by Dan Bacher

The recently formed Ocean Access Protection Fund (OAPF) announced on August 31 the launch of its online contribution program through www.OceanAccessProtectionFund.org, allowing this division of United Anglers of Southern California (UASC) to collect online contributions for legal challenges against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative as well as future threats to recreational access to ocean and coastal waters. 

The new site was designed to make it easy for individuals, fishing clubs and businesses to make secure contributions to the OAPF using major credit cards or Paypal. “Contributions to the OAPF will be used solely to support legal action against the MLPA and other policies that restrict recreational fishing access to California waters,” said Steve Fukuto, UASC president, in a press release.

While the OAPF is being spearheaded by UASC, Fukuto said it will be representing the interests of anglers, businesses and others frustrated with the MLPA implementation process across the Southern, Central and North Central California regions. 

The OAPF was created to support legal causes of action against policies that do not recognize the conservation efforts of fishermen and impact recreational anglers’ access to the ocean, according to Fukuto. The MLPA Initiative, a process ridden with conflicts of interests, mission creep and the corruption of the democratic process, is the first project being undertaken by the organizers of the fund.

UASC will direct this effort in collaboration with the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans (PSO) and its industry/conservation partners, which include — in addition to UASC — the American Sportfishing Association, Berkley Conservation Institute, supporting members of the Avalon Tuna Club, Coastside Fishing Club, International Game Fish Association, Kayak Fishing Association of California, National Marine Manufacturers Association, NorCal Kayak Anglers, Shimano Sport Fisheries Institute, Southern California Marine Association, Sportfishing Association of California and Watermen’s Alliance. 

In addition to the website launch, the organization also unveiled its Mission Statement, logo and tagline — Access for All Californians. 

“Establishing an identity for the OAPF is critical, and our logo is an important part of this. It clearly shows that we are fighting for ocean access for all anglers, whether they fish from the shore, pier, boat or kayak. In fact, we’re working on behalf of all people who treasure open access to our ocean and the coast, from sport divers and surfers to swimmers and beachcombers,” Fukuto added.

Legal action on behalf of California anglers has already begun. A top California law firm has been retained and has already filed suit against the flawed MLPA implementation process. The verified petition for writ of mandate and complaint was filed on May 28, 2010 at the Sacramento County Courthouse for violation of the California Public Records Act, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The first court hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on October 1, 2010 in Sacramento Superior Court.

“We believe we have a strong case, an excellent legal team and a sound long-term strategy that can protect ocean access for all Californians. What we need — now more than ever — is for people throughout the state to support this important effort,” said Fukuto.

The online contribution was launched at a time when opposition to Schwarzenegger’s fast-track MLPA Initiative has mushroomed on the North Coast. Over 300 people including members of 50 Tribal Nations, recreational anglers, environmentalists, commercial fishermen, immigrant seafood industry workers and human rights advocates peacefully took control of an MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force in Fort Bragg on July 21 to protest the violation of Tribal rights and corporate greenwashing that has occurred under the privately-funded initiative. 

Critics of the MLPA process charge that oil industry, real estate, marina development and other corporate interests dominate the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces that develop the so-called “marine protected areas.” In fact, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, who has repeatedly called for new oil drilling off the California coast, is the chair of the South Coast task force and sits on the North Coast task force.

The fake “marine protected areas” set up under the controversial process do nothing to protect the ocean from oil drilling, water pollution, wave energy development, habitat destruction or other human uses of the ocean other than fishing. Many believe that the real purpose of the initiative is to kick fishermen and Tribal members, the staunchest defenders of the ocean, off the water to clear a path to offshore oil drilling and ocean industrialization. 

To learn more about the OAPF or make a much-needed contribution, contact UASC headquarters at (562) 494-9900 or visit online at www.OceanAccessProtectionFund.org.

Salmon Water Now Releases the ‘Bullies of Westlands’ Video 

by Dan Bacher 

September 2010 has been designated as “Salmon Month” by the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. To celebrate salmon month, SalmonAid (http://www.salmonaid.org) will be sponsoring a month-long series of exciting events, creating an opportunity to educate the public about what has gone so terribly wrong with California’s once bountiful salmon runs. 

“Salmon Water Now could not let Salmon Month start without adding our two-cents to the educational process,” said Bruce Tokars, the relentless producer of Salmon Water Now videos. “So we have a new video, actually, two new videos.” 

“Bullies of Westlands” is Salmon Water Now’s answer to the reason that wild salmon in such dire shape. The video runs 20:44 minutes and is available on Vimeo uninterrupted and in two parts on YouTube. 

“You knows a bully when you see one,” said Tokars in introducing his latest video. “They use their strength and power to get their way or to influence an outcome.” 

Tokars said a bully can be a person, or an organization. “In California’s on-going struggle over water, the biggest bully of them all is the Westlands Water District on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. We believe that in the last couple of years, the once mighty runs of wild salmon have been decimated by the self-righteous bulling tactics of the Westlands Water District,” he stated. 

