danbacher by Dan Bacher
During the Bay Delta Conservation Plan Public Meeting in Sacramento on April 25, Laird committed to making the BDCP more inclusive of all of the stakeholders – and acknowledged the problems with the Schwarzenegger administration’s requirement that participants sign an agreement agreeing to support the construction of the peripheral canal/tunnel.
“I believe that we cannot move forward without listening to the stakeholders around the state,” said Laird. “The status quo on the Delta is unsustainable. There is no one from any group that believes in the status quo.”
“Somehow we will get to decisions that make people feel they’ve been heard in the process,” Laird added.
In a letter sent to Laird on April 28, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, claimed that Laird’s call for inclusiveness and transparency in the controversial process wasn’t matched by recent actions by the Natural Resources Agency.
“At the April 25, 2011 Bay Delta Conservation Plan Public Meeting, you told those in attendance that going forward with the BDCP process there would be no preconditions to keep people out of the process,” said Barrigan-Parrilla. “You also commented that Delta communities must be kept whole.”
However, since the meeting in Sacramento, Barrigan-Parrilla has learned of two alarming developments that she says do not match Laird’s public statements.
First, Restore the Delta found an audio link to Metropolitan Water District’s Special Committee on the Bay Delta from April 26, 2011, the day after the meeting.
“MWD’s staff explains at section 2B of the agenda that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan Executive Committee and Management Committees have recently begun delving into policy issues that need deciding,” said Barrigan-Parrilla. “These committees also plan on announcing project description/operations soon under the leadership of Deputy Secretary Jerry Meral.”
“Clearly, decisions are continuing to be made behind closed doors, rather than in the light of day in front of the BDCP Steering Committee and the concerned public. Who is on these committees? Specifically, we want to know who has been given the charge of representing in-Delta and fishing community interests in these closed door meetings,” she stated.
Barrigan-Parrilla also learned in this audio feed from Metropolitan Water District staff that sizing and modeling work has been completed for the planning of new conveyance – the peripheral canal/tunnel. Fishermen, family farmers, Indian Tribes, grassroots environmentalists and Delta residents oppose the construction of the peripheral canal because it is likely to lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other imperiled species, along with posing a threat to Delta farms.
“This is more than we learned at Monday’s public meeting that was held to showcase the new openness and dialogue of the BDCP process,” she emphasized. “We find it quite disheartening that we are learning more about the plans for our community from watching an audio feed from the Metropolitan Water District than we are from attending Resource Agency public events.”
Second, an official from the Natural Resources Agency has told San Joaquin County staff that parties participating in the various proposed BDCP issue committees will be required to sign a “confidentiality statement,” according to Barrigan-Parrilla.
“Can you please provide us with a copy of this statement?” she asked. ” And if this is indeed an accurate description of how these committees will operate, can you please explain how this matches up with your statement of no preconditions being placed on participants in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan process going forward?”
Barrigan-Parrilla is now waiting for Laird’s reply. She cc’ed the letter to Deputy Secretary Jerry Meral, CA Natural Resources Agency, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes, Governor Jerry Brown, Senator Diane Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer.
Governor Jerry Brown on January 4 appointed Laird to replace Lester Snow as Natural Resources Secretary, the top environmental post in California. The 60-year-old Santa Cruz resident was a board member of the Sierra Fund and served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2008.
Regarding Barrigan-Parrilla’s request that Laird match his actions with his words about creating more inclusiveness and transparency in the BDCP process , the statement of Mark Franco, headman of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, comes to mind.
“I hope that Mr. Laird remembers to listen to all of the ’stakeholders’ and those whom the last Secretary failed to hear,” said Franco, immediately after Laird was appointed. ”No matter the politics around him, I hope he sees the resources that he is now over seeing as the precious gifts they are and not items of commodity to be abused and sold.”
For action alerts and more information, go to http://www.restorethedelta.org.
The BDCP and Schwarzenegger’s Legacy
The BDCP, a thinly veiled plan to export northern California water to southern California water agencies and corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin River, is just one part of the absymal environmental legacy of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. While the corporate media and some “environmental” NGOs praised Schwarzenegger for being the “Green Governor,” Schwarzenegger waged a relentless campaign against salmon, Delta fish, fishing communities and Indian Tribes from the day he was elected until the day he left office.
In addition to pushing for the environmentally destructive peripheral canal, he attacked the federal biological opinions protecting Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River winter and spring run chinook salmon, Delta smelt, green sturgeon and the southern resident and killer whales. He allowed irrigators to de-water the Scott and Shasta rivers, at enormous risk to endangered coho salmon.
Schwarzenegger also fast-tracked the corrupt Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, privately funded by the Shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, to create a network of so-called “marine protected areas” (MPAs) along the California Coast.
The implementation of the MLPA process was overseen by a panel including a big oil lobbyist, real estate executive, marina developer and other special interests. These “marine protected areas” fail to protect the ocean from water pollution, oil drilling and spills, military testing, corporate aquaculture, wave energy projects and all other human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering.
For more information about the “Myth of the Jolly Green Giant,” go to: http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=node/8446.
