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Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies arrested 62-year-old Phillip Frase of Laytonville for the murder of 49-year-old Steven Richard Schmidt, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.
Schmidt, a transient, was reported missing from Frase's home at 59659 Bell Springs Road in Laytonville on Jan. 17, Smallcomb said.
An investigation led to Schmidt's motor home being located and unoccupied in the Fort Bragg area. Smallcomb said the vehicle was towed to the sheriffs office for further investigation.
At 7 a.m. Tuesday Mendocino County Sheriff's detectives and other personnel, along with assistance from the Major Crimes Task Force, search and rescue personnel, Nevada County Cadaver Canine personnel and others, went to Frase's residence, which was Schmidt's last known address, Smallcomb said.
They served a search warrant at the property, and Smallcomb said Frase told investigators that Schmidt wasn't at the residence.
However, after three hours of searching, investigators found Schmidt's body adjacent to a tree and covered with fresh cut brush and branches, said Smallcomb. Detectives and officers continued their investigation at the scene for further evidence.
Frase was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on the murder charge, with bail set at $500,000, Smallcomb said.
On Wednesday afternoon, an autopsy was conducted on Schmidt's body. Smallcomb said preliminary results revealed that Schmidt died of blunt force trauma to the head, and that it appeared a large object was used to inflict the injuries.
Smallcomb said the murder investigation is continuing. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to telephone the detectives tip line at 707-467-5159. Callers can remain anonymous.
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Shannon Lee Edmonds, 35, and Melvin Dale Norton, 38, are alleged to have murdered 25-year-old Shelby Uehling during an early morning confrontation on Highway 53 in Clearlake on Sept. 22, 2009.
Edmonds and Norton are asserting self defense in what their attorneys allege was a situation that arose over their concern about Uehling and his relationship with Patricia Campbell, Edmonds' on-again, off-again girlfriend. She and Uehling had become briefly involved during a period last August when Campbell and Edmonds were not together.
Before the case's jury was brought into Judge Arthur Mann's Department 3 courtroom Tuesday morning, prosecutor Art Grothe said the attorney for Linda Dale, a witness scheduled to testify that afternoon, was concerned about her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself on the stand.
Mann ordered a hearing before she was brought to the stand in the afternoon.
Attorney William Conwell is representing Dale is a pending case regarding possession of drugs for sale, and he was concerned about the line of questioning that might be pursued by Edmonds' attorney, Doug Rhoades, and Norton's attorney, Stephen Carter. In the homicide case, Dale is believed to have been involved in drug issues with Uehling, to whom she may have been selling.
During the afternoon hearing, Rhoades said he didn't intend to ask Dale about her current case. Carter said he wanted to query her about the nature of her relationship with Uehling, and if she sold him drugs.
Conwell told the court that Dale's current case is now set for arraignment.
Mann said he didn't see anything that would raise a problem with the Fifth Amendment, and Dale was called to the stand.
On the stand, Dale testified to knowing Uehling for about nine months previous to his death last September. He occasionally stayed at her place and the homes of other friends, although his main residence was his uncle's Cobb home.
She had last seen him about three days before he died, but he had called her between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on the night before he died and said someone was chasing him, and later called and asked to speak to a Joseph Taylor, who was staying at her residence, who he asked to help with “watching his back.”
As Carter was questioning Dale, he asked if she had done drugs with Uehling, which caused Conwell to speak up from his seat in the audience, and Mann called Grothe, Carter, Rhoades and Conwell up to his bench for a sidebar.
Afterward, Mann asked the jury to leave the room while he heard Conwell's objection to the line of questioning based on his Fifth Amendment concerns.
He said the questions could influence Dale's current drug case. Grothe said that current case involves allegations that came up well after Uehling's death.
Carter said he had a line of questions about drug use, and if Dale was allowed to assert the Fifth Amendment, he would ask for all of her testimony to be stricken, as it would go to the issues of bias and her ability to perceive what is happening.
Rhoades added that he believed Carter's question about drug use with Uehling was well founded given the information about her allegedly Uehling with drugs.
“I certainly think it's an area that's ripe for exploration because it goes to bias,” he said.
Grothe told Mann, “In my opinion, I don't see any way in the world that anything she said about that transaction with Mr. Uehling could in any way lead to a prosecution,” especially since Uehling is deceased.
Conwell said there is a search warrant in Dale's case and he doesn't have access to either that or the police reports. Grothe said he could have access to the search warrant “if he walked down the hall 45 feet” and went to the court clerk's office.