This Salmon Water Now video looks at the words and deeds of Westlands, the “Darth Vader” of California water politics, as they push for more and more water to be shipped south of the Delta to irrigate subsidized crops on selenium-laden soil that should have never been irrigated. 

“We see and hear the voices of Westlands and the politicians and media that have been carrying their messages – demanding that their need for water trumps all others,” said Tokars. 

Along the way, Tokars documents the struggle of fishery managers trying to determine how many salmon are in the ocean (not many!). 

He puts the lie to the Westlands claims that reduced water deliveries have put America’s agricultural output in jeopardy. “We contrast the record, surplus crops of tomatoes, and almonds shipped to China, against the low numbers of salmon that are sold domestically for $20 a pound,” noted Tokars. 

“Something is not right,” said Tokars. “The Westlands Water District’s bullying tactics. Their unwillingness to be reasonable in the face of sound science regarding the health of the Delta and the need for balance is not right.” 

However, Tokars emphasized, “It is not too late for Westlands to become good citizens. To accept their role in the tragic reality of wild salmon forced to the edge of extinction. It is not too late for Westlands to actually encourage balance and sharing of water. Will it happen? The odds are against the survival of salmon as long as the bullies of Westlands have their way.” 

I encourage you to watch this superb video and see for yourself. “It is time to make what is wrong, right again. It is time for bullies to be dismissed for what they are. It is time for salmon water, now!” concluded Tokars. 

“Bullies of Westlands” links: 
YouTube Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivU6YLmI5uo&hd=1 
YouTube Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzIc8uVMFUM&hd=1 
Or: 
Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/14323573 

In addition to “Bullies of Westlands,” Tokars has released “Jenna’s Salmon,” a short video about a little girl who caught two very large salmon recently. It is a fish tale that explains the angst over the current salmon season – and what is wrong and what is right, too. 

“Jenna’s Salmon” link: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAyyzJmz5iw&hd=1 

Recreational and commercial fishing for chinook salmon on the ocean off California and Southern Oregon was closed in 2008 and 2009, due to the unprecedented collapse of Central Valley salmon populations. While multiple factors have lead to the demise of Central Valley salmon, none is more significant than massive water exports from the California Delta to corporate agribusiness and Southern California. 

Yet the response of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his collaborators to this unprecedented disaster is to call for the construction of a peripheral canal and new dams to facilitate increased water exports to subsidized agribusiness and Southern California water agencies. 

As usual, sharing and embedding of these videos is encouraged. For more information, contact: Bruce Tokars, http://www.salmonwaternow.org. For more information about SalmonAid, go to: http://www.salmonaid.org.

by Dan Bacher

The North Coast Regional Stakeholder Group (NCRSG) for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative will meet today, August 30, and tomorrow, August 31, at the River Lodge Conference Center, 1800 Riverwalk Drive, Fortuna, CA 95540.

The meeting will begin on Monday, August 30, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. and Tuesday, August 31 at 8:00 a.m. There will be a simultaneous webcast on the day of the meeting at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/meetings_n.asp (for viewing or listening only).

While the Governor’s staff and MLPA proponents claim that the process is “open, inclusive and transparent,” opposition to the conflict-ridden process has spurred the largest political movement on the North Coast since the Redwood Summer of 1990.

The Blue Ribbon Task Force that develops the so-called “marine protected areas” (MPAs) is dominated by oil industry, marina development, real estate and other corporate interests. In fact, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the South Coast task force and now sits on the North Coast task force.

MLPA Initiative opponents criticize MLPA officials for having violated numerous state, federal and international laws, including the Bagley-Keene Public Meetings Act, the California Public Records Act, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The law has taken oil drilling, water pollution, wave energy development, aquaculture, habitat destruction and all other human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering off the table. It would prohibit Tribal fishing and gathering while allowing deep water drilling. The initiative has nothing to do with real ocean protection – it is only a thinly disguised scheme to greenwash Schwarzenegger’s abysmal environmental legacy.

If the process is so “open, inclusive and transparent,” why did 300 Tribal members, fishermen, immigrant workers and environmentalists on July 21 feel so left out of the MLPA process that they had to organize a march and direct action to take over a MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg so their voices would be finally heard?

Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro, the chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, has asked California Resources Secretary Lester Snow to delay the controversial process for at least six months to “ensure that environmental protection is balanced with traditional access rights.

I urge you to sign a petition to support Assemblymen Wesley Chesbro’s call for a six-month delay in the North Coast MLPA process at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/saveoceanacsess/

Second, please sign this petition to the State of California to acknowledge and include Tribal traditional uses within state regulations for marine protected areas of the MLPA nitiative. Go to the Inter-Tribal Water Commission of California website: http://www.itwatercommission.org. There is a link at the bottom of the posting that goes to: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/protect-traditional-lifeways-in-the-marine-life-protection-act/ 

According to Melissa Miller-Henson of the California Natural Resources Agency, two public participation locations will be set up for the public to view the meeting webcast and participate in public comment:

Flynn Center Multipurpose Room, 981 H Street, Crescent City, CA 95531 and the C.V. Starr Community Center, 300 South Lincoln Street Fort Bragg, CA,  95437.

