New Year’s Eve, 2008
Dear Friends of CalUWild —
The old year ends and a new one begins with the hope that we might soon be able to make progress on some of the conservation and other issues that we all care about.
But these things can only happen when individual citizens stand up and make their voices heard in various ways: letters and phone calls to editors, congressional representatives, and agency officials. Stronger means of protest are also occasionally called for. It’s all part of the tangled mess that democracy sometimes is.
Thanks for playing an important part in it all!
And best wishes to you, your families, and friends in 2009,
Mike
IN UTAH
1. Latest on the December 19 Lease Sale
2. GSENM Grazing Plan Needs Comments
(ACTION ITEM)
DEADLINE: Jan 8
3. Utah Supreme Court Orders Release of RS 2477 Road Claim Data
IN CALIFORNIA
4. Pt. Reyes National Seashore:
Commercial Oysters vs. Wilderness
(ACTION ITEM)
IN GENERAL
5. Sen. Ken Salazar Nominated as Interior Secretary
6. Economic Stimulus Package and “Green” Jobs
(ACTION ITEM)
BOOKS & MUSIC OF INTEREST
7. The American West at Risk — Howard Wilshire, et al.
Finding Beauty in a Broken World — Terry Tempest Williams
A Flowering Tree & Hallelujah Junction: Composing an
American Life — John Adams
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IN UTAH
1. Latest on the December 19 Lease Sale
Last month we reported that the BLM was going to hold an energy lease sale in Utah on more than 360,000 acres, much of it still wild and natural. BLM pulled some parcels from the sale in response to concerns expressed by the Park Service. At the last minute, the parcels on the floor of Nine Mile Canyon were also pulled, although parcels on the rim and Tavaputs Plateau were included. The sale totaled 148,598, less than half of what was originally planned.
The most interesting aspect of the lease sale was that a 27 year-old student from the University of Utah, Tim DeChristopher placed winning bids on 10 parcels, totaling $1.8 million, without any intention to pay (or ability to do so). Thus many of the bids have been called into question. It’s not clear at this point what charges he may face, but two attorneys, one of whom is Pat Shea, former head of the BLM under Pres. Clinton, have said they’d be willing to defend him. The Center for Water Advocacy has set up a legal defense fund for Mr. DeChristopher. The Salt Lake Tribune ran an editorial on the topic worth reading.
Immediately following the lease sale, 58 members of the House of Representatives sent the Obama Transition Team a letter asking that the new administration reverse the six BLM Resource Management Plans that were rushed through, making this end-of-term lease sale possible. At the same time, the signers requested that the lease sale be cancelled and the high bids returned.
You can read the Transition Team letter here.
We’ll keep you posted on further developments as they occur.
2. GSENM Grazing Plan Needs Comments
(ACTION ITEM)
DEADLINE: Jan 8
CalUWild got its start in 1997 working on the general management plan for the then-newly-created Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Issues surrounding the Monument’s management have remained important to us.
The following alert comes from our friends at the Wild Utah Project.
BLM in Utah has released for public comment a draft environmental impact statement for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument grazing program. The preferred alternative will mostly continue grazing at past levels. This is online at http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/grand_staircase-escalante/planning/draft_eis_plan_amendment.html
In BLM’s proposal (preferred alternative), future management would emphasize agricultural use of the monument over ecological protection. BLM would renew grazing permits on 83 allotments. In addition the plan would amend the land use plan to allow vehicle use on nearly 1,000 miles more of routes within the monument! (What has vehicle use to do with grazing you may well ask: — well, nothing, but BLM is trying to slip this and a number of other unrelated things into this DEIS.)
A number of conservation organizations have assembled a solution, consistent with BLM’s management requirements, that addresses the problems caused by past grazing use.
Called the Conservation Alternative, this alternative recommends a major change in grazing management in order to address habitat damage. Primarily because of past livestock grazing, today the water in most Monument streams is unsafe to drink. The conservation alternative recommends restoration as the focus in order to bring resilience into the habitat of streams and uplands, a critical need as we face climate change.
The conservation alternative proposes grazing management that aims to restore and maintain the health of the Monument’s ecosystems. In keeping with the purpose of the Monument to protect natural values, this alternative focuses first on the health of streams, protection of cultural sites, wildlife needs and plant community health.
The conservation alternative is in stark contrast to BLM’s proposal. The Conservation alternative proposes for most allotments to reduce grazing utilization from 50% of available forage to much less and to change grazing from most of the year to only two weeks or less for riparian areas. Details about what this means for each of the 83 allotments in this premier National Monument can be found at the Wild Utah Project website.
