September 11, 2001
Ute Tribe opposes plans to enlarge
Sandwash Reservoir (Central Utah Project)
Navajos: ban private property in
Indian Country!
Greenland's ice water to be exported
to US
Draft Recovery Goals for Colorado
River fish available tomorrow
Drilling tests Utes' values
Shad Return to East Coast Rivers
ACTION ALERT: Send a postcard today,
help drain Lake Powell Reservoir!
4-stroke SkiDoos to be demonstrated
(against) at the Olympics
Sign-on: Ten Principles for REFORM
of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation!
ACTION ALERT: Send a postcard today,
help drain Lake Powell Reservoir!
Farmington Daily Times calls Bush
a coward over RECA
Wyden seeks ESA amendment and
support from Boxer, Feinstein
What does U.S. owe Indians?: Rights
groups silent on reparations for our loss
Visitor centers planned for GSENM
Valley of the Chiefs: Tentative
Agreement Reached
Summer tragedies at Lake Powell
Reservoir
Some
Who Vote on Farm Subsidies Get Them as Well
'Recovery Goals' May Save Endangered
Fish Species
Seismic oil exploration near Canyonlands
OK'd
Scripps Howard: Religious shareholders
take the environment on faith
Save the Endangered Lake Powell
Jetski!
Biggest Europe reservoir to start
filling year end
Check out Range Magazine's current
issue--a special issue on water
Peabody's Contributions Being
Investigated
New deputy chief named, supporter
of "recreation lakes" program
Nevada Test Site houses germ factory
Modified Lake Powell houseboat
emits "virtually no carbon monoxide"
McInnis seeks congressional subpoena
of eco-terrorist spokesman
Antelope Point Marina project
moving forward
Surplus Power Lights Up MWD Desalination
Plans
L.A., Ventura counties fight just-over-the-line
projects
Imperial valley air harmed by
farming; EPA may crack down
Tourist's water demands bleed
resorts dry
Forbes Magazine: Ecopragmatists
Settling water adjudication suits
crucial, Turney says
Norton's 'historic' dump may haunt
her
Prelude to permanence for mine?
Timber Companies Struggle to Stay
Alive
SDG&E wants power line on
SoCal Indian tribe's property
Parking garage planned for 'second
homes'
Navajo Nation Council's attorney
resigns
Homesteader's daughter sues Sierra
Club, others over Klamath water
Construction booms in Lake Havasu
City
Coal Industries Hope for Revival
Californians used 9 percent less
electricity during August peak periods
Archaeological dig unearths artifacts
of unknown culture
RADIATION: State wants U.S. Department
of Energy assessment - Amchitka testing sought
American Land Conservancy would
build new reservoir to "save" Klamath Falls
===================================================+
Date: Monday, September 10,
2001 9:53 AM
Subject: Ute Tribe opposes plans to enlarge Sandwash Reservoir
(Central Utah Project)
Uintah Basin Standard
PROJECT WOULD DEVELOP NEW WATER SUPPLIES
Ute Tribe opposes plans to enlarge Sandwash
The water project is backed by the Central Utah Water Conservancy
District.
By Lezlee E. Whiting
http://www.ubstandard.com/text/news1.html
The Ute Indian Tribe has filed a protest against a project
which would
double the size of Big Sandwash Reservoir and develop new water
supplies
for municipal, irrigation and industrial use. The proposed development
--
known as the 203 Project -- was the only water storage project
in
Duchesne County that was able to be revived after the Ute Tribe
unexpectedly pulled their support from the planned $100 million
plus
Uinta Unit water storage project almost three years ago.
According to a resolution issued by the tribe's governing
Business
Committee, they cannot support the development of the planned
water
resource development because they believe it "impacts the
tribe's water
rights and the tribe's right to determine the best use of tribal
water."
The massive Upalco and Uinta units of the CUP Completion Act
were
scrapped in 1998 after the Ute Tribe withdrew their support from
the
water storage and recreational development plans, saying they
did not
believe the projects -- which would have been constructed on
tribal lands
-- would benefit tribal members.