Below is the agenda for the meeting:

California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative North Coast Regional Stakeholder Group Draft Meeting Agenda (revised August 26, 2010)

* This facility is accessible to persons with disabilities. To request reasonable accommodations for a disability, please contact California Relay Service (at least two days prior to the meeting) at 800.735.2929 (TTY) or 800.735.2922 (voice), or contact the California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative at 916.654.1885.

Monday, August 30, 2010 at 9:00 AM Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 8:00 AM River Lodge Conference Center* 1800 Riverwalk Drive Fortuna, CA 95540

Public participation: Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting in person or view and listen to the meeting via simultaneous webcasting on the Internet. Video and audio archives of the meeting may be accessed via the Internet approximately two days after the meeting. Please visit the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) website at www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/meetings_n.asp for more information.

In addition, the following locations will be open to the public to view and participate in the meeting remotely: Flynn Center Multipurpose Room* C.V. Starr Community Center* 981 H Street 300 South Lincoln Street Crescent City, CA 95531 Fort Bragg, CA 95437

Accredited media and members of the public may record MLPA North Coast Regional Stakeholder Group (NCRSG) meetings. An area will be designated in the meeting room for cameras in order to help ensure that NCRSG members can conduct their work with minimal disruption. Accredited media and members of the public interested in video or audio taping an NCRSG meeting are asked to contact the MLPA Initiative media relations team.

Public comment: The public will be invited to provide general comments on the work of the NCRSG during a single public comment period split into two time slots to maximize the opportunity for members of the north coast community to provide input to the NCRSG. The first time slot for public comment will be at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Monday, August 30, 2010 and the second time slot will be at approximately 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 31, 2010.

Individuals are requested to speak on either August 30 or August 31, but not both days. Speaker cards are requested and may be found at the entrance to the room. Time allotted for public comment is determined by the facilitators; submitting written comments that can be easily summarized in one to two minutes is encouraged.

Note that the public comment period is for comments specific to the NCRSG; comments related to other MLPA Initiative activities or groups should be directed to those bodies or MLPA staff. Meeting materials will not be provided at the meeting but will be posted to the MLPA website as soon as they are available.

This agenda may be found on the MLPA website at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/meetings_n.asp.

Note: The NCRSG will hold a voluntary, in-person work session on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 beginning at 8:00 a.m.; a subset of the NCRSG will start the quality control process for specific attribute information for the NCRSG MPA proposal(s), including site-specific rationale, goals and objectives, and other design considerations.

Meeting Objectives

• Develop Round 3 NCRSG marine protected area (MPA) proposal(s) to be forwarded to the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF)

• Ensure accuracy of MPA proposal boundaries, designation types, and allowed uses • Discuss next steps for presenting the Round 3 NCRSG MPA proposal(s) to the BRTF Meeting Agenda – Monday, August 30, 2010 Note: The NCRSG will break for lunch at approximately 12:00 p.m.

I. Updates A. Guidance for Completing Round 3 MPA Proposal(s) and Next Steps for Presentation to BRTF BRIEFING DOCUMENT

A.1: PowerPoint Presentation: Guidance for Completing Round 3 Proposals – Handout Placeholder B. MLPA Master Plan Science Advisory Team BRIEFING DOCUMENT

B.1: Draft Staff Responses to Science Questions Posed During MLPA Public Meetings from July to August 2010 – Handout Placeholder BRIEFING DOCUMENT

B.2: Draft SAT Responses to Science Questions Posed During MLPA Public Meetings from July to August 2010 – Handout Placeholder BRIEFING DOCUMENT

B.3: Draft levels of protection table – Handout Placeholder BRIEFING DOCUMENT

B.4: Draft Methods Used to Evaluate Marine Protected Area Proposals in the MLPA North Coast Study Region (July 27, 2010 draft) BRIEFING DOCUMENT

B.5: Updated Evaluation Methods: Chapter 10. Water and Sediment Quality (revised July 28, 2010) BRIEFING DOCUMENT B.6: Updated Maps for Areas of Water Quality Concern and Areas of Water Quality Opportunity (revised August 16, 2010)

C. Outreach to California Tribes and Tribal Communities BRIEFING DOCUMENT

C.1: Summary of Input from North Coast Tribes and Tribal Communities Regarding the MLPA North Coast Project (input submitted through August 25, 2010) – Handout Placeholder BRIEFING DOCUMENT

C.2: Proposed Uses from North Coast Tribes and Tribal Communities for Round 2 Draft MPA Proposals (input received through August 25, 2010) – Handout Placeholder II. Round 3 MPA Proposal(s)