Salmon Water Now Covers Farms & Salmon Summit
Bruce Tokars of http://www.salmonwaternow.org took the Salmon Water Now video camera to Antioch on Wednesday, April 27 to record the presentations at the historic Farms and Salmon Summit, attended by over 200 people. Four U.S. Representatives – John Garamendi, Jerry McNerney, Jackie Speier and Mike Thompson – spoke at the event. There are four parts to the video:
http://vimeo.com/channels/farmsandsalmonsummit
1. Intro and Opening Remarks
2. Panel 1:
Brett Baker – Farmer, Sutter IslandDave Bitts – F/V Elmarue, Eureka
Jeff Sutton – Tehama Colusa Canal Authority, Willows
Dick Pool – ProTroll Fishing Products & Water4Fish, Concord
Jeff Hart – Hart Restoration Inc. & Hartland Nursery, Walnut Grove
Gene Buchholz – Hook, Line & Sinker, Oakley & Bethel Island
3. Panel 2:
Cathy Hemley – Greene & Hemley, Courtland
Barry Canevaro – The Fish Hookers Sportfishing, Pittsburg
Al Medvitz – McCormack Ranch, Rio Vista
Darrell Ticehurst, Coastside Fishing Club, Hillborough
Mark Wilson, Wilson Vineyards, Clarksburg
4. Audience Comments and Closing Remarks
All four parts can be accessed from this link:
danbacher Day 16 update – Glen Cove spiritual encampment holding strong
Photos from the day are posted here:
http://protectglencove.org/photos/day-sixteen/
Many new supporters arrived today bringing renewed inspiration, gifts and blessings. In the morning, tasks were divided up and much was accomplished. Cleanup crews walked the shoreline, hauling away 200 more pounds of rubber tires, trash, and broken glass, then cleaning and organizing the kitchen and grounds.
New banners were painted and a banner was dropped over Interstate 780 at the Glen Cove Road overpass. Others handed out flyers downtown and at the nearby Safeway store.
At lunch, the group feasted on fresh-caught sturgeon from the Carquinez Strait and smoked salmon that was brought down from Pit River territory. A story-telling circle was held after lunch, during which experiences of 70′s era indigenous struggles were shared.
A group of young women from the Oakland-based American Indian Child Resource Center‘s “Daughters of Tradition” program visited today and Corrina Gould gave them an educational tour of Sogorea Te. Police officers and a utility company worker stopped by again uneventfully.
Excerpt from an article in today’s Vallejo Times Herald, reporting on GVRD’s Thursday meeting:
The [GVRD] board passed, without discussion, a resolution to fence off the Glen Cove Nature Area, also known as the Glen Cove Waterfront Park, during construction and improvements planned for the site. McAffee explained that the closure was designed to protect the public’s safety and health. The construction start date remains in flux, McAffee said after the meeting.
The park has received much public attention recently, as plans to begin construction have been delayed due to on-site protests by a Native American representatives, and particularly a group named Sacred Sites Protection & Rights of Indigenous Tribes.
***Solidarity message: Burial site in Kaua’i under siege for park development
Today we received very troubling news and a message of solidarity from our indigenous sisters and brothers in Hawaii: Yesterday (Thursday) two of their warriors were arrested for blocking the destruction of a sacred burial site in Kaua’i. Their ancestors are being dug out of the ground right now with bulldozers in order to install the septic system FOR A NEW PARK. Our hearts and prayers go out to them. We will be including updates from this struggle along with our own in the coming days. For more information, see this news article.
Latest articles:
Times-Herald editorial 4/30: Do the right thing at Glen Cove by Kim DeOcampo
Times-Herald editorial 4/30: The real story on Glen Cove
Times-Herald 4/29: Greater Vallejo Recreation District to delay special tax election until 2012
New American Media 4/30: Native Americans Protest Plans to Pave Over Sacred Site
Related news from Kaua’i 4/28: Work continues after bones, artifacts unearthed
We continue to welcome and request the presence of all who wish to join us in prayer to honor and protect the ancestors. For directions to Glen Cove, visit:
http://protectglencove.org/directions/
Photos from the day are posted at:
http://protectglencove.org/photos/day-sixteen/
For more information and updates:
http://protectglencove.org/
danbacher *** DAY 15 Update
This evening, Corrina Gould, Wounded Knee DeOcampo, Johnella LaRose, Francisco Da Costa and others spoke about Sogorea Te and Shellmound burial site protection to a very supportive crowd of about 100 people at the Intertribal Friendship House in Oakland. Following the talk, an honoring song was sung for all who have been dedicating themselves to standing strong for the ancestors at Sogorea Te.
Also this evening, Protect Glen Cove Committee members attended a Glen Cove Community Association meeting. A majority of meeting participants expressed support for our efforts. The President of the association also stated that in the first two weeks after the spiritual gathering began, he was flooded with supportive phone calls. (Thanks, callers and residents!)
The GVRD Board of Directors held a meeting at their headquarters today, during which a new resolution was adopted calling for the “closure of the Glen Cove Nature Area to the public during construction and improvements”. Again, they continue to lay groundwork for the planned desecration.
Meanwhile, the International Indian Treaty Council sent off an Appeal for Urgent Action to Special Rapporteurs at the United Nations, regarding threats to the Glen Cove Sacred Burial Ground. The letter provides background, details violations of human and indigenous rights, and requests that the Rapporteurs take urgent action, including a visit to Sogorea Te “as soon as practically possible.”
Large numbers of additional supporters arrived today — many thanks to all who are coming from near and far to join us, including the traditional singers who visited from the Jackson Rancheria (Me-Wuk). Special request: We need a driver of a large vehicle with a roof rack to make a trip up to Sebastopol (Sonoma County) to pick up Tipi poles. Please contact us ASAP if you can do this.