Mann overruled Conwell's objection and said he didn't see anything that would incriminate Dale.
Conwell replied that her testimony goes to knowledge of what the substances are, which she would not be able to deny in her current case.
When the jury was brought back in, Carter asked Dale if she saw Uehling use illegal drugs like methamphetamine. She said she saw him use the drug two to three times. When Carter asked when those instances were in relation to Sept. 21, 2009, Conwell asked to approach the bench.
Following another sidebar with the attorneys, Carter resumed his questioning, and Dale said she couldn't remember dates very well because of neurological issues with her brain.
When Carter asked if she ever used methamphetamine with Uehling, she replied, “Once.”
Carter asked if she had supplied methamphetamine to Uehling and Conwell objected, with Mann sustaining the objection.
Police recount scene, investigation
The second day of testimony began with Clearlake Police Officer Michael Carpenter back on the stand to complete his testimony.
Carpenter, the first witness called by the prosecution last Thursday, was the first to arrive on the scene on the morning of Sept. 22, 2009, and discovered Uehling's body, face down, next to an oak tree on the shoulder of Old Highway 53.
Under cross examination by Rhoades, Carpenter related that he saw two unidentified people in the area of the fatal fight and spoke briefly with them, and they were not involved in the case.
“What was the first thing that caught your attention?” Rhoades asked about the scene.
“It was the pool of blood on the shoulder of the road,” said Carpenter, who explained that medical personnel arrived about 10 minutes after him.
Carter asked Carpenter about the handle end of a golf club that was lying in the roadway. Carpenter explained it was run over by the passenger-side tires of a medical vehicle arriving at the scene.
Carpenter testified that medical personnel put Uehling – who hadn't yet been declared dead – in an ambulance and transported him to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake, with Carpenter following behind.
At the hospital, medical personnel removed Uehling's clothing, and Carpenter photographed both Uehling's body and the clothing, discovering a fixed-blade knife in Uehling's shoe when he inspected it.
At the scene, Uehling's red Honda had been found on Lotowana, a side road off of Highway 53, located about 15 yards from Uehling's body. The car was still running, Carpenter said.
Sgt. Brenda Crandall, a patrol sergeant for Clearlake Police who was the second person on the scene, was next on the stand.
At around 11 p.m. on the night of Sept. 21, Crandall had seen Uehling's red Honda parked in a way that she thought looked unusual – backed up in a parking space and unlocked – at Mendo Mill on Highway 53. When she checked it, it was unoccupied and the vehicle's hood was still warm.
She didn't see the vehicle again until she arrived at the crime scene, where she and Carpenter were dispatched on a report of a battery. Crandall said Carpenter arrived about a minute before she did, and said he had checked for Uehling's pulse and didn't find one, and checked again in Crandall's presence.
Crandall, who noted that medics arrived about a minute or so after she did, said she saw a large gash on Uehling's neck, and after assessing the scene asked fellow officers to contact Det. Tom Clements.
She also began taking photos, asked another officer on the scene to seek witnesses as there was a residence nearby, and then locked down the scene until detectives arrived. She had another of her officers do a crime scene log to track everyone who came and went from the scene.
Det. Martin Snyder arrived at the scene and took items into evidence, said Crandall.
After the scene was secured, Crandall said she turned off Uehling's car's ignition, using a gloved hand to do so.
Rhoades drew a diagram and asked Crandall to draw in Uehling's car at the scene. It was sitting on Lotowana around the corner from his body, which was alongside Highway 53. Crandall agreed Uehling's car could have been parked in such a way as to allow him to watch traffic.
Snyder, the last witness in the morning session, processed the crime scene at Old Highway 53 and Lotowana, and later would fully process Uehling's car at a secure facility.
He also measured the distance of the scene from Norton's home – 582 feet – and Edmonds', which was three-tenths of a mile away, he said. Snyder described the area in which the homes were located as “condensed mobile home parks.”
Grothe presented Snyder with a cell phone and charger found in Uehling's car. After that cell phone was admitted into evidence, Grothe showed Snyder another phone, which he took from Edmonds' teenage daughter.
The phone number of that phone had been logged into the Clearlake Police Department's RIMS record management system as belonging to Shannon Edmonds, Snyder said.
As Snyder searched the vehicle, he said he recalled finding no knives.
Under Grothe's questioning, Snyder described a series of photos he took of the car's interior, which he described as “very dirty.”
