity at this point in time to look at ways that we accommodate the population that's movie and they're moving here for lots of different reasons but a large one is the lifestyle here. So if if that's why we're all living here we want to preserve that. We need to look at. How we develop and grow and still preserve our farmland. What do you think will happen to the valley's economy and its quality of life if this development and urbanization of farmland continues at this pace. Well can't predict what it would be like but if you look at

currently what agriculture means to California. It means one in ten jobs in the state. It generates over a hundred billion dollars in economic activity when you look at both the production and related activities that go along with it. It also represents we export 20 percent of what we grow here. So that's almost seven billion dollars in exports that was in 97. That for every billion dollars it's estimated it creates 27000 jobs. So. The challenge there. Is that if you take agriculture out of our economy what are you going to replace it with. But also an important thing to consider is the microclimate here we grow a lot of crops in California that you can't grow anywhere else in the U.S. so. That in itself creates a challenge using. This resource that is pretty unique around the world. And if we develop it we lose it forever.

That's a that's a very articulate statement about the economic impact. There's also an issue of quality of life people who enjoy the valley because of that sort of lifestyle. And that in itself I would imagine is endangered by this development. And we're looking to become another extended Los Angeles. Which I think concerns a fair amount of the constituencies within the valley looking at their the lifestyle they moved here for to be changing. Although I think one of the other challenges as well urban people moving from either Los Angeles or metropolitan area have a view a life. That is probably different than rural life on the farm that a farmer perceives that farmer excepts. Dust and noise and some of the other things whether it's insects that go along with farming and the urban population. That sees it is kind of this like way to go live with open space and so they're looking at the open space aspect.

The farmer looks at isn't an economic operation with which they need open space for. So they're really they both want to open space and it's it's looking at how the two of them can. Can. Work together to preserve that. I guess one factor that has to be considered is that. Farming is oftentimes a difficult profession and profitability is sometimes hard to come by. If a developer off. Farmer X number of dollars per acre far more than he ever paid for them. What incentives can there be that to prevent a farmer from saying OK here Mr Developer take my land and build houses on it. I think historically the only incentive maybe not the only but one of the few incentives is the psychological commitment to farming and this is a lifestyle that they want to be committed to. If you just strictly look at it from an economic standpoint historically there's not been a lot of. Market based types type. Solutions to that situation.

We are seeing it currently and the tax laws have been modified to accommodate this is well. But conservation easements are an example of an option that can compensate farmers for the value that. The development value that is tacked on on top of the agricultural value. So if they wish just to sell the development rights off and then sell the ground they can ultimately. Glean the same amount of money out of that property. They sell the development rights off they skim that equity off and they can use it invest it in a retirement fund or build if Now their freestyle barn or develop a vineyard whatever it may be and invested and still have the ground either to sell to another farmer that wants to get started or pass it on to their children and pass it on at the lower value which helps with the state taxes which is another positive. Sounds like a sort of.