At the time, however, they did pledge support for water projects
built
off tribal lands. The Sandwash enlargement project is not on
the
reservation and involves no tribal rights-of-way. Sandwash is
located 15
miles northwest of Roosevelt.
Business Committee Chairman Floyd Wopsock personally delivered
the
resolution to the CUWCD office in Orem in June during a meeting
at which
the project was being discussed.
The resolution reads in part that "the tribe finds that
all reservation
natural resources are interconnected and that the water resource
has
cultural, spiritual, and economic values that guide the appropriate
use,
management and protection of that resource ... the tribe was
not give
(sic) property consideration and believe that their water rights
be (sic)
affected."
Floyd Wopsock and Business Committee members Luke Duncan and
Ron Wopsock
voted in favor of the resolution opposing the water storage project.
Business Committee Vice chair Roseline Taveapont and Roland McCook
voted
against the measure, Smiley Arrowchis abstained from voting.
The 203 project is backed by the Central Utah Water Conservancy
District
and local entities. It was included as a stand-alone piece of
legislation
in the CUP Project Completion Act which authorizes funds to be
appropriated to construct features of the "Uinta Basin Replacement
Project."
Earlier this year a draft Environmental Assessment was released
for the
enlargement of Big Sandwash Reservoir. The final draft Environmental
Assessment and FONSI (Finding of No Significant Impact) reports
are
expected to be released this fall.
The CUWCD has advertised for engineering firms to submit statements
of
qualifications for design and oversee construction of the reservoir
and
pipelines.
Money for construction of the 203 project -- estimated at
$40 million --
has already been authorized by the federal government. Sixty-five
percent
of the cost is paid through federal funds, 35 percent will come
through a
local match from the CUWCD.
The project would double the size of Sandwash Reservoir from
12,000 feet
to 24,000 feet and calls for construction of two pipelines. One
pipeline
would run from Sandwash to Roosevelt. The other would run from
Lake Fork
River to Sandwash. The project will develop new water supplies
for
municipal and industrial use and supplemental irrigation, replacement
storage for the high mountain lakes irrigation water, enhance
wilderness
recreation, fish and wildlife values, and provide instream flows
for
fishery habitat.
© 2001 Uintah Basin Standard
===================================================+
Date: Monday, September 10,
2001 9:53 AM
Subject: Navajos: ban private property in Indian Country!
Gallup Independent
September 7, 2001
Tribe takes stand against 'eroding' sovereignty
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK - The Navajo Nation Council has adopted an official
position
against private property rights within its exterior boundaries,
reacting
to recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that diminish tribal sovereignty.
Tribal leaders will present the four-page position paper Sept.
11 at a
special meeting in Washington, D.C., called by the National Congress
of
American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund, Attorney
General
Levon Henry told delegates.
By a recent 62-0 vote, the council adopted the position after
deleting a
section on the right of non-Navajos to participate in tribal
government
if the First American nations can gain control over all land
and peoples
within their exterior boundaries. This would include the entire
city of
Gallup.
The paper refers to "Indian country," which carries
a different meaning
than "reservation." A reservation is land the federal
government owns and
reserves for First Americans as trust property. "Indian
country" includes
other types of land ownership, such as private parcels surrounded
by
reservations, or the Navajo Eastern Agency which mixes private,
state and
other federal land with trust territory, as well as acreage allotted
to
individual Indians and private property owned by the tribe.
The deleted section read:
"Indian nations must consider developing ways that non-Indians
and
non-member Indians can participate in the tribal political process,
much
like the United States allows limited participation in its political
processes by naturalized citizens.
"The United States government should assist Indian nations
by recognizing
an Indian nation's civil and criminal jurisdiction over all persons
who
enter Indian country. The entry onto or crossing of a reservation
boundary or participation in tribal government will constitute
implied
consent to jurisdiction."
