Starts With Us

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to engage and inspire our community and city leadership to explore and implement equitable actions in a rapidly changing climate.  We embrace our responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon, protect the natural environment, promote water stewardship, and address threats from wildfire, flooding and drought. Our goal is to ensure a livable world for our children and future generations.

Currently, we are fiscally sponsored by 350BayArea and a part of 350Sonoma.

Our next meeting is on November 11 at 6 pm at The 222, 222 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg.

OUR GOAL IS TO KEEP YOU INFORMED ABOUT RECENT LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS. OUR LAST GENERAL MEETING ON September 9 focused on election issues.

Did you know that Sonoma County just passed a new Tree Protection Ordinance? Some of the following statements are taken from that document:

Forest and woodland resources and the benefits they provide have been greatly diminished in the last ten years in Sonoma County.  Approximately 23% of Sonoma County's land area has been affected by wildfire just since 2017. 

Forest and woodlands draw down carbon and store it in trees, root systems, the forest floor and soils.  Live trees have the highest carbon density.  Existing mature trees help sequester carbon in greater volume than young trees or saplings.

The destruction of these forests and woodlands has adversely impacted various species and ecosystems. The ability of these trees, woodlands and ecosystems to recover is at a precarious tipping point.  We want to stop the further removal of these trees whenever possible.

With that in mind, your support helped our community preserve a blue oak woodland within the Healdsburg city limits that was threatened with removal. A recent City of Healdsburg Planning Commission decision on May 28, 2024 would have allowed for the expansion of a parking lot at the Montage Resort by removing 107 blue oaks. Immediately, our Tree Planting and Protection Action Group (now called "Green Healdsburg") studied the 357 page proposal. After concluding that there were major flaws in the various documents that had been submitted, Climate Action Healdsburg filed an appeal with the City on June 10. We were told it would be heard by the City Council in August. More details can be found here in Christian Kallen's excellent article from the Healdsburg Tribune.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT ON THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2024, WE WERE INFORMED BY THE CITY THAT MONTAGE FORMALLY WITHDREW ITS APPLICATION!

The oak woodland is preserved for now and the appeal fee of $1667 was returned to our organization.

However, Montage plans to work on a revised plan and submit it to the Planning Commission at a later date. We have to remain vigilant and informed. Email us at healdsburgclimate@yahoo.com to get on our mailing list.

You can find out more about who we are and what we do by clicking on the buttons at the top of this page. Our action groups represent the interests of our members and we have focused on four major issues in 2024 - Active Transportation/Public Transportation, an Anti Idling Campaign in our local schools, Tree Planting and Protection, and Beaver Restoration on the Russian River.