March 27, 2008
Dear CalUWild Friends –
There are a few Action Items this month, so please take a few minutes to write a letter or make the phone calls needed. Your letters and phone calls don’t have to be long; keeping things simple is easier for you and the person receiving your message. All the information you need is below. If you have any questions, please contact me by phone (415-752-3911) or email.
At a wilderness hearing last month, Arizona representative Raul Grijalva, the chairman of the House subcommittee on National Parks, Forest and Public Lands, reminded us why it’s important:
In the end, wilderness is not defined by the absence of certain activities but rather by the presence of certain unique and invaluable characteristics. The answer to the often-asked question: “Why do you want this area to be wilderness?” is: “These areas already are wilderness; we simply want to preserve them as they are and as they have been for generations.”
CalUWild needs a volunteer: Our webpage with contact information for California’s congressional delegation, administration officials, and the press is somewhat out of date for a few entries. If you would be willing to spend a few hours checking the information and correcting it where necessary, it would be a big help. Please send me an email or give me a call.
As always, thank you for your interest and involvement!
Mike
IN UTAH
1. SIGN-ON LETTERS IN CONGRESS
REGARDING PROTECTION OF
UTAH’S BLM WILD ROADLESS AREAS
CALLS NEEDED
(ACTION ITEM)
IN CALIFORNIA
2. OIL EXPLORATION COMING TO THE CARRIZO PLAIN?
LETTERS NEEDED
(ACTION ITEM)
3. PUBLIC MEETINGS ON PROPOSED STATE PARK CLOSURES
IN GENERAL
4. NO-FEE BILL IN THE U.S. SENATE
CALLS NEEDED
(ACTION ITEM)
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
5. TULEYOME CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR
BLUE RIDGE SNOW MOUNTAIN NCA CAMPAIGN
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IN UTAH
1. SIGN-ON LETTERS IN CONGRESS
REGARDING PROTECTION OF
UTAH’S BLM WILD ROADLESS AREAS
CALLS NEEDED
(ACTION ITEM)
Very often, our focus is on legislation to safeguard wilderness areas, because designation offers the strongest, most permanent protection. However, as we’ve seen with America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act in Utah, the legislative process can be slow and drawn out. Fortunately, there are other tactics can be used to protect wildlands at some level in the interim. Congressional pressure on federal land management agencies is one of them.
As we have been writing for the last six months or so, the BLM in Utah has been revising many of its resource management plans for Utah. These documents guide the actions of BLM for 10-15 years after their adoption. So far in these plans, BLM has given short shrift to the notion of protecting wildlands from oil & gas exploration or off-highway vehicle use, despite the fact that some 3 million acres have been identified by BLM itself as having wilderness character.
Therefore, the Senate and House sponsors of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) have each drafted a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and BLM Director Jim Caswell. They are currently collecting co-signers in their respective chambers.
California’s congressional delegation has long been strong supporters of Utah’s wilderness. As many as 31 representatives and both senators have been cosponsors of the Red Rock bill at one time or another (although Sen. Feinstein dropped off again). Therefore, they are likely to sign on to these letters if they hear from their constituents.
Neither Sen. Boxer nor Feinstein has signed on to Sen. Durbin’s letter so far, but the following California congressmen/women have signed on to Rep. Hinchey’s letter. If your representative is on the list, please give them a call of thanks. If their name is not on the list, please call them and ask them to sign on.
George Miller (D-07)
Pete Stark (D-13)
Sam Farr (D-17)
Lois Capps (D-23)
Howard Berman (D-28)
Henry Waxman (D-30)
Diane Watson (D-33)
Grace Napolitano (D-38)
Contact information for California’s congressional delegation can be found on our website.
IN CALIFORNIA
2. OIL EXPLORATION COMING TO THE CARRIZO PLAIN?
LETTERS NEEDED
(ACTION ITEM)
With the skyrocketing price of energy supplies, exploration is suddenly potentially profitable in places where is hasn’t been before. One such place is Carrizo Plain National Monument in the southern Central Valley. Inholdings in the Monument as well as privately-held subsurface mineral rights continue to be a threat. The Carrizo Plain is home to numerous threatened or endangered species. The Wilderness Society has a webpage with further information on the issue.
Cal French, chair of the Sierra Club’s California Nevada Regional Conservation Committee, recently sent out a list of suggested actions concerned citizens could take to help ensure the continued preservation of the Monument.
1. Write a letter to:
Tim Smith
Field Office Manager
Bureau of Land Management
3801 Pegasus Drive
Bakersfield, CA 93308
Ask that he carefully scrutinize all applications for testing and drilling by oil companies on the Carrizo Plain National Monument to make sure that the least possible harm is done to the objects that legally protected by the proclamation that created the monument. To read a copy of that proclamation go to http://clinton5.nara.gov/library/hot_releases/January_17_2001_13.html and feel free to quote from it. Point out that you will support Congressional appropriations to acquire the subsurface mineral rights on the Monument and urge the BLM to try to acquire funds to acquire those rights.