In the recent Atkinson case involving the Cameron Trading
Post property
owned by the Atkinson company of Gallup, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled the
Window Rock government could not collect its hotel tax. The court
said
the Cameron site was private land and the tribal government did
not meet
the two specific conditions in which a tribal tax could be applied
to
private property. (The trading post originally was eight miles
from the
reservation boundary, but the tribal reserve was expanded by
federal
edict around the site.)
The justices also supported Nevada officials in the Hicks
case in which
state game wardens executed search warrants on a tribal member
at his
home on tribal land.
The Navajo paper begins, "Over the past two decades U.S.
Supreme Court
decisions have steadily eroded the inherent sovereignty of Indian
nations. In fact, all that remains of Indian nation sovereignty
is
authority over members within respective reservations."
To achieve the goal, the paper says, "First, Indian nations
must come to
a consensus of what sovereignty means. Second, Congress must
recognize
that sovereignty as absolute and not a delegation."
It then took up six goals one at a time, but that is now reduced
to five.
The five are Indian country statute (section 1151 of Title
18 of the U.S.
Code), regulatory and taxing authority, judicial review, criminal
jurisdiction, and an opt-out provision for less advanced tribes.
It must be made clear, the first goal says, that rights-of-way
running
through reservations would come under tribal, not state, control.
The second goal calls for the tribes to be given the right
to control
taxes "within the exterior boundaries which directly affect
Indian
Country. State jurisdiction to tax any activity whether engaged
in by
Indians or non-Indians must be extinguished ..."
The third goal would apply directly to the Russell Means Chinle
case.
The reluctance of federal courts and Congress to grant total
criminal
jurisdiction "is due primarily to a fear that non-members
will not be
accorded due process and equal protection as guaranteed in non-Indian
courts." The paper proposes establishing an Indian Appeals
Court
"comprised of Indian jurists" as the solution.
"In addition, Congress must enact legislation that ensures
a substantive
tribal role in the confirmation of all federal judges who adjudicate
Indian Country matters." (The U.S. Constitution gives the
U.S. Senate the
power to confirm presidential nominations of judges.)
Goal four wants Congress to "recognize an Indian nation's
inherent
criminal jurisdiction over all persons and offenses committed
in Indian
Country" unless the U.S. guarantees "federal prosecution
and
incarceration of offenders."
The fifth goal allows tribes not ready "nor willing to
exercise all
attributes of their inherent sovereign authority" to "opt-out
of these
political rights."
===================================================+
Date: Monday, September 10,
2001 9:53 AM
Subject: Greenland's ice water to be exported to US
Greenland sees water exports as valuable as fish
By Per Bech Thomsen
NUUK, Greenland, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Tonnes of clean and drinkable
water
from Greenland's inland ice cap flood hour after hour down through
the
Qordlortup Qorua waterfall just north of the capital Nuuk and
further out
into the Atlantic Sea.
But soon this water will be funnelled directly into a production
vessel
where it will be bottled and later shipped to the Canadian and
U.S.
market.
This is the business plan of Aqua Polaris and an industry
that can prove
extremely valuable to the 56,000 inhibitants of the Arctic province
of
Denmark, which receives 60 percent of its public budget revenues
in a
state grant from the Danish government, under which it enjoys
limited
home rule.
"In the long run, 10 years perhaps, potential revenue
from water will be
similar to that of the fishing industry," Greenland's Finance
Minister
Josef Motzfeldt said.
Today, fishing is the dominant industry in Greenland, accounting
for
80-90 percent of total exports of around two billion crowns ($119
million).
"Ice is a new commodity with a huge potential,"
Motzfeldt said, citing
growing water shortage in many parts of the world.
Greenland, the world's biggest island with an area of 2.2
million square
km - almost equal in area to the entire European Union - is 85
percent
covered by an up to three-kilometres thick cap of perma-ice.
BIGGEST WATER RESERVOIR
"It is the biggest fresh water reservoir in the northern
hemisphere,"
Hans Kristian Schoenwandt, head of the home rule government's
Minerals
and Petroleum Office said.
