January
9, 2002
Dear
CalUWild Friends & Supporters --
Happy
New Year to everyone who cares about our Wild Lands in the West! Thank you
for all your efforts on their behalf in 2001.
We
begin 2002 with some major, interesting news, which you can read about in
Item 1. Also, Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey has given final approval
to the Sierra Nevada Framework, which puts an emphasis on ecosystem management
for the 11 national forests of the Sierra. We will keep you posted on its
implementation.
The
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance sent out an alert this morning which included
an urgent action item. Because it just came in, it is reprinted in full below
(Item 2). If you are on SUWA’s Alert List, sorry for the duplication.
With
Congress beginning its new session soon, we are including a copy of CalUWild’s
How and to Whom: Effective Advocacy. This information will soon be appearing
on a page on our website http://www.caluwild.org,
so if you have comments or suggestions, please contact me at 415-752-3911.
Finally,
thanks again to everyone who made contributions to CalUWild over the holidays.
Your support is much appreciated. If you haven’t contributed in a while, please
help out if you can.
Best
wishes,
IN UTAH
1. Jim Hansen Announces He Won’t Run Again
2. Action Item: Oil & Gas
Exploration Next to Arches National Park
3. Action Item: America’s Redrock
Wilderness Act Cosponsors
IN CALIFORNIA
4. Utah Slide Show Tours California
5. Action Item: Ft. Irwin Expansion
Scoping Meetings in Southern California
6. Support the Glen Canyon Institute in San Diego
IN UTAH
1. Jim Hansen Announces He Won’t Run Again
Yesterday,
Rep. Jim Hansen (R-UT), chairman of the House Resource Committee announced
that he will not seek re-election in November. Mr. Hansen is in his 11th term
in the House, where he has consistently opposed meaningful wilderness legislation
for Utah, especially America’s Redrock Wilderness Act. Instead he has introduced
bills which have given the appearance of affording protection, but have not
really done so: acreage protected has been minimal; federal water rights for
have not been retained; off-road vehicle use has not been effectively controlled;
and other government agencies, particularly the military, have been allowed
unprecedented access to wilderness areas.
What
remains to be seen is who will replace Mr. Hansen, both in Utah’s delegation,
and as chairman of the Resources Committee. Should Rep. Hansen’s Utah replacement
be given a seat on the committee, he or she will not have the seniority that
Mr. Hansen did. That will make supporting effective Utah legislation less
risky for other members of Congress, who have reportedly often been concerned
with incurring Mr. Hansen’s wrath. And already the sparring has begun for
the chairmanship of the committee. The Congressional Quarterly reports that
California Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-23) has indicated an interest, as has Rep.
Jim Saxton (R-NJ). Rep. Gallegly is not known as a friend of the environment;
the League of Conservation Voters gave him a score of 23% for the 106th Congress.
Rep. Saxton, on the other hand, is a cosponsor of America’s Redrock Wilderness
Act. He has an LCV rating of 63%.
The
full text of Rep. Hansen’s announcement can be found on the Web at:
http://www.house.gov/hansen/jan8-02.htm
2. Action Item: Oil & Gas
Exploration next to Arches National Park
As
mentioned above, the following cones direct from SUWA.
More
seismic exploration is proposed for beautiful slickrock country bordering
the Colorado River near Arches National Park - oil and gas wells cannot be
far behind. Please take a moment to
write a letter to BLM urging the agency to deny the Yellow Cat 2-D seismic
proposal that would involve absurdly huge trucks driving cross-country in
a remote and rarely visited wilderness area that offers some of the most incredible
views of southeastern Utah!
The
Yellow Cat 2-D Geophysical Project would be located in the Dome Plateau unit
of the citizens’ wilderness proposal. The Dome Plateau area is northeast of
Moab on the northwest side of the Colorado River, between Arches National
Park and the Dewey Bridge. Recent
seismic exploration projects in the area have left the landscape scarred,
essential microbiotic soils pulverized and vulnerable to erosion, centuries-old
trees and animal dens smashed, and newly-created motorized routes inviting
further destruction. The Yellow Cat
2-D project would be no different.
