danbacher by Dan Bacher
Over 40 American Indian activists took over a meeting of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Science Advisory Team in Eureka on June 29 to protest the violation of tribal gathering and fishing rights under the controversial process.
Frankie Joe Myers, a member of the Coastal Justice Coalition and Yurok Tribe ceremonial leader, went to the microphone and demanded that the panel open up a public comment period. The MLPA team attempted to meet without allowing any public testimony, but they were prevented from proceeding as they were interrupted by chants of “Keep your laws off my culture” and “M-L-P-A taking Tribal rights away.”
Tribal members held up signs and banners stating, “MLPA Can’t Hide the Genocide,” “MLPA making my grandmother an outlaw,” “Respect Native Tradition,” “Fish and Game, You’re Lame,” “Don’t Mussel Us Out” and “MLPA I Am Not Your Stakeholder.”
Unable to proceed without interruption, the MLPA officials conceded and members of North Coast Tribes and non-native supporters provided powerful testimony slamming the process and demanding tribal representation on the science panel.
The activists demanded that tribes, who have been the stewards of the ocean for thousands of years, not be scapegoated for the decline in ocean fisheries caused by decades of government mismanagement.
“We gathered and harvested the ocean’s bounty for thousand of years in a sustainable manner,” said Myers. “For California to blame tribes for its reckless mismanagement of our fisheries for the last century is simply appalling.”
After the public comment, Ken Wiseman, executive director of the MLPA Initiative, said, ”We look forward to the continued input.”
The Coastal Justice Coalition that organized the historic protest is a group of regional tribal members “who agree that the State of California has no right to regulate tribal gathering.”
The protest occurred as increasing numbers of tribal members, environmentalists, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen and political leaders from a variety of political perspectives are blasting the MLPA Initiative for its numerous conflicts of interests, violation of state, federal and international laws, and privatization of public trust resources. A private corporation, the shadowy Resources Legacy Foundation, funds the initiative through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Fish and Game.
The Blue Ribbon Task Force that oversees the process includes oil industry, marina development, real estate and other corporate representatives who are there to make sure that their interests are protected as the state creates so-called “marine protected areas” (MPAs).
The MLPA is supposedly designed to “protect” ocean resources, but tribal spokesmen contend that the privately funded initiative is an attempt by the Schwarzenegger Administration to “greenwash” his environmental legacy. They pointed out that these “protected areas” will allow deep water oil and gas drilling and do nothing to stop water pollution while banning sustainable tribal gathering of seaweed, shellfish, shells and fish from the ocean.
The science panel met yesterday and today to review four MPA proposals developed by the North Coast Region Stakeholder Group, all of which have the potential to impact the rights of the Yurok Tribe and other tribes to gather ocean resources.
“The Science Advisory Team, which could potentially influence decisions regarding tribal gathering rights, does not have any scientific evidence suggesting that tribal gathering affects resources, but that has not stopped them from proposing a ban on tribal practices,” according to Myers. “We asked them to show us the science that indicates that Tribes are to blame for the decline of any single species – they can’t because there is no science behind their decision making.”
The activists say the MLPA structure also adversely affects tribal groups who gather in the intertidal zone. In a bizarre leap of logic, the MLPA science panel claims that collecting mussels and seaweed by hand has a “high impact” and therefore would be banned in “backbone” Marine Protected Areas.
“This makes sense in an area like Los Angeles where there is a potential for millions to harvest from the intertidal zone and disrupt the entire ocean ecosystem,” Myers said. “It defies logic here where the pressure is not comparable and the access is severely limited.”
Myers said the Science Advisory Team has also asked tribes for detailed information about the resources they use. To date, all tribes have declined to provide the information.
“The same resources my ancestors gathered are still abundant today because of time-tested tribal stewardship. If we were to give them details about what we gather, it could create the potential for mismanagement and commercialization of those resources,” Myers said.
Tribes gather ocean resources for sustenance, everyday utility items and ceremonial regalia, according to Myers. Gathering is at all times a spiritual process, which is the primary reason why the Coastal Justice Coalition is advocating that the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative recognize that tribal rights and uses are “outside the scope of the State’s authority and the Initiative process.”
The activists noted that the MLPA’s initiative view that people and nature are separate from one another clashes with tribal religious and cultural views.
“The MPA officials have an idea that people are apart from nature, while tribal folks believe that people are part of nature,” said Myers. “We are not against conservation – one of our biggest goals is conservation of coastal resources for future generations.”
The tribal members affirm that they will keep gathering and fishing in traditional areas, regardless of what MLPA or state officials decide.
“Tribes have always had the inherent right to gather – whether the state makes it legal or not is their choice,” said Georgiana Myers, Yurok Tribal member and organizer for the Klamath Justice Coalition, the group that conducted direct action at the Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska in 2008 to successfully spur billionaire Warren Buffett to agree to the removal of four Pacific Corp dams on the Klamath.”
“The Yurok Tribe has been gathering since the beginning of time,” said Myers. ““We have always done it, we will always do it, and we feel that the MLPA is the biggest attempt in the last 30 years to take away tribal gathering and fishing rights.”
Craig Tucker, a McKinleyville resident who spoke at the meeting, said, “I’m proud to live in a community where native people are active stewards of the land and ocean. If you want to protect the ocean, make sure that you stop new deep water drilling, not Indians from picking seaweed.”
The protesters disrupting the meeting included members of the Wiyot, Hoopa Valley, Karuk, Smith River Rancheria (Tolowa), Cahto and other tribes.
Advocates of Schwarzenegger’s MLPA process claim that the MLPA is an “open and transparent process” and that they want to “hear” the concerns of Tribes and other ocean users.
For example, Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin on June 29 wrote a guest opinion for the Eureka Times-Standard where she proclaimed, “My fellow (MLPA) task force members share a mutual interest in ensuring that traditional tribal uses of the ocean are preserved…”
However, local tribal members say that the task force’s actions contradict their claims. “If she was really concerned about preserving tribal practices, maybe Ms. Strom-Martin should ensure tribal members and tribal scientists are involved in the process,” suggested Frankie Joe Myers.
The MLPA, passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Gray Davis in 1999, is very broad in scope. The law was intended to not only restrict or prohibit fishing in a network of “marine protected areas,” but to address other “human uses” and “extractive activities” including coastal development and water pollution.
However, the Schwarzenegger administration has taken all other “human uses” and “extractive activities” other than fishing and seaweed harvesting off the table in the implementation of the MLPA process. The MLPA fiasco does nothing to stop water pollution, oil drilling, and wave energy projects or other activities from destroying fish and other marine life populations in California’s coastal waters.