*** PRESS RELEASE:
Civil Rights Complaint Expanded, Spiritual Gathering Enters 3rd Week Day 15 :
Spiritual Gathering to Protect Glen Cove Enters 3rd Week as GVRD Breaks Agreement to Negotiate in Good Faith
SSP&RIT Files More Civil Rights Claims Against GVRD as Threats Against Spiritual Ceremony and Sacred Site Escalate
As the spiritual gathering and vigil being held by local tribal members and supporters at the sacred burial site at Glen Cove in Vallejo entered its third week, Native Americans working to protect Glen Cove filed more complaints this morning with the Attorney General of California in response to new and serious violations of civil rights by the Greater Vallejo Recreation District.
The organization Sacred Sites Protection & Rights of Indigenous Tribes today filed an addendum to the civil rights complaint filed on April 13, 2011 with the State Attorney General in response to GVRD’s attempt to intimidate and limit the number of participants in the spiritual ceremony, attempts to restrict certain ceremonial practices including songs, and GVRD’s refusal to negotiate a resolution of the dispute. The new complaint also further documents the presence of cremations as well as burials at the site, highlighting the risk that bulldozing the hill poses to the ancient human remains.
In a major development, GVRD has informed the United States Department of Justice that they will not sign a proposed agreement allowing the ceremony to temporarily continue without threat of arrest, and GVRD has failed to follow through on their agreement to meet with tribal members to try to resolve the burial site dispute. Tribal members fulfilled their part of what was thought to be an interim agreement, including taking down tents used for sleeping during the around the clock ceremonies.
GVRD however has now refused to do anything they had agreed to do, while stepping up the police presence and monitoring of the ceremony. Support for the efforts of tribal members to protect the site continues to grow.
Last night over 50 people gathered for ceremonies and to welcome Mohave and Chemehuevi visitors from the Colorado River Indian Tribes who came to express their solidarity and encouragement. Hundreds of Native Americans and their supporters have pledged to peacefully defend the sacred site in response to any attempt to desecrate the site or remove the ceremony.
“I dont believe any of our tribal people would agree to outright grave robbery and disturbing sacred sites. We will not allow it to happen,” said Fred Short, Spiritual Leader of the American Indian Movement and a participant in the spiritual gathering at Glen Cove.
Glen Cove is located near the intersection of South Regatta and Whitesides Drive in Vallejo. A copy of the Civil Rights Complaint and Addendum is available by contacting Bradley Angel at Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice: (415) 722-5270 or bradley@greenaction.org
Media contacts:
Corrina Gould 510-575-8408
Morning Star Gali (510) 827 6719
Wounded Knee Deocampo 707-373-7195
Mark Anquoe (415) 680-0110
For more information, additional updates, and directions to Glen Cove: http://protectglencove.org/
danbacher Below is the latest news release from the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA):
Contact: Jim Hutchinson, Jr. 888 564-6732
RFA CALLS FOR A NATIONAL BOYCOTT OF SAFEWAY SUPERMARKET CHAIN
Campaign To Educate Corporate Giant On Anti-Fishing “Greenwashing”
Recreational fishermen are being urged to Stay Away From Safeway! According to a recent press release from Safeway, the corporate grocery giant is openly endorsing California’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) initiative under which large areas of state waters are being closed – possibly forever – to public fishing access.
The Recreational Fishing Alliance’s (RFA) California chapters are asking anglers on every coast to help send the message to Safeway that we have a right to fish!
“Apparently Safeway has gotten some bad advice from the people in the ocean protection racket, a community to which the California-based mega-corporation is now donating profits,” said Jim Martin, West Coast Regional Director of the RFA. “Safeway says it is supporting groups that make a difference like the Food Marketing Institute’s Sustainable Seafood Working Group, the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions and the World Wildlife Fund’s Aquaculture Dialogues, but it’s little more than corporate greenwashing.”
In an official statement, Safeway said “An important part of being a responsible seafood business is to not only limit the impacts of where we are fishing, but to set aside areas where we are not. Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s) are important to ensure the biodiversity and productivity of our oceans. In California, Safeway is a proponent of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPA), which balances the use and conservation of living marine resources through a statewide network of MPA’s.”
Martin said groups under the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions umbrella includes Ocean Conservancy, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, are all organizations that have been most dedicated to closing our fishing access to the oceans, bays and estuaries of California through the MLPA Initiative. RFA believes strongly that once these groups have achieved their goals in California, they will be working overtime in every other coastal state to create a network of no-take zones that bar “injury,” “harm” and “harassment” of fish stocks in large areas of the nation’s marine waters.
“Safeway would apparently rather have the public buy farm-raised fish and seafood caught by foreign countries outside of U.S. waters, countries with less stringent controls on fishing effort than we enjoy in California, instead of being able to catch a few fish for the table our families as recreational or subsistence fishermen,” Martin said.
“California anglers have been outraged to learn that the money they spend at a Safeway grocery store might end up in the hands of anti-fishing groups like the NRDC and the Ocean Conservancy.”
Martin and other West Coast RFA activists have been busily pushing back on the blanket marine reserve efforts now being conducted by Safeway’s beneficiaries, arguing that this is not about whether science-based area closures should or should not be a part of the nation’s fishery management system, but rather a large corporation throwing its support behind ex-Governor Schwarzenegger’s highly-charged MLPA Initiative.
“The MLPA proponents keep telling business leaders and media outlets that MPA’s work and that they successfully rebuild fisheries, but the science doesn’t actually support that,” Martin said. “These marine protected areas have to be distinguished from science-based area closures, restrictions along spawning grounds for example, but the MLPA Initiative didn’t take any of those concerns into consideration. Even the hand-picked and privatelyfunded advisory team for the MLPA agreed that fishery management controls were the deciding factor in fisheries sustainability,” he added.
