GULP in UDJ
From CFI
olocalrocc
Contents |
December 2006 - Civic Action Group
GULP focuses on City Repair
"To be surrounded by a million other people, but feel alone like a tree in the desert." Michael Franti.
How well do you know your neighbors? Would you feel comfortable calling on them in times of need? Do you feel a strong personal connection to the neighborhood you live in? Would you like to improve those relationships with people and connection to place? If so, read on.
We live in an increasingly urbanized world. A greater percentage of people live in cities than ever in human history. One would think that because we live closer together our connections with our community would be stronger and more prolific. However, studies have shown that people feel increasingly isolated, despite our. Why is this so?
Modern American cities were designed to maximize ease of transportation, not to facilitate human scale interaction. In 1785, the Continental Congress passed the National Land Ordinance, which laid a grid over all land west of the Ohio River. This included all future cities and towns. When communities are allowed to grow organically public spaces and piazzas occur naturally at the intersection of pathways. The National Land Ordinance pre-empted the natural development of such places and failed to provide for them within the mandated grid. Neighborhood spaces for communication and gathering, which develop naturally in non-grid cities, must be specifically planned for in grid cities. In an effort to address the lack of community spaces, City Repair was formed in Portland Oregon in 1996. Born out of a successful grassroots neighborhood initiative that converted a residential street intersection into a neighborhood public square, City Repair began its work with the idea that localization (of culture, of economy, of decision-making) is a necessary foundation of sustainability. Community gathering places are critical because sharing time and space with each other is the starting point of community. By reclaiming urban spaces to create community-oriented places, seeds are planted for greater neighborhood communication, empower our communities and nurture our local culture.
City Repair has grown from its roots in Portland to include groups in Seattle, Oakland, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Ottawa, Canada. Building off the success of these cities the Greater Ukiah Localization Project aims to empower Ukiah area neighborhood groups to undertake City Repair projects in an effort to reestablish public gathering and communication spaces.
GULP is showing a film presentation by Mark Lakeman, founder of City Repair in Portland, on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. in the NCO meeting room, 413 N. State Street. Then, on December 19 at 7:00 PM also in the NCO meeting room, Kat Steele, founder of the Urban Permaculture Guild in Oakland California, will give a presentation on City Repair projects in the East Bay Area and will help facilitate a brainstorming and planning session for projects here in the Ukiah area. GULP is hoping to engage members of the Wagonseller neighborhood and ultimately all neighborhood groups in creating public spaces for meaningful human interaction.
Come be a part of strengthening your local community and learning how we can make Ukiah an even better place to live. If you would like more information please contact Cliff Paulin at 463-0413 or cliffpaulin@hotmail.com. You can also learn more at the GULP Web site, www.cloudforest.org/GULP or on the City Repair Web site, www.cityrepair.org
November 2006 - Food Security Group
GULP Focus on . . Local Grain Production may be the way of the Future, by Cliff Paulin
(note the orginal UDJ article incorrectly named the author Scott Paulin)
The Ukiah Daily Journal recently reported on the closing of Moore's Flour Mill (Oct. 21). While the mill was closing there was fear that the water wheel and millstone would be destroyed to make way for the new establishment. Fortunately through the coordination of the Greater Ukiah Localization Project the Frey family of Redwood Valley saved equipment. The Frey's are hoping to eventually open a biodynamic bakery utilizing the equipment to mill grains grown on their property. While this is undoubtedly a huge community benefit, it highlights the fact that while Mendocino County has a large agricultural sector we do not currently produce many staples, notable grains.
Decreasing availability of grains is becoming a reality. Globally, grain production is in trouble. According to Lester Brown, director of the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute, "World grain harvests have fallen for four consecutive years and world grain stocks are at the lowest level in 30 years. If farmers can't raise production by (late next year) we may see soaring grain and food prices worldwide."