The law would do nothing to stop an ecological catastrophe like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from devastating the California coast. In fact, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association and a member of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the North Coast, has repeatedly called for new oil drilling off the California coast.
As an investigative journalist who has written dozens of articles covering the MLPA fiasco, I greatly applaud the activists who exposed the MLPA Initiative for the corrupt fraud that it is!
A webcast of the public testimony at the June 29 science panel meeting can be found at the following website: http://www.cal-span.org. To access the webcast, go to the left menu bar, and choose “Science Advisory Team” under “All MLPA.”
Similar testimony will be provided at the July 21-22 Blue Ribbon Task Force meetings in Ft. Bragg. Agendas for these meetings are available at the following website: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/meetings_n.asp.
For more information about the Coastal Justice Coalition, call Frankie Joe Myers, (707) 951-5052.
danbacher Tribal activists essentially took over a meeting of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative in Eureka today and demanded an opportunity to speak on the record. For about an hour Native Americans as well as non-native supporters from the North Coast criticized the process and demanded tribal representation on the science panel.
As a journalist who has written dozens of articles investigating the conflicts of interests, violation of tribal gathering and fishing rights and privatization of resource management under the MLPA process, I greatly applaud the activists today who exposed the MLPA Initiative for the corrupt fraud that it is!
“We asked them to show us the science that indicates that Tribes are to blame for the decline of any single species – they can’t because there is no science behind their decision making,” states Frankie Joe Myers, a Yurok ceremonial leader and member of the Coastal Justice Coalition.
While well-funded proponents of the MPLA fiasco claim that the process is “open and transparent,” the press release below by the Coastal Justice Coalition shows that contention to be a complete lie.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Frankie Joe Myers
(707) 951-5052
COASTAL JUSTICE COALITIONCalifornia Ocean Protection Process Scapegoats Native Cultures
Marine Life Protected Areas Would Allow for Deep Water Drilling yet would Ban Tribal Gathering
Eureka, CA – Members of local American Indian Tribes interrupted the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative’s Science Advisory Team meeting today demanding that they not be blamed for the decline in ocean fisheries.
“We gathered and harvested the ocean’s bounty for thousand of years in a sustainable manner. For California to blame Tribes for it’s reckless mis-management of our fisheries for the last century is simply appalling,” said Frankie Joe Myers, a Yurok ceremonial leader and member of the Coastal Justice Coalition.
The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) is a public and privately funded partnership between the State of California and a hand-full of big money, private foundations, primarily the Resources Legacy Fund, to implement the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), which was signed into law in 1999.
The MLPA is designed to protect ocean resources, but Tribal spokesmen say that it’s an attempt by the Schwarzenegger Administration to greenwash his legacy.
Amid chants of “keep your laws off my culture” and “M-L-P-A taking Tribal rights away” the MLPA Science Advisory Team attempted to meet Tuesday, but Tribal activists essentially took over the meeting and demanded an opportunity to speak on the record. For about an hour Native Americans as well as non-native supporters criticized the process and demanded tribal representation on the science panel.
The Science panel reconvenes Wednesday at the Red Lion Hotel to review four Marine Protected Area proposals developed by the North Coast Region Stakeholder Group, all of which have the potential to impact Yurok and other Tribes’ rights to gather ocean resources.
The Science Advisory Team, which could potentially influence decisions regarding tribal gathering rights, does not have any scientific evidence suggesting that tribal gathering affects resources, but that has not stopped them from proposing a ban on Tribal practices.
“We asked them to show us the science that indicates that Tribes are to blame for the decline of any single species – they can’t because there is no science behind their decision making,” states Myers.
The MLPA structure also adversely affects tribal groups who gather in the intertidal zone. MLPA science panel claims that collecting mussels and seaweed by hand has a “high impact” and therefore would be banned in “backbone” Marine Protected Areas.
“This makes sense in an area like Los Angeles where there is a potential for millions to harvest from the intertidal zone and disrupt the entire ocean ecosystem,” Myers said. “It defies logic here where the pressure is not comparable and the access is severely limited.
The Science Advisory Team has asked Tribes for detailed information about the resources they use. To date, all tribes have declined to provide the information.
“The same resources my ancestors gathered are still abundant today because of time-tested tribal stewardship. If we were to give them details about what we gather it could create the potential for mismanagement and commercialization of those resources,” Myers said.
Salmon and crab can still be commercially harvested in areas considered by the Initiative to have a high level of protection. The MLPAI does nothing to limit pollution.
“What this amounts to is a high level of protection for the commercial fishing and the oil industries but not the ocean. We are harvesting by hand, not for a profit and with no discernible environmental impact. They should not be regulating something that we have managed sustainably since time immemorial,” Myers said.
Tribes gather ocean resources for sustenance, everyday utility items and ceremonial regalia. Gathering is at all times a spiritual process, which is the primary reason why Coast Justice Coalition’s is advocating that the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative recognize that Tribal rights and uses are outside the scope of the State’s authority and the Initiative process.
Advocates of the MLPA process have voiced their intention of hearing the concerns of Tribes and other ocean users. Tuesday, former Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin wrote a guest opinion for the Times-Standard where she proclaimed, “My fellow (MLPA) task force members share a mutual interest in ensuring that traditional tribal uses of the ocean are preserved…”
However, local Indians say that the task force’s actions betray such sentiments. “If she was really concerned about preserving Tribal practices, maybe Ms. Strom-Martin should ensure Tribal members and Tribal scientists are involved in the process,” suggested Myers.
The Coastal Justice Coalition is a group of regional tribal members who agree that the State of California has no right to regulate tribal gathering.
danbacher by Dan Bacher
Fearing the overwhelming opposition to his $11.14 water bond (Proposition 18), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today said he will work with the Legislature to postpone the controversial initiative until 2012 to “avoid jeopardizing its passage.”
“After reviewing the agenda for this year, I believe our focus should be on the budget — solving the deficit, reforming out of control pension costs and fixing our broken budget system,” said Schwarzenegger. “It’s critical that the water bond pass, as it will improve California’s economic growth, environmental sustainability and water supply for future generations.”
Schwarzenegger noted that there are precedents for legislators delaying bond measures that they placed on the ballot. For example, state leaders in May 2004 passed a bill to delay voting on the high-speed rail bond until November 2006. They later delayed the vote again until November 2008, when it eventually passed as Proposition 1A.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), who collaborated with Schwarzenegger to pass the water policy-bond package through the special legislative session last November without the input of fishermen, Delta farmers, California Indian Tribes, environmental justice communities and the majority of environmental groups, supported the Governor’s call to postpone the bond.