Martin added that much of the scientific discussion regarding the MLPA Initiative was lost in the debate and rhetoric, perhaps by design. “The MLPA Initiative is currently under judicial review in two court cases, on issues ranging from allegations of an illegal arrest of a participant in public meetings, to secret meetings in violation of California’s open meeting law, the Bagley-Keene Act,” Martin said, explaining how California’s anglers are most angry about how the MLPA Initiative has gone through by way of privately-funded “public” stakeholder meetings resulting in the promulgation of regulations that affect everyone’s lives.
“It’s not just about fishing, but many human activities have been banned under the MLPA Initiative in California, like kayaking, sailing and other non-fishing activities,” Martin said. “As fishermen we’re angry about being labeled the problem when big corporations like Safeway and Hewlett-Packard refuse to join us in calling for less water diversions to agribusiness and less heavy metals from the semiconductor industry in San Francisco Bay,” Martin added, calling recreational fishermen “the original conservationists” as evidenced by their frequent calls for stronger fishery management and habitat conservation.
“The nation’s anglers need to understand what has happened in California under the guise of marine life protection through this MLPA Initiative, and we need to stand up together to get this message out to corporate entities starting with Safeway who are financially supporting our demise in the recreational fishing industry,” said RFA Executive Director Jim Donofrio. “Proponents of the no-take zones including NRDC, Pew Charitable Trusts, Ocean Conservancy and Oceana have been making extraordinary claims for marine protected areas, but the analysis shows that these claims are mostly bogus.”
Donofrio said RFA plans to send a letter to Steven A. Burd, the Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Safeway, officially informing the supermarket giant of RFA’s intention to support a nationwide boycott of the chain. “It is our hope that Mr. Burd will stop and recognize that our rights to open access of a public resource are being taken away by preservationist smoke and mirror rhetoric, and that by financially supporting the anti-fishing groups Safeway is actually supporting these attacks on our recreational fishing community.”
RFA is urging all its members, recreational anglers, divers and anyone who cares about sustainable fisheries to “Stay Away From Safeway” until the company reverses its position on the MLPA Initiative and ceases funding towards anti-fishing advocates like NRDC and the Ocean Conservancy. “If you want sustainable fisheries, you need both fish and fishermen; you can’t have one without the other and use the word fishery,” Donofrio said, adding that cultural heritage and traditions are being greatly risked by the MLPA Initiative.
He also pointed out that no-take zones have proven costly to coastal communities. “The California Department of Fish & Game estimates an annual cost of $35 to $40 million for its part in managing these zones, while a recent socioeconomic analysis shows that these arbitrary no-access zones will subtract millions of dollars from coastal economies and fishing communities through lost access to the public, lost revenues to small, local commercial and recreational fishing businesses, and the tax-base of coastal counties of California.”
“These aren’t short-term losses, they are as permanent as the marine reserves themselves. Safeway is really impacting their future bottom line by supporting the MLPA initiative, as their coastal customer base is already reeling financially by the lost access,” Donofrio added.
“If Safeway is betting that the saltwater anglers of America will continue shopping at their stores while they arbitrarily cut off our public access to our public resources they are greatly mistaken,” said Martin. “In California, we already know how this ends up, and it’s time to educate anglers about corporations like Safeway that steal our fishing heritage through their support of an anti-fisherman agenda.”
Martin added that California’s Indian tribes and tribal communities retain long-held, federally-recognized harvest rights to California’s ocean waters, and that the RFA-CA remains a strong supporter of tribal sovereignty.
“We also see the non-commercial, subsistence harvest of marine resources by the general public as a basic human right, established under the public trust doctrine, and we plan on letting Safeway know what their beneficiaries in the environmental community think of our basic human rights as Americans,” Martin added.
danbacher The Protect Glen Cove Commitee is encouraging people to show up at Sogarea Te Thursday and Friday to support the Native American occupation to protect the ancient burial site from desecration by the City of Valley and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (GVRD).
GVRD is not only still refusing to meet with the Protect Glen Cove Committee, they are also declining to sign the agreement produced from an initial meeting on April 18th, in which some basic understandings between GVRD and the Committee were established regarding the vigil at Sogorea Te, according to the Protect Glen Cove Committee.
Wounded Knee DeOcampo and the rest of the committee are also asking all of their supporters to please take a moment to send emails and letters to the Native American Heritage Commission, to make it clear to them that there is widespread support for our efforts to protect their ancestors at Glen Cove by preventing the current development plan from proceeding. Below are all of the details:
A contractor came by today who told us that his job is to paint a poison chemical treatment on the stumps of waterfront trees at Glen Cove, once the Atlas Tree Service cuts them down.
GVRD is not only still refusing to meet with the Protect Glen Cove Committee, they are also declining to sign the agreement produced from an initial meeting on April 18th, in which some basic understandings between GVRD and the Committee were established regarding the vigil at Sogorea Te.
Two weeks have passed now since the sacred fire was lit at Sogorea Te.
We continue to request the presence of anyone who will join us in prayer, and we are especially requesting that people stay with us throughout the coming two days, Thursday and Friday, as the threat of a possible court-ordered police action is looming.
Some current requests:
- AAA, AA and D size batteries, Socks, Sunglasses, Mountain Bikes, Cedar and Sweetgrass.
