danbacher “Our rights are not negotiable,” said Hoopa Tribal Citizen Dania Rose Colegrove, an organizer for the Klamath Justice Coalition, who gathered seaweed and mussels along with 12 others at Patrick’s Point. “The state of California, under the MLPA Initiative, is trying to make us into ‘recreational users.’ However, where we gather as Tribal members is none of their business.”
Photo: Members of the Yurok, Hoopa and Karuk Tribes walk down a path in Patrick’s Point State Park following the harvest. Photo by Matt Mais, Yurok Tribe.
by Dan Bacher
Members of the Yurok, Hoopa Valley, Karuk and other Tribes on Saturday, June 18 gathered seaweed, mussels and clams at three beaches on the North Coast to protest proposed restrictions on coastal gathering proposed under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative.
The Tribal members, organized by the grassroots Klamath and Coastal Justice Coalitions, gathered at Patrick’s Point State Park at 5:30 am, Clam Beach at 7:30 am and Wilson Creek Beach near Klamath at 8:30 am.
“Our rights are not negotiable,” said Hoopa Tribal Citizen Dania Rose Colegrove, an organizer for the Klamath Justice Coalition, who gathered seaweed and mussels along with 11 others at Patrick’s Point. “The state of California, under the MLPA Initiative, is trying to make us into ‘recreational users.’ However, where we gather as Tribal members is none of their business.”
She said no park rangers interfered with the harvesting of coastal resources by Tribal members at Patrick’s Point, as rangers have done in the past.
She pointed out the hypocrisy of the MLPA’s “marine protected areas” outlawing tribal gathering and fishing, while doing nothing to stop ocean industrialists from destroying the marine ecosystem.
“How is it that the MLPA doesn’t protect the ocean from big oil, wave energy projects, water pollution, military testing and all of the people who want to mess up the ocean, the people with big money,” Colegrove emphasized. “Now the North Coast has been opened up to military testing by the Navy.”
“We’re doing this in solidarity with all of coastal tribes now that the MLPA North Coast process is coming to a head,” she noted. “Our message is ‘Don’t mussel us out.’ We’re here to stay – we’ve been gathering here for thousands of years and we will continue to gather.”
“It is our sovereign and sacred right to harvest coastal resources according to our customs. We will no longer allow the state or the feds to criminalize our culture. They will have to acknowledge that we are part of the ecosystem,” added Colegrove.
Bob McConnell, Yurok Tribal Heritage Preservation Officer, said coastal tribes harvest from the ocean for their ceremonies and physical health.
“Our methods of take enhance these resources rather than harm them,” said McConnell. “We offer as evidence the abundance of coastal resources prior to European contact. Prayer is an integral part of the process as no life can be taken without acknowledgement of that life. We thank the creator and the plant/animal for that life each and every time we gather a resource.”
McConnell said decades have passed and public perceptions about Native Americans have changed since most of the rules that govern California’s coast were signed into law.
“These government bodies have made criminals out of people for embracing their culture. It is time to decriminalize our culture. We want the people of California to know that and join us in the process of reversing it,” McConnell concluded.
Local Tribes use hundreds of coastal resources for ceremonial regalia, medicine and for subsistence, according to Colegrove. Under the proposed Marine Life Protection Act marine protected areas, tribal citizens face fines and potential incarceration for harvesting for traditional purposes in a culturally appropriate way. Regulations against indigenous people in state parks, federal marine reserves and the proposed MLPA marine protected areas are an “unacceptable and outdated threat to native sovereignty and culture,” she stated.
Representatives of the Yurok Tribe and other tribes have met with John Laird, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, regarding tribal gathering under the MLPA, but the state has to date failed to address tribal fishing and gathering rights.
The California Fish & Game Commission (CFGC) will meet in Stockton on June 29-30 to discuss and adopt the amended unified proposal for marine protected areas on the North Coast. The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force and the Regional Stakeholders Group both recommended allowing traditional tribal fishing and gathering to continue in North Coast marine protected areas (MPAs), but the unified proposal has been altered in a number of areas, to the chagrin of Tribes, fishermen and environmentalists.
According to North Coast MPA Options posted on the Fish and Game Commission website on June 9, “Staff determined during the planning process was that one way in which traditional, noncommercial, tribal gathering activities can be allowed to continue uninterrupted within MPAs (other than state marine reserves) is by incorporating such activities as proposed recreational uses for all non-commercial users; accordingly, such uses were incorporated into both the RNCP (Stakeholder Group ‘Unified’ MPA Proposal) and the ECA (Ecoregional Conservation Assessment) and are listed separately from other proposed recreational uses as recreational uses intended to accommodate tribes.”
However, the MLPA Master Plan Science Advisory Team advised that “this solution does not meet the science guidelines in the Master Plan and, hence, could reduce the likelihood that proposed MPAs will meet the goals of the MLPA.”
Colegrove said that tribal members will show in force at the Fish and Game Commission meeting to defend their sovereign rights that they consider to be under attack by the MLPA Initiative.
For the meeting agenda and other information, go to: http://www.fgc.ca.gov. To read the most recent MLPA options, go to: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/northcoast.asp. For more details on the amended proposal, please read Frank Hartzell’s article, http://www.mendocinobeacon.com/news/ci_18287706?source=rss
The Klamath and Coastal Justice Coalitions are native alliances formed with the aim of protecting tribal rights. The KJC played a large role in pushing forward the removal of four dams on the Klamath River and is currently working to ensure California’s Marine Life Protection Act honors tribal sovereignty.
MLPA Initiative Background:
The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) is a law, signed by Governor Gray Davis in 1999, designed to create a network of marine protected areas off the California Coast. However, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 created the privately-funded MLPA “Initiative” to “implement” the law, effectively eviscerating the MLPA.
The “marine protected areas” created under the MLPA Initiative fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, water pollution, military testing, wave and wind energy projects, corporate aquaculture and all other uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering.
The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces that oversaw the implementation of “marine protected areas” included a big oil lobbyist, marina developer, real estate executive and other individuals with numerous conflicts of interest. Catherine Reheis Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association who is pushing for new oil drilling off the California coast, served as the chair of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast.
