Bogus claims

We are truly sorry that your reporter had to endure verbal abuse by the Bohemian Club's PR man (Letters, April 15). Even more abusive are the falsehoods they spread. The proposed logging plan does indeed permit cutting old growth, even with the so-called conservation easement.

It also seems apparent that a judge will have to explain the law regarding eligibility for NTMPs to CDF. The law states that the ownership cannot exceed 2,500 acres. It does not say more than 2,500 acres of timberland. Past lawsuits have demonstrated that CDF is legally challenged.

The Club's claims about reducing fire danger are also bogus. You can cut brush species without a logging plan. Removing the large conifers, especially the large redwoods which resist fire, will open the stand to light and encourage growth of fire-prone species. Their plan will increase, not decrease, fire danger.

Rick Coates
executive director, Forest Unlimited

Due diligence?

Contrary to statements in Bohemian Club president Jay Mancini's letter, the permit being applied for runs in perpetuity with no further opportunity for revision. Forty percent of the larger conifers will be cut within the first 20 years alone. Not all old growth trees have been identified or protected. The Club has not worked "diligently" with the agencies. It actually hid the existence of significant stands of old growth on the property until forced to disclose them by the agencies.

Thinning the conifers will increase fire dangers and make living near the Grove more dangerous. The Bohemian Club does not need a perpetual logging permit to thin tanoaks, a task supported by all parties. The Bohemian Club could easily pay for necessary hardwood thinning by charging its wealthy members a few dollars per month.

For accurate information to refute Bohemian Club flack Sam Singer and president Jay Mancini's inaccurate statements, please visit: [ http://savebohemiangrove.org/ ]http://savebohemiangrove.org.

John Hooper
Pt. Arena

Record Response

While we certainly believe in free speech, we do not appreciate the recent article about Backdoor Disc and Tape ("One Big Holiday," April 15). We are not a corporate monster that sucks the lifeblood out of the local community, but rather four hardcore music junkies—old record guys, if you will—who happen to have purchased Backdoor as well as other indie stores elsewhere in the country from owners who were about to close them forever. In our eyes, we saved these stores, preserved the culture and invested in diversity, just like every other right-thinking indie retailer in America who recognizes that the times are in fact changing.

I am actually one of the founders of Record Store Day, along with the indie coalitions and Newberry Comics in Boston. Regarding the "transplant" from Alabama who was made manager, he also happens to have worked in some of the best indie stores in the country and, like any other business owners, we strive to improve our stores, and, yes, that sometimes comes with personnel changes.

Brian Poehner
Music for a Song

 Gabe Meline responds: Thanks for writing. As I said in the article, Backdoor remains an asset to the area, carrying local CDs and partnering with local radio, with a staff that's friendly and qualified. For these reasons, and because I've been shopping there since 1988, I carefully chose to include it in a roundup of locally owned stores while noting that it is not, as the Record Store Day site defines a "participating store," at least 70 percent owned in the state of operation. There's no question Backdoor changed when it was sold to a national chain, but it didn't become any less a thread in the fabric of the local community.

 

Other hands helping

Thank you for the informative article on Bedrock Music in San Rafael. It will help raise community awareness of the nonprofit work we do with Four Winds West. None of this could be accomplished without the hard work and dedication of store employees Dawn Hernandez and Justin Drabek, who also provide vital training for our interns here at Bedrock Music.

Neal Schneider
Manager, Bedrock Music & Video

  While we're at it, please know that Vinyl Planet is best found at 112 Washington St., Petaluma.

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