- Emails and letters to the Native American Heritage Commission (see next post)
Website updates
As promised, new photos have been posted from days 11-12:
http://protectglencove.org/photos/days-eleven-and-twelve/
Also, there is now a Spanish language page on the About Glen Cove website:
http://protectglencove.org/about/pagina-en-espanol/
More translated content coming soon.
*** DAY 13 UPDATE – April 26
Please send emails to the Native American Heritage Commission
Today the Protect Glen Cove Committee spoke with the Justice Department mediator, only to find that we are continuing to be shut out of discussion regarding Glen Cove, and all details are “confidential”. On Monday, the Mediator met with GVRD at the Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) offices in Sacramento – without informing or discussing this change of venue with the committee. Our understanding was that meetings would take place in a neutral location, and the NAHC is far from neutral in this situation.
Wounded Knee DeOcampo and the rest of the committee are now asking all our supporters to please take a moment to send emails and letters to the Native American Heritage Commission, to make it clear to them that there is widespread support for our efforts to protect our ancestors at Glen Cove by preventing the current development plan from proceeding. We are also asking those who have previously sent letters and emails to GVRD/the City of Vallejo to forward them on to the NAHC.
Native American Heritage Commission
nahc [at] pacbell.net
(916) 653-4082
915 Capitol Mall, Room 364
Sacramento, CA 95814
*** Latest news/media:
Native News Network 4/27: Send Us Your Chief Approach Should Not Prevail at Sogorea Te
Times-Herald Editorial, 4/27: No Way, GVRD by J.T. Miller, Vallejo Resident
Vegan Reader, 4/27: Protect Glen Cove, A Sacred Native American Site
Examiner, 4/26: Glen Cove Native American rights defenders need ‘Superfood’
Indybay, 4/25: Protect Sogorea Te – let the ancestors rest in peace by Francisco Da Costa
*** A message from Knute
Knute, an elder of Saami descent who has been standing with us since Day 1, would like to share a message with our readers. He wants it known just how many different indigenous and earth peoples from all over the world have visited our spiritual gathering over these past two weeks, offering their prayers and solidarity. Indigenous peoples everywhere can recognize the pain of desecration, and the disrespect of being “unrecognized” by the government.
Many have heard our call and come out to Glen Cove to pay their respects, including people of Maori (New Zealand), Native Hawaiian, Negrito (Philippines), Lesotho (South Africa), Palestinian, Ethiopian, Inupiat (Alaska), Haida (British Colombia), Cree (Alberta), Saami (Scandinavia), Hopi (Arizona), Snohomish (Washington), Bolivian, Aquatine Basque, Okinawa (Japan), Mayan (Yucatan), Mixtec and Samoan descent. Knute wishes to again extend the invitation to all peoples who worship out of doors, to stand with us in honor of the ancestors.
Latest photos:
http://protectglencove.org/photos/days-eleven-and-twelve/
For more information and further updates:
http://protectglencove.org/
danbacher Grassroots Advocates Created Momentum in Packed Hearings
by Dan Bacher
Tuesday, April 26 was a great day for the future of safe drinking water in California, where many rural and urban communities lack drinkable water.
Safe water advocates from across the state hailed the passage of AB685, the Human Right to Water bill, by an overwhelming margin in the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee and the passage of four additional bills in the Human Right to Water bill package – AB938, AB 983, AB1187 and AB1221 – in the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.
Representatives of impacted California communities who testified at the bill hearings include Mark Franco, headman of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe; Susana De Anda and Laurel Firestone of the Community Water Center, with Coachella and Tulare County residents; and Debbie Davis from the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, with Maywood residents. Reverend Lindi Ramsden, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of California, and Shelley Moskowitz, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, also testified in support of the legislation.
Residents of California communities without access to safe drinking water traveled hundreds of miles to attend the committee hearings. Legislators were visibly moved as 75 advocates of all ages and backgrounds gave powerful testimony in support of each bill in the Human Right to Water package.
“Today we have taken one step closer to the day when everyone in California has access to safe, affordable water to bathe in, cook with, and drink,” said Debbie Davis, Policy Director for the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water.
Supporters of the bill include the Winnemem Wintu (McCloud River) Tribe, Clean Water Action, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Stockton, Urban Semillas, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Unitarian Universalists Ministry California, Community Water Center, Food & Water Watch, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and Southern California Water Alliance.
The Human Right to Water bill package will establish a right to water for basic human needs as a policy of the state of California and makes changes to existing programs to begin to realize this right.
In reaction to the news, UUSC President and CEO William F. Schulz said, “Although the committee’s approval is just the beginning of the legislative process, it is a major first step that signals ever growing support for a human-right-to-water law in California. As we have seen on many occasions, what happens in California can have a dramatic ripple effect in states across the country.”
At noon, the water justice mascot, “La Gotita,” and safe drinking water advocates rallied at the corner of 11th and L Streets in Sacramento near the capitol building, raising visibility for the water justice movement.
The package of bills, if passed this legislative session, will do the following:
• Establish the human right to water in California (AB 685)
• Require that public health notifications about water be made available in the languages the community speaks (AB 938)
• Promote water-system consolidation for small communities to provide sustainable, affordable solutions where possible (AB 938)
• Require that state water plan include provisions to provide everyone in California with safe drinking water (AB 1187)
• Ensure access to funding to clean up contamination for disadvantaged communities (AB 221)
• Require local municipalities to include a plan to provide services to island or fringe communities when they update their general plans (SB 244)
More than 11.5 million Californians rely on water from suppliers that experienced at least one violation of State Drinking Water Standards as reported to the Department of Public Health in 2004. As many as 8.5 million Californians rely on supplies that experienced more than five instances of unsafe levels in a single year.
