Secretive Bohemian Grove club gets special flight treatment as CA community rages over noise

The billionaires and power brokers flying into Bohemian Grove got something Sonoma County residents have been fighting for since last year: peace and quiet.

The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily ditched a controversial flight path during the elite club’s annual retreat, sending many departing planes along an older, quieter route while private jets packed the regional airport, then switched back once the secretive gathering wrapped up.

The move sparked fresh outrage among locals, who say the agency proved it could reduce the relentless aircraft noise over their neighborhoods all along.

Rep. Jared Huffman on Wednesday accused the FAA of giving preferential treatment to Bohemian Grove’s wealthy guests after years of rejecting similar requests from the surrounding community.

“When the Bohemians come to town, they get the response that I’ve spent the better part of two years demanding with my West County constituents,” Huffman told KQED. “But when the private jets go away, we’re not sure what happens. I want to make sure … that the folks I represent get the same consideration as the billionaires and oligarchs who are having a good time in Bohemian Grove.”

The timing is especially striking as an alleged 2023 membership list from the notoriously secretive Bohemian Club has surfaced.

The all-male Bohemian Club has hosted its annual retreat at its secluded 2,700-acre campground in Sonoma County since the 1870s, attracting some of the country’s most influential figures from politics, business and technology.

For nearby residents, however, the annual gathering has become synonymous with a different kind of privilege.

The FAA rolled out its “Redhead” departure route in January 2024, sending aircraft over communities including Sebastopol, Forestville and Guerneville at lower altitudes. Residents say aircraft noise complaints have quadrupled since the change.

But during July’s Bohemian Grove encampment, locals noticed something unusual.

Of the roughly 24 daily departures from Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport, most were suddenly using the older “Charlie Eight” route instead of Redhead.

Only about three flights a day continued on the newer path.

The FAA said it temporarily adjusted departure procedures “for safety reasons due to the increased air traffic from the nearby Bohemian Grove event” before returning to normal operations once the additional traffic cleared.

That explanation did little to calm angry residents.

“If this relief can be given to the powerful elite for a holiday retreat at a moment’s notice for 27 days, then it can be given to us who live under that flight path every day,” resident Andrea Oreck told KQED.

Huffman said the temporary switch also undermined the FAA’s repeated insistence that Charlie Eight was no longer a workable option.

“They’re doing Charlie Eight right now. So, that’s a problem,” he told KQED, calling the situation “corruption.”

In a letter Wednesday to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, Huffman urged the agency to immediately restore the pre-2024 departure procedures at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport while working with county officials and residents on a permanent fix.

Airport officials have previously said the FAA implemented the 2024 changes without the county’s input. The county has since proposed a revised route, known as “Redhead Two,” but residents argue it won’t meaningfully reduce the noise.

Airport administrator Jon Stout has said Redhead Two is “not the end solution,” noting that creating an entirely new departure route could take years.

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