"I don't expect the water industry to be a gold mine
for Greenland in the
next three to four years but it definitely has enormous potential,"
he
said.
Earlier this year, Greenland's parliament passed a bill for
granting
20-year concession rights, instead of previously six months,
to companies
which want to exploit the water resources in certain areas.
Aqua Polaris, a joint venture between local entrepreneurs
and Canadian
Iceberg Industries, has been waiting for this bill to be passed
for years
and now expects to be given a 20-year licence to exploit the
Qordlortup
Qorua waterfall from the beginning of next year.
"We expect to extract one million cubic metres of water
per year without
harming the mountain lakes," said Lotte Joergensen Bech,
partner and
co-founder of Aqua Polaris.
Joergensen assessed annual revenues of around $40 million
from full scale
production and said she expected Aqua Polaris to start production
mid-2002.
Aqua Polaris is not the only company which has seen the potential
in this
unfailing resource.
"We are in talks with seven or eight companies, local
and international,
about licences," Schoenwandt said.
Besides fresh drinking water, Greenland ice is used for the
production of
beer, vodka and perfume - not to forget ice cubes.
($-8.3905 Danish crowns)
10:43 09-06-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited.
===================================================+
Date: Monday, September 10,
2001 9:53 AM
Subject: Draft Recovery Goals for Colorado River fish
available tomorrow
The Mountain-Prairie Region
NEWS RELEASE
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
134 Union Boulevard
Lakewood, Colorado 80228
September 6, 2001
CONTACT: Tom Czapla 303-969-7322, ext. 228
Robert Muth 303-969-7322, ext. 268
Sharon Rose 303-236-7917, ext. 415
Debbie Felker 303-969-7322, ext. 227
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Invites Public Comment on Draft
Recovery
Goals for Endangered Fish
LAKEWOOD, Colo. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service invites
public
comment on draft recovery goals to supplement and amend recovery
plans
for four species of endangered fish of the Colorado River Basin.
The
draft recovery goals provide objective, measurable recovery criteria
required to consider removing the humpback chub, bonytail, Colorado
pikeminnow (formerly Colorado squawfish) and razorback sucker
from
Endangered Species Act protection. The goals identify site-specific
management actions necessary to minimize or remove threats; establish
objective, measurable criteria that consider demographic and
genetic
needs for self-sustaining, viable populations; and provide recovery
time
estimates.
The draft recovery goals were developed during the past year
with input
from public and private organizations representing seven states:
Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California.
A Notice of Availability of the draft recovery goals is expected
to
publish in the Federal Register on September 10, 2001. Comments
will be
accepted for 45 days and must be postmarked by October 24, 2001.
The
Service will review all comments and make any appropriate changes
to the
draft goals. A decision on the final goals will be made three
to six
months after the comment period closes. Final goals will become
part of
the recovery plan for each species.
Draft recovery goals will be mailed to interested persons
upon request
and are available at
mountain-prairie.fws.gov/ea/infopackets/coloradoriver.
For more
information, contact the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish
Recovery
Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 25486, DFC,
Lakewood,
CO 80225, 303-969-7322, ext. 225.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal
agency
responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife
and
plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 94-million-acre National Wildlife
Refuge
System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges,
thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas.
It also
operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices
and 78
ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal
wildlife
laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory
bird
populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves
and
restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign
governments
with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal
Aid program
that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes
on
fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
===================================================+
Date: Monday, September 10,
2001 9:53 AM
Subject: Denver Post: Drilling tests Utes' values
Drilling tests Utes' values
By Susan Greene
Denver Post National Writer
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E139086,00.html
Sunday, September 09, 2001 - IGNACIO - Every month, Sage Remington
gets a
dividend check for coal-bed methane pumped from the Southern
Ute Indian
Reservation.
Though the $500 helps with the groceries, the tribal activist
says it
doesn't cover what drilling is truly costing his homeland.
"The pumps and compressors, they're like a cancer. There
will be portions
of our land that will be so contaminated that they'll be unusable
for
future generations," said Remington, spokesman for the Southern
Ute
Grassroots Organization, which opposes what members see as excessive
gas
development.