D. Continue Developing Round 3 MPA Proposal(s) Note: The NCRSG will break for lunch at approximately 12:00 p.m. II. Round 3 MPA Proposal(s) (continued)

E. Complete Round 3 NCRSG MPA Proposal(s)

F. Confirm Round 3 NCRSG MPA Proposal(s) Boundaries, Designation Types and Regulations

III. Next Steps

Adjourn

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Note: The NCRSG will hold a voluntary, in-person work session on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 beginning at 8:00 a.m.; a subset of the NCRSG will start the quality control process for specific attribute information for the NCRSG MPA proposal(s), including site-specific rationale, goals and objectives, and other design considerations. There is no agenda for this work session as NCRSG members will work on specific MPA attribute information either individually or in small groups with the assistance of staff.

by Dan Bacher   

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on August 10 signed Assembly Bill 1265 (Caballero and Jeffries), a measure that would delay the controversial $11.14 billion water bond until November 2012. 

Schwarzenegger signed the bill to delay Proposition 18 the day after it passed through the Assembly on a 54-22 vote – the bare minimum required for a two-thirds vote. The Senate approved the measure on a 27-7 vote earlier that day. 

In contrast with usual plethora of press releases, photos and video clips that the Governor’s Office sends to media outlets whenever he signs a bill, the bill signing was only indicated by a terse announcement from his office that AB 1265 and a companion measure, AB 1260 (Fuller) had been signed. AB 1260 specifies that the newly-appointed members of the California Water Commission are to serve a four-year term, expiring in May 2014. 

The lack of support by Californians for Schwarzenegger’s water bond spurred the Legislature to delay this measure, so there wasn’t really any way that the Governor and his publicists could spin this as a “victory.” Bond opponents, who campaigned for the outright repeal of the bond, still consider the delay a huge victory for environmental justice, imperiled Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations and all Californians. 

“In the end, the push to postpone the bond to 2012 passed by the smallest of margins,” said Elanor Starmer of Food and Water Watch, who described the vote as a situation of “when a loss is still a victory.” 

“It’s not what bond opponents wanted,” Starmer stated. “Ideally, the legislature would have seen the light and scrapped it altogether, or let the voters pull the plug this November so we could get to work on better approaches.” 

However, she noted that despite the passage of a bill that keeps the bond alive for another two years, “bond opponents should claim victory.” 

“The pro-bond lobby, which includes deep-pocketed construction, developer and agribusiness interests, wanted to see the bond passed this year,” she stated. “Passing it was a priority for the Schwarzenegger administration; the governor’s PAC, Schwarzenegger’s California Dream Team, funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the pro-bond campaign.” 

Dave Cogdill, a cosponsor of the bill, and other bond proponents lauded the passage of AB 1265. 

“At the end of last year, the Legislature made history by approving the first major investment in our water infrastructure in almost half a century,” claimed Cogdill, who authored the legislation initially authorizing the bond for voter approval. “Mindful of the current economic slowdown, I support the move to give voters more time to understand this critical investment and give the state’s economy more time to rebound.” 

“We know the decision to move the bond to the November 2012 ballot was a difficult one, but we applaud legislative leaders for working together to guide this through the process and set a new date to place this important measure before the voters,” echoed Paul Kelley, president of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). 

Bond opponents blasted the bond for funding the infrastructure needed to build the peripheral canal and new dams. Due to overwhelming opposition to the bond by fishing groups, environmentalists, Indian Tribes, labor unions, family farmers and Delta residents, the Governor will leave office without setting in place the infrastructure for the canal that he has so relentlessly campaigned for over the past three years. 

A bi-partisan coalition of legislators worked hard to prevent AB 1265 from passing, knowing that the water bond “would not get better with time,” according to the No on 18 Campaign. Assemblymember Jared Huffman, who led the charge in the Assembly to pass last year’s water package, was a vocal opponent of now delaying the bond. 

Legislators of both parties, including the entire Delta delegation of Democrats Mariko Yamada and Joan Buchanan and Republican Bill Berryhill, joined Huffman in the Assembly. Twenty-two assembly members stood firm with the many environmental, fishing, tribal, labor and consumer groups opposing AB 1265. 

In the Senate, Senator Lois Wolk of Davis, another Delta legislator, rallied the Democrats who had opposed the bond last year. Senators Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Para, Leno and Yee joined with Republican George Runner in opposing AB 1265. 

The No on Proposition 18 legislative co-chairs, Senator Lois Wolk (D) and Assemblymember Bill Berryhill (R), portrayed the delay as a victory and vowed to defeat the bond two years from now. 

“While we may have (narrowly) lost the fight to keep the bond on this ballot, we must remember that they’re moving it in the first place because of the hard work and dedication of everyone on this team,” said Assemblymember Bill Berryhill (R – Ceres). “This is a victory for us. As long as we use the next two years to continue to work together and educate people on this bond, I know we can defeat it just as soundly two years from now.” 