“Given the challenges currently facing California, I agree with the governor the water bond should be postponed,’’ Steinberg said.
The coalition working for the passage Proposition 18, the Alliance for Clean Water and Jobs, also agreed that the bond should be delayed until 2012.
“The water bond represents a truly comprehensive solution to fix the problems in the Delta, increase conservation and recycling, and expand the availability and quality of water supplies in every region of the state,” said Jim Earp, co-chair of the alliance.
“We’re confident that when presented to voters, they will approve the measure,” Earp claimed. “However, in light of the economic situation, we agree with the Governor and legislative leaders that the best timing for the water bond is in 2012. We support postponing the bond to 2012.”
Opponents of the water bond had mixed reactions to the Governor’s announcement, ranging from wanting to keep the bond on the ballot so it is roundly defeated to asking for the complete scrapping of the bond.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta, said she hopes that the bond will stay on the ballot so Californians can decisively vote it down – just like they did with the peripheral canal in 1982.
“The Governor led the campaign to create this bond, so he owns it,” said Barrigan-Parrilla. “We hope the Legislature continues to support the bond as they did in November. Let California voters decide – we are confident that the voters will vote against the bond.”
“The Governor started this fight and we would like to finish it,” she emphasized.
“We call on the Legislature to scrap this $11 billion bond and start over,” said Jim Metropulos of Sierra Club California. “Even if it is delayed to a future ballot it will continue to be a bad back room deal, hatched in the dark of the night and loaded up with billions of dollars in pork projects to buy off votes.”
“Even if it is delayed to a future ballot, it will still mean billions more dollars in debt for our State,” Metropulos added. “Even if it is delayed to a future ballot, it will not address the key points needed to fix our water infrastructure or create sustainable water policy. Moving the initiative to another election will not lessen our opposition!”
“The legislature is considering pulling Proposition 18 off of the ballot because of a lack of support,” said Elanor Starmer, Western Region Director with Food & Water Watch, a consumer advocacy group that is part of the No on Proposition 18 coalition. “The problem is not the timing of the initiative, but the package itself. Californians will reject this massive bond regardless of when it appears on a ballot because it benefits corporate interests, not Californians.”
The Governor’s statement was preceded just a few hours by the No on the Water Bond’s announcement that the California Teachers Association (CTA) State Council voted during its June meeting to oppose Proposition 18.
“We can’t afford an $11 billion water bond,” said David Sanchez, President of CTA. “With an already outrageous budget deficit, California can’t afford an additional $1 billion every year, taking even more money away from our students, our schools and other essential services.”
Proposition 18, the so-called Safe, Clean and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010, would end up costing the state of California $22 billion once the interest is factored in.
The $11.14 billion water bond is part and parcel of the campaign by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and corporate agribusiness to build a peripheral canal and new dams, according to bond opponents. The canal is likely to result in the extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, green sturgeon and southern resident killer whales populations. The peripheral canal/tunnel would cost $23 billion to $53.8 billion at a time when California has slashed the budgets for teachers, game wardens, state parks and health care for children.
No on the Water Bond (Proposition 18) is sponsored by a coalition of consumer, education, environmental, fishing, farming, tribal, labor and social justice organizations opposed to the water bond.
Proposition 18 opponents include the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Food and Water Watch, Friends of the River, Inter-Tribal Water Commission, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Planning and Conservation League, Restore the Delta, Sierra Club California, United Farmworkers Union and Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
Supporters of Proposition 18 include the Association of California Water Agencies, California Chamber of Commerce, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Western Growers Association and Westlands Water District. Two environmental NGOs, the Nature Conservancy California and Audubon California, back the bond.
danbacher by Dan Bacher
The California Teachers Association (CTA) State Council voted at its June meeting to oppose Proposition 18, the water bond that will be on the November ballot, according to an announcement from the No on the Water Bond Committee.
“We can’t afford an $11.14 billion water bond,” said David Sanchez, President of CTA. “With an already outrageous budget deficit, California can’t afford an additional $1 billion every year, taking even more money away from our students, our schools and other essential services.”
Another union, the United Farmworkers Union (UFW), announced its opposition to the water bond in an opinion piece written by UFW president Arturo Rodriguez in the San Francisco Chronicle in February. “The water bond that was recently approved by our lawmakers will give agricultural companies billions more in subsidized water,” Rodriguez (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/22/ED7U1BUUH3.DTL).
Proposition 18, the so-called Safe, Clean and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010, will end up costing the state of California $22 billion once the interest is factored in.
“Proposition 18 opponents are urging a NO vote because back-room deals added billions of pork projects to the measure,” the Committee stated. “Legislators and potential beneficiaries of water bond projects got their own items inserted into the bill at the last minute, increasing the cost of the bond on a daily basis.”
The $11.14 billion water bond is part and parcel of the campaign by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and corporate agribusiness to build a peripheral canal and new dams. The canal is likely to result in the extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, green sturgeon and southern resident killer whales populations. The peripheral canal/tunnel would cost $23 billion to $53.8 billion at a time when California has slashed the budgets for teachers, game wardens, state parks and health care for children.
No on the Water Bond (Proposition 18) is sponsored by a coalition of consumer, education, environmental, fishing, farming, tribal, labor and social justice organizations opposed to the water bond that will be on the statewide ballot in November.
Other Proposition 18 opponents include the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Food and Water Watch, Friends of the River, Inter-Tribal Water Commission, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Planning and Conservation League, Restore the Delta, Sierra Club California and Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
Supporters of Proposition 18, united under the banner of the “Alliance for Clean Water and Jobs,” include the Association of California Water Agencies, California Chamber of Commerce, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Western Growers Association and Westlands Water District. Two environmental NGOs, the Nature Conservancy California and Audubon California, back the bond.
danbacher by Dan Bacher
The California Assembly’s Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife will hold a hearing in the afternoon today (June 29) on a bill, SB 565, that would give the State Water Resources Control Board new penalty and investigative powers dealing with water rights.
SB 565 is sponsored by Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) and co-sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. While it is supported by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, the bill is opposed by Restore the Delta and other groups.
“This bill would increase the Board’s fines for illegal diversions (which have not been updated in nearly 20 years) to keep pace with inflation,” said Barry Nelson of NRDC. “It would provide other enforcement related tools as well. An effective enforcement program would increase the incentives to discourage illegal water diversions.”