The MLPA Initiative operated through a controversial private/public “partnership funded by the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. The Schwarzenegger administration, under intense criticism by grassroots environmentalists, fishermen and Tribal members, authorized the implementation of marine protected areas under the initiative through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the foundation and the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
Tribal members, fishermen, grassroots environmentalists, human rights advocates and civil liberties activists have slammed the MLPA Initiative for the violation of numerous state, federal and international laws. Critics charge that the initiative, privatized by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, has violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, Brown Act, California Administrative Procedures Act, American Indian Religious Freedom Act and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
MLPA and state officials refused to appoint any tribal scientists to the MLPA Science Advisory Team (SAT), in spite of the fact that the Yurok Tribe alone has a Natural Resources Department with over 70 staff members, including many scientists. The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force also didn’t include any tribal representatives until 2010 when one was finally appointed to the panel.
“Whether it is their intention or not, what the Marine Life Protection Act does to tribes is it systematically decimates our ability to be who we are,” stated Frankie Joe Myers, a Yurok tribal citizen and organizer for the Coastal Justice Coalition on July 21, 2010, during a historic direct protest against the MLPA’s violation of tribal rights in Fort Bragg. “That is the definition of cultural genocide.”
For more information on the MLPA Initiative and protecting tribal rights, go to: http://www.klamathjustice.blogspot.com.
danbacher “The House of Representatives took an important first step toward banning genetically engineered salmon today – a step representing one bright spot in a Congressional budget bill that, overall, has been devastating to a large number of important consumer, environmental and social programs,” said Wenonah Hunter, executive director of Food and Water Watch.
genetically-engineered-sa…
by Dan Bacher
On June 15, the House of Representatives agreed by voice vote to an amendment to the House Agriculture Appropriations bill that would bar the approval of genetically engineered (GE) salmon for human consumption.
The short amendment by Representatives Don Young (R-AK) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) would ban the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from spending any funds on the approval of the fish, called “Frankenfish” by GE fish opponents, beginning in the next fiscal year. (http://donyoung.house.gov/UploadedFiles/GM_Fish_final_version.pdf)
“Frankenfish is uncertain and unnecessary,” said Rep. Young. “Should it receive approval as an animal drug, it clears the path to introduce it into the food supply; my amendment cuts them off before they can get that far. Any approval of genetically modified salmon could seriously threaten wild salmon populations as they grow twice as fast and require much more food.”
Representatives of consumer, environmental and fishing groups and Indian Tribes welcomed the amendment while noting that the overall budget bill was badly flawed.
A bright spot in a bad bill
“The House of Representatives took an important first step toward banning genetically engineered salmon today – a step representing one bright spot in a Congressional budget bill that, overall, has been devastating to a large number of important consumer, environmental and social programs,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch.
Hauter described the approval process for genetically engineered salmon, which would be the first GE animal approved for human consumption, as “controversial” and “flawed.” She said little consideration has been given to both the environmental and human health impacts of the fish.
“It appears the FDA was operating for the benefit of AquaBounty, the company that produces the fish, rather than in the public’s interest. That the House is stepping in and prohibiting the FDA from using its FY2012 funds to approve this science experiment is a move in the right direction,” she added.
Trout Unlimited also applauded the House Amendment to block approval of the controversial “Frankenfish” in a statement.
“TU is deeply concerned about the risks that genetically altered salmon pose to wild salmon populations through competition or interbreeding should they escape confinement or be released into the wild,” according to Trout Unlimited. “TU is also concerned that the FDA is moving through its decision-making process without adequate environmental analysis and involvement by the agencies that manage salmon fisheries, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service.”
Wild salmon populations threatened by GE fish
“Many wild salmon populations, including wild Atlantic salmon in Maine, are listed as threatened or endangered species and cannot stand additional new stressors,” said Keith Curley, TU’s Director of Government Affairs. “This amendment would prevent the FDA from putting wild salmon at unnecessary risk of competition and interbreeding from genetically modified salmon.”
TU urged the U.S. Senate to follow through on preventing the FDA from approving genetically engineered salmon for human consumption.
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) also praised the House for its decision to prohibit the FDA from approving “Frankenfish.”
“We thank members of the House for stepping in to correct FDA’s misguided decision to go ahead with this approval process that fails to take into account a plethora of economic, human health, environmental and animal welfare concerns,” said Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety. “Any decision to approve GE salmon would be a continuation of the Obama Administration’s illogical biotech bailout at the expense of American jobs and our fishing economy.”
AquaBounty claims amendment is ‘outrageous’
However, Ronald L. Stotish, Ph.D., President and CEO of AquaBounty Technologies, described the passage of the amendment as an “outrageous action.” Less than a dozen lawmakers voted by voice to attach the amendment to the House Agriculture Appropriations bill, H.R. 2112.
“This outrageous action is wrong on the facts, wrong on the process and wrong on the policy,” said Stotish. “A handful of representatives have chosen to subvert the FDA’s rigorous 15-year plus process. It completely ignores the results of a rigorous scientific review. This sort of political gamesmanship undermines the science-based system that protects the nation’s health and safety. It is astonishing that Young and a few colleagues would try to game the system in this way.”
“Whether or not you support this transgenic salmon, we should all agree these types of shenanigans have no place in a complex scientific debate. These actions threaten the fundamental basis of a science-based regulatory process. Americans deserve better from their elected representatives,” Stotish added.
The FDA is currently fast-tracking a permit application by AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. that would make genetically modified Atlantic salmon the first genetically engineered animal approved for human consumption. These fish, known as AquAdvantage, are designed to grow twice as fast as conventional farmed Atlantic salmon.
H.R. 2112 passed through House on January 16. The bill will now move to the U.S. Senate.
Winnemem Wintu Tribe urges Senators to block approval of Frankenfish
“Tell your Senators to do the same as the House and vote to Block FDA approval of GM Frankenfish,” urged Caleen Sisk-Franco, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. “The Frankenfish doesn’t has Omega 3 sufficient to our human needs for health. They will kill the Chinook and many other species!”
The Winnemem Wintu Tribe is now working on ambitious plan to return winter-run chinook salmon to the McCloud River above Lake Shasta. Members of the Tribe traveled to New Zealand in the spring of 2010 to conduct joint ceremonies with the Maori people on the Rakaira River, where the McCloud River winter-run chinooks were introduced a century ago. The Tribe received approval from the New Zealand and Maori governments to transport the eggs to the U.S. to reintroduce the fish into the McCloud. The Tribe now needs the cooperation of the U.S. and California State Governments.
The drive by the Obama administration to approve GE salmon for human consumption takes place as Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are collapsing, due to massive water exports out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to corporate agribusiness and southern California water agencies and declining water quality. While the Sacramento River fall-run chinook populations are on the upswing after record runs in 2008 and 2009, endangered winter-run Chinook and threatened fall-run Chinook salmon continue to decline.