2. Send copies of your letter, or separate messages (could be the better option) to the following members of Congress:
Kevin McCarthy (R-22), whose Congressional district includes all of the Monument. U.S. Mail is best sent to his Bakersfield Office:
4100 Empire Drive, Suite 150
Bakersfield, CA 93309
Or send an email through his website at:
http://kevinmccarthy.house.gov/showpage.asp?ID=69
Rep. Lois Capps (D-23), whose district used to include the Monument.
101 W. Anapamu St., Suite C
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Or send an email through her website at:
http://www.house.gov/capps/contact/send_an_email.shtml
She may be the only member of Congress who has actually been to the Monument—and more than once. Her late husband Walter Capps (former Congressman) has a lot to do with the CPNM’s creation.
Rep. Raul Grijalva, Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands is a champion of the National Landscape Conservation System.
Rep. Grijalva’s webpage says he doesn’t respond to letters received from non-constituents, so it might be best to fax him a letter c/o the Natural Resources Committee.
fax: 202-225-1931
For info on the NLCS (the BLM’s “crown jewels,” go to http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/NLCS.html and feel free to select quotes from this source to use in your letters and messages to the BLM and members of Congress.
3. Write a letter to your local newspapers about this oil prospecting proposal on the CPNM. Phrase it so that it is pithy and accurate.
4. Send copies of your letters, or semi-original letters, to:
The Nature Conservancy
201 Mission Street, 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
email: calweb@tnc.org
and to:
California Department of Fish and Game
1416 9th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
TNC and CA DFG are partners in the management of the Monument with the BLM (which has the final say on most issues). They can influence what the BLM does on the Monument.
3. PUBLIC MEETINGS ON PROPOSED STATE PARK CLOSURES
CalUWild generally deals with federal land issues, but once in a while, a state issue comes along that is important and of interest to our members. As everyone knows, California is facing a budget shortfall, and Gov. Schwarzenegger has proposed closing 48 state parks to help close the gap, much to the dismay of many citizens. A statewide campaign against the proposal is developing. Information can be found at savestateparks.org
The California State Park and Recreation Commission will be holding two public hearings on the proposal:
San Jose
Tuesday, April 15, 6 p.m.
Board Chambers
Santa Clara County Government Center
70 West Hedding Street
Santa Monica
Wednesday, April 16, 6 p.m.
East Wing Meeting Room
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
1855 Main Street
Santa Monica
(corner of Main Street and Pico Boulevard)
Please attend one of these meetings if you can. You will be able to speak and also submit written comments. Please also spread the word as widely as possible.
IN GENERAL
4. NO-FEE BILL IN THE U.S. SENATE
CALLS NEEDED
(ACTION ITEM)
As we reported in the January Update, the U.S. Senate will be considering legislation to repeal the access fees instituted by Congress for National Forest, BLM, National Park and Fish & Wildlife Service lands. The bill (S.2438) needs more cosponsors to help it move promptly through the Senate.
CalUWild’s cofounder, Vicky Hoover of the Sierra Club, has prepared the following information sheet and alert.
Your calls to Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein will demonstrate that citizens of California support an end to fee programs such as Southern California’s “Adventure Pass,” for access to large parts of our four National Forests. (Contact info for Senators is listed below.)
BACKGROUND:
S. 2438, the Fee Repeal and Expanded Access Act (the FREA Act), will terminate access fees for all lands administered by the US Forest Service, BLM, US Fish & Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation. (These fees began in 1996 with the “Fee Demo” program and were extended in 2004 by the current fee legislation, which was attached as a rider to a must-pass appropriations bill.)
For National Parks, S.2438 will require Congressional approval of entry fee increases, and terminate second layer fees such as those for backcountry access and interpretive programs in National Parks. The new $80 America the Beautiful Pass will be scrapped, and replaced by the former $50 National Parks Pass.
Senator Barbara Boxer
(202) 224-3553
Senator Dianne Feinstein
(202) 224-3841
Please make calls through the month of March.
Can you ask family and friends also to make these brief calls? This no-fee campaign is entirely a grassroots effort; the success of S.2438 depends on all of us.
WHAT TO SAY
When somebody answers the phone at the Senator’s office, simply leave a message asking the Senator please to cosponsor S.2438. Leave your name and the city or county you live in.
You may also add a brief reason why the Senator should support S.2438, (such as: fees discriminate against lower-income Americans; or, fees are double taxation; or, fees change the historical relationship of Americans to our unique public lands; or, fees force lands managers to prioritize developments that make money. but it’s not necessary to go into much detail.
S. 2438 was introduced by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Mike Crapo (M-ID), and has been cosponsored by Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Ken Salazar (D-CO). This bill seeks to end a failed fee experiment that for 10 years burdened Americans with a double tax and kept many away from public lands they had once enjoyed.