“I welcome the action taken to remove the bond from the 2010 ballot, although simply postponing it to 2012 has done nothing to address my concerns or the concerns of the voters,” said Senator Lois Wolk (D – Davis). “It is still bloated with unnecessary pork and still fails to address the most important water issue in the state, the unsustainable over-reliance on the Delta for our water supply.” 

“I intend to get to work with other legislators and water policy advocates on a smart water financing plan that focuses on reducing our reliance on the Delta. A plan that is in touch with our times and recognizes our fiscal realities, not a lobbyist driven wish-list that saddles our children and grandchildren with more and more debt,” said Wolk. 

Representatives of environmental, fishing and tribal groups agreed with Wolk and Berryhill. 

“We heard a laundry list of reasons why the bond is bad for California during the legislative debate on AB 1265,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta. “Yet the legislature voted to keep the measure afloat for another two years. The problems with the bond will only grow more glaring with time.” 

Voter disapproval of the bond has been strong since its razor-thin passage in November 2009 in during a special session called by Schwarzenegger. Faced with certain defeat by the voters in November, Schwarzenegger and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg decided to postpone the bond for two years. 

“The existing bond should have been withdrawn permanently, not delayed,” said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “In 2012, we need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a bond measure that will foster water conservation, water reuse and ground water management and provide permanent protection for the Delta and fish.” 

Mark Franco, headman of the Winnemem Wintu (McCloud River) Tribe, was disappointed by the Legislature’s refusal to repeal the bond at a time that California is in its greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. 

“We’re looking at a massive deficit in the state, with services being cut left and right, and the legislators are still pushing this massive log up a road that leads nowhere,” said Franco. “They’re blocking all traffic to all of the good things that they could be doing, such as promoting water use efficiency programs and making sure that we have sufficient water in the rivers for the salmon and other fish that we are trying to bring back.” 

The work by the broad coalition that organized against the bond and peripheral canal kept the Water Bond from being passed this year but it isn’t over yet. The Governor and his collaborators will continue to push his schemes to build the canal and new dams through his Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) process and the Delta Stewardship Council. 

The peripheral canal, backed by Governor Schwarzenegger, corporate agribusiness, and southern California water agencies, is likely to lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon and southern resident killer whale populations. The canal/tunnel would cost an estimated $23 billion to $53.8 billion, according to economist Steven Kasower. 

Opponents of the water bond include a broad array of environmental, fishing, tribal, consumer, family farming, labor and family farming groups. 

Organizations opposing the bond include the California Teachers Association, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Sea Urchin Commission, Clean Water Action, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Friends of the River, Food and Water Watch, Inter-Tribal Water Commission of California, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Planning and Conservation League, Restore the Delta, Sierra Club California, United Farmworkers Union, Winnemem Wintu Tribe and many others. 

For more information, go to: http://www.VoteNoOn18.org.

The SalmonAID coalition brings together more than two dozen conservation, commercial and sportfishing organizations as well as the West Coast’s best restaurants in order to educate the public about wild salmon and the perils they face across our coast.

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by Dan Bacher

Faced with massive opposition by Indian Tribes, fishermen and environmentalists, officials from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fast-track Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative will hold a “public information session” about the effort to create so-called Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along California’s northern coastline.

The meeting will be held on Sunday, Aug. 29, from 3 to 4 p.m., at the Shelter Cove Fire Station Meeting Hall, 9126 Shelter Cove Road in Shelter Cove, California.

“Adopted into California state law in 1999, the MLPA requires all existing state marine protected areas to be reevaluated, and a statewide system to be created to protect marine life, habitat and ecosystems,” according to a news release from the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG). “The MLPA Initiative is currently in the planning stages for the north coast study region, which includes state waters from the California-Oregon border to Alder Creek near Point Arena.”

“Staffed by members of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, the meeting will provide interested members of the public with information about the scope and process of the effort,” the release stated. “Questions and public input are welcome.”

I have challenged MLPA proponents to answer the following questions that cut to the core of the current MLPA process -and I encourage attendees to challenge MLPA officials with these questions. None have responded yet to my specific questions, but only continue to repeat their unsubstantiated claims that the Initiative is “open, transparent and inclusive” and that anybody who criticizes the initiative is an opponent of “ocean protection.”

Here are the questions:

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 remove Indian Tribes, fishermen and seaweed harvesters from the water by creating so-called “marine protected areas” (MPAS)? Isn’t this very bad public policy?

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? Do we want to see oil rigs off Point Arena, Fort Bragg and other areas of some of the most beautiful coastline of North America?

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?

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 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?

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 has the Initiative shown no respect for tribal subsistence and ceremonial rights?

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).

The MLPA also violates Article 26, Section 3, that declares, “States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the indigenous peoples concerned.”

Why are there no Tribal scientists on the MLPA Science Advisory Team and why were there no Tribal representatives on the Blue Ribbon Task Forces for the Central Coast, North Central Coast or South Coast MLPA Study Regions?

