Mendocino County votes to ban biotech crops

Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | 6:53 a.m.

UKIAH, Calif. AP) - Mendocino County voters approved the nation's first ban Tuesday on the raising and keeping of genetically engineered crops or animals.

The move represented a big black eye for the biotechnology industry, which spent more than $500,000 to defeat the measure in a county of 47,000 registered voters.

"They had the money, we had the people," said Els Cooperrider, who led the local ballot measure.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Measure H had support from 56 percent of voters in the area known for its wineries.

Opponents of the measure could not be immediately reached for comment. Their campaign headquarters in Ukiah was vacant with a "for lease" sign on it.

Led by organic vintners and farmers, backers of the ban raised and spent close to $100,000.

The ban will have little direct effect inside Mendocino County, since there are no known genetically modified crops raised in the area.

But Mendocino County's organic growers said they would use the law as a marketing tool, especially in Europe, where opposition to genetically engineered foods is fierce.

The victory is also expected to embolden similar movements in neighboring Northern California counties as well as elsewhere in the county.

The biotechnology industry may file a lawsuit trying to overturn the new law. The industry argued that biotechnology regulation should be left to the federal government, otherwise biotech companies will have to wade through a hodgepodge of local laws.