He added, “This, of course, would help the troubled Bay-Delta system and other degraded rivers. But it would also benefit legal diverters, who can face water shortages and increased regulatory burdens as a result of illegal pumping.”
However, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta, said the bill will reduce or eliminate existing due process and property rights protections for California water rights holders.
“This bill allows the State Water Board to review and revise any water right without cause, giving this agency new invasive power to inspect private property for vaguely defined purposes to ascertain whether the beneficial purposes of water use are being met,” said Barrigan-Parrilla.
Barrigan-Parrilla said SB 565 “shifts the burden” of proving forfeiture of a water right to the water right holder – dramatically increasing the likelihood of a frivolous lawsuit being filed by a third party.
“The bill forces property owners to pay for the extremely costly engineering reports that will ultimately be used against them by third party litigants,” said Barrigan-Parrilla. ”It also increases exponentially the penalty to reflect the “market value” of water (regardless of the actual value of the water to the user).”
These provisions were considered for inclusion in last year’s SBx7 5 on water rights enforcement, but were ultimately abandoned for lack of support.
“Many Delta farmers believe, and we concur, that these new authorities will be used to litigate Delta farmers out of existence,” said Barrigan-Parrilla. “By keeping Delta farmers in a position of defense, those who want to usurp their water rights will keep the financial pressure on, forcing Delta farmers to “sell” the farm. This is a blatant attempt to rewrite the California water code to justify taking away the historical water rights held by Delta families.”
She emphasized, “What is even more shameful about this proposed legislation is that it does not help to meet the long term environmental needs of the Delta, but actually sets the stage for even more water diversions.”
The legislation is being considered at a time when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is campaigning for the construction of a peripheral canal and new dams. The canal is likely to result in the extinction of Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, green sturgeon and other collapsing fish species.
danbacher | by Dan Bacher
Virginia Strom-Martin’s claim in the Eureka Times-Standard on June 29 that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fast-track MLPA Initiative is “the most open and transparent process” that she has ever been involved with is mind boggling. The truth is that Schwarzenegger’s MLPA Initiative is a privately funded process overseen by oil industry, marina development, real estate and other corporate interests. Rather than truly protecting the ocean as the landmark law originally intended to do, the MLPA Initiative under Schwarzenegger has completely taken water pollution, habitat destruction, oil drilling, wave energy projects and all other human uses of the ocean other than fishing and seaweed harvesting off the table. I have a series of questions to ask Strom-Martin, a former Assemblywoman for District 1, and other proponents of Schwarzenegger’s MLPA process. Why is Strom-Martin, a former Democratic legislator, now collaborating in the implementation of the failed ocean policy of Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the worst Governor for fish and the environment in history? This is the same Governor has presided over the unprecedented collapse of Central Valley chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, striped bass and other fish populations. Why did the Governor and MLPA officials install an oil industry lobbyist, a marina developer, a real estate executive and other corporate interests as “marine guardians” to kick Indian Tribes, fishermen and seaweed harvesters, the greatest defenders of the oceans, off the ocean? Why is Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, allowed to make decisions as the chair of the BRTF for the South Coast and as a member of the BRTF for the North Coast, panels that are supposedly designed to “protect” the ocean, when she has called for new oil drilling off the California coast? Why has the Initiative shown no respect for tribal subsistence and ceremonial rights to date? This is an overt violation of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Article 32, Section 2, of the Declaration mandates “free prior and informed consent” in consultation with the indigenous population affected by a state action (http://www.iwgia.org/sw248.asp ). Why did MLPA staff until recently violate the Bagley-Keene Act and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by banning video and audio coverage of the initiative’s work sessions? Why do the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) and Science Advisory Team continue to violate the California Public Records Act by refusing to respond to numerous requests by Bob Fletcher, former DFG Deputy Director, for key documents and records pertaining to the MLPA implementation process? Why does the initiative discard the results of any scientists who disagree with the MLPA’ pre-ordained conclusions? These include the peer reviewed study by Dr. Ray Hilborn, Dr. Boris Worm and 18 other scientists, featured in Science magazine in July 2009, that concluded that the California current had the lowest rate of fishery exploitation of any place studied on the planet. Why do MLPA staff and the California Fish and Game Commission refuse to hear the pleas of the representatives of the California Fish and Game Wardens Association, who oppose the creation of any new MPAs until they have enough funding for wardens to patrol existing reserves? Finally, why is a private corporation, the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, being allowed to privatize ocean resource management in California through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the DFG? “It is only by working together that we can ensure a healthy ocean and successfully teach future generations to be good stewards for our precious community assets,” Strom-Martin claims. How can she possibly conclude that a privately funded initiative filled with so many conflicts of interest and violations of state, federal and international laws will result in a “healthy ocean?” In her guest opinion, Strom Martin also proclaimed, “My fellow (MLPA) task force members share a mutual interest in ensuring that traditional tribal uses of the ocean are preserved…” However, local tribal members say that the task force’s actions contradict their claims. “If she was really concerned about preserving tribal practices, maybe Ms. Strom-Martin should ensure tribal members and tribal scientists are involved in the process,” suggested Frankie Joe Myers, a Yurok Tribe ceremonial leader and a member of the Coastal Justice Coalition, the group of American Indian activists from throughout the North Coast that took over the MLPA science advisory team’s meeting in Eureka on June 29. Tribal members affirm that they will keep gathering and fishing in traditional areas, regardless of what state officials or members of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the North Coast such as Strom-Martin decide. “Tribes have always had the inherent right to gather – whether the state makes it legal or not is their choice,” said Georgiana Myers, Yurok Tribal member and organizer for the Klamath Justice Coalition. “The Yurok Tribe has been gathering since the beginning of time. We have always done it, we will always do it, and we feel that the MLPA is the biggest attempt in the last 30 years to take away tribal gathering and fishing rights.” Below is Virginia Strom-Martin’s guest opinion in the Eureka Times-Standard shamelessly celebrating Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fast-track Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative: MLPA: A more holistic approach to protecting our ocean resources