***
PLEASE URGE BLM TO: ***
--
adopt the "no action" alternative and deny this proposed seismic
project
--
deny seismic exploration and subsequent oil and gas developments in areas
proposed for wilderness
Please
mail or fax your letter to the following people:
Ms.
Sally Wisely
Utah
State BLM Director
PO
Box 45155
Salt
Lake City, UT 84145-0155
Fax:
801-539-4013
Ms.
Maggie Wyatt
Moab
Field Office Manager
82
E Dogwood
Moab,
UT 84532
Fax:
435-259-2106
3. Action Item: America’s Redrock Wilderness Act
Cosponsors
With
the start of the second session of the 107th Congress, the drive for cosponsors
for America’s Redrock Wilderness Act (H.R. 1613, S. 786) will pick up again.
Exactly one half of California’s delegation is on board: 26 representatives
and one senator. Nationally, the bill is cosponsored by 157 House members
and 15 senators. Here’s the list for California. If your representative is
on the list, please write him or her a thank you letter. If not on the list,
ask that he or she become a cosponsor. Letters to Sen. Feinstein are welcome,
too.
Sen.
Barbara Boxer (D)
Rep.
Xavier Becerra (D-30)
Rep.
Howard Berman (D-26)
Rep.
Lois Capps (D-22)
Rep.
Susan Davis (D-49)
Rep.
Anna Eshoo (D-14)
Rep.
Sam Farr (D-17)
Rep.
Bob Filner (D-50)
Rep.
Mike Honda (D-15)
Rep.
Barbara Lee (D-09)
Rep.
Zoe Lofgren (D-16)
Rep.
Robert Matsui (D-05)
Rep.
Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-37)
Rep.
George Miller (D-07)
Rep.
Grace Napolitano (D-34)
Rep.
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-33)
Rep.
Loretta Sanchez (D-46)
Rep.
Adam Schiff (D-27)
Rep.
Brad Sherman (D-24)
Rep.
Hilda Solis (D-31)
Rep.
Pete Stark (D-13)
Rep.
Ellen Tauscher (D-10)
Rep.
Mike Thompson (D-01)
Rep.
Maxine Waters (D-35)
Rep.
Diane Watson (D-32)
Rep.
Henry Waxman (D-29)
Rep.
Lynn Woolsey (D-06)
IN CALIFORNIA
4. Utah Slide Show Tours California
Bob
Brister, Outreach Associate at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, will
be criss-crossing California (with a side trip to Nevada) the next two months,
showing spectacular slides of Utah wilderness. Attend a showing if you can,
and remind yourself what it is we’re all working so hard to protect. Bring
a friend or family member along so they can see what we’re so enthusiastic
about.
Here’s
Bob’s schedule:
January
10
Mariposa
Yosemite
Area Audubon Society
7:00
pm at Mariposa County Library, 10th at Jones
January
15
Upland
Los
Serranos Group Sierra Club
7:00
pm at Upland Presbyterian Church Education Building, Euclid at 11th
January
17
Los
Angeles
Central
Group Sierra Club
7:30
pm at Barlow Hospital, William Hall 2000 Stadium Way
January
29
Palos
Verdes Peninsula
Palos
Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society
7:30
pm at South Coast Botanic Garden, 26300 South Crenshaw Blvd
January
30
Palos
Verdes Peninsula
Palos
Verdes-South Bay Group Sierra Club
7:00
pm at Palos Verdes Library, 650 Deep Valley Drive
February
5
Redlands
San
Gorgonio Chapter Sierra Club
7:30
pm at San Bernardino County Museum, 2024 Orange Tree Lane
February
6
Long
Beach
Long
Beach Group Sierra Club
7:30
pm at Integrated Resources Bureau, 2929 E. Willow St.
February
7
Fresno
Unitarian
Universalist Church of Fresno
7:30
pm at Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, 4144 N. Millbrook Ave.