Given the fact that so much of the staple American diet is grain based we would be in serious trouble if we were no longer able to import our grains from long distances. The average American meal travels over 1,500 miles from farm to plate, and grains are no exception. Between the energy invested in growing, processing, and shipping, the average calorie of food requires 10 calories of fossil fuel inputs. Decreasing availability of fossil fuels will mean that the cost of importing these staples will increase and at some point may become impractical. We can protect ourselves from such an eventuality by investing in local agriculture, which includes grain production and the means to process those grains. While there is no large-scale grain production currently taking place in Mendocino County there are models that suggest it might be possible to reintroduce this vital agricultural sector. One model is Community Supported Agriculture. In a CSA the farmer sells subscriptions to customers at the beginning of the season. In exchange for their subscription fee, customers receive regular shipments from the farm. It allows for a farmer share the risk of a poor season and to receive funding at the beginning of the growing season, when it's most needed. Customers receive regular shipments of high quality food and ensure that local agriculture remains viable.
Jennifer Greene, owner of Windbourne Farm in Siskiyou County has taken the CSA model and applied it to grains. Subscribers of her CSA pay a subscription fee at the beginning of the growing season in exchange for a monthly bag that contains seven two-pound sacks of whole grains, freshly milled flours, hot cereal mix, beans, and corn. Jennifer honed her farming skills at Mendocino County's own Live Power Farm in Covelo.
While there are currently several CSA farms operating in the County, including Live Power Farm, Mendocino Organics in Redwood Valley, and Covelo Organic Vegetables, none currently produce grains. However, the climate and soil of Mendocino County are well suited to grain production. According to History of Mendocino County California by Alley, Bowen & Co, in 1880 the County grew 15,196 acres of wheat, 8,714 acres of barley, and 9,200 acres of oats.
Current market forces make large-scale commercial grain production uneconomical locally. However, markets change and a sustained increase in oil prices could substantially alter the current economics. Meanwhile, creative models such as CSA farms, small scale production opportunities for local markets, potential specialty organic and biodynamic markets and the favorable agricultural conditions make Mendocino County an ideal location for implementing small scale grain production options. Such specialty local grain production could help define Mendocino County as a leader and recognized brand in the movement toward pure foods. This type of creative economic activity can benefit our community in other ways as well such as by providing an opportunity for our children to experience first-hand how the grains that they eat every day are produced and processed.
Persons interested in local food security can get involved with GULP. We meet the first Tuesday of every month at the Washington Mutual Community room at 7 p.m. and the third Wednesday of every month at Eagle Peak Middle School Staff Work Room at 7 p.m. Because of Thanksgiving, this month's Redwood Valley meeting will be on the fourth Tuesday, November 28. Come find out how you can be a part of the solution.
September 2006 - Food Security Group
GULP Focus on..Growing Our Own, by Jenny Burnstad
The Greater Ukiah Localization Project Food and Health Groups work together. We encourage establishing community vegetable and medicinal herb gardens in every neighborhood of the Upper Russian River Watershed. We would rather not be dependent solely on trucks fueled by an increasingly costly and finite resource to bring practically all of the food we eat to the nearest grocery store. Like other food localizers around the county we feel inclined to tap into what local food sources might be available now and what we could be doing to increase the supply of locally produced foods.
We are not only thinking about how we as small communities within the county can regain our ability to provide food for our own population but how to grow enough beyond that to spill the cornucopia into the bay area. This is precisely what the food economies were like in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties for nearly 5 decades beginning in the 1920's. Post-peak petroleum limitations can be viewed as an opportunity for rural communities to regain this self reliant, economically lucrative status.
What do we need to do to make it happen? Besides individual farmers we need people with land who will allow experienced vegetable producers to come in and prepare the soil to get it in a viable condition to be productive. In Redwood Valley Jeff and Maureen Taylor are working with Adam Gaska of Mendocino Organics to prepare their vacant lot to grow food. It is not something that happens overnight. It takes soil analysis, soil building, irrigation system design and long term planning for crops throughout the seasons. Adam Gaska walks his talk and is always making improvements to the meat and vegetable production processes that he practices in Redwood Valley. His contribution to economic localization is to compile a germ plasm database of all the varieties of produce and animals being raised countywide. This project, when it is completed, will be a tremendous resource for food producers.
Well respected biodynamic mentor, Charles Martin, often laments that the work ethic that it takes to farm seems to be in short supply in today's society. Who out there is willing to prove him wrong? Couldn't we adopt the principal of "many hands make light work", band together in community gardens and share the burden?
Charles is a founding member of the Mendocino Organic Network (MON), the group that will assist any gardener within the county to become certified as Beyond Organic. Dave Smith, the president of MON, has talked about starting a MON Produce Garden within the city limits of Ukiah. Look him up at Mulligan Books, if you would like to chew on that idea with him.