Why does the initiative discard the results of any scientists who disagree with the MLPA’s pre-ordained conclusions? These include the peer reviewed study by Dr. Ray Hilbert, 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 does the MLPA Initiative refuse to acknowledge California Indian Tribes as sovereign nations?

Finally, why did 300 Tribal members, fishermen, immigrant workers and environmentalists on July 21 feel so left out of the MLPA process that they had to organize a march and direct action to take over a MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting so their voices would be finally heard?

I urge you to sign a petition to support Assemblymen Wesley Chesbro’s call for a six-month delay in the North Coast MLPA process at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/saveoceanacsess/

Second, please sign this petition to the State of California to acknowledge and include Tribal traditional uses within state regulations for marine protected areas of the MLPA nitiative. Go to the Inter-Tribal Water Commission of California website: http://www.itwatercommission.org. There is a link at the bottom of the posting that goes to: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/protect-traditional-lifeways-in-the-marine-life-protection-act/ For more information about the MLPA, visit www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa.

by Dan Bacher 

In its “Roasts and Toasts” editorial today, the Eureka Times-Standard joined Indian Tribes, fishermen and environmentalists in supporting Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro’s call for a six-month delay in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fast-track Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative on the North Coast. 

The publication gave a Roast “To Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration, which has chosen to make marine reserves — areas restricted or off limits to fishing and gathering — a matter of legacy.” 

“If the Marine Life Protection Act is based on science it should not be subject to political timelines,” according to the Times-Standard. “The MLPA was passed in 1999, and there will be no loss if it’s not finished by the end of the gubernatorial term. It’s irresponsible for the governor to make taking away peoples’ right to fish and gather a notch on his belt — a belt frayed by the precipitous decline in the state’s condition during his tenure.” (http://www.times-standard.com/editorials/ci_15865645) 

I completely support Wesley Chesbro’s call for a six-month extension of the North Coast Marine Life Protection Act process. I also agree with the statement of Dave Bitts, president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, that ”sixty years would be better.” 

Atta P. Stevenson, an MLPA North Coast Regional Stakeholder Group member, also strongly supports the six-month delay. 

“As a Tribal North Coast Regional Stakeholder Group member, I am very happy to receive such a recommendation from Assemblyman Chesbro,” said Stevenson of the Inter-Tribal Water Commission of California. “But ultimately it is up to the state whether the Governor will reconsider his time frame for the MLPAI. At least the legality of traditional Tribal non-commercial fishing and gathering rights are now being discussed in open forums, where they were once silent regarding Tribes at all.” 

“Tribes have been adamant in their discussions that we are not ‘recreational,’ therefore our perspectives are not validated nor acknowledged,” Stevenson stated. “We cannot wait and see but must take the lead in whatever venue is open to us.” 

The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force that is fast tracking the process is dominated by oil industry, marina development, real estate and other corporate interests. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the task force that developed the proposed “marine protected areas” on the South Coast and now sits on the North Coast task force. Reheis-Boyd has repeatedly called for new oil drilling off the California coast in spite of the economic and environmental devastation caused by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Gusher. 

Nothing demonstrates the illegitimacy of the MLPA Initiative more than Schwarzenegger’s appointment of an oil industry superstar like Reheis-Boyd to remove Tribal members, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen and seaweed harvesters, the strongest opponents of offshore drilling, from the water. 

These no-take zones will do nothing to protect the ocean from oil drilling, water pollution, aquaculture, wave energy projects or any other human uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering. Many believe that the MLPA Initiative is designed to clear a path for new oil drilling and ocean industrialization along the California coast. 

There needs to be a special investigation of the conflicts of interests and corruption under this privatized process, funded by the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. 

Action Alert: Call Wesley Chesbro in Support of MLPA Delay/Sign Petitions! 

If you haven’t done so already, I strongly urge you to call Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro’s office TODAY to show support for his request for a six-month delay in the implementation of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative on the North Coast. Chesbro recently asked Resources Secretary Lester Snow for the delay to ensure that environmental protection is balanced with traditional access rights. All you need to do is give your name and city and say that you support the six-month delay. 

Supporters of the Governor’s fast-track MLPA process are trying to pressure Chesbro to back down on his request, so we need to show Chesbro that there is overwhelming support for his request. 

The letters and phone calls from fishermen and their allies really helped make the difference in pressuring the Legislature to not confirm Don Benninghoven, a Schwarzenegger appointee, as a Fish and Game Commissioner. We can have the same impact here if EVERYBODY who reads this alert calls Chesbro’s office today! 

