There's more to the story of pirates along the Somali coast than just bad guys in boats. In today's report, John Reid, President of the Conservation Strategy Fund in Sebastopol, looks past recent headlines to the root causes of this outbreak of nautical lawlessness.

Because natural resources are essential to the survival of millions of residents of undeveloped nations, CFS President John Reid (right) predicts that, in order to help preserve them, climate change will soon become a major factor in shaping US foreign policy.

 Michael Winship, senior writer for the weekly PBS public affairs program "Bill Moyers Journal," has additional background on this issue here.

The rise and surprisingly rapid fall of fly fishing on the Russian and other northern California rivers is told in a new documentary film, Rivers of a Lost Coast.

As a boy, Justin Coupe, co-director of Rivers of a Lost Coast, was taught fly fishing by his father, a lifelong angler.   So after finishing college, with an eye toward making a film about that subculture, he returned to the Russian and other northern California rivers to reacquaint himself with his subject. Doing so, he says, reaffirmed his determination to capture this slice of regional history while the first-person participants were still on hand to talk about it.

One of the unexpected stories within Rivers of A Lost Coast involves the long and bitter rivalry between two of the region's most accomplished fishermen, Bill Schaadt left) and Tom Linden.

 See the trailer for Rivers of a Lost Coast:

 

The Sonoma County Water Agency is taking a close look at the energy-producing potential of wave power off the Sonoma County coast.

The first step in the process of determining the potential for wave power energy off the Sonoma County coast is conducting a series of baseline studies of the possible locations for such facilities. That, explains Cordell Stillman, SCWA's Capital Projects Manager, is what these federal permits will enable.

The "sea snake" seen at left  is one type of wave power generator already installed and operating off the northern coast of Portugal. Several others are also in development, including the "aquabouy" shown below.

Preliminary estimates suggest that wave power off the Sonoma coast could generate as much as 200 megawatts of electricity. Stillman says that represents a sizable portion of the county's current energy consumption.

 You can post comments regarding the study permits for each of the three locations shown above at the website of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

A bitter battle is being fought over logging plans for one of the least visited corners of western Sonoma County.

The Bohemian Club has owned the Grove for over a century, but John Hooper says that the history of logging there dates back only 20-odd years.

In this 2-minute video, John Hooper questions the Bohemian Club's rationale for seeking a long-term timber harvesting permit.

 

Even though Bohemian Grove is privately owned and operated, Hopper says the effects of what happens within it will be felt directly in the surrounding watersheds and the Russian River.

This satellite photograph of the Bohemian Gove has been marked to show areas where previous logging has scarred the landscape. Click on the image to see additional maps.

 The Bohemian Club's annual summer "encampment" at the Grove is chronicled in a lengthy feature story in the current issue of Vanity Fair which also discusses the logging issue.

For a more detailed analysis of the logging issues specifically, see this deep background story, published, ironically, in the North Bay Bohemian.

You can find updates about the Bohemian Grove logging issue, and a link to submit your commnents about it directly to the Califpornia Department of Forestry at John Hooper's Save Bohemain Grove website.