Coal-bed-methane drilling presents a conundrum for Southern
Utes who, as
shareholders of tribal land and mineral rights, profit so much
that
they're known as one of the nation's wealthiest tribes. In addition
to
monthly disbursements to all 1,370 tribesfolk, gas production
pays for
members' retirement, job training, tribal trust-fund investments,
a new
school, community center and tribal-affairs building, and other
projects
on the 180,000-acre reservation southeast of Durango.
Profits from the tribe's wildly successful Sky Ute Casino
and Lodge pale
in comparison, say tribal leaders who refuse to divulge exact
figures.
Some say the drilling has brought other changes - empowering
a people
long dependent on alfalfa farming and federal hand-outs, and
building a
sense of control over their land and their destiny.
"It's giving them something to look forward to, a way
to get back on
their own feet," said the tribe's executive officer, Marvin
Cook.
"Without it, we'd be like other tribes. People couldn't
afford to stay
here. We'd still be relying on the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
We'd be at
the mercy of the state."
Drilling for conventional gas began here in the 1950s, then
waned for a
couple of decades. When the coal-bed methane boom began, tribal
leaders
started their own production and pipeline companies.
"We thought, "One of these days we'll take control,'
" rather than
allowing outsiders to exploit tribal resources, Cook said.
The Utes now operate 1,400 gas wells in the area and own about
40 of
those. Coal-bed methane is the tribe's "meat and potatoes
financially,"
he added.
Prosperity has come with environmental problems.
Gas pumps, compressor stations and generators dot the reservation's
pin~on- and cottonwood-covered mesas.
Five coal fires burn beneath the land - a phenomenon that
Walt Merschat,
a Wyoming geochemist who specializes in coal-bed methane, says
is fueled
by extracting millions of gallons of water from coal beds during
drilling. Long strips of trees and brush over the fires have
died, and
the earth has caved in where underground coal has been consumed
by
combustion.
A federal environmental report about the drilling cites the
following
potential dangers: "explosion, fire, toxic and caustic gases
and collapse
of the surface into underground caverns."
But tribal leaders say there's no proof that drilling helped
fuel the
flames. They have sunk what Cook describes as "an enormous
amount of
money" into trying to extinguish the fires by cementing
areas seeping
with methane. Those attempts have failed.
"It doesn't cause a problem besides killing a few trees,"
Cook said of
the fires, which suck oxygen and nutrients from root systems.
"A dozen or so dead trees in a forest of thousands of
trees doesn't show
up," added Dick Baughman, the Southern Utes' staff geologist.
Remington laments that attitude among a tribe whose ancestors
so valued
living in balance with the land. He doesn't drink his own well
water,
worried it's contaminated with drilling byproducts.
Remington complains that tribal leaders are swapping their
sacred
homeland for financial gain.
"I have a sense of place in this land. My ancestors onced
roamed it. It
didn't belong to them. They left it as they found it," he
said. "Now it's
in extreme danger of overproduction. I'm sure the Creator would
want us
to exercise some discretion and restraint."
===================================================+
Date: Monday, September 10,
2001 9:53 AM
Subject: AP: Shad Return to East Coast Rivers
Shad Return to East Coast Rivers
By TIMOTHY D. MAY
.c The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, Pa. (AP) - Once, American shad swam up Atlantic coastal
rivers
in huge masses each spring, when instinct - or some inner compass
- lured
them by the millions from the ocean to their ancestral spawning
beds.
Schools of the fork-tailed fish ruled the Chesapeake Bay and
ran rivers
like the Potomac, Susquehanna, Hudson and Connecticut in huge
migrations.
Shad from the Delaware River played a part in the American Revolution,
feeding George Washington's troops during their historic crossing.
Today, however, few people under age 40 may have heard of
the fish, a
member of the herring family that is indigenous to the Atlantic
and a
species that once constituted a major commercial fishery.