Meetings about working together to build a more self reliant community started percolating in the Ukiah area a a couple of years before WELL (Willits Economic Localization)and the Peak Oil expose' brought the idea to light. Doug Mosel, and Terri McCartney, among others, met to talk about the topic at Sustainable Ukiah meetings from which the membership organization Mendocino Alliance for a Community Based Economy (MACBE) came into existence. Doug now works with the Anderson Valley Food Shed Group who is compiling a directory of food grown and produced in the county. Their goal is to publish the directory by October which is being designated "Come Home to Eat, Eat Local Month". Please join GULP and the Ukiah Farmers Market in Alex Thomas Plaza on Saturday, October 7, starting at 11 a.m., for a "100 Mile Potluck," a community celebration featuring dishes using ingredients grown within 100 miles of the Ukiah Valley. Contact Julie at 485-1960 for more information.
Terri McCartney, now the Nutrition Director at the Ford Street Project has initiated two new community gardens. One is being planted by and for Ford Street Project clients and the other is a Permaculture Garden on the grounds of the Buddy Ehler Shelter. Terri reports seeing the positive effects that working in the gardens has on the clients. Molly McCalla, a GULP member volunteering there is working on plans for straw bale benches at these sites.
The Cleveland Lane Community Garden, which was founded 5 years ago is a thriving example of a true neighborhood garden where many of the residents living on or near Olga Place have a plot. Cloud Forest Institute will plant the Sumo Burnstad Memorial Medicine Chest Garden there this Fall. Ukiah's first Medicine Chest Garden was planted last spring on Mill Street under the guidance of GULP member Ruth Sander.
Some folks in the Ukiah Food Group have joined the Willits Grateful Gleaners who organize gleaning expeditions into the fields and orchards of Generous Growers willing to share their abundance. Surplus fruits are funneled to local food banks and to Boys and Girls Clubs with the remaining portions divided among the gleaners.
Members of Cloud Forest Institute (CFI), fiscal sponsor of GULP and Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI), fiscal sponsor of WELL, have been advocating for the development of replicable Agrarian Eco-Villages. In a nutshell, the idea is for 10-15 families to work together on about 200+ acres operating their own renewable energy systems, growing their own food, and living in co-housing and/or individual dwellings . Ideally, members of the village would become rural entrepreneurs and be able to offer goods and services useful to those living outside of their immediate community.
The days of the independent individualists who grew, foraged, hunted, raised and preserved all of the food needed for the year are gone. The days of carefree dependence on fossil fuels to mass produce and deliver all of our food to the local grocery store may soon become a different reality. In order to create a local food base it appears that adopting a position of interdependence may be key. What the economic localization movement around the county is revealing is that people are becoming mutually dependent on each other to learn, plan and work together in community gardens to grow more food. No matter what the future of food availability may be, we will assuredly be in a more secure position if we begin growing more of our own then if we don't.
Jenny Burnstad is the Fiscal Director of Cloud Forest Institute and lives in Potter Valley.
The mission of the Greater Ukiah Localization Project Food Group (GULP) is to engage all residents of the Upper Russian River Watershed to collaborate in strengthening our capacity to insure local sources of food, water, energy and the basic physical and spiritual needs of our communities by co-creating vibrant, self-reliant local economies. Visit www.cloudforest.org and click on the GULP link for more information. Look for the GULP information booth Sundays mornings at the Redwood Valley Community Market at Lions Park in R.V. and at the Ukiah Farmers Market Saturday mornings at Alex Thomas Plaza.
August 2006 - Local Business Group
Drafted by Scott Cratty for the Local Civic Action
GULP Focus on â¦
Can something be too big? Letâs set flagpoles aside for the moment and consider things like housing developments, shopping centers, or even individual stores. Should such things be allowed to grow indefinitely or, at some point, can they become too big? For example, can a retail development be so large that it compromises the health a community such as the Ukiah Valley?
If we believe that growth without limits is necessary or inevitable it seems equally inevitable that Ukiah will soon become like Santa Rosa, more or less. Following Ukiah, the rest of Mendocino County will eventually follow suit. Indeed, if unlimited growth is necessary or inevitable then rural living will itself become a warmly and wistfully remembered bit of history, like the neighborhood ice wagon.