“In far too many communities, the sole water supply is contaminated, and families unable to afford treatment are left entirely without safe water,” according to Davis. “In the Central Valley and Central Coast regions, more than 90% of communities depend on groundwater for drinking while nitrate levels in groundwater are sometimes well above safe limits. These communities are at particular risk of adverse health impacts from contaminated water supplies.”
For more information, contact: Debbie Davis, Environmental Coalition for Water (916) 743-4406, debbie [at] ejcw.org, or Shelley Moskowitz, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, 857-222-8824, smoskowitz [at] uusc.org.
danbacher Delta advocates: plan is a backroom deal to build peripheral canal
by Dan Bacher
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, on April 25 delivered a letter to David Hayes, Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and John Laird, California Natural Resources Secretary, emphasizing that Delta landowners, fishermen and other community representatives have been left out of the development of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP).
In the letter, Barrigan-Parrilla stated, “Delta leaders who disagreed with the construction of the peripheral canal have been barred from participating in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan Steering Committee activities because they did not sign a memorandum of understanding several years ago agreeing to the objective of building new conveyance. Consequently, the Delta’s most capable leaders have been blocked from engaging in an earnest dialogue with those who want to see the peripheral canal built.”
“We are heartened to hear that you are planning to make the process more inclusive and we will hold you to it,” said Barrigan-Parrilla, after delivering the letter at a standing room only public meeting of the BDCP in Sacramento. Many Delta residents, including farmers, fishermen and community advocates, atttended the event.
Before she delivered the letter, Laird committed the Natural Resources Agency to making the BDCP more inclusive of all of the stakeholders – and acknowledged the problems with the Schwarzenegger administration’s requirement that participants sign an agreement agreeing to support the construction of the peripheral canal/tunnel.
“I believe that we cannot move forward without listening to the stakeholders around the state,” said Laird. “The status quo on the Delta is unsustainable. There is no one from any groups that believes in the status quo.”
After Laird opened the meeting, Hayes said “the federal government is fully in lockstep with the Brown administration to push the BDCP forward. As Secretary Laird said, the status quo is not sustainable.”
He committed the federal government to an “open, inclusive and science driven” BDCP process.
Hayes also claimed that California is “one seismic event away” from being unable to to supply fresh water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to southern California for three years, a contention that Delta advocates have challenged.
Likewise, Jerry Meral, Deputy Secretary, California Natural Resources Agency, in his update on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and Environmental Review, also emphasized the need to have a more inclusive process.
“Many people felt they were not included because they had to sign an agreement,” stated Meral. “We are now reaching a phase of the BDCP process where we have to have all of the groups aboard – the Delta Counties that didn’t sign, the salmon groups and the upstream water users. We want to include a maximum amount of input in the process.”
Meral outlined a serious of 14 “working groups” on specific topics that the BDCP would be broken into, including water operations for dual conveyance, size and configuration of conveyance facilities, biological goals and objectives, habitat and finance.
In her letter, Barrigan-Parrilla was very critical of this approach.
“Resource Agency Deputy Director Jerry Meral has said in various venues that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan will now be broken down into 14 subgroups that will not meet with each other,” added Barrigan-Parrilla. “The fate of Delta residents, farmers, and fisheremen is being decided for us by everyone on the outside, under the direction of a public agency. This is unacceptable and this is what we are going to convey today. What we are having hoisted on us is a backroom deal for a peripheral canal, dressed up as new conveyance.”
Barrigan-Parillla described the BDCP as “a process driven by water contractors who seek to build a peripheral canal or tunnel to divert the Sacramento River to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.” While the meeting featured panels from conservation and fishing groups, the Delta Counties and water users including the Westlands Water District, the meeting did not include an official public comment period.
During the conservation group panel, Dick Pool, administrator of water4fish.org and Secretary-Treasurer of the Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA), also reminded Hayes and Laird that salmon fishing community advocates were left out of the BDCP process.
“In the new structure, we are concerned about meaningful participation,” said Pool. “The salmon industry has as many jobs and as much economic risk at state as anyone in the process. We have special needs that must be met if the salmon are to recover. If we are provided a meaningful role, we are preparing to participate fully with science based individuals fully qualified to represent the ecosystem needs for salmon recovery.”
Pool also said that the ecosystem co-equal goal should be the first focus in order to ensure it is met.
“We ask this for two reasons,” said Pool. “First, the ecosystem recovery is the hard part. It will need much more work and compromise than any new facilities.”
“Second, the salmon can’t wait. As everyone knows, all the runs have crashed severely and the winter run is once again nearing extinction,” stated Pool, referring to the dramatic decline of Central Valley chinook salmon populations in recent years. “Early environmental changes will be needed to recover these fish.”
The Conservation Community Panel included Spreck Rosekrans, Environmental Defense Fund, Dick Pool, Water for Fish, Jonas Minton, Planning and Conservation League, Gary Bobker, The Bay Institute, and John Cain, American Rivers
The Delta Communities Panel featured Supervisor Mike Reagan, Solano County, Supervisor Mike McGowan, Yolo County, Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, City of West Sacramento, and Tom Zuckerman, a Delta farmer who represents a number of reclamation districts.
The Water Users Panel included Tom Birmingham, Westlands Water District, Greg Gartrell, Contra Costa Water District, Beau Goldie, Santa Clara Valley Water District, and David Guy, Northern California Water Association.