American shad - a brawny species that can grow to 30 inches
long - have
been locked out of their natal rivers for much of the past century,
thwarted by dams built to power mills, feed canals and generate
electricity. In other places, such as the Delaware River near
Philadelphia, contamination created ``pollution blocks'' that
prevented
them from reproducing.
But the tide is again shifting in favor of the shad.
Dam removal and hatchery programs, stricter pollution controls,
construction of fish passage systems and fishery restrictions
in the
Atlantic are all helping. And nowhere is the comeback more convincing
than in Pennsylvania.
In the past few years, on the Susquehanna, Juniata, Delaware,
Schuylkill
and Lehigh rivers, shad are again darting upstream, mating -
and then
usually dying - in places they haven't haunted in years.
The fish are making similar returns to rivers in New England
and in other
states that include Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.
In Pennsylvania, the state Fish and Boat Commission has driven
the
restoration effort, removing 60 dams in the past six years and
releasing
millions of hatchery-raised shad ``fry'' to ensure populations
can
rebound.
There is clear evidence shad are coming back.
On a sweltering July evening on the Susquehanna River at Columbia,
three
men in a flat-bottomed fishing boat paid out 100 feet of nylon
net. The
men, employees of a consulting firm hired by the commission to
help
measure the ratio of wild shad to stocked shad in the river,
motored out
from a small island and back, jumped ashore and began hauling
in the net.
Lure-sized American shad - the largest about 3 inches long -
flipped like
silver flapjacks in the net, along with a few crawfish and other
species,
which get tossed back.
``Oh, we got 'em here, boys,'' said Steve Adams, looking with
a practiced
eye at a shad fingerling. He dropped it into a bag and counted
them: 14
in all. Seining at five other spots that night yielded eight
more
fingerlings, later packed in ice for pickup by the fish commission.
Last year, sampling on the Susquehanna showed about half the
shad netted
were wild - an encouraging sign, said Scott Carney, a fisheries
biologist
with the commission.
The restoration effort is important to anglers, but it also
contributes
to the health of rivers' ecosystems, said John Olney, an associate
professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, near Virginia
Beach.
American shad and its cousins, hickory shad and blueback herring,
are
food sources for bass, walleye, muskie and carp. Those fish,
in turn, are
food for birds and other animals hunting the river, Olney said.
Other states are pursuing similar dam removal and shad stocking
strategies in an effort to help the fish return. And an agency
that sets
fisheries guidelines for East Coast states is helping by restricting
shad
fishing in the Atlantic. By Jan. 1, 2003, Atlantic states must
reduce
commercial shad catches by 40 percent; a complete moratorium
will begin
in January 2004, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission.
The commercial catch of American shad from the Atlantic in
1999 weighed
in at about 1.4 million pounds, a dramatic drop from the 9 million
pounds
caught in 1950. The 1999 shad haul was worth about $984,000,
according to
the fisheries commission.
On Virginia's James River, ``stocks of shad had been at dangerously
low
levels since 1990,'' Olney said. In 1994, the state and federal
wildlife
officials began stocking shad fry, and in the past two years,
Olney said,
``We've seen large influxes of hatchery-raised fish, and higher
catch
rates.''
In Maryland, scientists found evidence recently of a shad
spawning run in
the Patuxent and Choptank rivers for the first time in years.
At three dams on the Ten Mile River, Rhode Island is installing
fish
ladders - ascending pools that allow fish to swim around dams
at their
own pace - to help shad and herring reach spawning habitat.
Construction of fish passage systems have given shad a huge
lift on the
Susquehanna River. Last year, a fish ladder installed at the
York Haven
hydroelectric dam near York allowed shad to migrate upriver to
Harrisburg
and beyond for the first time in decades.
By late June, more than 16,000 shad had wriggled up the ladder
at York
Haven, nearly four times more than passed last year. Fish elevators
-
buckets that haul fish up and over walls - were installed at
three other
hydroelectric dams on the river in the 1990s.