Please submit a short comment to BLM supporting the conservation alternative. Give a reason why you support it — the need for clean water, habitat restoration, resilience in face of climate change, wildlife needs, etc.
Comments are due by the 8th of January 2009; e-mail your comments to Ut_GSENM_NEPA@blm.gov or mail to:
BLM
190 E. Center Street
Kanab, UT 84741
3. Utah Supreme Court Orders Release of RS 2477 Road Claim Data
Last week the Utah State Supreme Court ruled that the Attorney General, Governor, and other state agencies were required to release records regarding the state’s claims to rights-of-way over public lands. The ruling came in a case filed by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which had argued that the records were public. A lower court had agreed with the state’s contention that the records were compiled for litigation purposes and, therefore, were not public.
The Supreme Court ruled that the records were not exempt from Utah’s public records disclosure laws. The ruling was unanimous and a victory for open government.
IN CALIFORNIA
4. Pt. Reyes National Seashore:
Commercial Oysters vs. Wilderness
(ACTION ITEM)
The federally designated wilderness area closest to the Bay Area is the Philip Burton Wilderness in Pt. Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, designated in 1976. The wilderness provides important habitat for the restoration of Tule Elk populations, as well as for sea- and shorebirds and marine mammals in Drake’s Estero. When the Burton Wilderness Act was passed, a portion of the estero was designated as “potential wilderness,” because of the presence there of the Johnson Oyster Company.
The oyster company operates under a 40-year lease with the National Park Service. The law specifies that the oyster company lands shall become part of the designated wilderness when the lease expires in 2012. The present owner bought the company in 2004 knowing of the impending expiration date, and now he wishes to extend it.
Presumably his purchase price four years ago reflected the limited term of the lease. There are reportedly leases available at nearby Tomales Bay to which the operations could be relocated.
The owner has appealed to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) for assistance, and there is now grave concern that she will insert a rider to extend the lease in an upcoming appropriations bill or continuing funding resolution.
It’s a process that CalUWild strenuously objects to, even when we might favor the underlying legislation. The problem with using riders is that they completely bypass the open discussion in committee that normal legislation goes through, with its opportunity for public input and amendments by other members of Congress.
CalUWild has no objection to the present operations of the oyster farm. We simply believe that the terms of the law creating the Burton Wilderness should be complied with.
We need to let Sen. Feinstein know that a rider is completely inappropriate in this instance. The issue should be subject to a full public debate at minimum. But just as importantly, the requirements of the original Philip Burton Wilderness Act of 1976 should be implemented.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) has not taken a position on the matter, but as California’s other senator and chairman of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, it is important that she know your views.
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-6), in whose district Pt. Reyes lies, has not yet taken a position on the extension of the oyster farm lease. But she has said that the issue is too important to be handled through a rider. She should be thanked for taking at least this position, while being encouraged further to support the full inclusion of the oyster farm lands when the lease expires.
Please let these three representatives know that this is not the time to sacrifice wilderness values for commercial interests. Full contact information for California’s delegation is available on our website.
IN GENERAL
5. Sen. Ken Salazar Nominated as Interior Secretary
President-Elect Barack Obama nominated Colorado Senator Ken Salazar (D) to be Secretary of the Interior in his administration. Many of the Western conservation organizations, including CalUWild, had endorsed Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) for the post, and it remains to be seen what policies Sen. Salzar will pursue.
Overall, Sen. Salazar has been a voice for more sensible leasing of public lands for energy development, in contrast to the Bush administration’s wanton sale of every available acre. He is opposed to opening the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to energy development (he’s a cosponsor of the Artic Wilderness bill), as well as opposed to oil shale development in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. He also has worked to protect Colorado’s Roan Plateau from natural gas exploration. And he has supported efforts to protect national monuments, rivers, and wilderness areas.
On the other hand, he supported Gale Norton’s nomination as Pres. Bush’s first Secretary of the Interior and reportedly opposed endangered species listing of the black-tailed prairie dog while he was Colorado’s attorney general, because it might have interfered with agricultural interests in that state.
So the nomination appears to be a mixed bag. Public lands are not really Mr. Obama’s strong suit, either, although he is quite sympathetic to conservation concerns. This means that we will have to be on our toes and ready to speak up when necessary. Fortunately, it looks like there will be someone in Washington who is at least willing to give our concerns a fair hearing, in contrast to the last eight years.
6. Economic Stimulus Package and “Green” Jobs
(ACTION ITEM)
We hear a lot these days about the sad state of the American economy and the need for reinvestment in our communities. Our environment needs a lot of work as well. CalUWild has joined an effort spearheaded by Wildlands CPR to create a watershed restoration program as part of the larger economic recovery program.
