Jack London Park Partners named ‘nonprofit of the year’ by state Senator The dedicated staff and volunteers at Jack London State Historic Park, who daily answer the "call of the wild" to preserve the park’s natural character and recreational opportunities, were honored this month when state Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) named Jack London Park Partners his Sonoma County Nonprofit of the Year. Jack London Park Partners has managed Jack London State Historic Park since 2012, welcoming more than 100,000 visitors each year. Dodd highlighted the collaborative nature of the nonprofit as a model of how to ensure the future of “cherished lands.” “With their excellent stewardship, we’ve been able to enrich the park’s welcoming and hospitable culture and pursue restoration projects for visitors to enjoy for generations to come,” said Dodd in a statement. The 48-acre state park opened in 1960. Jack London Park Partners assumed management during the state budget crisis of 2012 and has run the facility ever since, helping to increase annual park visits. It was the first nonprofit organization to take up management of a state park on behalf of California. The 707
The park features a home and other structures built before and after London’s 1916 death, as well as his gravesite. Park Partners organizes all functions; its network of hundreds of volunteers works to advance cultural and recreational programs, as well as create educational exhibits, displays and signs. Since taking responsibility for the park, JLPP has led the restoration of the cottage London and his wife Charmian lived in on their so-called Beauty Ranch, plus the re- imagined House of Happy Walls Museum, which interactively tells the story of Jack and Charmian London. The honor “fills the hearts of our dedicated staff and volunteers,” said Matt Leffert, Jack London Park Partners executive director, in a statement.— NBb staff London Cottage in Glen Ellen.
County of Sonoma vows to go carbon neutral
Hold your horses, global warming. The County of Sonoma is going carbon-neutral… very, very soon. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in September approved a plan to render government operations carbon-neutral by 2030. The 167-page action plan provides a roadmap to reduce carbon emissions from county operations, increase carbon storage on county-owned lands, and make county lands and operations more resilient to wildfire, drought, floods and other climate hazards. The plan targets carbon, primarily in the form of carbon dioxide emitted by burning fossil fuels, because it acts as a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and plays a large role in global warming. (Carbon neutrality is realized when the amount of carbon taken out of the atmosphere is equal to the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere.) “Addressing a problem as big as climate change can seem daunting, but this plan breaks down a massive challenge into a series of achievable and well-defined steps,” said Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Lynda Hopkins in a statement. Implementing all of the plan’s near-term measures is expected to cost $38 million over the next two years. According to the county’s Climate Plan, average daily temperatures in Sonoma County have risen by 2.7 degrees since 1900 and are projected to increase by another 8 degrees by 2070.— JW
Average temps in Sonoma County are projected to rise 8 degrees by 2070
12 NorthBaybiz
October 2024
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