Birmingham criticized the BDCP process for failing to make progress on either water supply or ecosystem restoration goals since the program began.
“The water contractors and Reclamation have already spend $160 million and they haven’t saved one fish or produced one single drop of water,” said Birminghan. “Now we have been asked to come up with another $100 million.”
He noted, “We’re trying to base decisions on science, but we shouldn’t expect to come up with a perfect answer. The decisions made today will have to be revisited 10 to 20 years from now. We don’t know what the fisheries will look like then – conditions change. Let’s start making the difficult decisions now so we can start moving forward with the BDCP.”
Bret Baker, a fifth generation Delta farmer and Restore the Delta advocate, criticized the BDCP plan for being an attempt to concentrate wealth and water in the hands of a few corporate operators.
“This state of California process is paid for by private interests,” said Baker. “It is an attempt to centralize and concentrate wealth by a few folks so they can continue to influence the policy makers to do their bidding. Maybe after Westlands has been farming for 150 years, they can start talking about sustainability.”
Although the Bay Delta Conservation Plan has been financed by public regulated entities, such as the Westlands Water District and the Metropolitan Water District, he pointed out that it is being administered by the California Natural Resources Agency, a public agency.
Mike Reagan, Solano County supervisor, summed up the feelings of many Delta residents when he quipped, “Some general comments about the BDCP process to date: We didn’t like it.”
Restore the Delta advocates for “a more comprehensive and thoughtful approach” to address the state’s water needs, including projects that safeguard the Bay, the Delta, the environment, and the people of California, according to their letter. Restore the Delta believes “it’s time to create hundreds of local projects to help each region of California meet its water needs.”
For more information, go to http://www.restorethedelta.org or http://www.water4fish.org.
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danbacher This summit is designed to bring attention to Delta-dependent farming and fishing communities, and to provide a forum to discuss long-term solutions to California’s water woes.
Photo of Butte Creek spring run chinook salmon courtesy of Friends of Butte Creek.
butte_creek_spring_chinoo…
by Dan Bacher
Corporate agribusiness “Astroturf” groups and their political allies such as Representatives Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove) and Devin Nunes (R-Visalia) have waged a media war over the past few years to portray the battle to save Central Valley chinook salmon and Delta fish populations as one of “fish versus jobs” or, more recently, “farmers versus fishermen.
Fortunately, increasing numbers of Californians see that the cynical attempt to pit farmers against commercial and recreational fishermen is in reality a false dichotomy, since family farmers and fishermen, along with California Indian Tribes and grass roots environmentalists, are now working together to preserve the imperiled Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the fish and communities that depend on a healthy Delta for their livelihoods. Both farmers and fishermen are food producers – and both farming and fishing create thousands of jobs.
Delta family farmers, fishermen, Tribal members, Delta residents and environmental advocates have led the battle to stop the construction of the peripheral canal-tunnel – and to stop federal and state attacks on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, green sturgeon and other imperiled species.
To demand action to protect Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta agriculture from the threat of increased water exports and rebuild the West’s iconic salmon runs, U.S. Representatives John Garamendi, Mike Thompson, Jackie Speier, Jerry McNerney, and George Miller (staff) will convene with community leaders, agricultural producers, recreational and commercial salmon fishermen and businesses, agricultural and conservation groups, and friends of the Delta at the historic “Farms & Salmon Summit” on Wednesday, April 27, from 11 am – 2 pm at the Antioch Community Center, 4703 Lone Tree Way, Antioch, CA.
This summit is designed to bring attention to Delta-dependent farming and fishing communities, and to provide a forum to discuss long-term solutions to California’s water woes. The event will include a free “Delta Bounty Reception” hosted by Coastside Fishing Club Grill Crew, Giusti’s Place, McCormack Ranch, and Rivermaid Trading Company.
“Delta-dependent communities, jobs, and families are at stake in the tug of war over California’s water, along with our priceless heritage,” according to Jim McCarthy in a summit news advisory. “By working together to support policies that protect the Delta and its fish, we can ensure that both fish and farms have the water they need to thrive. Through inclusive, transparent, and science-based public processes will we make significant long-lasting progress on our state’s contentious water issues – and heal the Delta.”
“This event is a must for salmon supporters,” said Dick Pool, administrator of http://www.water4fish.org. “Our interests are being bulldozed by those who are attempting to write us off and pump our salmon water south.”
Pool emphasized that Congressman Tom McClintock “has declared war on salmon”
“On April 5th and 11th he held hearings in Washington DC and Fresno vowing to destroy the government protections for salmon so that more Delta water can be pumped to junior water rights holders in the San Joaquin Valley,” said Pool. “In orchestrating his water plan he said, ‘The facts we gather from this hearing will be instrumental as we begin the process to rescind government policies at the root of the San Joaquin Valley’s misery.’”
Congressman Garamendi said, “The water wars are escalating and the salmon crisis deepens. We need to get some solutions on the table and then back them. We need your support to get this done. Please join us.”
The schedule for the event is as follows:
11:00am – 11:30am Opening and Congressional remarks
11:30am – 12:30pm Expert panels from farming and fishing community
12:30pm – 1:00pm Public comment
1:00pm – 1:30pm Media availability with members of Congress and others
1:00pm – 2:00pm Delta Bounty Reception
For updates, please visit: http://www.salmonwaternow.org. For a flyer on the summit, go to: http://water4fish.org/res/pdf/salmon_summit_flyer.pdf
For background information or to arrange advance interviews with farmers, fishermen or others, please contact: Jim McCarthy, 541-941-9450,jmccarthy.consulting [at] gmail.com.
danbacher The three commissioners attending the teleconference – President Jim Kellogg, Richard Rogers and Dan Richards – voted unanimously to approve the season as amended.
