Enviro Updates – An environmental newsfeed for Sonoma County

Sonoma, Napa counties struggling to ID infested grapevine plants sold at Costco

June 10, 2026

Phil Barber, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Lea el artículo en español aquí.

Three weeks after Costco warehouses across California discovered they’d received staked grapevines from a San Joaquin Valley nursery that had failed to note the plants were exposed to the glassy-winged sharpshooter — an insect with the potential to decimate local wine industries — agricultural officials in Napa and Sonoma counties have redoubled efforts to locate and dispose of the vines.

The Napa Costco, for example, had previously confirmed receiving 220 staked grapevines from Burchell Nursery based in Fowler in Fresno County between April 21 and May 21. Since the discovery of possible exposure to the glassy-winged sharpshooter, the Napa County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office had recovered 101 of those vines as of Tuesday, June 9.

“That’s pretty good, but it’s not enough,” Tracy Cleveland, the county’s agricultural commissioner, told The Press Democrat. “We’re looking for 100%.”

The numbers look better in Sonoma County, where ag staff has tracked down all but about 100 of the 634 plants Burchell shipped to Costco outlets in Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park in that same timeframe.

Agriculture/Food Systemglassy-winged sharpshooter, pests, vineyards, wine grapes

SMART tax triumphs in landslide

June 4, 2026

Austin Murphy, PRESS DEMOCRAT

What a difference six years made for SMART.

Measure B, the ballot proposal to extend the quarter-cent sales tax that is the lifeblood for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit system, remained about 20 points clear of the 50%-plus-one-vote it needs to pass in the two counties as of the latest updates Wednesday.

After a yearlong campaign staked on the very future of SMART, supporters were jubilant Election Night.

“This has felt like an existential situation,” said SMART board Chairman Chris Coursey, a Sonoma County supervisor. “Had we not been able to extend it, we would have come back in 2028. People would have been looking for jobs. We would have been planning on how to wind it down.

“Now, we’ve got another 30 years. This is my grandkids being able to grow up and have this train.”

Transportationpublic transit, SMART, SMART Measure B, trains

Glassy-winged sharpshooter found on grapevine plants sold at Costco

June 3, 2026

Phil Barber and Edward Booth, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Agricultural operations across Northern California had to mobilize over the past week after discovering a Fresno nursery had shipped hundreds, if not thousands of staked grapevines to Costco warehouses without noting the plants originated from an area that has been infested by the glassy-winged sharpshooter, an insect with the potential to devastate vineyards.

On Tuesday, May 26, multiple counties — including Sonoma and Napa — acknowledged that agricultural inspectors had found sharpshooters “in multiple life stages” at Costco outlets in their jurisdictions.

Those life stages include egg masses, juvenile nymphs and fully developed adult insects, according to Sonoma County Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Pierpaolo Aymar, who is in charge of quarantine programs at the agency.

The glassy-winged sharpshooter is known to spread Pierce’s disease, which can be a death sentence for grapevines. Because of that danger, any nursery shipping vines from an area of infestation is supposed to put a hold requirement on those deliveries, so the receiving party can notify local agricultural authorities and schedule inspections.

That didn’t happen in this case, Aymar told The Press Democrat.

Agriculture/Food Systemglassy-winged sharpshooter, pests, vineyards, wine grapes

Trump administration doubles down on effort to stop California dam removal

June 1, 2026

Kurtis Alexander, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The Trump administration has offered one of its most detailed explanations of why it wants to stop dam removal on Northern California’s Eel River, citing in a letter numerous concerns that include water, power, wildfire safety and even the state’s “radical leadership.” Still, big questions remain.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sent the three-page letter Friday in response to a congressional inquiry about her agency’s sudden interest in a pair of relatively obscure PG&E-owned dams. The inquiry was opened in April by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.

The dams, in Lake and Mendocino counties, are part of the Potter Valley hydroelectric project, which Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is seeking to retire because of its age and expense. Many support the project’s dismantling as a way to restore the Eel River — which would become the longest free-flowing river in California — and boost its struggling salmon runs. Last summer, however, Rollins unexpectedly took to social media to criticize the project’s retirement, suggesting the federal government might intervene to thwart it.

Water, WildlifeEel River, endangered species, Potter Valley Project, salmon, water diversion

Oak Grove Elementary School teacher Hayley Blondin named Sonoma County teacher of the year

May 31, 2026

Adriana Gutierrez, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A group of Oak Grove Elementary School second graders buzzed around the school’s outdoor academic space in Sebastopol last Tuesday afternoon as part of an exercise to learn about pollination.

Their teacher, Hayley Blondin, hovered nearby as the students pretended to be bees and butterflies, visiting handmade paper flowers filled with faux pollen.

The outdoor exercise is one of many that the students have participated in since the school year began. Blondin’s commitment to creating those unique learning experiences for students is one of the reasons she was selected as the 2026 Sonoma County teacher of the year. The award is bestowed by the county’s Office of Education.

Blondin has nearly 20 years of experience teaching, mostly in bilingual Spanish language instruction. She spent the first decade of her career teaching in other countries.

Her love for outdoor education blossomed during her first international teaching role at the Cloud Forest School in Costa Rica. The school is known for its robust, integrated environmental instruction.

Sustainable Livingenvironmental education, nature, schools

Camp for environmental learning, inclusivity this summer in Guerneville

May 30, 2026

Janet Perry, PRESS DEMOCRAT

School Garden Network’s new summer camp to be held at Solar Punk Farms

Schoolyards across Sonoma County have become places of bounty, learning and healing through the advent of school gardens. Teachers take classes out into those gardens where they incorporate the beautiful space into an outdoor learning lab for math and science as well as writing, art and more. Students who are anxious are able to find peace and solace there that helps them to regulate their nervous systems. Many of those gardens were started with the help of the School Garden Network.

There are now around 150 school gardens in the School Garden Network. Once those gardens are established the network helps teachers by providing resources such as plants and seeds as well as hosting helpful workshops throughout the school year.

Since 2021 the School Garden Network has also been hosting weeklong summer day camps where students learn new skills, make new friends and enjoy time in the garden. The team behind the network includes Sue Davis, executive director; Jesse Schmieg, Summer Garden Camp manager; and Hayley Dougan, farm manager at Solar Punk Farms where the newest camp takes place.

Agriculture/Food System, Local Organizations, Sustainable Livingenvironmental education, gardening, School Garden Network, school gardens

Federal regulators signal support for PG&E’s bid to decommission Eel River dams

May 26, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

The federal agency responsible for approving Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s bid to decommission two Eel River dams and a downstream hydroelectric powerplant has signaled its support for the utility’s plans, despite last-ditch efforts by those who oppose the teardown to keep the waterworks in Lake and Mendocino counties intact.

In a May 22 scoping document that provides an overview of proposed actions and potential resource issues, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission noted it “proposed to eliminate … alternatives” to full decommissioning, including a proposed takeover of the dams either by the federal government or other public agency.

Federal takeover of two PG&E dams and shuttered powerplant, known as the Potter Valley Project, would require congressional approval. FERC said “there is currently no evidence” showing that such a takeover should be recommended to Congress. Additionally, no federal agency has expressed interest in operating the project, FERC said.

Water, WildlifeEel River, endangered species, PG&E, Potter Valley Project, salmon, water diversion