At the moment, we seem to be on that path. For example, neither Ukiah nor Mendocino County currently has an ordinance that set any specific limits on business size or any documented process for assessing the economic impact of large new proposed retail developments. Having no guidelines to control such developments, we will likely end up with whatever developments come knockingâwhich are likely to be the same developments that one can see to our immediate South.
But, if we so desire, it would not take a great effort to get onto a different path. That is, if we, as a community, care to preserve the more relaxed, small town feeling that we currently enjoy we can act together to develop guidelines governing any proposed large scale development. One relatively simple way to do so (which other communities have used) is to set some absolute limit on the size of new stores. A size limit can ensure than new retail establishments are limited to a scale that is consistent with our vision for the Ukiah Valley community.
Taking steps to control our own growth can have important effects beyond the lifestyle issues discussed above. Community retail store size and design requirements also affect vitality and sustainability of the local economy. As but a few examples of the benefits of maintaining smaller, locally-owned businesses:
⢠Significantly more money re-circulates locally when purchases are made at locally-owned rather than nationally-owned businesses. More money is kept in the community because locally-owned businesses purchase from other local businesses, service providers, and farms. For example, a study in Maine found that locally-owned businesses spent 44.6% revenue locally as opposed to 14.1% of big box store revenue. Each dollar that recirculates locally is new income for another local business or resident. Increased local purchasing also helps grow the community tax base.
⢠Because smaller, locally-owned establishments are more likely to buy inputs and services from other local vendors than a larger, national retail operation, they generate more opportunities for other local entrepreneurs.
⢠Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, are less likely to leave and are more invested in the communityâs future. Local ownership ensures that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and will feel the impacts of those decisions.
⢠Non-profit organizations receive an average 350% greater support from local business owners than they do from non locally-owned businesses. Small firms give an average of more than two and a half times the amount per employee than do medium or large firms (small firms give $789 per employee, medium sized firms $172, and large firms $334.
⢠Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of our distinctive character. The unique character of Ukiah and Mendocino County is what brought many of us here and will keep us here. Should we wish to maintain our existing community and develop tourism, businesses preserving a unique local flavor will be essential to achieving this goal. As commerce in America becomes more homogenized, uniqueness is itself becoming a valuable economic asset. âWhen people go on vacation they generally seek out destinations that offer them the sense of being someplace, not just anyplace.â ~ Richard Moe, President National Historic Preservation Trust.
As part of this community, do you think that some retail size limits and guidelines are appropriate? If so, please consider joining the Greater Ukiah Localization Project (GULP) in calling for relevant ordinances in Ukiah and in Mendocino County. The effort is currently co-sponsored by the Willits Economic Localization Project (WELL) and the Alliance for Democracy Coastal and Ukiah area chapters. If you would like to help with this effort, or if you belong to an organization that might like to do so, please contact me as scratty@adelphia.net or by sending a note to GULP at P.O. Box 1435, Ukiah, CA 95482.
May 2006 - Local Business Group
Drafted by Scott Cratty for the Local Business Group
We can rely on the State or Federal governments to ensure that the Ukiah and Mendocino County economies will be healthy. National and international corporations are working to help strengthen the Mendocino County economy. Economically, we have nothing to worry about around here.
Raise your hand if you agree.
If you didnât raise your hand, perhaps you would agree that it makes sense for us to take a good, hard look at what we can do to help ourselves.
Fortunately, doing more to help ourselves is not that hard. Indeed, there are simple steps that we can all take to substantially boost our local economy. One particularly powerful way to strengthen our local economy is to be choosy when we select with whom we do business. Do you know your banker, shopkeeper and farmer? Choosing to do business with friends and neighbors not only builds stronger community ties, it can also work wonders for our local economy.
When you spend a dollar with an independent, local business, as opposed to a national chain store, that dollar tends to stay in the community and re-circulate several more times. For example, a study done in Austin, Texas found that every dollar spent at independent, locally-owned book and record stores circulates locally over three-times more before leaving the community relative to a dollar spent at a Borders chain. Every time a dollar re-circulates in the local economy it creates new income for a neighbor. By shifting a portion of your spending to independent, local sources, you boost the local economy.
As a bonus, what is good for our local economy also tends to be good for the planet. For example, consider which practices your dollar supports when you choose to snack on a locally-grown, organic food from the Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op as opposed to something like a mass produced fruit roll from a chain market.