February
13
Las
Vegas
Southern
Nevada Group Sierra Club
7:00
pm at Southwest Gas, Tropicana & Arville
February
14
San
Mateo
Sequoia
Audubon Society
7:30
pm at the San Mateo Garden Center, 605 Parkside Way
February
15
Modesto
Yokuts
Group Sierra Club
7:00
pm at the Modesto Police Station, G Street & 10 Street
February
18
Marina
del Rey
Airport-Marina
Group Sierra Club
7:45
pm at the Community Bldg Chace Park, end of Mindanao Way
February
19
Oakhurst
Oakhurst
Public Library
7:30
pm at Oakhurst Public Library Civic Circle, next to the Fire Station
February
20
Sonora
Central
Sierra Audubon Society and Tuolumne Group Sierra Club
7:00
pm at Tuolumne County Library, 480 Greenley Road
February
21
Long
Beach
El
Dorado Audubon Society
7:30
pm at El Dorado Nature Center, Spring Street, near the 605 freeway
February
26
Reno
Lahontan
Audubon Society
6:30
pm at Bartley Ranch Park school house, 6000 Bartley Ranch Road, just off of
Lakeside Drive in south Reno
For
more information on any of the slide shows, contact Bob Brister (801) 486-3161
ext 12.
5. Action Item: Ft. Irwin Expansion Scoping Meetings
in Southern California
Ft.
Irwin in the Mojave Desert of California wants to expand its National Training
Center into sensitive BLM lands. Some of these are designated wilderness study
areas, and the land is home to the endangered desert tortoise and endangered
plants. The Army is holding two open houses/scoping hearings in Southern California
to introduce its plans and begin its environmental compliance. These meetings
are on January 17 in Riverside and January 19 in Pasadena.
Please
attend if you are able or submit written comments to address below. Thanks.
The
following information comes from the Desert Protective Council:
The
Army will be holding two scoping meetings on the Fort Irwin Expansion Proposal
on January 17 (Riverside) and January 19 (Pasadena). This may be your last
chance to voice your concerns about a proposed expansion that would put the
future of the West Mojave desert tortoise population in jeopardy and would
likely lead to the extinction of the endangered Lane Mountain Milk Vetch.
The meetings are January 17 in Riverside at the Riverside Convention Center
(2-5 pm, 6-9 pm) and January 19 at the Pasadena Convention Center (1-4 pm).
The scoping meetings are to gather information from the public to assist the
Army in its preparation of a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) on the Proposed Land Expansion for Fort Irwin and the National Training
Center.
This
Supplemental DEIS is in reference to the Army's plan to take 110,000 more
acres of our public lands in the Mojave Desert, 35 miles north of Barstow.
The army already has 643,000 acres for tank training at the Ft. Irwin National
Training Center. The expansion will destroy the quality of Wilderness Study
Areas (WSAs) and further jeopardize the declining, federally listed desert
tortoise (California's State Reptile) by expanding training activities into
prime desert tortoise habitat previously set aside for its protection. The
expansion will also jeopardize the endangered Lane Mountain Milk Vetch, which
lives in and around Ft. Irwin and exists nowhere else on the planet.
Evidence
is accumulating that the Army does not need to expand the Ft. Irwin National
Training Center to accomplish its training mission In fact, the Army can accomplish
its training mission for firing longer distances by using new technologies
that provide realistic, simulated training environments and scenarios. Given
this simulated alternative and the increasingly desperate plight of the desert
tortoise all over the Mojave desert, it is unconscionable to eliminate any
portion of the desert tortoise population that is currently adjacent to the
Fort Irwin National Training Center.
There
are a few other key points that you might want to bring up at the hearing
or in your written comments: The analysis in this new supplemental draft EIS
must be equivalent in depth and quality to that of a full blown EIS for the
following reasons:
The
land involved in this proposed expansion is a different piece of land from
the one involved in the proposed 1997 expansion, and the destruction of this
area will dramatically affect a Western Mojave desert tortoise population
that has declined alarmingly since 1997. You might also note that this proposed
expansion includes opening up to Army maneuvers some previously protected
areas for the tortoise (the UTM 90 Lands). This expansion, thus, may have
a more draconian impact on the desert tortoise than the 1997 expansion would
have had.
