Recent Bohemian Grove gathering intensifies push for fewer flights over North Bay homes

By Kenny Choi

Residents living near Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport are intensifying their fight against a flight route after seeing the Federal Aviation Administration is able to reduce the number of departing planes.

Neighbors said the temporary adjustment during the recent Bohemian Grove gathering dramatically reduced the number of aircraft flying over their homes. But after the event ended, the FAA returned to its normal departure procedures.

“The noise is unbearable,” said Andrea Oreck of Fair Flights Over Sonoma County. “It would be like being in a library reading a pleasant book and having someone drive in with a motorcycle.”

Airport officials have received tens of thousands of noise complaints during the past year.

In January 2024, as commercial service and passenger traffic were growing at the airport, the FAA introduced a satellite-based departure procedure known as RREHD ONE. The GPS-guided route directs many departing aircraft through a narrower corridor over portions of western Sonoma County.

Residents said the procedure concentrated flights over communities that previously experienced fewer direct overflights.

Local officials met with residents Wednesday during a roundtable discussion at the airport. Sonoma County Airport Manager Jon Stout said the county cannot change the routes because the FAA controls the airspace and departure procedures.

“The FAA is not responsive to our requests or suggestions for changes,” Stout said. “We need that federal-level participation to actually get the FAA engaged. Hopefully today will be a further push to that effort.”

The airport’s older departure procedure, known as CHARLIE EIGHT, gives air-traffic controllers greater flexibility to spread departing aircraft across a broader area.

The FAA temporarily relied more heavily on that procedure during the Bohemian Grove gathering in July, when private-aircraft traffic increased near the exclusive event. Some residents said the number of planes passing over their homes dropped from more than 20 per day to only a few.

Rep. Jared Huffman, who represents the North Bay, criticized the FAA for making an adjustment during the gathering while resisting requests for a permanent change.

“It’s just such an unacceptable double standard,” Huffman said. “One set of rules and privileges for the fabulously rich and another for the rest of us.”

Huffman is calling on the FAA to reconsider its regular use of RREHD ONE and work with county officials and residents on a less disruptive departure procedure.

“It’s turning up the pressure on the FAA to do the right thing about an airplane-noise issue we’ve been pushing on for two years,” Huffman said.

Residents argue the temporary adjustment demonstrated that the airport can safely operate without routing most departures through the same narrow corridor.

“We know it can be done,” Oreck said. “We just need to keep pushing.”

In a statement, the FAA said flight patterns were adjusted during the Bohemian Grove event based on airport volume and overall air-traffic capacity.

“The FAA switched back to its normal flight parameters when the extra event traffic cleared up and it was safe to do so,” the agency said. “The FAA remains committed to ensuring the safety of flight operations while addressing community noise concerns.”