By picking the fruit roll your dollar âvotesâ to sustain a process that likely includes: fruit grown using petrochemical-based fertilizer and insecticides, picked by people who are paid near subsistence wages, harvested prematurely to allow for long shipping and processing times picking (resulting in less vibrant fruit), processed in an energy-intensive manner, packed in petroleum-based plastics, and shipped a thousand-plus miles (on average).
Such practices consume unsustainable amounts of our limited fossil fuel, pollute and tend to produce a food of limited nutritional value. Moreover, should fuel prices substantially increase, we may find that food developed in this manner is suddenly less available.
In contrast, âvotingâ for a locally grown, organic snack from the Co-op provides income for a neighbor who is working hard to deliver a healthier, fresher snack and likely using up a far smaller share of the planetâs resources to do so. Odd as this may sound, you may be happier in the long run and help create better local economy for yourself and for your family by skipping that upgrade to a larger, foreign-built TV and instead using your spare dollars to upgrade to locally-grown, organic foods. You might even live longer as a result.
To help all of us select goods and services that will boost our local economy, the Greater Ukiah Localization Project (GULP) is beginning to assemble a directory of independent, local businesses. Independent, local businesses can get a free listing in the directory by completing a short survey that we will use to âcertifyâ local businesses. Our survey and certification process is intended to help identify new local business opportunities and to encourage our local businesses to support each other.
If you have an independent, local business and would like to be included in the directory or if you would like to volunteer to help with the project, please call 462-7377 or send an email to scratty@adelphia.net. Find out more about GULP at http://www.cloudforest.org/GULP_Greater_Ukiah_Localization_Project. The GULP Local Business Survey is available on-line at http://www.cloudforest.org/LOCAL_BUSINESS.
April 2006 - Mobility/Bike to the Park
Riding into the Sunset, Drafted for the Mobility Group by Cliff Paulin
What will the transportation of the future look like? Will it consist of Jetsons style flying cars that fold into briefcases, will it be essentially the same as it is today, or will it hearken back to a simpler time? While there is no crystal ball that can show exactly what lies ahead, recognition of current trends can give us an idea. With fuel prices at record highs and showing no signs of ever decreasing itâs time to start looking at truly efficient personal transportation. While hybrids and efficient diesels are better than the traditional American gas-guzzlers, they pale in comparison to the most efficient form of personal transportation, the reliable bicycle.
In an internal combustion vehicle very little of the energy consumed actually goes to move the occupant. Some is lost as heat from the engine and more from the engine to the transmission. Not to mention the fact that enough power is required to move a vehicle that weighs several thousand pounds. All of this energy is expended to move a passenger who at the most weighs a couple of hundred pounds. A bicycle transfers almost all of the energy supplied by the rider into forward momentum, and the weight of the vehicle pales in comparison to that of the passenger. In addition, drag created by air turbulence increases exponentially with speed, thus the slower speed of a bike has much less drag to overcome, further increasing efficiency. Bicycles are a primary form of transportation for a majority of the human population. Many environmentalists correctly point out the environmental disaster that would ensue if a majority of the Chinese who currently rely upon bicycle transport were to switch to automobiles. What is often overlooked is the massive benefit that would result if the majority of Americans currently addicted to their automobiles were to make the switch to bicycles. In areas that have already experienced major reductions in available energy, such as Cuba, the bicycle has once again become a critical element in the transport of goods and people.
The Ukiah Valley is particularly well suited to bicycle commuting. As noted in the City of Ukiah Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan of 1999, 36 percent of all Ukiah Employees live within a ten-minute ride of their workplaces. The relatively small size and flat topography of the city make biking a relatively painless prospect.
In addition to the energy saving benefits of bicycle transportation, increased ridership also provides health benefits for riders and quality of life enhancements for all. Riding is one of the best aerobic activities one can undertake and has none of the impact on joints and bones associated with running, as long as you donât fall that is! For the general community a greater share of commuting by bicycle opposed to automobile means less vehicle noise, reduced air pollution, and a decrease in traffic, which reduces the need for more roads, leaving that space available for open and agricultural uses.