Photo of the American River below the Watt Avenue Bridge in Sacramento by Dan Bacher.
Commission Approves Full Central Valley River Salmon Seasons
by Dan Bacher
The California Fish and Game Commission approved the first full Central Valley salmon fishing season in 4 years at its teleconference meeting today, April 21, in Sacramento.
The American River and Sacramento River recreational salmon seasons will begin on July 16 and will close at a variety of times, depending on the stretch of river.
The season on the Feather River, as proposed by the DFG, was slated to start on August 16 to protect spring run chinooks. However, After Bob Boucke, owner of Johnson’s Bait and Tackle in Yuba City, and Ron La Force of United Outdoorsman made a request to open the Feather on July 16, the Commissioners amended the proposal to include the earlier starting date.
The three commissioners attending the teleconference – President Jim Kellogg, Richard Rogers and Dan Richards – voted unanimously to approve the season as amended.
“I’ve always voted for what the biology dictates,” said Rogers. “This Commission is on record for taking action to protect salmon runs in California. However, the run is of a sufficient size this year that we can take a measured risk.”
Boucke argued before the Commission that delaying the opening of the Feather would cause a $200,000 loss to his bait and tackle business, as well large financial losses to other shops and fishing guides in his area.
Boucke and La Force also argued that to restore the spring run chinooks, the state and federal governments must take action to stop the impact of the Delta pumps on the spring run, as well as restoring spawning habitat on the river.
After Boucke and La Force spoke, Kellogg made the motion to adopt the Central Valley salmon season, with the amendment that the Feather River season be opened on July 16.
“I’m glad they listened to us and amended the proposed season,” said Boucke after the meeting. “It shows you that it does make a difference to come to a meeting.”
The Commissioners made the decision to adopt the earlier date on the Feather even though Scott Barrow, DFG fisheries biologist, noted that the spring salmon returns to the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville over the past three years were only one third of those of the previous three years.
Salmon fishing on Central Valley rivers was closed in 2008 in 2009, except for a short season to target late fall run chinook on the Sacramento River. In 2010, a limited fishery for fall run chinooks was allowed on the Sacramento, American and Feather Rivers.
The closure was spurred by the unpredented collapse of Sacramento River fall chinook populations. State and federal officials claimed that the collapse was spurred by “poor ocean conditions.”
On the other hand, recreational and commercial fishing groups, Indian Tribes and environmental organizations pointed to increased water exports out of the Sacramento River to corporate agribusiness and southern California, declining water quality and dam operations as contributing factors to the dramatic decline.
Federal biologists forecast an ocean abundance estimate of around 730,000 Sacramento River fall chinooks, far above the number needed for optimum spawning this fall (122,000‐180,000 fish). While this forecast is encouraging, the winter and fall run chinook populations, both listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), have declined in recent years due to Delta water exports, pollution and other factors.
The Commission today also approved recreational salmon fishing regulations for the Trinity and Klamath rivers and federal regulations for the ocean salmon seasons that began April 2 off the California coast from Horse Mountain to the the California/Mexico border.
For more information, contact the Fish and Game Commission, (916) 653-4899,
http://www.fgc.ca.gov
Below are the proposed regulations for the American, Feather and Sacramento rivers:
American River, subsection 7.50(b)(5)
1. Subsection (A) from Nimbus Dam to Hazel Avenue Bridge will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through December 31.
2. Subsection (B) from Hazel Avenue Bridge to the USGS gauging station cable crossing near Nimbus Hatchery will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through September 14.
3. Subsection (C) from the USGS gauging station cable crossing near Nimbus Hatchery to the SMUD power line crossing the southwest boundary of Ancil Hoffman Park will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through October 31.
4. Subsection (D) from the SMUD power line crossing at the southwest boundary of Ancil Hoffman Park to the Jibboom Street Bridge will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through December 31.
5. Subsection (E) from the Jibboom Street Bridge to the mouth will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through December 11.
a. The December 12 closure will protect adult winter run salmon migrating up the Sacramento River near the mouth.
Feather River, subsection 7.50(b)(68)
1. Subsection (D) from 1,000 feet below the Thermalito Afterbay Outfall to the mouth will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through December 11.
a. The July 16 opener will protect adult spring run salmon migrating up the Feather River.
b. The December 12 closure will protect adult winter run salmon migrating up the Sacramento River near the mouth.
Sacramento River below Keswick Dam, subsection 7.50(b)(156.5)
1. Subsection (C) from the Deschutes Road Bridge to 500 feet upstream from Red Bluff Diversion Dam will be open to salmon fishing from August 1 through December 18.
a. August 1 is the historical opening day for this area.
b. The December 19 closure will protect adult winter run salmon migrating up the Sacramento River.
2. Subsection (E) from 150 feet below the Lower Red Bluff (Sycamore) Boat Ramp to the Highway 113 Bridge near Knights Landing will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through December 18.
a. The December 19 closure will protect adult winter run salmon migrating up the Sacramento River.
3. Subsection (F) from Highway 113 Bridge near Knights Landing to the Carquinez Bridge will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through December 11.
a. The December 12 closure will protect adult winter run salmon migrating from the ocean.