California’s Sen. Dianne Feinstein is chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Committee, so it is important for her to hear from Californians and others in support of proposals to improve both the economy and the environment.
Sen. Feinstein’s office can be reached at:
DC: 202-224-3841
SF: 415-393-0707
LA: 310-914-7300
or via her website.
Other California offices are listed on CalUWild’s website.
Background information & talking points:
The proposal requests $500 million for the Forest Service Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program, a program under the Forest Service’s Capital Maintenance and Improvement budgetary line item. The funding would be spread over two years, and would specifically be used to fund a “Forest Watershed Restoration Corps” of rural, high-wage, high-skill workers to restore fish passage and perform critical maintenance on needed roads while also reclaiming unneeded, ecologically damaging forest roads. This proposal is timely and should be seriously considered for the economic stimulus package for the following reasons:
— This proposal would provide 3500 jobs per year, including 500-600 agency jobs to restore capacity in the Forest Service for effectively managing this program and ~3000 jobs for heavy equipment operators. Such job creation will also have a related multiplier effect in those communities where the work occurs.
— Watershed restoration through road reclamation and remediation requires skilled workers, the same heavy equipment as road construction. Therefore the program would provide high-wage, high-skill work to local workers in resource-dependent communities. It is too expensive to transport excavators or bulldozers long distances, ensuring these skilled jobs will go to local people. There are also opportunities to use less-skilled youth corps or other conservation corps workers to conduct revegetation, but that is only possible after the complex earth-moving work has been completed by local, skilled workers.
— The Forest Service has a maintenance backlog of approximately $10 billion, and there is work that can be done immediately to begin reducing this backlog. But this is also an opportunity to invest in a program that could provide resource-dependent communities with jobs for several decades. Watershed restoration will protect and restore ecosystem resilience and ensure adaptability to the unknown consequences of climate change, providing additional protection for clean air, clean water and wildlife resources that Americans depend on.
— It fits in well with desires to invest in America’s infrastructure, especially transportation infrastructure. However, we must be sure to invest wisely in that infrastructure and that includes also identifying unneeded infrastructure and removing it. By reducing the national forest road system, for example, to a “minimum road system,” we can restore clean water and wildlife habitat, provide local jobs, create a fiscally responsible and manageable forest road system, and save millions, if not billions, in long-term maintenance costs over time.
— It provides an excellent rural companion to the current urban-focused green jobs proposals focused on increasing energy-efficiency and alternative energy.
I appreciate this opportunity to submit these ideas to you. A healthy, well-funding Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative, designed to provide jobs for local skilled laborers, should be a critical component of any large-scale natural lands economic stimulus package. Such an investment will pay off ecologically, economically and politically.
BOOKS & MUSIC OF INTEREST
7. The American West at Risk — Howard Wilshire, et al.
Finding Beauty in a Broken World — Terry Tempest Williams
Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life;
A Flowering Tree — John Adams
CalUWild is fortunate to have a diverse Advisory Board and Steering Committee, with congressional representatives, conservationists, writers, and a composer, all of whom support the preservation of the wild areas of the West. Several of them have come out with books (and a recording) recently. If you’re looking for good reading or listening for someone special or for yourself, here’s the latest from three of them. All should be available from your local retailer (or you can order through Amazon.com, as well as find more specific reviews there).
The American West at Risk — Howard Wilshire, et al.
Geologist Dr. Howard Wilshire is one of the acknowledged experts on the effects of off-road vehicles in the West, among other things. He is also the chairman of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The American West at Risk was chosen as one of Amazon’s Editors Best Books of 2008 for the Outdoors and Nature category.
Finding Beauty in a Broken World — Terry Tempest Williams
Utah writer Terry Tempest Williams needs no introduction to friends of the wildlands of that state. She has the wonderful ability to draw connections between seemingly disparate subjects –, personal, environmental, societal — and weave them into a complex tapestry. In her latest book, she looks at prairie dogs, mosaics, and genocide and healing in Rwanda.
Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life;
A Flowering Tree — John Adams
Composer John Adams is a longtime friend of redrock country. He’s also one of the most well-known and the most-often performed contemporary American composer. He recently wrote an autobiography that has received good reviews. A recording of his most recent opera A Flowering Tree, based on a Southern Indian folk tale, was also recently released on Nonesuch. (The story can be read and very short clip heard here.) Other works by Mr. Adams include Harmonium, Nixon in China, and The Death of Klinghoffer. Mr. Adams won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Music.