On the Net:
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission: http://www.fish.state.pa.us/
Chesapeake Bay Program: http://www.chesapeakebay.net
American Rivers: http://www.amrivers.org
AP-NY-09-09-01 1205EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.
===================================================+
From: David Orr <david@livingrivers.net>
To: <david@drainit.org>
Date: Sunday, September 9, 2001 5:36 PM
Subject: ACTION ALERT: Send a postcard today, help drain
Lake Powell Reservoir!
___________________________________________________________
L I V I N G R I V E R S
POB 466 · Moab, UT 84532 · 435-259-1063/fax
259-7612
POB 1589 · Scottsdale, AZ 85252 · 480-990-7839/fax
990-2662
www.livingrivers.net
___________________________________________________________
SEND A POSTCARD TODAY!
YOU COULD WIN A HOUSEBOAT -- AND HELP DRAIN LAKE POWELL RESERVOIR!
The only group we know of that opposes draining Lake Powell
Reservoir is
one that's connected to Page, Arizona's Chamber of Commerce.
Known as the
"Friends of Lake Powell" (FLP), they recently announced
a fundraising
raffle will be held this Friday, September 14, 2001. Grand Prize:
a
houseboat!
Those of you familiar with the writings of Edward Abbey will
really
appreciate the irony.
No, it's not one of those sleek, fancy models that you may
have seen in
Houseboat Magazine (you do read Houseboat, don't you?). This
is a
well-worn 1970s model with a few dents and some rust around the
edges.
But can you imagine the fun you'll have, tooling around the pond,
flying
a huge "Drain It!" flag? Okay, maybe that's not your
cup of tea, but if
you enter and win, you can donate your dubious prize to Living
Rivers,
and you can be the guest of honor on the maiden voyage of the
"S.S.
Hayduke"!
While FLP has stated they are charging $50.00 (yes, FIFTY
dollars!) for
each raffle ticket, the group's very first newsletter (vol. 1,
no. 1)
points out the following:
"Do you know that under Arizona law everybody is entitled
to enter such a
raffle for free. Just send your name and address on a post card
stating
you want to be entered in the raffle and they must include you
by law. If
you win, maybe you could teach them a thing or two."
This is a direct quote! Okay, well, they were referring to
an
environmental group's fundraising raffle, held in 1998. But their
point
is clear and applicable: there is no reason to send them a check
for
fifty of your hard-earned dollars when all you have to do is
send a post
card in for the cost of a first class postage stamp!
Living Rivers, the leader of the campaign to drain Lake Powell
Reservoir,
encourages all you "drainers" out there to send in
your postcard TODAY!
It's up to you whether to send them a check for $50.00, but we
think
their own advice is appropriate to the situation.
ACT TODAY! Send in those postcards right away! The drawing
will be held
at 5:00 PM on Friday, September 14, at the Page Chamber of Commerce
office. You might want to note on there that you're just complying
with
their instructions. Here's the website address of their 1998
newsletter:
http://www.lakepowell.org/newsltr2/newsltr2.html
MAIL YOUR POSTCARD TO:
Friends of Lake Powell, Inc.
P.O. Box 7007
Page, AZ 86040 USA
www.lakepowell.org
928-645-2741 Fax: 928-353-2227
PRINT YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, AND PHONE/FAX NUMBERS -- LEGIBLY!
-- ON THE
CARD AND STATE THAT IT IS AN ENTRY FORM FOR THE HOUSEBOAT RAFFLE
CONTEST.
... And be sure to let Living Rivers know if you win! The
news media will
be interested to know if a "drainer" wins a houseboat
from the Friends of
Lake Powell...
===================================================+
Date: Monday, September 10,
2001 9:53 AM
Subject: 4-stroke SkiDoos to be demonstrated (against)
at the Olympics
Bombardier to Showcase Four-Stroke Snowmobile Engine at the
2002 Olympic
Winter Games
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2001--
Official Supplier of Snowmobiles, ATVs and Snowgroomers
Bombardier introduced here today a concept Ski-Doo(R) snowmobile
with a
four-stroke engine that will be showcased at the Salt Lake 2002
Olympic
Winter Games.