The photos showed money and bank cards under a front floor mat, a hammer handle sticking out from between the front seats, a cell phone on the driver's side seat, a screw driver on the floorboard, numerous personal items on the floor and seats, as well as a variety of prescription medication.
He also photographed the trunk and the passenger side dash board, where a golf club head was seen protruding, with the broken end of the club's shaft pointing out the passenger side window.
Snyder's testimony was interrupted by the lunch break, and didn't continue until late in the afternoon, after Valerie Alderson, Pat Hand and Dale were on the stand.
Rhoades cross-examined him about the evidence he found and the processing of the evidence taken from the scene and the car.
Other witnesses supply more details about events
The court heard briefly on Tuesday afternoon from Clearlake resident Valerie Alderman, who last Sept. 7 sold Uehling the red 1988 Honda that was found about 15 yards from his body.
Alderman said she didn't know Uehling before he called to inquire about the car, which she had a sign on and had been driving around town.
Grothe showed her pictures of the car's interior and asked if the front seats' headrests were broken when she sold him the car. She said no.
Rhoades asked Alderman about the car's condition when she sold it to Uehling for $500. She said the car had all of its windows. He asked if there was anything unusual about the two-door vehicle's passenger-side door. She said once when she opened that door the horn honked.
Also on the stand Tuesday was Pat Hand, who had been hanging out with Edmonds and Norton at Edmonds' motor home on Sept. 21. Hand and Edmonds lived about four spaces apart at the Lakeside Mobile Home Park.
On the afternoon of Sept. 21, Hand and Edmonds drove to the Flyers convenience store to buy cigarettes. Hand said he stayed in the car while Edmonds went inside, and didn't see him make any calls or speak to anyone.
Later that night, between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., while watching movies in the motor home – where Edmonds' girlfriend, Patricia Campbell was asleep in the back room – Hand said a call came in on Campbell's phone. Edmond saw the number was from someone he called “Dude” and he handed the phone to Norton, who answered it.
“I heard Melvin say, 'No, you can't talk to Patricia. No, you can't talk to Patricia. Do you want to handle this? Do you want to handle this?'” Hand said.
Norton then hung up, but the person called back, and Norton suggested they meet there at the trailer park to “handle” the situation.
Rhoades asked Hand how long he had known Edmonds before Sept. 21. Hand estimated about two months.
He left Edmonds' home on Sept. 21 between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.
At times frustrated and confused, Hand said during questioning that he was having trouble remembering the details of his interactions with Edmonds.
Hand was awakened at 4 a.m. Sept. 22 by police, who had found his car still sitting at Edmonds' home.
Testimony is set to continue at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Russell Leslie “Rusty” Wright, 37, of Kelseyville was arrested without incident at about 1:30 p.m. in Lakeport, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies booked Wright into the Lake County Jail on felony charges of grand theft, embezzlement by a public officer, receiving stolen property and possession of dangerous fireworks, Bauman said.
Wright's bail was set at $15,000. Jail records showed that Wright posted bail and was released later Tuesday afternoon.
Bauman said an ongoing sheriff's office criminal investigation involving Wright resulted in the agency submitting a criminal complaint to the Lake County District Attorney on Monday morning. Judge Arthur Mann signed Wright's arrest warrant Tuesday morning.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff told Lake County News on Tuesday that Wright, who was terminated for serious misconduct earlier this month, is alleged to have taken items including a Taser, several sets of handcuffs, a belly chain and leg shackles.
Sheriff Rod Mitchell confirmed to Lake County News this week that Wright – a former sheriff's office rangemaster – also is the subject of an investigation regarding his alleged possession of assault weapons, parts of such weapons as well as a large amount of ammunition.
Some of those items were seized in a Jan. 16 search of Wright's home but he allegedly told investigators that he transported a .50 BMG caliber rifle and another assault weapon to a friend in Utah, as Lake County News has reported.
In addition, county documents indicate that sheriff's officials are investigating the disappearance of a trigger mechanism from an M16-A1 rifle that was one of 10 the sheriff's office received from a US military surplus program.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also is involved in the investigation and working with the sheriff's office, an official confirmed this week.
Wright's first appearance in court is tentatively scheduled for April 9, according to jail records.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The Health Leadership Network is coordinating the event and is asking all specialty crop farmers, restaurant owners, and other establishments/institutions that serve food, as well as grocery store
produce managers to save the date.
A.G. Kawamura, California’s Secretary of Agriculture, will give the opening remarks.
More details on the event will be announced in the near future, organizers said.