Virginia Strom-Martin/For the Eureka Times-Standard As a fifth generation resident, I share a deep connection with my North Coast neighbors. As local citizens, we treasure the breathtaking natural beauty that surrounds us and draw renewed inspiration from the rich history that has woven together this unique community. I’m not alone when I say the North Coast is truly unique – it is unlike any other region along California’s vast coastline. This is why I have been a lifelong advocate for the community, first as an educator seeking to improve our school system to successfully prepare our next generation of local and national leaders and later as a California State Assembly member, where my interest in maintaining a vibrant ocean economy led me to chair the Joint Legislative Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. A more holistic, long-term perspective is required to improve our community livelihood. This is equally true with respect to protecting our ocean resources. Last year I was appointed to the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Blue Ribbon Task Force to help ensure that local community involvement and knowledge is utilized in the creation of the north coast portion of a statewide network of marine protected areas (MPAs). The MLPA North Coast Study Region encompasses state waters from the California-Oregon border to Alder Creek near Point Arena in Mendocino County. As the most open and transparent process I have ever been involved in, the MLPA Initiative continues to impress me. The initiative utilizes every available means to seek the advice of residents every step of the way. It incorporates local expertise along with the best scientific knowledge in an effort to more holistically protect the ocean ecosystem we are highly dependent upon for our food, spiritual traditions, recreational enjoyment and economic livelihoods. The eight-member task force’s role includes ensuring that all voices are heard throughout the north coast MPA planning process. My fellow task force members and I share a mutual interest in ensuring that traditional tribal uses of the ocean are preserved and that negative economic impacts to the North Coast community are minimized to the extent possible. We also hold strong support for MPA ideas that meet the MLPA’s science and ecosystem-based protection goals to support long-term success of the statewide network and ideas that receive broad, cross-interest support from the community. The tough task of developing MPA proposals is currently underway by the diverse interests from Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties represented on the 33-member North Coast regional stakeholder group. The group has developed four draft MPA proposals, which will be further refined following public input provided at a series of public open houses on July 6 through July 8 throughout the North Coast Study Region. The Humboldt area open houses will be held on Wednesday, July 7, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center in Eureka and on Thursday, July 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Redwood National and State Parks South Operations Center in Orick. Members of the public are invited to attend, at any time, during one of these “open house” events. The events offer stakeholders, MLPA staff and task force members the chance to engage in informal one-on-one conversations with community members to gather input and provide feedback on the four draft MPA proposals developed thus far by the stakeholder group. The stakeholder group members will use this input when they meet later this summer to begin refining their MPA proposals. At the open houses, you will also have the opportunity to speak with MLPA staff to learn more about the North Coast MPA planning process, have questions answered, and discuss how these MPA ideas will help meet the science and ecosystem goals to improve marine life, habitats and overall ocean health as required by the act. The success of this effort requires local expertise and input from the diverse perspectives that comprise our unique community. All voices are needed to develop a strong network that works for everyone – and, most importantly, helps protect the marine life and underwater habitats upon which they depend that are a vital component of our local community. I hope you will attend one of the upcoming open houses, and continue to provide input until the proposals are completed later this year. It is only by working together that we can ensure a healthy ocean and successfully teach future generations to be good stewards for our precious community assets. Virginia Strom-Martin, former Assemblywoman (District 1) and Sonoma coast resident.
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danbacher Event highlight: Report back from the 2010 U.S. Social Forum
Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 6:30pm, Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St. (between N & O) Sacramento
Local activists joined 20,000 grassroots activists in strategizing the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis at the forum held June 22-26 in Detroit (www.ussf2010.org). They will provide updates on issues covered at the forum, including: Ecojustice and the Rights of Mother Earth, Reclaiming our Commons, the Human Right to Health & Healthcare, Revoking Corporate Personhood & Corporate Constitutional Rights, Rebuilding the anti-war, anti-occupation movement, 3rd parties, and the Nationwide call for Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) to end Israel’s human rights violations. FMI 916-448-7157; sacpeace@dcn.org
June 2010 Sacramento Area Peace Events
Tuesday, Jun 29, 4 – 6pm, End the Occupations NOW! vigil, 16th & J, Sac 916-448-7157.
Tuesday, Jun 29, 6:30pm, Report back from U.S. Social Forum from local activists who will have just returned from the forum in Detroit. Luna’s 1414 16th (between N & O), Sacramento. FMI 916-448-7157
Wednesday, Jun 30, 4 – 5pm, Veterans for Peace, Sacramento Chapter Weekly Vigil. 15th & L, Sac. FMI: 916-456-4595
July 2010 Sacramento Peace Events
Tuesday, Jul 6, 4 – 6pm, End the Occupations NOW! weekly vigil, 16th & J, Sac 916-448-7157.
Wednesday, Jul 7, 4 – 5pm, Veterans for Peace, Sacramento Chapter Weekly Vigil. 15th & L, Sac. FMI: 916-456-4595
Saturday, Jul 10, 6:30 – 8:30pm, Anti-occupation/peace vigil at 2nd Saturday Art Walk. 20th & J Sts, Sac. Demand Peace Now in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine! Use our signs or bring your own. Veterans for Peace, 916-698-8131.
Saturday, Jul 10, 6pm, 21st US Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba, Spiritual Awareness Center, 1275 Starboard Dr., West Sacramento. Potluck, open to all. Donations welcome. FMI: kenaislive@yahoo.com; 916-225-5846.
Sunday, Jul 11, 1 – 4:30pm, Art for Haiti in support of ongoing earthquake relief in Haiti; Urban Hive, 1931 H Street, Sac. Info: 916-761-4260 or info@midtownfriends.org.
Sunday, Jul 11, 6pm, Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International Second Sunday Film at Sol Collective: Favela Rising, tells the story of Anderson Sá, a former drug-trafficker who turns social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro’s dangerous hillside slums. Through hip-hop music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance he rallies his community to counteract the violent oppression of drug gangs and corrupt police. Sol Collective 2574 21st St, Sac. Free Admission. Info: contact@amnestysacramento.org
Tuesday, Jul 13, 4 – 6pm, End the Occupations NOW! weekly vigil, 16th & J, Sac 916-448-7157.
Tuesday, Jul 13, 6pm, Amnesty International Tuesday Film at Luna’s: Worse than War – The Film. The first major documentary to explore the phenomenon of genocide and how we can stop it. Luna’s Cafe, 1414 16th St, Sac. Info: contact@amnestysacramento.org Free Admission.
Wednesday, Jul 14, 4 – 5pm, Veterans for Peace, Sacramento Chapter Weekly Vigil. 15th & L, Sac. FMI: 916-456-4595
Tuesday, Jul 20, 4 – 6pm, End the Occupations NOW! weekly vigil, 16th & J, Sac 916-448-7157.