To take action against “Frankenfish,” go to: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/genetically-engineered-foods/stop-frankenfish/. For more information about the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, go to: http://www.winnememwintu.us.
danbacher by Dan Bacher
A federal judge this week found that Six Rivers National Forest violated the National Historic Preservation Act when it implemented a timber harvest plan in 2009.
The plan itself was developed after years of collaborative meetings between Six Rivers National Forest, the Karuk Tribe, conservation groups and community members. In the end, the Tribe and the community signed off on the plan which aimed to thin, prune, hand-pile and burn 2,700 acres around Orleans in western Humboldt County. But what was implemented on the ground was not what Six River Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelly represented on paper.
“We participated in good faith in the Forest Service’s collaborative process and we were assured that our sacred areas would be protected and our cultural values respected. It’s now obvious that those were hollow promises,” said Leaf Hillman, Natural Resources Director for the Karuk Tribe.
The Tribe found decks of large hardwoods lying across trails used by medicine men during the Tribe’s annual World Renewal Ceremonies. Other ceremonial areas were also desecrated by logging activities, contrary to commitments in the project plan.
Logging activity was halted after Tribal activists blockaded logging roads in December 2009. Soon after the Karuk Tribe along with the Environmental Protection and Information Center (EPIC), Klamath Forest Alliance, and Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center filed suit.
Important to the claims of the plaintiffs is the fact that portions of the Orleans project overlapped the Panamnik World Renewal Ceremonial District, which was nominated for National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The Karuk’s spiritual Medicine Man Trail spans the district, and about half of it fell within treatment units of the Orleans project. Based on the evidence, the Court ruled that the logging activity within this area was a violation of the National Historic Preservation Act.
“In light of the finding that defendants violated the National Historic Preservation Act, defendants are hereby enjoined from conducting further implementation of the Orleans Community Fuels Reduction and Forest Health Project until appropriate remedial measures are established to bring the project into compliance,” Judge Alsup ruled.
In addition to his role as Natural Resources Director, Leaf Hillman is a Karuk Ceremonial Leader in Orleans.
“Supervisor Kelley has no respect for this community or native cultures as is evidenced by their actions on the ground,” stated Hillman. “With this court order we are hopeful that we can move forward to provide fire protection for our communities without sacrificing our sacred sites.”
For more information, contact: Craig Tucker, Spokesman, Karuk Tribe, cell 916-207-8294, or Kimberly Baker, Klamath Forest Alliance/EPIC, cell 707-834-8826.
danbacher by Dan Bacher
Members of the Yurok Tribe and other tribes will gather on the North Coast beaches Saturday, June 18 in protest of new coastal closures in “marine protected areas” proposed under the controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative.
“Armed with only tribal identification cards, Native Americans from Tolowa Country to the Wiyot Nation will be assembling on culturally critical beaches Saturday to harvest marine resources,” according to a press release from the Yurok Tribe, California’s largest Indian Tribe.
There will be tribal members at Patrick’s Point State Park at 5:30 a.m., Clam Beach at 7:30 a.m. and Wilson Creek Beach near Klamath at 8:30 a.m. Tribal members are being encouraged to gather at their favorite spot.
Representatives of the Yurok Tribe and other tribes have met with John Laird, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, regarding tribal gathering under the MLPA Initiative, but the state has to date failed to address tribal fishing and gathering rights.
“We don’t perceive traditional tribal gathering of ocean resources to be some kind of delinquent activity, but the state and feds do,” said Yurok Tribal Heritage Preservation Officer, Bob McConnell. “We harvest from the ocean for our ceremonies and physical health. It is time to decriminalize our culture.”
“The Tribe’s rights are nonnegotiable,” emphasized Yurok Chairman Thomas O’Rourke Sr. “As long as we are here, we will continue to gather in culturally appropriate way that is beneficial to all species.”
The tribe said state parks and national marine reserves and parks do “disproportionate and unjustifiable harm” to California’s indigenous people who need access to marine resources in order to perpetuate complex spiritual practices and life ways.
“Our methods of take enhance these resources rather than harm them. We offer as evidence the abundance of coastal resources prior to European contact,” McConnell said. “Prayer is an integral part of the process as no life can be taken without acknowledgement of that life. We thank the creator and the plant/animal for that life each and every time we gather a resource.”
The tribe noted that decades have passed and public perceptions about Native Americans have changed since most of the rules that govern California’s coast were signed into law.
“These government bodies have made criminals out of people for embracing their culture. We want the people of California to know that and join us in the process of reversing it,” McConnell concluded.
For more information, contact: Matt Mais, Yurok Tribe, (707) 482-1350 ext. 306, (707)954-0976, www.yuroktribe.org.
The California Fish & Game Commission (CFGC) will meet in Stockton on June 29-30 to discuss and adopt the amended “unified” proposal for marine protected areas on the North Coast. For more details on the amended plan, please read Frank Hartzell’s article, http://www.mendocinobeacon.com/news/ci_18287706?source=rss
MLPA Initiative Background:
The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) is a law, signed by Governor Gray Davis in 1999, designed to create a network of marine protected areas off the California Coast. However, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 created the privately-funded MLPA “Initiative” to “implement” the law, effectively eviscerating the MLPA.
The “marine protected areas” created under the MLPA Initiative fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, water pollution, military testing, wave and wind energy projects, corporate aquaculture and all other uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering.
The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces that oversaw the implementation of “marine protected areas” included a big oil lobbyist, marina developer, real estate executive and other individuals with numerous conflicts of interest. Catherine Reheis Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association who is pushing for new oil drilling off the California coast, served as the chair of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast.
The MLPA Initiative operated through a controversial private/public “partnership funded by the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. The Schwarzenegger administration, under intense criticism by grassroots environmentalists, fishermen and Tribal members, authorized the implementation of marine protected areas under the initiative through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the foundation and the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
Tribal members, fishermen, grassroots environmentalists, human rights advocates and civil liberties activists have slammed the MLPA Initiative for the violation of numerous state, federal and international laws. Critics charge that the initiative, privatized by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, has violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, Brown Act, California Administrative Procedures Act, American Indian Religious Freedom Act and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
MLPA and state officials refused to appoint any tribal scientists to the MLPA Science Advisory Team (SAT), in spite of the fact that the Yurok Tribe alone has a Natural Resources Department with over 70 staff members, including many scientists. The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force also didn’t include any tribal representatives until 2010 when one was finally appointed to the panel.