Passage of S. 2438 would help derail the alarming trend of the land agencies and motorized recreation industry to promote public lands recreation as a “commodity”, for which citizens, like “customers” of a business, must shell out payment. Passage will give us time to persuade our land managers that recreation is NOT a “product” that we “buy” from them; we are NOT their “customers”.
S 2438 would repeal the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004, sometimes called Recreational Access tax (RAT) and reinstate legislation dating back to the 1965 Land and Water Conservation Act that limits the use of fees on public lands. National park fees can continue at present levels.
The ultimate solution to the problem of agency recreation management will be to provide adequate Congressional appropriations to our land managers.
Fee opponents have waited over ten years now for legislation with a good chance of ending fees for access to the public lands we love to visit. Now that it’s here, S.2438 needs our determined and consistent support.
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
5. TULEYOME CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR
BLUE RIDGE SNOW MOUNTAIN NCA CAMPAIGN
Tuleyome is seeking a Campaign Director to head up the Blue Ridge Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Campaign. Since 2002 Tuleyome has been protecting the wild heritage and agricultural heritage of the Putah Creek and Cache Creek Watersheds for existing and future generations. Tuleyome’s Blue Ridge Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Campaign will protect nearly 500,000 acres of vital wildlands that are part of the California Floristic Province biological hotspot that provides habitat and critical migration corridors for many species of plants and animals.
JOB TITLE: Campaign Director
LOCATION: The Tuleyome office is located in Woodland, California, and field work throughout Lake, Napa, Colusa, Solano and Yolo Counties
POSITION DESCRIPTION:
The Campaign Director is responsible for coordinating the organization’s national conservation area campaign. This program will inspire Congress to designate the region as a National Conservation Area. The designation will provide a better framework to coordinate the management of public lands within the region and national recognition will also assist in the development of conservation funding that will protect the regional landscape. This will be accomplished by building broad public support for the designation. Support includes facilitating campaign planning processes, networking land use groups around the region which includes the conservation, recreation, and agricultural communities; businesses and public decision makers through outreach, education and community activism. The Campaign Director reports to the Executive Director and they are the lead person designing and implementing the campaigns work plans, budgets, and projects.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACTIVITIES:
1. Build broad public support for the designation of the Blue Ridge Snow Mountain NCA among the conservation, recreation, and agricultural communities; businesses and public decision makers through outreach, education and community activism.
2. Work effectively with our partners to build this support by establishing and maintaining consistent lines of communication and working relationships with a network of conservation groups and leaders focused on this project.
3. Build coalitions and partnerships with communities, organizations, and key leaders to support protecting the NCA.
4. Fundraising, including researching and writing grants and event organizing.
5. Communicate effectively with the media, through a variety of activities and events.
6. Prepare press releases, newsletters, and articles to promote the campaign.
7. Participate in speaking engagements designed to raise public awareness of Tuleyome’s activities and mission with special emphasis on the NCA Campaign.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE POSITION:
* Clearly demonstrated experience and skills related to the performance of the above responsibilities.
* Willingness to travel throughout the region.
* Demonstrated experience in campaign and/or political organizing.
* Demonstrated experience with national forest, park, or river related issues and/or with public lands, natural resource, conservation, and environmental issues.
* Excellent writing and editing skills and experience developing public information materials.
* Strong telephone skills.
* Demonstrated understanding of and familiarity with environmental issues.
* Demonstrated ability to work cheerfully and constructively with all kinds of people, in a variety of situations.
* Demonstrated ability to be a “self-starter” – to be someone who does not require constant supervision — and to show great initiative in the performance of the position, while still maintaining regular contact with Tuleyome.
* Knowledge of the organization’s basic programs.
* Ability to work with a diverse group of people.
* Ability to organize events.
* Demonstrated ability to layout work tasks, identify resources to complete projects, leverage human and financial resources, focus his/her own work, complete tasks on time, on budget and of a high quality.
* Skill in managing and retaining qualified staff to achieve program goals and represent the organization well.
* Ability to handle multiple projects and manage time and schedule.
* Independent, highly motivated, able to work under pressure with frequent deadlines and limited supervision.
* Knowledge and ability to write grants and conduct foundation fundraising.
* Bilingual English/Spanish preferred, including ability to translate Tuleyome materials, both orally and in writing.
* Passion for Tuleyome’s natural environment and rural communities.
* Proficiency using personal computers and the Internet.
* Ability and willingness to travel throughout the region via automobile up to 40% of time each month.
* Must have a valid California State Driver’s license.
* Occasional lifting (office supplies, etc.) of 25 pounds.
* Computer use and keyboard entry up to 8 hours per day.
EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Full time/permanent position dependent on grant funding. Salary commensurate with experience with paid vacation and sick time. Tuleyome observes most State and Federal holidays.
Tuleyome Is An Equal Opportunity Employer.
Send a cover letter and résumé via email to Debra Chase, Tuleyome’s Executive Director.