Tuesday, Jul 20, 6:30pm, Palestine Taskforce meeting, 909 12th St, Sac; 916-448-7157
Wednesday, Jul 21, 4 – 5pm, Veterans for Peace, Sacramento Chapter Weekly Vigil. 15th & L, Sac. FMI: 916-456-4595
Wednesday, Jul 21, 7:15pm, CAAC Goes to the Movies: Slingshot Hip Hop, weaves together the stories of young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. 1640 9th Ave, Sac. Info: 916-446-3304
Tuesday, Jul 27, 4 – 6pm, End the Occupations NOW! weekly vigil, 16th & J, Sac 916-448-7157.
Tuesday, Jul 27, 7pm, 4th Tuesday Films: The 800 Mile Wall, highlights the construction of the new border walls along the U.S.-Mexico border as well as the effect on migrants trying to cross into the U.S. This film looks at a failed U.S. border strategy that many believe has caused the death of thousands of migrants and violates fundamental human rights. 909 12th St. Sac. Info: 916-448-7157.
Tuesday, Jul 27, 7pm, Film: The 800 Mile Wall Since border walls have been built, over 5,000 migrant bodies have been recovered in U.S. deserts, mountains and canals. Some unofficial reports put the death toll as high as 10,000 men, women and children. As a direct result of U.S. border policy, migrants are forced to cross treacherous deserts and mountains in search of low paying jobs in the United States. The 800 Mile Wall documents, in great detail, the ineffective and deadly results of a failed border policy and offers some thoughts and on how the current human rights crisis may be resolved. 909 12th St, Sacramento. FMI: 916-448-7157
Wednesday, Jul 28, 4 – 5pm, Veterans for Peace, Sacramento Chapter Weekly Vigil. 15th & L, Sac. FMI: 916-456-4595
danbacher by Dan Bacher
Big Sheet Cinema in conjunction with “Boycott BP” will present a re-screening of “Black Wave on Thursday, July 1 at 7 p.m. at Davisville Apartments, 1221 Kennedy Place in Davis, California.
The doors will opens at 6:30 p.m., with a short “short” preceding the film. The event is free, but donations are appreciated.
In the early hours of March 24th, 1989 the Exxon Valdez oil supertanker ran aground in Alaska. It discharged millions of gallons of crude oil. The incident was the biggest environmental catastrophe in North American history prior to the ongoing BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
For twenty years, Riki Ott and the fishermen of the little town of Cordova, Alaska have waged the longest legal battle in U.S. history against the world’s most powerful oil company – ExxonMobil. In this film, they tell us all about the environmental, social and economic consequences of the black wave that changed their lives forever. This is the legacy of the Exxon Valdez.
Just as Ott and the fishermen of Cordova are fighting Exxon Mobil, a coalition of fishermen, Indian Tribes, fishermen and environmentalists are now battling Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s corrupt Marine Life Protection (MLPA) Initiative and its domination by oil industry, marina development, real estate and other corporate interests. Rather than protect the ocean as the MLPA was originally designed, the MLPA Initiative has taken water pollution, habitat destruction, oil drilling, wave energy projects and all human uses of the ocean other than fishing and seaweed harvesting off the table.
The MLPA has set a dangerous precedent for the privatization of public trust resources and resource management in California. A private corporation, the shadowy and unaccountable Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, funds the MLPA Initiative.
In one of the most outrageous examples of greenwashing in California history, Schwarzenegger installed Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, as the chair of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast. Reheis-Boyd has called repeatedly for new oil drilling off the California coast. What kind of “marine guardian” is this?
Under Schwarzenegger, the MLPA Initiative has openly violated numerous state, federal and international laws including the California Public Records Act, Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, American Indian Religious Freedom Act, and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
I urge you to see this film about a brave group of fishermen standing up to a powerful corporation, just like fishermen, tribes and conservationists are standing up the Schwarzenegger’s MLPA fiasco.
The screening takes place in the community room of the Davisville Apartments, 1221 Kennedy Place, Davis, CA. which is located just off J Street, one short block South of Covell in east Davis. Kennedy Place is one block long with a grassy island in the middle of the street.
If you are driving, when you get to the end of the grassy island and before you get to the round-about make a left turn into the parking lot and park to your right in the eastern portion of the lot if you want to minimize your short walk to the community room. There are lots of parking spaces available.
If you bicycle… you may bike past the round-about directly to the meeting space.
In either case you will find the screening room straight ahead after you pass the first round-about just outside the apartment complex grounds. There is a large concrete area immediately in front of the meeting room at the second round-about.
For more information, contact Rodney Robinson at rodney@cal.net.
danbacher by Dan Bacher
A visit by a Russian president and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative may at first not seem to have much in common, but both represent the Governor’s relentless drive to privatize the state’s public trust resources.
On June 22, Schwarzenegger welcomed Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev on a historic visit to California. During Medvedev’s trip, Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, head of the Renova Group of Companies, signed an agreement with Schwarzenegger to provide “substantial financial support” to keep Fort Ross State Historic Park open.
“Operating hours have been reduced at the park as a result of the state’s fiscal crisis,” according to a news release from the Governor’s Office. “The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) confirms that a charitable foundation created by Renova will provide financial support for Fort Ross. Renova’s foundation also plans to be involved in programs and activities at Fort Ross and intends to help make Fort Ross a center for cross-cultural exchange between Russia and California,”
“This agreement highlights the diverse history of California and the importance of the Russian culture to our state,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “It is exciting to see Renova get involved in preserving this important park and create a public-private partnership to increase the services at Fort Ross at no cost to taxpayers.”
Renova is Russia’s “leading private business group” that consists of asset management companies and direct and portfolio investment funds owning and managing assets in metals, mining, oil, machine building, mining , construction, development, energy, telecommunications, nanotechnologies, utilities and financial sector in Russia and abroad, according to the group’s website, http://www.renova.ru/osnova-eng/index.html.
The value of Renova Group assets as of January 2008 was $24.77 billion. Renova invests in Russia, Switzerland, Italy, South Africa, Ukraine, Atvia, Kinghzia, Mongolia and other countries. The Strategy of Renova Group is targeted “at the acquisition of assets in industries with a significant growth and consolidation potential.”
If this “public-private partnership” goes the way of another privatized process, the MLPA Initiative, it is likely to be a complete disaster for Californians and our public trust resources.
On the day after the MOA between Vekselberg and Schwarzenegger was signed, a joint press release issued by the MLPA Initiative and the Department of Fish and Game announced the holding of five “open house” events for the Northern California community from July 6 to 8.
These MLPA open houses have been scheduled in northern California for the public to “review and provide input” on four draft proposals for the MLPA North Coast Study Region, which covers state waters from the California/Oregon border to Alder Creek near Point Arena in Mendocino County, according to Annie Reisewitz, MLPA Initiative spokesman.