“Whether it is their intention or not, what the Marine Life Protection Act does to tribes is it systematically decimates our ability to be who we are,” stated Frankie Joe Myers, a Yurok tribal citizen and organizer for the Coastal Justice Coalition on July 21, 2010, during a historic direct protest against the MLPA’s violation of tribal rights in Fort Bragg. “That is the definition of cultural genocide.”
“It is our sovereign and sacred right to harvest coastal resources according to our customs,” said Hoopa Tribal Citizen Dania Rose Colegrove, an organizer for the Klamath Justice Coalition. ”We will no longer allow the state or the feds to criminalize our culture.”
For more information on the MLPA Initiative and protecting tribal rights, go to: http://www.klamathjustice.blogspot.com.
danbacher Under the proposed Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) regulations, tribal citizens face fines and potential incarceration for harvesting for traditional purposes in a culturally appropriate way.
David Gensaw, Yurok Tribal Council Member, speaks during a direct action protest at the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg on July 21, 2010. Photo by Klamath Media Collective.
640_dsc_0350-small.jpg
by Dan Bacher
The Klamath and Coastal Justice Coalitions are calling on all members of local tribes to gather coastal resources at their traditional gathering places on California’s North Coast from 5:30 am to 8:30 am on Saturday, June 18, according to an announcement from the coalitions.
Members of the coalitions will be harvesting coastal resources at Patrick’s Point State Park at 5:30 am, Clam Beach at 7:30 am and Wilson Creek Beach near Klamath at 8:30 am, said Hoopa Tribal Citizen Dania Rose Colegrove, an organizer for the Klamath Justice Coalition.
“It is our sovereign and sacred right to harvest coastal resources according to our customs,” said Colegrove. “We will no longer allow the state or the feds to criminalize our culture.”
Local Tribes use hundreds of coastal resources for ceremonial regalia, medicine and for subsistence. Under the proposed Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) North Coast regulations, Colegove said tribal citizens face fines and potential incarceration for harvesting for traditional purposes in a culturally appropriate way.
“Regulations against indigenous people in state parks, federal marine reserves and the proposed MLPA marine protected areas are an unacceptable and outdated threat to native sovereignty and culture,” she emphasized.
Pushing for dam removal, defending tribal gathering rights
The Klamath and Coastal Justice Coalitions are native alliances formed with the aim of protecting tribal rights. The KJC played a large role in pushing forward the removal of four dams on the Klamath River and is currently working to ensure California’s Marine Life Protection Act honors tribal sovereignty.
The Klamath and Coastal Justice Coalitions and their allies organized a peaceful take over of a Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting by over 300 people on July 21, 2010 in Fort Bragg. Members of over 50 Indian Nations, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, environmentalists and immigrant workers marched on the meeting in support of protecting tribal gathering rights on the North Coast.
“Whether it is their intention or not, what the Marine Life Protection Act does to tribes is it systematically decimates our ability to be who we are,” stated Frankie Joe Myers, a Yurok tribal citizen and organizer for the Coastal Justice Coalition. “That is the definition of cultural genocide.”
“We should have had better immigration laws,” Yurok tribal citizen and Air Force Veteran Wally Obie told the Blue Ribbon Task Force. “That’s not funny.”
The MLPA’s violation of state, federal and international laws
Tribal members, fishermen, grassroots environmentalists, human rights advocates and civil liberties activists have slammed the MLPA Initiative for the violation of numerous state, federal and international laws. Critics charge that the initiative, privatized by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, has violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, Brown Act, California Administrative Procedures Act, American Indian Religious Freedom Act and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
President Obama agreed to sign on to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in December 2010.
Article 32, Section 2, of the Declaration mandates “free prior and informed consent” in consultation with the indigenous population affected by a state action.
Article 26, Section 3, 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.”
However, rather than respecting and recognizing tribal knowledge, customs and traditions, MLPA and state officials refused to appoint any tribal scientists to the MLPA Science Advisory Team (SAT). This was in spite of the fact that the Yurok Tribe alone has a Natural Resources Department with over 70 staff members, including scientists. The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force also didn’t include any tribal representatives until 2010 when one was finally appointed to the panel.
State still hasn’t addressed tribal gathering rights
Representatives of the Yurok Tribe and other tribes have met with John Laird, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, regarding tribal gathering under the MLPA, but the state has to date failed to address tribal fishing and gathering rights.
During the Fish and Game Commission meeting in Folsom on April 7, Laird said there is no “legally defensible” administrative fix to provide exclusive use to tribal members in marine protected areas. “We continue to run up against obstacles to providing exclusive use to tribes in marine protected areas,” he stated.
However, Yurok Chairman Thomas O’Rourke Sr. pointed out, “The Tribe’s rights are nonnegotiable. As long as we are here, we will continue to gather in culturally appropriate way that is beneficial to all species.”
“We don’t perceive traditional tribal gathering of ocean resources to be some kind of delinquent activity, but the state and feds do,” said Yurok Tribal Heritage Preservation Officer, Bob McConnell. “We harvest from the ocean for our ceremonies and physical health. It is time to decriminalize our culture.”
The California Fish & Game Commission (CFGC) will meet in Stockton on June 29-30 to discuss and adopt the amended “unified” proposal for marine protected areas on the North Coast. For more details on the amended plan, please read Frank Hartzell’s article,http://www.mendocinobeacon.com/news/ci_18287706?source=rss
The “marine protected areas” created under the MLPA Initiative fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, water pollution, military testing, wave and wind energy projects, corporate aquaculture and all other uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering. The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces that oversaw the implementation of “marine protected areas” included a big oil lobbyist, marina developer, real estate executive and other individuals with numerous conflicts of interest. Catherine Reheis Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association who is pushing for new oil drilling off the California coast, served as the chair of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast.
The MLPA Initiative operated through a controversial private/public “partnership funded by the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. The Schwarzenegger administration, under intense criticism by grassroots environmentalists, fishermen and Tribal members, authorized the implementation of marine protected areas under the initiative through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the foundation and the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
For more information on the MLPA Initiative and protecting tribal rights, go to: http://www.klamathjustice.blogspot.com.
danbacher The Delta Vision Foundation, just like Governor Arnold Schwarzegger’s Delta Vision Task Force that preceded it, appears to be doing everything it can to exclude Delta residents, fishermen and California Indian Tribes from the discussion of Delta water and fish.
Delta image courtesy of the Delta Vision Foundation.
img-1.gif
by Dan Bacher
The Delta Vision Foundation will release the 2011 Delta Vision Report Card, styled as an “evaluation of efforts to implement the Delta Vision Strategic Plan,” at a public meeting this Thursday, July 14 from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm at the CalEPA-Sierra Hearing Room at the Corner of 10th and I Streets in Sacramento.