An exciting grant project, “A Growing Movement to Seed Healthy Eating,” was awarded to the Lake County Department of Public Health in coordination with the Health Leadership Network (HLN) to enable new and existing HLN partners to rally under a shared vision to build a vibrant local food system.
The grant focuses on the consumption and production of “specialty crops,” defined by the CDFA as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.
Specialty crops do not include eggs, grains, or dairy, and does not distinguish between conventional and organic production methods.
The Local Food Summit will kick off the work plan the HLN will undertake for this grant.
Other components of the grant include marketing, education, expanding the farm-to-school/institution program, coordination to connect the “eat local” efforts within a food delivery system that works in tandem to optimize consumer nutrition, and expanding market opportunities for farmers including the creation of an online ordering system.
The HLN will continue to act as the coordinating hub for implementation of the project. It has been at the forefront of obesity prevention efforts with the launch of the farm-to-school program, school nutrition, and a countywide food assessment.
For more information contact Jackie Armstrong at 707-274-2459 or email
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CLARIFIED REGARDING A REFERENCE TO BARRETT RIFLES.
LAKEPORT – A former Lake County correctional officer is the focus of an investigation by local and federal officials regarding machine gun and assault weapon parts and ammunition found in his home earlier this month.
During the Jan. 16 service of a search warrant at his ranch on Wight Way in Kelseyville, Russell “Rusty” Wright, 37, was alleged to have been found in possession of hundreds of rounds of machine gun ammunition as well as parts of what appeared to be assault weapons, according to documents obtained by Lake County News.
“No, I don't have anything to say right now,” Wright said when contacted by Lake County News on Monday.
On Monday Sheriff Rod Mitchell said his department's investigation into the matter is still under way, and that they are coordinating with federal agencies – including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) – because Wright is alleged to have transported across state lines unregistered weapons that are illegal in California except when possessed by peace officers in the course of their duty.
“The rules apply to everybody,” Mitchell said.
Nina Delgadillo, a senior special agent with the ATF's San Francisco Field Division, confirmed late Monday that they were working with the sheriff's office “and currently reviewing the case for potential federal prosecution.”
She said that the ATF investigates violations or potential violations of federal firearms and explosives laws. When such a case comes across their radar screen or if a local agency asks them to investigate, they become involved.
“That's, in general terms, how it would work,” she said.
Although the local investigation remains “dynamic,” Mitchell added, “I can confirm that some aspects of what we found have been turned over to the district attorney for review.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who signed the search warrants in the case on behalf of the District Attorney's Office, said on Monday that he couldn't comment on the case at that time.
Any person found manufacturing or transferring into the state any assault weapon or .50 caliber machine gun can be convicted of a felony and face as much as eight years in state prison, according to California's Dangerous Weapons Control Law.
Mitchell, who said he has not seen any similar situation in his time in the department, said he and his command staff are implementing new policies to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
According to county documents, Wright – who started with the county as a correctional officer at the Lake County Jail in October 1995 – was terminated on Jan. 8, eight days before the search warrant service, following the conclusion of an internal affairs investigation that began Oct. 9.
Wright, was one of six rangemasters for the sheriff's office. Correctional officers who serve in that capacity receive 2.5 percent above their base pay, according to the memorandum of understanding between the Lake County Correctional Officer's Association and the county of Lake.
He also was a member of the California National Guard and deployed several times to active duty around the United States and overseas, according to documents supporting the investigation.
Wright was placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, which focused on “serious misconduct.”
Search warrant documents prepared by Sgt. Brian Martin of the sheriff's office explained that Wright “was terminated for conduct that will certainly prevent him from obtaining employment in law enforcement if it is discovered during a hiring process.”
The nature of the conduct for which Wright was fired was not specified and Mitchell could not address it because of personnel privacy rules.
However, he said that the search warrant service and the internal affairs were unconnected, and the investigation into the weapons allegations arose because of a separate audit of assault weapons conducted by the sheriff's office on Jan. 11.
On that day, Senior Rangemaster Sgt. Don McPherson conducted an audit of 10 M16-A1 rifles the sheriff's office obtained about two years ago from the US military through a program that allows local law enforcement agencies to obtain surplus military firearms.
Based on the requirements of the weapons grant program, the weapons must be inspected every 24 months, Mitchell said.
Rather than just looking at the serial numbers, McPherson went further and checked out each rifle more closely, and discovered that the trigger of one of them had been replaced with one from an AR-15, a weapon similar to an M16-A1.