Here are his contact numbers: 

Capitol Office: 
State Capitol 
P.O. Box 942849 
Sacramento, CA 94249-0001 
Tel: (916) 319-2001 
Fax: (916) 319-2101 

District Offices 

Humboldt: 
(Also represents Del Norte and Trinity Counties.) 
710 E Street, Suite 150 
Eureka, CA 95501 
Tel: (707) 445-7014 
Fax: (707) 445-6607 

Mendocino & Lake: 
311 N. State Street 
Ukiah, CA 95482 
Tel: (707) 463-5770 
Fax: (707) 463-5773 

Sonoma: 
50 “D” Street, Suite 450 
Santa Rosa, CA 95404 
Tel: (707) 576-2526 
Fax: (707) 576-2297 

If you are in his district, you can email him by going to http://legplcms01.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.aspx?district=AD01& 
Please take a few minutes to let him know how you feel about delaying the implementation of the MLPA. 

Second, please sign a petition to support Wes Chesbro’s six month delay. “This was a good law, but we are being railroaded into a time span that is too short and public process rules have been broken in the push to cajole the public and resource dependent working class coastal communities into going along with this complex process,” said Mike Carpenter, activist and sea urchin diver. “We are asking for more time and for the legislators to look into the process.” Please sign and show your support for the six-month extension. 
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/saveoceanacsess/ 

Third, I strongly urge everybody to sign this petition to the State of California to acknowledge and include Tribal traditional uses within state regulations for marine protected areas of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. Go to the Inter-Tribal Water Commission of California website:http://www.itwatercommission.org. There is a link at the bottom of the posting that goes to: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/protect-traditional-lifeways-in-the-marine-life-protection-act/ 

For more information, go to: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/11/18655875.php or http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/18/18656309.php

by Dan Bacher 

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on August 20 rejected an attempt by corporate agribusiness to strip protected status from wild steelhead rainbow trout in California’s Central Valley. 

Six San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts – Stockton East, South San Joaquin, Merced, Modesto, Oakdale and Turlock – challenged the steelhead listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). They argued that ocean-going Central Valley steelhead population should be removed from the endangered species list based on their opinion that freshwater rainbow trout might someday replace extinct steelhead populations. 

The Court agreed with the federal agency and the conservation and fishing groups that NMFS may protect steelhead without including all freshwater resident rainbow trout in the protected population. Circuit Judges Mary M. Schroeder and Consuelo M. Callahan and District Judge Barbara M. Lynn heard the case, while Schroeder wrote the opinion. 

Judge Schroeder concluded that “under the ESA, interbreeding is not alone determinative of whether organisms must be classified alike where, as here, they develop and behave differently.” 

Fishing and environmental groups praised the decision as a key ruling protecting endangered steelhead, while agribusiness groups described it as a “setback.” 

“Steelhead and people need clean water, swimmable streams, and healthy habitat,” said Steve Mashuda, an attorney with Earthjustice who represented the coalition of conservation and fish groups. “We all win when we protect and recover wild steelhead and their habitat.” 

Kevin Kauffman, general manager of the Stockton East Water District, told the Stockton Record on Friday, “This is a setback, certainly. We’re really unsure at this point how the way we operate might have to change.” 

Steelhead, one of the most prized fish to recreational anglers, once returned from the ocean in the millions every year to the Sacramento and San Joaquin River systems in the Central Valley. Today, these fish have been lost from 95% of their historic habitat, and they continue to face threats from unchecked water use, blockage by dams, urban sprawl, and polluted rivers, according to a news release from Earthjustice. 

“Anyone who’s ever been lucky enough to see or catch a steelhead in the wild knows they’re a special fish,” said Mark Rockwell of the Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers. “They wanted to add rainbow trout numbers to the few steelhead left, thus removing protections for steelhead, and allowing more water diversions from Central Valley rivers.” 

The Court’s ruling represents the latest rejection of attempts by big agribusiness interests to take more water out of the imperiled Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta ecosystem. It also follows an historic report issued earlier this month by the State Water Resources Control Board that found that greater flows and less water diversions were needed to restore the estuary and its imperiled fish populations. 

“In its ruling, the Court cited evidence from several independent scientific reviews that all found even where some interbreeding may occur, freshwater rainbow trout cannot regenerate or replace a steelhead population if those sea-run fish are lost,” according to Earthjustice. 

Earthjustice represented the five conservation and fishing groups arguing on behalf of wild steelhead protection in these two cases, including the Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers, the Federation of Fly Fishers, Delta Fly Fishers, the Center for Biological Diversity and Trout Unlimited. 

“It’s time to start working to restore this irreplaceable part of California’s natural heritage,” said Kate Miller of Trout Unlimited. “Today’s ruling helps put the focus back where it belongs – on efforts to restore clean water and healthy habitat in Central Valley streams.” 

This court victory follows a huge defeat in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign to build a peripheral canal and new dams to facilitate water exports from the Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. On August 9, the California Senate and Assembly passed Assembly Bill 1265, a measure that would delay the controversial water bond, Proposition 18, until November 2012. 

The water bond, a virtual festival of pork, funds the infrastructure to build an environmentally destructive and enormously expensive peripheral canal and new dams. The delay in the bond means that the campaign against the bond by fishermen, environmentalists, Delta farmers, California Indian Tribes and labor unions has largely succeeded in preventing Schwarzenegger from putting in place the infrastructure for the canal, estimated to cost $23 billion to $53.8 billion, before he leaves office. 

