If you wonder what's wonderful and awful about California, there are few better places to start than the north coast, where magnificent scenery contrasts with absurd public policy.

◼ Land deals protect fake threats - ocregister.com

As I took the nearly six-hour drive recently from the Sacramento area, past Ukiah and up to Eureka, through the heart of California's redwood-forested north coast, I was reminded of the spectacular beauty of California. Driving through Mendocino and Humboldt counties also reminded me of the spectacular ways the state government wastes taxpayer dollars even at a time when officials are crying poormouth.

Deep in this remote country, enveloped by state and federal parks and public forests where so much of the land is off-limits from development, the state of California is spending tens of millions of dollars buying up land (for conservation easements) to protect it from development threats that are even more remote than the landscape.

The public is financing land deals that are causing consternation to timber companies that operate along the north coast. Before you ask, "What would you expect from self-interested despoilers of the environment?" consider that these are companies with a long history of environmental sensitivity. They operate in an environment hostile to their existence and must maintain public support for their efforts as well as protect the land for their future business. Read the rest

h/t: Colleen