The five open houses are scheduled for:
• Tuesday, July 6, 2010: 5:00-7:30 p.m., C.V. Starr Community Center, 300 South Lincoln Street, Fort Bragg, CA
• Wednesday, July 7, 2010: 8:00-10:00 a.m., The Octagon/Beginnings, 5 Cemetery Road, Briceland, CA
• Wednesday, July 7, 2010: 5:00-7:30 p.m., Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, 921 Waterfront Drive, Room 211, Eureka, CA
• Thursday, July 8, 2010: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Redwood National and State Parks, South Operations Center, 121200 Hwy. 101, Orick, CA
• Thursday, July 8, 2010: 5:00-7:30 p.m., Elk Valley Rancheria Community Center, 2332 Howland Hill Road, Crescent City, CA
“We are seeking additional input from the local community to help re-design California’s marine protected areas into a cohesive coastal network that adequately protects diverse marine life and their habitats,” gushed Ken Wiseman, executive director of the MLPA Initiative. “These events offer members of the public one-on-one conversation opportunities with stakeholders and staff with regard to the draft MPA proposals and to directly provide their input.”
Unfortunately, what Wiseman and Reisewitz failed to tell you is that this “cohesive coastal network” does very little to “adequately protect diverse marine life and their habitats.”
That’s because when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger privatized the MLPA process in 2004 by allowing a private corporation, the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, to fund the process, true marine protection was completely taken off the table.
The MLPA, a landmark law passed by the Legislature and signed by then Governor Gray Davis in 1999, is very broad in its scope. The law was intended to not only restrict or prohibit fishing in a network of “marine protected areas,” but to restrict or prohibit other human activities including coastal development and water pollution.
“Coastal development, water pollution, and other human activities threaten the health of marine habitat and the biological diversity found in California’s ocean waters,” the law states in Fish and Game Code Section 2851, section c.
The law defines a “Marine life reserve,” as “a marine protected area in which all extractive activities, including the taking of marine species, and, at the discretion of the commission and within the authority of the commission, other activities that upset the natural ecological functions of the area, are prohibited. While, to the extent feasible, the area shall be open to the public for managed enjoyment and study, the area shall be maintained to the extent practicable in an undisturbed and unpolluted state” (Fish and Game Code 2852, section d).
Unfortunately, the Schwarzenegger administration has taken all other “human uses” and “extractive activities” other than fishing and seaweed harvesting off the table in the implementation of the MLPA process. The MLPA fiasco does nothing to stop water pollution, oil drilling, and wave energy projects or other activities from destroying fish and other marine life populations in California’s coastal waters. Furthermore, the law would do nothing to stop an ecological catastrophe like the Exxon Valdez in Alaska or the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from devastating the California coast.
A courageous group of fisherman and conservationists exposed the “Green Governor” for doing nothing to stop pollution and other activities other than fishing in a protest they held at the Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles on September 30, 2009.
“The Marine Life Protection Act currently being implemented in Southern California by the administration was supposed to be comprehensive, addressing all aspects that affect the ocean, like pollution, coastal development and fishing,” said protest organizer Wendy Tochihara. “However, the Governor has abandoned sound science and is instead only duplicating existing fishing ban laws.”
The MLPA process under Schwarzenegger not only fails to adequately protect the ocean, but John Stephens-Lewallen, co founder of the Seaweed Rebellion and the Ocean Protection Coalition, and other North Coast environmental leaders believe that it paves the way for new oil drilling off the California coast.
Stephens-Lewallen and other opponents of the MLPAI have criticized Schwarzenegger for appointing Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, as the chair of the MLPA Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast. She also now serves on the North Central Coast task force and served on the North Coast task force charged with implementation of the MLPA in one of the most overt examples of corporate greenwashing in California history.
Catherine Reheis-Boyd recently affirmed her support for new offshore oil rigs in spite of the BP spill’s devastation, in her commentary, “Gulf Oil Spill Comments,” on the association’s website, http://www.wspa.org.
“The tragic Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in California Governor Schwarzenegger’s withdrawal of his support for limited offshore oil development near Santa Barbara,” said Reheis-Boyd. “WSPA has not taken a position on specific offshore projects. But we have been vocal about our views that California businesses and consumers would benefit from development of the huge reserves of petroleum off the California coast, in both state and federal waters.”
Other corporate interests who preside over the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force include members William (Bill) Anderson and Gregory F. Schem.
Anderson has been president and chief operating officer of Westrec Marinas since 1989. Westrec Marinas is the nation’s largest owner and operator of waterfront marinas.
Schem is president and chief executive officer of Harbor Real Estate Group, specializing in marina and waterfront real estate investments, including a marina, fuel dock, and boat yard in Marina del Rey, in addition to other California assets.
How can anybody possibly claim that the MLPA Initiative “protects” the oceans when the Governor has appointed oil company, real estate and marina development interests – all of whom all have a direct stake in how marine reserves are implemented and designated – to decision making positions on MLPA panels? This is a classic scenario of the Governor appointing the foxes to watch over the henhouse.
Besides failing to protect California coastal waters from other human uses than fishing in waters that already feature the largest marine protected area in the United States (the Rockfish Conservation Area), the MLPA Initiative has openly violated numerous state, federal and international laws. These include the California Public Records Act, Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, American Indian Religious Freedom Act, and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
It’s clear that public trust resources are being rapidly privatized under Schwarzenegger, whether it’s state ocean waters under the corrupt MLPA Initiative, funded by the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, or the MOU with the Renova Group of Companies. The MLPA Initiative and MOU with Renova are likely to clear the way for increasing privatization of coastal lands and state ocean and bay waters unless we stop this land and resource grab.
At the same time, Schwarzenegger and his allies are campaigning for a $11.14 billion water bond that will lead to further privatization of water by rich corporate growers such as Stewart Resnick, owner of Paramount Farms. The water bond will facilitate the construction of new dams and a peripheral canal, a project that is likely to result in the extinction of imperiled Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, green sturgeon and southern resident killer whales. The canal will cost an estimated $23 billion to $53.8 billion at a time when the state is in the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.
For more information about the MLPA Initiative proposals and “open houses,” please see http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa. For more information about the campaign against the Water Bond, go to http://www.nowaterbond.com.
danbacher
“Scott River water depletion has gotten so bad that today coho salmon are on the verge of extinction there, once one of their major refuges,” noted Glen Spain, PCFFA Northwest Regional Director.