The Foundation, formerly the Governor’s Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force chaired by Phil Isenberg, will release its second Report Card evaluation of “the State’s progress and effectiveness in restoring the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta and ensuring a reliable water supply for California,” according to a Foundation announcement.
Unfortunately, the Delta Vision Foundation, just like Governor Arnold Schwarzegger’s Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force that preceded it, appears to be doing everything it can to exclude Delta residents, fishermen and California Indian Tribes from the discussion of Delta water and fish. It was only because of intense political pressure in 2005 that Schwarzenegger finally appointed one Tribal representative, Gary Mulcahy of the Winnemen Wintu Tribe, and one recreational fishing representative, John Beuttler from the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, to the task force filled with water agency officials, political hacks, corporate agribusiness operatives and environmental NGO representatives.
Who is scheduled to appear at the meeting? Of course, the members of the Delta Vision Foundation, including Sunne Wright McPeak, President, Mike Chrisman, A.G. Kawamura, Linda Adams, Richard Frank, Thomas McKernan, William Reilly, Raymond Seed, Ph.D., Charles Gardiner, Executive Director, and “Associated agency leaders and stakeholders,” will be there.
The Foundation will also host two “panel discussions” about the report: a panel of state and federal agencies from 10:00 to 11:00 am and a “stakeholder” panel from 11:00 am to noon.
The “Agency Panel Participants” will include representatives of the Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Protection Commission, Delta Conservancy, State Water Resources Control Board, Department of Fish and Game and Department of the Interior.
The “Stakeholder Panel Participants” will include representatives of the The Bay Institute, Association of California Water Agencies, Northern California Water Association, Environmental Defense Fund, California Chamber of Commerce, State and Federal Contractors Water Agency and “Other Invited Organizations.”
As usual, I don’t see any recreational fishing groups, commercial fishing organizations, Delta farming groups, California Indian Tribes or environmental justice organizations listed as “stakeholders.” And also as usual, I don’t see any “stakeholders’ opposed to the construction of the peripheral canal invited to speak on the panel!
The public will have an opportunity to comment on the “Report Card” after the “stakeholders” speak.
According to the foundation, “The 2011 Delta Vision Report Card evaluates progress by State agencies (Governor’s Administration), Legislature, and federal agencies to adopt and implement key recommendations and strategies identified in the Delta Vision Strategic Plan.”
One of the key recommendations of the plan was the construction of “dual conveyance” – a combination of a peripheral canal or tunnel and “through Delta” conveyance – to facilitate the export of Delta water to corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California water agencies.
“The Delta Vision Foundation conducted a comprehensive survey among stakeholders to solicit input on progress and effectiveness, and their feedback is also incorporated into the evaluation. The Delta Vision Strategic Plan, released in October 2008, was a two-year project designed to ensure long-term sustainable management of the Delta,” the Foundation stated.
The Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force was organized in a manner very similar to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Forces, panels designed to create a network of “marine protected areas” on the California coast. However, the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces reached new levels of corruption with the appointment of a big oil lobbyist, real estate executive, marina developer and other corporate operatives with numerous conflicts of interest.
Phil Isenberg was the chair not only of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, but of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the Central Coast. In one of the most egregious examples of corporate greenwashing in California history, Schwarzenegger appointed Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, to chair the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast.
Meanwhile, Sacramento River spring and winter-run Chinook populations, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail, green sturgeon and other Bay-Delta Estuary fish populations continue to decline, due to massive water exports out of the largest and most significant estuary on the West Coast of the Americas and declining water quality. In one of the largest fish kills in California history, state and federal personnel have “salvaged” more than 6 million Sacramento splittail in the past six weeks and more than 51,000 imperiled spring-run chinook this year at the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) pumps in the Delta.
The peripheral canal or tunnel proposed under the Delta Vision and BDCP processes is likely to lead to the extinction of Central Valley and Delta fish populations.
“This is not a VISION this is a NIGHTMARE,” said Caleen Sisk Franco, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. “It is terrible that most of California’s people are not paying attention to the mass killing of the fish, which indicate that there will be mass killings of people because the water will be ‘no good’ for drinking soon. So many interconnected, horrible problems are repeated time after time.”
In turn, the MLPA Initiative, rather than creating real marine protected areas that address water pollution and the industrialization and privatization of ocean public trust resources, serves only to greenwash the abysmal legacy of the worst Governor for fish and the environment in California history, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
For more information on the Delta Vision Foundation, go to: http://www.deltavisionfoundation.org. For more information on the battle to stop the peripheral canal, go to: http://www.restorethedelta.org. For more information on the MLPA Initiative, go to: http://noyonews.net.
danbacher If passed, the San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act (HR 1837) would harm the environment by rolling back the water contributions that the Central Valley Project makes to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to 1994 levels, ignoring environmental changes in the Delta and additional endangered species that have become threatened in the intervening 17 years.
Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA), the author of HR 1837, skipped Monday’s hearing on his own bill! Nunes is the darling of subsidized corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley who are seeking increased water exports from the California Delta at great expense to fish and fishing communities. Photo courtesy of Nunes’ office.
0ae765e7-a4d2-40a5-9482-6…
by Dan Bacher
Witnesses in a Water and Power Subcommittee hearing held in Washington D.C. on June 13 exposed the many severe flaws in HR 1837, the San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act introduced by Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA).
Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), who called for the hearing, described the bill as “a radical Republican water bill which would usurp California’s water laws, roll back California’s environmental protections, overturn California’s water rights system to the benefit of a few powerful agricultural users, and set precedent for litigation against other states’ water rights.”
A diverse coalition of fishing groups, Indian Tribes, family farmers, conservationists, environmental justice advocates and Delta residents opposes the legislation for helping to engineer the extinction of imperiled populations of Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and other speices. Tribes opposing the legislation include the Yurok Tribe, Winnemem Wintu and Modoc Nation.
“This radical legislation threatens California’s ability to manage its own water and protect its environment,” Napolitano said. “Its provisions would damage our environment, undercut decades of agreements and ongoing negotiations to improve our water supply, and almost guarantee the extinction of California’s salmon industry and damage our economy. By allowing a select group of agricultural users to bypass state environmental regulations, this bill overturns our state water rights system upside-down, pushing the costs of future droughts, climate changes, and environmental needs onto the backs of water users and taxpayers across the state.”