The
Lane Mountain Milk Vetch was not federally listed as Endangered in 1997, and
the Lane Mt. Milk Vetch only lives in the Ft. Irwin area. The new Supplemental
DEIS must seriously address how the Army intends to prevent this rare plant
from going extinct. You should note for the record that not only does the
Lane Mt. Milk Vetch only live in the desert around Ft. Irwin but that past
efforts to transplant populations of this plant to other areas have failed.
The
Army should also schedule scoping hearings on the proposed expansion in the
San Francisco Bay area and other parts of California, as many in the Bay Area
and throughout the state also visit the Mojave desert and have an interest
in the Ft. Irwin expansion.
Of
course, feel free to add your own reasons why the NTC expansion will adversely
affect you.
For
more information on the proposed expansion, please see the Army's website:
http://www.fortirwinlandexpansion.com/
and
also http://www.tortoise.org
For
more information, contact:
Terry
Weiner
Conservation
Coordinator
Desert
Protective Council
(619)
543-0757
(619)
302-9282 cell
Notice
of Public Scoping Meeting
Supplemental
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the Proposed Land Expansion
for Fort Irwin and the National Training Center
The
Department of the Army will hold two public scoping meetings to introduce
the Proposed Land Expansion Project for Fort Irwin and the National Training
Center. The meetings allow the public to participate in the environmental
impact assessment process by providing input on the range of alternatives
to be considered and the impacts and issues to be assessed in the DEIS. On
16 October 2001, the Department of the Army published in the Federal Register,
the Notice of Intent to prepare a Supplemental DEIS. Oral and written comments
will be accepted during this meeting. A land expansion briefing will be presented
at the beginning of each meeting to explain the mission of the National Training
Center (NTC) and to outline the needs and requirements for the expansion.
An Open House format is scheduled for two hours prior to each afternoon meeting
where NTC representatives will be available to provide additional information
regarding NTC operations and programs.
The
meetings are scheduled as follows:
Riverside
County
Open
House: 12:00 Noon - 2:00 PM
Scoping
Meeting (Two Sessions): 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM & 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
17
January 2002
Riverside
Convention Center
3443
Orange Street
Riverside,
CA 92501
Los
Angeles County
Open
House: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Scoping
Meeting: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
19
January 2002
Pasadena
Convention Center
300
East Green Street
Pasadena,
CA 91101
Written
comments must be submitted by 19 February 2002 to:
National
Training Center
AFZJ-Strategic
Plans Division
P.O.
Box 10309 Fort Irwin, CA 92310
6. Support the Glen Canyon
Institute in San Diego
The
following announcement comes from the Glen Canyon Institute. The event provides
a great opportunity to see pictures of Glen Canyon before it was drowned,
and to see and hear Katie Lee, a legend among lovers of Glen Canyon.
Restoring
Glen Canyon: A Paradise Lost
with
special guest Katie Lee
Sunday,
February 3, 2002 at 5:00 PM
Mission
Trails Park Visitor Center
1
Father Junipero Serra Trail
San
Diego, California
Dams
are from Mars, Rivers are from Venus
Jeri
Ledbetter, Executive Director of Glen Canyon Institute, will present an informative
slide show on the impacts of Glen Canyon Dam and the potential for restoration
of Glen Canyon.
Love
Stories from a Lost Canyon
Katie
Lee, the grande dame of Western singers and environmentalists, will present
a slide show featuring photographs of Glen Canyon before it was flooded by
Lake Powell reservoir, accompanied by essay and song.
Silent
Auction 5:00 - 9:00 pm
Auction
items include contributions from local merchants, an original Katie Lee phonograph
album, photographs, rare books, and lots more.
Tickets
are $10 in advance, and $15 at the door. Seating is limited, so we strongly
recommend purchasing tickets in advance, either online at http://www.glencanyon.org/events/events.htm,
or through the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club at (619) 299-1743.