Photo of dry Scott River bed courtesy of the Klamath Riverkeeper.
dry-scottriver-aug-23-09-…
For immediate release Date: June 24, 2010
Press Contacts:
Glen Spain (PCFFA) (541)689-2000
Jim Wheaton (ELF) (510)208-4555
Jennifer Maier (ELF) (510)208-4555
FISHING AND CONSERVATION GROUPS SUE OVER POOR WATER MANAGEMENT ON NORTHERN CALIFORNIA’S SCOTT RIVER
The State and County have allowed groundwater depletion and damage to
ESA-listed coho runs in violation of the Public Trust.
Sacramento, CA — On June 24th, the west coast’s largest trade association of commercial fishing families, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), teamed up with the California conservation organization Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) to jointly file a landmark lawsuit against the California State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) and Siskiyou County for their joint failure to leave enough water in the river to protect endangered and threatened salmon in Northern California’s Scott River.
The case (Environmental Law Foundation, et al. vs. State Water Resources Control Board and Siskiyou County, filed in the Superior Court of Sacramento County) alleges widespread violations of the Public Trust Doctrine, resulting from years of rubber-stamp Water Board and County approvals of well permits that have seriously depleted the local aquifer, creating severe water depletion of Northern California’s Scott River, once an important salmon-bearing tributary to the Klamath River and still the home of federally and state protected Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed coho salmon.
“Scott River water depletion has gotten so bad that today coho salmon are on the verge of extinction there, once one of their major refuges,” noted Glen Spain, PCFFA Northwest Regional Director. “All the while, the state’s water agencies have been looking the other way and doing little to stop it. But rivers and their fish are public resources, and public agencies are obligated to protect them, not deplete them.”
The Public Trust Doctrine, which goes all the way back to the laws of the Roman Emperor Justinian issued in 535 A.C.E, requires the waters of the State (and its aquatic wildlife) to be held in public trust for the common good, and therefore to be protected by the State against depletion or damage by private interests.
The California Supreme Court recognized that the Public Trust Doctrine applies to water management in California rivers in the landmark 1983 “Mono Lake Case” (National Audubon Society vs. Superior Court, 33 Cal.3d 419 (1983)) but has not yet ruled on how this Doctrine would apply to groundwater depletion that in turn affects nearby river flows.
This case is likely to set new legal precedent on this key water issue at a time when many of California’s aquifers are suffering widespread depletion, drying up many aquifer-fed streams. Yet California is one of only two US states (the other being Texas) that does not manage its own groundwater, leaving groundwater management entirely to the Counties instead, who have neither the expertise nor the political will to develop or enforce aquifer drawdown limits. Many of California’s aquifers also span multiple counties.
Groundwater aquifers in the Scott Valley have been increasingly depleted by well permits issued by the County, and low water aquifers reduce the flows from springs that feed cold groundwater into the river itself. Depleted aquifers mean a depleted river where fish now die by the droves nearly every year. But the County continues to give out new well permits anyway.
State law, however, acknowledges the connection between surface water flows and groundwater aquifers in the Scott sub-basin and provides for state regulation of Scott River “groundwater supplies which are interconnected with the Scott River” at Cal. Fish & Game Code Sec. 2500.5. However, the State Water Board has not used that authority in more than 30 years.
Coho salmon inhabiting the Scott River have so diminished in numbers in recent years that they have been protected as “threatened with extinction” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. § 1531, et seq.) since May 6, 1997 (62 Fed Reg. 24,588). Scott River coho salmon have also been protected since August 30, 2002 under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) (Cal. Fish & Game Code § 2050, et seq.).
The Scott River has also been federally listed under the ESA as “critical habitat” for ESA-listed coho salmon since May 5, 1999 (64 Fed. Reg. 24,049). The California Fish and Game Commission also adopted a Recovery Strategy for California Coho Salmon on February 4, 2004 which contains numerous measures to protect coho salmon in the Scott River basin.
Yet state and federally protected coho salmon are now down to double-digit numbers in the Scott River, where they once sheltered in the thousands. Only 81 ESA-listed coho came back to that river in 2009, according to California Department of Fish and Game fish surveys. Most biologists believe a population size of at least 500 is required to truly prevent extinction.
Chinook salmon and steelhead also spawn and rear within the Scott River, and their numbers too are today greatly diminished from their historical abundance, for the same reasons.
“The Public Trust ensures that our waters are protected for everyone, not just those who can take it,” noted Jim Wheaton, with Environmental Law Foundation. “Where one person’s take harms other uses and the public, the Public Trust Doctrine requires the State to protect the public and future generations.”
“Unchecked groundwater pumping is bleeding this river literally dry, driving formerly productive fish runs there to the edge of extinction, and no one is being held accountable,” said Erica Terence of the Klamath Riverkeeper group, which works on salmon conservation issues in the Scott River. “Siskiyou County and the State Water Board have an obligation to the public to close this loophole in Scott River water balancing that allows hay growers to take more than their fair share.”
The Scott River is also vitally important to resident American Indian Tribes who have ancestral lands in the Scott Basin.
“The quality and quantity of Scott River water threatens the existing habitat of the diminishing Scott River salmon runs,” noted Crystal Bowman, Environmental Director for the Quartz Valley Indian Reservation, which is situated within the Scott Valley. “Although local resource agencies attempt to improve these conditions through various programs, un-regulated groundwater pumping greatly contributes to the unsuitable water quality conditions salmon in the Scott River have to face.
“Lowering the water table has negative impacts on surface water depth, velocity, temperature, and connectivity,” she added. “The health of riparian vegetation and nearby environments are also negatively impacted, which prevents the necessary pollutant load reductions from being realized and reduces habitat for a plethora of terrestrial species. It is time to acknowledge these basic ecological principles and coordinate surface and groundwater use in Scott Valley so that the Scott River and its salmon runs can recover before it’s too late.”
“As commercial fishing families, maintaining abundant salmon runs in the Scott River is a bread and butter issue,” concluded PCFFA’s Glen Spain. “Without the Scott River it will be very hard indeed to recover the seriously damaged salmon runs from the Klamath River and bring these runs back into their previous abundance.”
*****
For a copy of the Petition for a Writ of Mandate and a Fact Sheet on the Public Trust Doctrine and how it applies in this case, see ELF’s Current Case Docket at:
http://www.envirolaw.org/currentcases.html
To find out more about the dewatering of the Scott River in 2009, see the Klamath Riverkeeper web site at: http://www.klamathriverkeeper.org/tribs/SOSS.html
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