The disconnect between Little Basin and Sacramento, plus why Watsonville locals welcome organic farming techniques.
Drive-By Planning
Re: “Big Trouble in Little Basin” (Currents, Aug. 28): My wife and I lived near Little Basin for six years, and we hiked and biked Pine Mountain Road at least five times a year. There are some sections of the Tan Bark loop that are drivable, but often, especially in the rainy season, you can't even mountain bike on other parts of the road. There are deep gullies that are hard to maneuver around on foot. I would guess that none of the planners involved with the Big Basin General Plan have ever hiked on Pine Mountain Road, and they certainly haven’t driven it from Little to Big Basin, because that would be impossible.
This example of being out of touch with the physical reality of Little Basin is a reflection of the entire Big Basin General plan, made by people in Sacramento who have only visited Little Basin once or twice and not actually hiked far from their cars. This not only creates an unsafe environment (having a one-lane road with a steep cliff on one side said to be able to accommodate two passing RVs), but the tragedy of the General Plan’s call to pave over an outdoor school, its garden and orchard, in order to build a parking lot. Having worked at the outdoor school in the past for more than five years, I can assure you that the only time the State Park General Planners have ever seen the school is from their cars when they are passing by on their way to Little Basin. The 80 11-year-old students a week that explore the school’s garden, like the middle section of Pine Mountain Road, is something they have never actually seen.
Jacob Sackin
Santa Cruz
Trust Issues
This past weekend I visited Watsonville Slough Farm. It is a farm with mainly organic crops that was purchased by the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. On Saturday, August 24, 2013, the Land Trust held a special event at the Slough Farm for Land Trust members, including a hoedown and a dinner. [About] 470 people attended the event. Every hour they had walking tours of the farm. Among the things that I learned on the tour was the importance of crop rotation in farming.
What does broccoli have to do with strawberries? At organic farms in Watsonville, they plant them in the same field at different times. Crop rotation makes sure that bacteria and mold pathogens don’t take hold in the soil. In effect, the broccoli is like a natural fumigant for strawberries.
Sadly, there are many non-organic farms in Watsonville that use powerful chemicals to fumigate their strawberry fields and other crops. These fumigants include methyl bromide, methyl iodide, dichloropropene and chloropicrin.
Unfortunately, in many farming communities around California there have been poisonings because of the drifting of these fumigants. So we gladly welcome organic farming techniques into our community. Not only do they protect us from harmful pesticides, but they protect endangered species as well, such as the red-legged frog—and they make for better tasting strawberries!
Jeff Baker
Watsonville
