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<div class=Section1>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Promoting
the Delta diversity<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h2><b><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>Efforts
are gearing up to lure visitors to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with an
extensive trail system and activities that tap into the area's farming history<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h2>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>By
M.S. Enkoji - Bee Staff Writer<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Last
Updated 6:25 am PDT Monday, October 15, 2007<br>
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/433006.html">http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/433006.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.sacbee.com/749/v-print/story/433006.html">Print</a> | <a
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><img border=0 width=320 height=217 id="_x0000_i1027"
src="cid:image001.jpg@01C80F0A.7D9B2BB0"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Tim
Neuharth farms about 300 acres on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Sutter</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Island</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> in the Delta near
Courtland. He'd like to open up his farm to visitors from the city so they can
get a taste of the bucolic lifestyle of the area. The idea to develop
agritourism is gaining support, as is a plan to create a multi-use recreational
trail in the Delta. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:place></st1:City>
Bee/Anne Chadwick Williams<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>As autumn
chilled the Sacramento Delta, Tim Neuharth steered his pickup truck down off a
levee road, into a thick stand of pear trees, an orchard that rooted 100 years
ago.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Pears
here. Grapevines over there. Cherry trees ahead. After generations of farming,
as much as $2 billion in bounty springs every year from the almost 323,000
acres of Delta farms, this levee-laced land that was once tidal marsh.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Neuharth
would like nothing better than to show off his share to people who live and
work in cities, viewing concrete and glass all day long. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"For
me, it's about enlightening other people so they know what 'ag' is all
about," said Neuharth, 58. "It's surprising how few people know the
Delta is here. The Delta is the <st1:place w:st="on">Everglades</st1:place> of
the West."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Agritourism,
the idea of luring city dwellers out to farms and ranches where they drop
tourist dollars and gain an appreciation for agriculture, is growing in the
Delta alongside the vineyards and pears and nearly as fast as Neuharth's
alfalfa fields.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In other
regions where agritourism flourishes, visitors can take cooking classes on a
ranch, get married in a vineyard, paint a canvas in an orchard, pick their own
strawberries or maybe impersonate a cowboy on a dude ranch.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"It's
fun and enjoyable, and it's profitable," said Neuharth, who is
contemplating hay rides and pumpkin patches as a way to directly sell his
produce.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
Discover the Delta Foundation is already raising money to open near Rio Vista a
$2.5 million visitors center, possibly next summer, that would promote the
region's farms, its historical and ethnic heritage. Hordes of visitors already
swarm to the Delta for annual festivals heralding the pear crop and crawfish.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>State
legislators have backed a bill that initiates planning for what will be called
the Great California Delta Trail, an asset that could ignite another segment of
the tourist industry for the Delta, already a fishing and boating haven.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
multi-use trail would meander on the Delta's levee tops through one of the
state's richest agriculture and wildlife regions. Slicing through <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType>,
the trail would run through five counties, ending in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Yolo</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>State
legislation passed last year gave the Delta Protection Commission the authority
to plan the trail, though building the trail will largely be done by local
governments in the region. Another companion piece of legislation that would
have increased funding opportunities was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
on Saturday, but won't significantly change the project's future, according to
Delta planners.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Eventually,
the trail would link to one encircling the Bay Area. The Bay Trail is about 300
miles so far, reaching into <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Contra</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Costa</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>A Delta
trail for paddling, hiking, biking and horseback riding will draw more visitors
into an agriculture showplace and ensure habitat preservation for wildlife,
said Linda Fiack, executive director of the Delta Protection Commission.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
commission, a state agency that monitors the Delta and protects resources, is
already canvassing Delta communities to see how they would like to shape the
project, Fiack said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>A
finished plan is probably 2 1/2 years away, she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It's not
a slam-dunk, supporters concede. Getting funding and right-of-ways on private
land and establishing a suitable route away from traffic remain the major
challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
payoffs warrant the effort, said Democratic state Sen. Tom Torlakson, who lives
in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Antioch</st1:place></st1:City> and
commutes to the capital through the Delta. "I run it; I bike it; I swim
it," he said. "It's a recreation paradise."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>He
carried both pieces of legislation for the trail because of his kinship to the
West Coast's largest estuary and what he sees as the economic vitality of the
slowly eroding agriculture lifestyle.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"When
you look at growth, the outer Bay Area is growing so fast, you know this area
is going to be vital," he said. As agriculture incomes grow less stable,
the opportunity for complementary businesses, such as bed and breakfast places,
becomes critical, Torlakson said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=next><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Continue
reading on <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/433006-p2.html">next page</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=prev><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h4><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>About
the writer:<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h4>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Bee's M.S. Enkoji can be reached at (916)
321-1106 or <a href="mailto:menkoji@sacbee.com">menkoji@sacbee.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
</ul>
<p class=simg><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><img
border=0 width=320 height=298 id="_x0000_i1029"
src="cid:image002.jpg@01C80F0A.7D9B2BB0"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=simgcap><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Courtland celebrates the fruit crop that built the town with its annual
pear festival, welcoming 8,000 to 10,000 tourists to town. Sacramento Bee file,
2007/Renée C. Byer<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=simg><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><img
border=0 width=320 height=211 id="_x0000_i1030"
src="cid:image003.jpg@01C80F0A.7D9B2BB0"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=simgcap><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Isleton cooks up about 15,000 pounds of crawfish for its annual
festival, which draws about 40,000 people to the tiny Delta town. Sacramento
Bee file, 2006/Lezlie <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sterling</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=simg><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><img
border=0 width=320 height=216 id="_x0000_i1031"
src="cid:image004.jpg@01C80F0A.7D9B2BB0"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=simgcap><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The Delta, a fishing and boating haven, lures water users with about
1,000 miles of waterways, levees and shorelines to explore. Sacramento Bee
file, 2003/Bryan Patrick<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=simg><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><img
border=0 width=320 height=790 id="_x0000_i1032"
src="cid:image005.gif@01C80F0A.7D9B2BB0"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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