Napolitano said HR 1837 overrides state water and environmental regulations, threatening California’s fragile ecosystem and pushing the cost of environmental protection onto other senior water rights holders.
Bill will destroy California salmon
Members of the subcommittee heard testimony from California salmon fisherman Dave Bitts, whose industry experienced 100% unemployment in 2008 and 2009 from lack of salmon and lost millions in revenue.
Members of the subcommittee heard testimony from California salmon fisherman Dave Bitts, whose industry experienced 100% unemployment in 2008 and 2009 from lack of salmon and lost millions in revenue. “H.R. 1837 would eliminate many of the protections now in place for Central Valley salmon – in the San Joaquin River and the Bay-Delta Estuary,” said Bitts, president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA). “It undermines efforts at protecting and recovering the Central Valley’s listed salmon species. It jeopardizes the restoration and productivity of fall-run Chinook populations.”
“It likely will destroy California’s salmon fishery and the jobs of thousands up and down the coast who depend on this resource and the fishing communities this fish supports,” he stated.
Pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta kills young salmon as they swim out to sea, contributing to the decline of the salmon population. HR 1837 waives pumping restrictions for the Central Valley Water project and would lead to more die-offs in order to gain more water for junior water rights holders.
“Any solution to California’s water and environmental needs affects the rest of the West,” said Tony Willardson, a representative from the Western States Water Council. “We wish to reemphasize the States are primarily responsible for the management of their water resources.”
No Delta representatives were invited to the previous hearing on HR 1837 held by Representative Tom McClintock. However, at this hearing Stockton attorney John Herrick of the South Delta Water Agency was invited to speak against the bill.
According to Alex Breitler of the Stockton Record on June 14, “Herrick told the committee that several agencies have determined more water must flow through the estuary if the ecosystem is to recover. H.R. 1837 would take responsibility for providing those flows away from those who export water from the Delta, he said.”
“H.R. 1837 limits the amount of water that one group must provide and thus shifts the burden for additional water to everyone else,” Herrick testified. “‘Everyone else’ just happens to be all of the superior water rights holders in California. All will now be subject to decreased water supplies because the junior-most parties are limited, if this passes, in what they have to contribute. That’s a monumental change…It completely undoes the water rights system in California.”
Representative Nunes skips hearing on his own bill!
Representative Devin Nunes, the bill’s sponsor and the darling of subsidized corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, was a “no show” at the hearing on his own bill.
And Representative McClintock, another politician beholden to west side irrigators, claimed that “no new arguments” were raised in the hearing.
However, Barbara-Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, responded, “HR 1837 would harm people in his district as much as it would harm people in the Delta. It seems the Congressman is a plant for Southern California interests who want to faciliate the water grab from the north part of the state.”
The hearing took place as one of the largest fish kills in California continues to take place at the state and federal pumps on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Personnnel at the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) pumps in the South Delta have reported “salvaging” more than 6 million Sacramento splittail in the past six weeks and more than 51,000 imperiled spring-run chinook this year.
Caleen Sisk-Franco, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, urged everybody concerned about salmon, fish and water rights to actively oppose HR 1837.
“When people are not paying attention, bad bills like this get passed,” said Sisk-Franco, whose Tribe is working to return native winter run Chinook salmon to the McCloud River above Shasta Lake. “It seems that Westlands is the only winner of ‘water rights’ in this Bill! Make your voices heard and tell your Representives, Congressmen and Senators to STOP this horrible bill.”
“This misguided and destructive effort could trigger another round of water wars,” Napolitano concluded. “We must hear from all of the Californians who share our water supply and improve our water supply to the benefit of all of California.”
Background on HR 1837
If passed, the San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act would:
• Harm the environment by rolling back the water contributions that the Central Valley Project makes to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to 1994 levels, ignoring environmental changes in the Delta and additional endangered species that have become threatened in the intervening 17 years.
• Waive environmental impact studies for new water contracts in the Central Valley Project and extends current 25-year contracts without any environmental review for a minimum of 40 years. Because the contracts are exempted from contributing water for the health of the Delta, under current law other Californians will have no choice but to make up the difference when future droughts, climate changes, and environmental needs tighten the available water supply.
• Turn California’s water rights system upside-down, exempting these same agricultural interests from contributing water to help desperately weakened commercial fisheries and allowing them to use or sell water that would otherwise go to the fragile Delta. This favoritism upends California’s water rights system and reduces supply for other water users who continue to play by the rules.
“The purported reason for the bill is to help unemployment in the Central Valley, yet respected California economists Richard Howitt and Jeffrey Michael have debunked claims that pumping restrictions have had any major effects on the Central Valley’s economy, and the bulk of unemployment is due to the bust in the housing market,” noted Napolitano.
Documents in opposition to bill:
Letter of opposition from leaders of the California State Legislature, (Speaker John Perez, Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, Senate Natural Resources and Water Chair Fran Pavley, Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Chair Jared Huffman, and Assembly Natural Resources Chair Wes Chesbro):
“H.R. 1837 undermines judicial agreements, erodes long-standing water law principles, usurps California’s sovereignty, and lays waste to any hope of progress in the Delta.”
http://napolitano.house.gov/sites/napolitano.house.gov/files/documents/Letter%20from%20CA%20State%20Legislature.pdf
Editorial from the Contra Costa Times:
“[This is] unbalanced legislation that would undermine key environmental protections for the Delta and flush the work of many dedicated individuals down the drain.”
http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_18248860
Letter of opposition from 12 different fishing industries:
“There are no words strong enough to describe the complete devastation this bill would bring to the Central Valley salmon runs and those who depend on them for their livelihoods, recreation and food sources.”
http://napolitano.house.gov/sites/napolitano.house.gov/files/documents/Salmon%20Letter_McClintock%20Re%20H%20R%20%201837%20%282%29.pdf
Letter of opposition from Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar:
“This legislation would undo ongoing broad-based collaborative initiatives that have been underway for many years to solve some of California’s most significant water issues.”
http://napolitano.house.gov/sites/napolitano.house.gov/files/documents/salazar%20letter%20HR%201837.pdf
danbacher by Dan Bacher
As chairman of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and a signatory to a letter from the Legislature opposing HR 1837, Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast) on June 2 denounced HR 1837, legislation by Representative Devin Nunes to grab more northern California water.
“This is a water grab that threatens salmon recovery and could devastate commercial and recreational fishing in Northern California,” said Chesbro. “I’m very concerned that San Joaquin Valley water interests have their eyes on the Trinity River. We need to keep that water in the river to meet public and tribal needs and to improve fish populations.”