The court decision also occurs in the larger context of the collapse of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, southern resident killer whales, juvenile striped bass and other species, due to massive water exports from the Delta to west side San Joaquin Valley agribusiness interests and southern California water agencies. 

I applaud Earthjustice and the other fishing and environmental groups for successfully thwarting the legal effort by the six irrigation districts to drive Central Valley steelhead over the abyss of extinction. Earthjustice, true to its name, has stood up for environmental justice yet another time. 

Unlike some environmental NGOs such as the Nature Conservancy that have collaborated with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to greenwash his abysmal environmental legacy, Earthjustice lawyers have continually defended fish, fishermen and Indian Tribes in court in their many battles to restore our imperiled fish populations. 

Read the decision here: 
http://www.earthjustice.org/documents/legal-document/pdf/9th-cir-steelhead-opinion. 

For more information, contact: Steve Mashuda, Earthjustice, (206) 715-4912 (cell); Kate Miller, Trout Unlimited, (503) 827-5700; or Mark Rockwell, Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers, (530) 432-9198.

by Dan Bacher

A Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is now complete for the Marine Protected Area (MPA) proposals covering California’s South Coast Study Region under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. A 45-day public comment and review period began on August18 and will run through Oct. 4, according to a news release from the California Department of Fish and Game.

“The DEIR analyzes the potential environmental impacts of each of the five MPA proposals currently under consideration for this area, which extends from Point Conception to the California border with Mexico,” said Thomas Napoli, Department of Fish and Game spokesman. “The MPA proposals are part of the larger Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process, which will create new MPAs along the length of California’s coastline.”

Napoli said the DEIR was prepared by the California Fish and Game Commission with assistance from the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) as part of the required environmental review process under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The process began in June with a public scoping phase, during which DFG solicited comments on the range of issues and type of information that should be considered in the DEIR. These comments helped to shape the content of the DEIR released this week.

MLPA Initiative officials and their corporate “environmental” NGO allies tried to bypass the CEQA process in their fervor to fast-track the MLPA against the wishes of coastal communities, but massive opposition by fishing and conservation groups forced the state of California to comply with the law and begin an environmental review (http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=z03lb1yk59habr).

Critics of the MLPA Initiative charge that the proposals were rushed through by a MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force that is dominated by oil industry, marina development, real estate and other corporate interests. In fact, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), chaired the task force that developed the so-called “marine protected areas” on the South Coast. Reheis-Boyd has repeatedly called for new oil drilling off the California in spite of economic and environmental devastation caused by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Gusher.

Nothing demonstrates the illegitimacy of the MLPA Initiative than Schwarzenegger’s appointment of an oil industry super star like Reheis-Boyd to remove recreational anglers, commercial fishermen and Tribal members, the strongest opponents of offshore drilling, from the water.

These no-take zones will do nothing to protect the ocean from oil drilling, water pollution, aquaculture, wave energy projects or any other human uses of the ocean other that fishing and gathering. Many environmental leaders, including John Lewallen, North Coast author and activist, believe that the MLPA Initiative is designed to clear a path for new oil drilling and ocean industrialization along the California coast.

On the North Coast, opposition to the MLPA Initiative, privately funded by the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, has spurred the creation of the largest political movement since the Redwood Summer of 1990. On July 21, over 300 people including members of 50 Indian Nations, environmentalists, immigrant seafood industry workers, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen and human rights advocates peacefully took control of a MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort to protest the violation of Tribal fishing and gathering rights and corporate greenwashing that has occurred under the MLPA.

Assemblyman Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) has called on California Resources Secretary Lester Snow to suspend the North Coast MPLA process for six months to “ensure that environmental protection is balanced with traditional access rights.” Snow hasn’t responded to his request to date (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/18/18656309.php).

The DEIR is now available to the public on DFGs website at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/regulatorydocs_sc.asp. Printed copies of the DEIR and related documents are available at the Santa Maria Public Library, San Luis Obispo City-County Public Library, Ventura County Public Library, County of Los Angeles Public Library, Avalon Library, Santa Monica Public Library, Laguna Beach Branch Library, Oceanside Public Library and at the following DFG field offices:

California Department of Fish and Game
4665 Lampson, Suite C
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
(562) 342-7100

California Department of Fish and Game
1933 Cliff Dr., Suite 9,
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
(805) 568-1231

California Department of Fish and Game
4949 Viewridge Avenue
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 467-4201

All comments must include the commentors name, address and daytime telephone number. They can be sent via mail to:

MLPA South Coast CEQA
Department of Fish and Game
4665 Lampson, Suite C
Los Alamitos, CA 90720

Comments may also be submitted via e-mail (Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format only) to MLPAComments [at] dfg.ca.gov. E-mailed comments must include MLPA CEQA Comments in the subject line.

All comments must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Oct. 4 in order to be considered for inclusion in the Final EIR.
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