It may take a lifetime to see the results, but students replanting a native oak forest near Glen Ellen are taking the long view.

   Bouverie Preserve 

   Sonoma Valley High School

A new foreign insect pest has been found in a north coast vineyard, and extensive trapping is underway to see how widespread the European Grapevine Moth may already be.

The European Vineyard Moth and the Light Brown Apple Moth have a very similar appearance, which isn’t really surprising. As Lucia Varela, an Integrated Pest Management specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension, explains, both are members of the family of Tortricid moths, which is well known to California agriculture.

Non-native plants and animals that proliferate outside their usual range are often characterized as “invasive” species. Varela prefers the more neutral term, “exotics” to describe the moth pests, but concedes they may well come to be considered invasive, depending on how much of a threat to the area’s vines they become.

This picture shows two tell-tale signs of the European Vineyard Moth, the white “webbing” between the individual grapes, and the shriveled and wrinkled skin, which indicates that the worm has already eaten its way into the fruit.

For more information about the European Vineyard Moth, go to the UC Davis Integrated Pest Management website.

California’s 1 million farmworkers are at increased risk for respiratory diseases and other health problems, according to a new report, in large part due to poor air quality where they are working.

Pesticides and other chemicals are part—but only part—of the air quality issues that affect farm workers, especially in California’s Central Valley. So even the most basic measures to shield workers from the worst of the dust and smog can make a significant contribution to protecting their respiratory health, says Marc Schenker (right),  Director of the Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at the University of California at Davis.

The study cited in this North Bay Report was published in the current issue of the quarterly journal, California Agriculture. You can access a summary or the full text of that article here.

The economic forecast for 2010 in California and Sonoma County suggests a sluggish recovery for at least the first three quarters, with hopes for a brighter forecast in the following year.

Housing, construction, retail and government are all sectors of the California economy that can be expected to continue struggling in 2010, says economist  Dr. Jerry Nickelsburg (left) with UCLA Anderson Forecast. But there is one key sector that has already begun to rebound.

 Large as it is, the California economy is still partially dependent on other players, including its trading partners around the Pacific Rim.