California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird testified before the Water and Power Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee regarding House Resolution 1837, an attempt by Congressman Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, to divert more Northern California water to the San Joaquin Valley.
Rep. Napolitano Pushes Back against Radical Republican Water Bill at Hearing
Rep. Grace F. Napolitano also issued a statement on House Subcommittee on Water and Power’s hearing on H.R. 1837, the San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act. She said the bill would “usurp California’s water laws, roll back California’s environmental protections, and alter water distribution to favor certain agricultural users.”
“This bill would radically change the way we balance water and the environment in California,” said Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, ranking member on the Subcommittee on Water and Power. “New federal rules would override state law, exempting certain agricultural water users from following environmental restrictions or from having to contribute to the health of our natural water sources, as other users do. Creating this special privilege would push the costs of climate change and environmental damage onto all the other water users across the state.
“The new rules would also undercut ongoing negotiations within California, making it difficult or impossible for our state to move forward with necessary improvements for our water supply. The radical changes contained in this bill would ultimately benefit a small group of agricultural users while causing chaos for the rest of California.
“I am also troubled by the exclusionary way this bill is being drafted and pushed forward. This bill’s radical changes would affect all of California’s water users, including fishermen, Delta farmers, urban communities, and many others, none of whom were invited to appear as witnesses today. It is unacceptable to exclude these Californians while making decisions about their water supply in Washington, D.C.”
The Democratic Minority on the Subcommittee has requested an additional hearing to allow for the participation of more stakeholders.
Background on the San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act:
• The bill would alter the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, which was created in 1992 after years of negotiations between water users from across California. Since that bill’s enactment, agricultural revenues and water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have increased.
• As a federal law, the bill would supersede California’s water rights system and would disrupt or make impossible a number of negotiations Californians are currently involved in to improve their water supply, including the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and the 2009 bipartisan water bill passed by the California legislature.
• The bill harms the environment by capping the water contributions that the Central Valley Project makes to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at 1994 levels, ignoring environmental changes in the Delta and additional endangered species that have become threatened in the intervening 17 years. It waives environmental impact studies for water contracts and extends them for 40 years, ensuring that water agreements will not have to adjust to climate change or their impacts on the environment.
• The bill turns California’s water rights system upside-down, overturning decades of legal precedent and sovereignty to give special priority to certain agricultural users on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. These users would also have lower requirements for contributing water for the protection of the California Bay-Delta Ecosystem, creating a privileged flow of water for use or sale.
Documents:
Letter of opposition from Members of California State Legislature:
“H.R. 1837 undermines judicial agreements, erodes long-standing water law principles, usurps California’s sovereignty, and lays waste to any hope of progress in the Delta.”
http://napolitano.house.gov/sites/napolitano.house.gov/files/documents/Letter%20from%20CA%20State%20Legislature.pdf
Letter of opposition from a broad coalition of fishing groups:
“There are no words strong enough to describe the complete devastation this bill would bring to the Central Valley salmon runs and those who depend on them for their livelihoods, recreation and food sources.”
http://napolitano.house.gov/sites/napolitano.house.gov/files/documents/Salmon%20Letter_McClintock%20Re%20H%20R%20%201837%20%282%29.pdf
Letter of opposition from Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar:
“This legislation would undo ongoing broad-based collaborative initiatives that have been underway for many years to solve some of California’s most significant water issues.”
http://napolitano.house.gov/sites/napolitano.house.gov/files/documents/salazar%20letter%20HR%201837.pdf
danbacher “Enactment of H.R. 1837 will undermine the ability of the Bureau of Reclamation to meet its federal trust obligation to protect, preserve and enhance the trust resources of the Yurok Tribe,” said Thomas O’Rourke, Chairman of the Yurok Tribe.
Photo of Yurok Tribal Chair, Thomas O’Rourke, at a direct action protest against the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative in Fort Bragg on July 21, 2010. Photo by Dan Bacher.
640_img_9718.jpg
by Dan Bacher
California’s largest Indian Tribe, the Yurok Tribe, has joined the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Modoc Nation, commercial fishing groups, recreational angling organizations, Delta farmers, conservation groups and environmental justice organizations in strongly opposing the San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act (HR 1837) sponsored by Representative Devin Nunes (D-California).
Thomas O’Rourke, Chairman of the Yurok Tribal Council, slammed the bill for favoring a few corporate agribusiness interests to the detriment of fish, fishermen, Tribes and the environment in a letter sent on June 10 to Congressional Leaders. These include Doc Hastings, Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, Tom McClintock, Chair of the Water and Power Subcommittee, and Grace Napolitano, Ranking Democratic Member, Water and Power Subcommittee.
“This bill is designed to benefit select CVP (Central Valley Project) water contractors at the expense of State and Federal water quality protection, State water rights laws and Endangered Species Act requirements,” said O’Rourke. “Enactment of this bill will undermine the intent and authorities of the CVPIA (Central Valley Project Improvement Act) and seriously threaten the federal government’s ability to meet its trust responsibilities to the Yurok Tribe. Enactment will extend Congressional guarantee for the delivery of water to select CVP contractors waiving senior water rights protections and tribal trust obligations to the Yurok Tribe.”
O’Rourke emphasized that the bill “will result in severe economic impacts” to the fishing communities of Northern California, including the Yurok Tribe of the Klamath River.
“The primary claim of the supporters of the bill is that the CVPIA has significantly reduced water diversions from the Delta,” said O’Rourke. “In fact, since CVPIA was passed in 1992, water diversions from the Delta have increased. Increased south of Delta pumping over the last decade has contributed to the drastic decline of Sacramento River Chinook salmon populations, resulting in state wide ocean commercial and sport salmon season closures in 2009 and 2010.”
H.R. 1837 will reduce the mandates of the 1992 CVPIA to protect the fishery and the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, according to O’Rourke. This historic legislation made fish and wildlife a purpose of the Central Valley Project for the first time in history.
“These reductions will further threaten the recovery of endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon and other native fish species and slow the economic recovery of dependent fishing communities,” said O’Rourke.
If enacted, the Nunes’ bill threatens to undermine the landmark 2000 Trinity River Record of Decision (ROD), and limits the ability of the Bureau of Reclamation to manage the Trinity River Division of the CVP to provide reliable quantities and quality of water for in-river restoration flow releases, O’Rourke stated.