“This was good, thorough work,” said Mitchell. “We interviewed everybody who has access to our armory.”
None of the other rangemasters, when questioned, said they knew anything about the replaced parts, according to Martin's search warrant narrative.
“I'm just very pleased that the audit was as detailed as it was so that we could get started toward assuring that all of the things that we're responsible for are in our proper care,” Mitchell said.
On Jan. 12, sheriff's officials discovered that when Wright had returned his keys to the sheriff's office when he was placed on administrative leave in October, the key to the armory – which he had held as part of his rangemaster duties – was missing. On that same day, the armory was rekeyed.
“We're committed to tracking our resources, protecting the things that we own,” said Mitchell. “I think it's going to hold accountable the person responsible.”
Questions and the search warrant service
Deputy Lucas Bingham, a sheriff's detective, told Capt. Cecil Brown, who was leading the investigation, that he believed Wright owned several assault weapons.
Bingham told investigators that he had seen Wright at the sheriff's firing range with a a .50-caliber BMG rifle in 2005 or 2006, shortly after Wright returned from a National Guard deployment in Utah. He said he believed Wright purchased the rifle while on deployment and brought it back to California.
One of the kinds of rifles referenced in the search warrant was the Barrett .50 caliber rifle, which ranges up to 57 inches in length, use large 6-inch rounds and have a firing range of up to 6,800 meters – or just over four miles, with a suggested safety range of five miles, according to specifications offered by the manufacturer, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc. of Mufreesboro, Tenn.
On Jan. 14, another correctional officer, Chad Holland – also one of the department's rangemasters – disclosed that he had several assault weapons that were not legally registered, which he then turned over to the sheriff's office.
Mitchell said Holland's case was investigated and he faces no criminal allegations.
On Jan. 14 Brown and Capt. Rob Howe went to Wright's horse ranch and offered him the opportunity to surrender any unregistered assault weapons. Investigative documents said that Wright stated, “I don't have 'em any more.”
Wright told them that in October – the same month he had been placed on administrative leave – he had taken the weapons to Utah, where he gave them to a friend. At the same time, he denied knowing anything about the changes to the M16-A1 rifle.
At that point Brown also demanded back the armory key, which Wright said he thought he had returned earlier. He then went into his home and returned with a ring of keys for the armory and the sheriff's firing range at Highland Springs, according to the search warrant's supporting documents.
During previous encounters, Wright reportedly had to be admonished to return other department belongings, including other firearms and his badge.
The search warrant affidavit explained that Wright did not provide the sheriff's office with a dealer record of sale for the assault weapons and a search of the Automated Firearms System for firearms registered to Wright found only two weapons – both handguns.
Believing Wright might have a .50-caliber machine gun and a Bushmaster Model SX-15 .223 caliber assault rifle in his possession – both of which he could have lawfully purchased out of state – investigators filed an affidavit for a search warrant signed Jan. 16 by Judge Stephen Hedstrom and executed the same day.
Items seized during the search included 125 live .50 caliber rounds; 225 spent .50 caliber rounds; a box of what appeared to be assault rifle parts, including triggers, hammers, grips, barrels, pistol cylinders and more; 55 rounds of 7.62 millimeter by 39 millimeter live ammunition; 12 long AK-47 style magazines; seven shorter 7.62 mm by 39 mm magazines; three drum-shaped magazines capable of holding 100 rounds of 7.62 mm by 39 mm ammunition; one drum-shaped magazine that can hold up to 75 rounds of 7.62 mm by 39 mm ammunition; other items including staff sergeant military insignia and pins; six high capacity Glock handgun magazines, including two .40 caliber magazines that each have a 15-round capacity, and four .45 caliber magazines that each can hold up to 13 rounds and were stamped “Restricted LE/Govt only.”
Mitchell said his department issues .40 caliber magazines, but not .45 caliber magazines, so it's not believed the item marked “Restricted LE/Govt only” came from the sheriff's office.
The items were taken and stored in sheriff's evidence facilities, according to search warrant return documents.
The law and machine guns
California, which has more restrictive gun laws than some other states, prohibits the ownership of machine guns and assault weapons, including the .50-caliber Barrett rifle, for which Wright was found to have had hundreds of ammunition rounds, according to investigative documents. Those laws also prohibit possession of parts meant to convert a regular weapon into a machine gun.
Under the California Dangerous Weapons Control Law, peace officers may possess the weapons but they are not exempted from following registration requirements, which include written permission from their department head, in this case Mitchell. The investigation documents stated that Mitchell didn't authorize Wright's purchase of such weapons.
