Tired of city-centric government control, rural Northern California counties consider separation — just as their forebears did.
By Lee Romney
YREKA, Calif. — Farmers,
ranchers and onetime loggers were among those who packed a church
community room here in August to listen to a former state lawmaker
convey his vision of a cleaved — and more governable — California.
The theme was familiar,
the resonance deep for those convinced that relentless regulation is
strangling the economy of this northern border county. But this time, a
tall man sporting a baseball cap stood up with a challenge.
"Are we just going to go have an ice cream and complain?" said Mark Baird, a pilot of 747 cargo planes who with his wife runs a cattle ranch and the local radio station. "Or are we going to do something about it?"
Within two weeks, Baird had crafted a declaration in support of the breakaway State of Jefferson and placed it on the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors agenda. It was approved a week later on a 4-1 vote.
And with that, a movement that has waxed and waned for 150 years was born again.
Neighboring Modoc County's supervisors soon clamored for a similar declaration, and also voted "yea"; the Tehama County board agreed to put the matter to voters; and organizing committees sprang up in seven other counties.
The State of Jefferson flag — which dates to a 1941 effort — is now flown from the Nevada border west to the Pacific Ocean and as far south as Yuba City. (It features a gold pan with two X's, for the double-crossing purportedly dealt to residents of Northern California and southern Oregon by their respective seats of state government.)
Baird rattles off the movement's rationale: An independent state would deliver local control to a region whose residents have long chafed under Sacramento's rules, feel alienated from urban culture and believe in greater push-back against an overreaching federal government.
Most notably, supporters say, it would provide stronger representation to a swath of counties so sparsely populated that their collective voice is now lost in the breathtaking landscape of mountains, rivers and alfalfa-dotted valleys.
"All we want is the right to determine our own future," Baird said. "This is for our children, and their children."
Majority votes are required in the state Legislature and U.S. Congress for separation to occur. The last state to do so was West Virginia — in 1863 — and dozens of regions across the U.S. have since seen their efforts fizzle, most recently last month when just five of 11 Colorado counties voted to form an independent state.
But in the northern rural counties of California, the idea has widespread backing from frustrated residents craving economic opportunity and control.
"We are staking our futures on our ability to live and thrive in this area," said Kayla Nicole Brown of Redding, a 23-year-old student of early American history who has become a leader in Shasta County's movement for the sake of her 10-month-old son, Hunter. "And if we can't, we have to leave."
"Are we just going to go have an ice cream and complain?" said Mark Baird, a pilot of 747 cargo planes who with his wife runs a cattle ranch and the local radio station. "Or are we going to do something about it?"
Within two weeks, Baird had crafted a declaration in support of the breakaway State of Jefferson and placed it on the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors agenda. It was approved a week later on a 4-1 vote.
And with that, a movement that has waxed and waned for 150 years was born again.
Neighboring Modoc County's supervisors soon clamored for a similar declaration, and also voted "yea"; the Tehama County board agreed to put the matter to voters; and organizing committees sprang up in seven other counties.
The State of Jefferson flag — which dates to a 1941 effort — is now flown from the Nevada border west to the Pacific Ocean and as far south as Yuba City. (It features a gold pan with two X's, for the double-crossing purportedly dealt to residents of Northern California and southern Oregon by their respective seats of state government.)
Baird rattles off the movement's rationale: An independent state would deliver local control to a region whose residents have long chafed under Sacramento's rules, feel alienated from urban culture and believe in greater push-back against an overreaching federal government.
 |
All we want is the right to determine our own future, said Mark Baird, who favors splitting away.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times
|
Most notably, supporters say, it would provide stronger representation to a swath of counties so sparsely populated that their collective voice is now lost in the breathtaking landscape of mountains, rivers and alfalfa-dotted valleys.
"All we want is the right to determine our own future," Baird said. "This is for our children, and their children."
 |
John
Lisle, right, owner of the Palace Barber Shop, cuts 14-year-old Isaiah
Solus' hair in Yreka, Calif. "I think we should do it," said Isaiah
about breaking away from California government.
|
Majority votes are required in the state Legislature and U.S. Congress for separation to occur. The last state to do so was West Virginia — in 1863 — and dozens of regions across the U.S. have since seen their efforts fizzle, most recently last month when just five of 11 Colorado counties voted to form an independent state.
But in the northern rural counties of California, the idea has widespread backing from frustrated residents craving economic opportunity and control.
"We are staking our futures on our ability to live and thrive in this area," said Kayla Nicole Brown of Redding, a 23-year-old student of early American history who has become a leader in Shasta County's movement for the sake of her 10-month-old son, Hunter. "And if we can't, we have to leave."
 | |||
| Scissors and a comb rest in a holster next to an old-fashioned cash register in John Lisle's Palace Barber Shop |
4 comments:
Let em....and then when they ask for help from the 'government' for anything....well, guess they will be out of luck. Some just want to have their cake and eat it to!
They would still have state, county & municipal gov't, just not the state gov't they have now. They are asking to create a new state so they would still be part of the U.S. So I don't understand your comment.
Hi Frank.
I get tired of people saying they don't want any government telling them what to do, in particular the federal gov...and then want any help or handouts (whichever you want to call it)when they are hit hard times like drought, floods, housing bubble busting etc.
I saw it constantly growing up....neighbor ranchers (especially those with money) cussing the federal government in one breath, and then taking any money they could during drought for their operations.
Thank you for asking. Happy New Year!
And Happy New Year to you.
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