“The Yurok Tribe is the single largest harvester of Trinity River fall Chinook salmon and is dependent upon its fishery to meet our subsistence, economic and ceremonial needs,” said O’Rourke. “Enactment of H.R. 1837 will undermine the ability of the Bureau of Reclamation to meet its federal trust obligation to protect, preserve and enhance the trust resources of the Yurok Tribe.”
“This bill benefits a select group of CVP water contractors at the expense of public and tribal trust resources of Califomia,” he concluded. “We encourage you to defeat this bill and support the ongoing consensus-based efforts in the Bay Delta Conservation Planning process, uphold the San Joaquin River restoration settlement and enforce critical species protections under the federal Endangered Species Act.”
The Yurok Tribe sent the letter at a time when one of the largest fish kills in California history is taking place. New federal data show that the CVP and State Water Project (SWP) pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have “salvaged” more than 6 million Sacramento splittail in the past six weeks and more than 51,000 imperiled spring-run chinook this year. The daily totals of fish “salvaged” in the pumps can be found at:http://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/data/salvage.
“Over the past six weeks, the outlook for Sacramento splittail has gone from bad to dramatically worse,” said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate for the Center. “Delta pumping operations may have wiped out a significant portion of the juvenile splittail in what could have been a good year for rebuilding the population.”
Miller said the splittail were formerly protected as a threatened species but illegally stripped of protection in 2003. The Fish and Wildlife Service last fall made a controversial determination that the species does not warrant protection, despite the fact that numbers of splittail found in annual California Department of Fish and Game surveys from 2002 to 2010 has been the lowest recorded since surveys began in 1967.
I applaud the Yurok Tribe for officially opposing Devin Nunes’ HR 1837. To allow this legislation to pass would result in the extinction of Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other imperiled Delta fish populations, as well as devastating Trinity and Klamath River salmon populations.
danbacher “The massacre at the pumps pushes already-struggling salmon and native fish populations closer to extinction and is entirely unnecessary,” said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity. “This is a high rainfall year, and there was no need for continued pumping at this level while so many fish were being killed. Excessive pumping and the highest-ever water diversions from the Delta the past decade have crippled Central Valley fish runs, including commercially valuable salmon.”
Photo of splittail, salmon smolt and steelhead before sorting at the Tracy Fish Collection Facility on the South Delta. These are just a few of the over 6 million splittail and 51,000 spring chinook salmon killed in the state and federal pumps this year. Photo by Jim McCarthy.
unknown-2.jpeg
by Dan Bacher
In one of the largest fish kills in California history, new federal data show that the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have killed more than 6 million Sacramento splittail in the past six weeks and more than 51,000 imperiled spring-run chinook this year.
“Over the past six weeks, the outlook for Sacramento splittail has gone from bad to dramatically worse,” said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate for the Center. “Delta pumping operations may have wiped out a significant portion of the juvenile splittail in what could have been a good year for rebuilding the population.”
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation data show that the pumps killed 5.9 million juvenile Sacramento splittail in May and another half-million splittail the first week of June. The daily totals of fish “salvaged” in the pumps can be found at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/data/salvage.
Miller said the splittail were formerly protected as a threatened species but illegally stripped of protection in 2003. The Fish and Wildlife Service last fall made a controversial determination that the species does not warrant protection, despite the fact that numbers of splittail found in annual California Department of Fish and Game surveys have fallen to consistently low levels since 2002, and that the estimated population from 2002 to 2010 has been the lowest recorded since surveys began in 1967.
The massive fish kill at the pumps comes as Republicans in Congress push legislation, HR 1837, to exempt pumping in the Delta from Endangered Species Act protections for salmon and other fish and to block restoration efforts on the San Joaquin River. Representatives Devin Nunes and Tom McClintock, while constantly preaching about the evils of “big government,” are in fact the biggest supporters of the big government-funded corporate welfare queens of the San Joaquin!
“The massacre at the pumps pushes already-struggling salmon and native fish populations closer to extinction and is entirely unnecessary,” said Miller. “This is a high rainfall year, and there was no need for continued pumping at this level while so many fish were being killed. Excessive pumping and the highest-ever water diversions from the Delta the past decade have crippled Central Valley fish runs, including commercially valuable salmon.”
The Sacramento splittail (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus) is a minnow native to the upper San Francisco Estuary and Central Valley. Splittail are primarily freshwater fish but can tolerate moderately salty water. They are found mostly in slow-moving, marshy sections of rivers and dead-end sloughs, though floodplains are important for spawning.
Formerly common in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Feather and American rivers, the splittail has been eliminated from all but a fraction of its former range and now is largely restricted to the Delta, Suisun Bay, Suisun Marsh and Napa Marsh.
The Sacramento splittail was listed as a threatened species in 1999. After water agencies sued over the listing, the Bush administration improperly removed protections for the splittail despite strong consensus by agency scientists and fisheries experts that it should retain protected status.
After conservation groups sued, the Service agreed to revisit the Bush-era decision but denied listing in October 2010. A recent analysis of splittail population trends by the Bay Institute shows that there has been a significant decline in the abundance of splittail during the past several decades.
“The splittail and other native fish species that share its habitat in the Delta and Central Valley are threatened by excessive water diversions, pesticides and other contaminants, and changes to the food web from introduced species,” according to Miller. “The splittail is also suffering from loss of floodable habitat area needed for spawning and rearing. The remnant populations of splittail in the Delta require adequate freshwater outflow and periodic floodplain inundation to thrive.”
The decline of Sacramento River spring-run Chinook salmon and Sacramento splittail occurs in the context of the overall collapse of Central Valley salmon and Delta pelagic (open water) species in recent years. Since 2005, state and federal scientists have documented the unprecedented collapse of Delta smelt, longfin smelt, threadfin shad, young striped bass and others species, due to increased water exports, increased water toxicity and invasive species.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 320,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. For more information, contact: Jeff Miller, (415) 669-7357.
Urgent Action Alert!
What can you do to stop the massive fish kill in the state and federal pumps?
First, please contact John Laird, California Natural Resources Secretary, and demand that he take immediate action to stop the killing of millions of Sacramento splittail and thousands of threatened spring run Chinook salmon by the Bureau of Reclamation and Department of Water Resources!
His contact information is:
California Natural Resources Agency
1416 Ninth Street, Suite 1311
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 653-5656
(916) 653-8102 fax
Email: secretary [at] resources.ca.gov
Second, please write a letter to stop Legislation by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) aimed at gutting protections in the Bay-Delta Estuary and blocking the restoration of the San Joaquin River. Go to the Center for Biological Diversity website action alert, “Help Save California’s Salmon Runs,”http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/action/alerts/.