In an effort to increase awareness of the value of cycling the Greater Ukiah Localization Project (GULP) has undertaken several efforts. GULP along with the City of Ukiah will be promoting Peddle to the Park, an event designed to encourage people to ride their bikes to the Concert in the Park events. The hope is to provide âValetâ parking for bicycles at the events and have a bike parade wind from Alex Thomas Plaza to Todd Grove Park. GULP is also actively engaged with the 2006 update of the Mendocino County Regional Bikeway Plan. If you are interested in getting involved with any of these projects, or any of GULPâs other projects, check out their website at www.cloudforest.org and click on GULP, or call Clifford Paulin at 463-2921. We look forward to riding into the sunset with you.
March 2006 - Outreach
Drafted for the GULP Outreach Group by Leeya Thompson
Whatâs Cooking: A New Beginning
A groundswell of envisioning is taking place in the greater Ukiah area â like a soup on the burner with plops of bubbles exploding at the surface: Smart Growth, GULP, Human Rights, Cloud Forest Institute, Mendocino Briarpatch Network, Placemeant Project, and others yet to be identified, but we know they are just under the surface.
The heat is on and these bubbles will soon become a rolling boil which will wake up Ukiah to the realization that a whole new society is in the process of being created. Out of necessity. One specifically concerned with the well-being of the local area in which we live.
The heat driving the organization of GULP is not the result of a new flow of oil, but rather the realization that oil will not be flowing and this is going to affect everyoneâs lifestyle. Imagine transportation costs so high that we wonât be able to afford food or commodities brought in from great distances, or manufactured goods that are either too costly or no longer available because of expensive energy. What will we do when we canât afford to drive our cars? With global warming we may experience consequences that weâve not had to deal with in our lifetimes.
It may be of some comfort to know that there are serious, dedicated people in the Ukiah area thinking about these future events and making plans. One of our citizens has helped develop a transformer that will be going up to the Willitsâ sewage treatment plant, converting raw sewage and waste into oxygen and fuel that can be used for transportation or other ways in which energy is required. Other people are concerned with how to inspire and create community gardens as a source of food when we need food within walking distance, or how to grow and preserve seeds. Another group of people are looking at local banking and currency exchange so that we can keep our money close to home. As we envision future needs, developing our access to water and alternative energies must be thought out for the time when we need to be self-sufficient as a community.
These are practical visionaries searching for practical ways to help people become a closer knit community so that should an emergency or even a long-term change like recession happen here, weâll rally around to help. We will know who our neighbors are and if they would need extra support if disaster struck. We are looking for ways to network with existing organizations and churches so that we can respond as a total community and not leave parts of our self overlooked.
One doesnât want to sound the alarm when all seems to appear normal around us. Certainly it feels much more comfortable to ignore the warning signs coming on a daily basis now as tornados (182 sightings this March versus 9 a year ago!), hurricanes, drought, disease, and melting ice threaten life around the world than it is to acknowledge the chaos taking place in our environment. No longer is the information being hidden behind political expediency or media censorship -- itâs coming out into the open now. We donât need the threat of terrorists to wake us up â Mother Nature is actively doing her part. What we do need are more practical visionaries to step forward and help midwife this new society. We need practical skills and crafts to retrain and reeducate us to live in this post-oil age. We need to step out of our closets and the feeling of being misfits. Well, we may be misfits in the current corporate-driven, redundancy, throw-away system, but we may be the very ones who have been prepared to take up the challenge of creating the new society. Itâs going to be happening faster than most of us would like. Opening our eyes and joining in with others to lead the way into this new world is an urgent call.
The Greater Ukiah Localization Project (GULP) welcomes all pioneers who want to join in on this important mission and even if you are unable to fully participate, you may be a bridge into a church or an organization with whom GULP would like to network. You may have information for a central resource library. You may have ideas that will energize this movement. You may be able to teach a needed skill in an apprenticeship program. If you are unable to participate, let us know that you are behind us in spirit. One way you can do this is to sign our Greater Ukiah Localization Petition (available on-line at http://www.cloudforest.org/GULP_Greater_Ukiah_Localization_Project.) We meet twice a month, first Tuesday in Ukiah and third Tuesday in Redwood Valley. We look forward to meeting those of you ready to tackle the opportunities and challenges awaiting us all.
Leeya Thompson is a resident of Ukiah and a member of GULP in the Outreach Group. She is also a front yard gardener in town, encouraging fellow Ukiahans to grow food, not grass. She can be contacted at 467-8456 or preferably at leeya@pacific.net.