Mitchell said his department's interpretation is that such an exemption only applies to individuals employed as peace officers, who are certified under the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), and not correctional officers.
“Although they are listed as peace officers, the way the law is written, they do not quality for that,” he said.
The memoranda of understanding for the county's correctional officers and peace officers also differentiates between the two classifications.
In the investigation so far, the missing trigger mechanism from the county's M16-A1 rifle hasn't been accounted for, said Mitchell. Nor have they located the weapons Wright is believed to have had.
Investigators haven't yet disclosed where Wright got most of the materials found at his home, although they've stated in the search warrant affidavit that they believed he purchased them lawfully in other states.
The new policies the department is implementing in the wake of the investigation will include new signing procedures, and tightened restrictions on who can access the items and when, he said.
In addition, Mitchell said the frequency of inventories will be increased and spot audits will be conducted regularly.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Volunteers were awarded for their efforts with their local watershed groups at the eighth annual “Year-Review” meeting on Jan. 29 at the Scotts Valley Women’s Clubhouse in Lakeport.
The meeting included a milestone for all parties involved with the release of drafts of the Scotts, Middle and Kelsey Creek Watershed Assessments as well as the Clear Lake Integrated Watershed Management Plan.
The clubhouse filled up quickly and Greg Dills, district manager of the East and West Lake Resource Conservation Districts, began with a PowerPoint presentation filled with interesting facts and memorable photographs of both the beauty of Lake County’s landscapes, and the abuse of it.
The assessments and many other efforts were made possible thanks to a $400,000 grant from the CALFED Watershed Committee, funded by Proposition 50, and administered by California’s Department of Water Resources, said Dills.
On the clubhouse's back wall, there was a large green felt board covered in laminated pictures of some of the cleanup efforts of volunteers. Last year they removed a dumped Pepsi-Cola vending machine; this year’s big find was a Coca-Cola vending machine.
Chuck Morse, president of the West Lake Resource Conservation District, explained how the county helped keep this assessments project alive when there was a temporary stop on the work before they got an extension on the grant. He also wanted to stress the importance of the assessments.
“What these four documents do is mark an important turning point in the process of accomplishing resource conservation, habitat restoration as well as addressing a myriad of other water issues,” said Morse. “These documents are the basis of attaining those goals.”
The evening also included the presentation of Volunteer of the Year awards, which were sponsored by the Upper Cache Creek Watershed Alliance.
Although all volunteers were thanked for their efforts, a few specific people were awarded Volunteer of the Year awards. Recipients of the awards were Ron Yoder, Robert Stark, Tom Smythe, Harry Lyons, Morse and Dills.
Each was given a plaque, engraved with their names and the watershed group they worked with during the year. It also displayed a photograph of the beautiful landscape they are helping to preserve.
A surprised Dills was elated with the award from Scotts Creek Watershed Group. After resolving a technical issue with his PowerPoint system, he continued the presentation he began earlier in the evening, explaining the importance of the watershed assessment documents.
“Having these documents enable us to qualify for grants and funding,” said Dills.
The issues discussed in each of the watershed assessments include history, geology, soils, hydrology, hill slope and stream channel geomorphology, water quality, water supply, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife habitats and species, invasive species, fire and fuel load management, social and economic setting, land use and current watershed management.
Erica Lundquist, writer and researcher on the assessment project, said there is a huge amount of information, which she is compiling and bringing to the public.
“It is a lot of detailed, broad-brush information, like sedimentation loads,” said Lundquist. “But, we don’t really know where it is coming from at a smaller level, aside from things like the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine.”
She also is concerned about invasive plant species and informing the public on how to get rid of them.
The well-known algal bloom in the summer of 2009 is only one of many invasive species affecting the health of Clear Lake. The integrated watershed management plan reports that sediment cores show that the lake could have existed for as long as 2.5 million years, it was reported during the meeting.
As of 1986, Clear Lake is on the Clean Water Act’s list of impaired water bodies due to mercury and nutrient contents.
The assessments are one of many steps that will need to be taken in order to restore Clear Lake to the state it was in before European influence, stated the integrated watershed management plan, officials reported.
The final versions of the assessments are expected to be finished sometime in the next two weeks.
One thing concerned citizens can do is join their local watershed groups. For general information and a list of other organizations involved, please visit www.lakecountyrcds.org.
E-mail Tera deVroede at