The prototype 1000cc Rotax 4-TEC is the first V-configuration
OEM
four-stoke engine engineered exclusively for snowmobile use,
and the most
powerful snowmobile four-stroke engine to date. Bombardier Recreational
Products is also proud to be the Official Supplier of snowmobiles,
ATVs
and snowgroomers to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic
Winter
Games in Salt Lake City.
"Bombardier is committed to cleaner and quieter snowmobiling,"
said Jose
Boisjoli, President, Snowmobiles, Watercraft and ATV, Bombardier
Recreational Products. "We want to show the public that
more
environmentally-friendly - yet still fun to drive - snowmobiles
are right
around the corner. The 2002 Olympic Winter Games will help us
do that."
"We've been committed to the environment from the start,
working to make
the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games the most environmentally-friendly
Games ever," said Mark Lewis, President and CEO of Olympic
Properties of
the United States (OPUS). "We're glad we can provide Bombardier
an
opportunity to demonstrate this important technology."
While the concept sled will be showcased at the 2002 Olympic
Winter
Games, Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Bombardier(R) ATVs to be used
by the Salt
Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) during the Olympic Winter Games
will
feature more environmentally-friendly characteristics. Most of
the sleds
are equipped with the Digital Performance Management electronic
carburetion system and R.A.V.E. exhaust port modifiers, both
of which
reduce emissions and increase fuel economy. All 110 Bombardier
ATVs to be
used at the Olympic Winter Games feature clean-burning Rotax
4-TEC
four-stroke engines.
Rotax 4-TEC is First Snowmobile-Exclusive V-configuration
Four-Stroke
The snowmobile 4-TEC features automotive style fuel injection
and
overhead valves in a V-configuration. It is water-cooled with
dry sump
lubrication, heated throttle body, alternator charging system
and
electric start. It uses a conventional belt-driven continuously
variable
snowmobile transmission.
The 4-TEC is designed to break new ground in power-to-weight;
low
emissions; high fuel economy; low noise and vibration levels;
and
serviceability. "This motor was designed and engineered
exclusively for
use in our Ski-Doo snowmobiles, so it is engineered to meet the
high
expectations of snowmobilers for cruising performance and beyond,"
said
Mr. Boisjoli.
The cleaner engines are seen as an important development in
keeping
snowmobile trails open, such as trails in Yellowstone, Glacier
and Denali
National Parks. This 4-TEC is expected to reduce hydrocarbon
emissions by
80 percent and increase fuel economy by 30 percent compared to
conventional two-stroke snowmobile engines.
The concept sled features the same Olympic decal and logo
design as the
sleds to be used at the Olympic Winter Games, but with Sapphire
Blue
coloring. It will be on display at the Hay Days Grass Drags in
Lino
Lakes, Minnesota from September 7th to September 9th.
Bombardier - Official Supplier to the 2002 Olympic Winter
Games
As part of its Olympic Winter Games suppliership, Bombardier
is supplying
125 Ski-Doo snowmobiles for use at the Games' alpine skiing,
biathlon,
and nordic jumping events. All sleds used at the Games will sport
a
striking yellow and orange paint scheme featuring the Salt Lake
Games
Rhythm of the Land emblem, Ski-Doo logos and the official Games
supplier
logo.
Bombardier snowmobiles, ATVs and snowgroomers will play a
critical part
in creating and maintaining Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort,
Snowbasin, Soldier Hollow and Utah Olympic Park venues before
and during
the Olympic Winter Games. Several Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Bombardier
snowgroomers were used last winter to groom and maintain venues
for World
Cup events. This is the third time Bombardier has supplied groomers
and
snowmobiles to the Olympic Winter Games - the company also supplied
the
1988 Calgary and the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games.
Complete information on all aspects of the Ski-Doo Olympic
Winter Games
suppliership, can be found online in a special section of ski-doo.com.
Bombardier Recreational Products designs, develops, builds,
distributes
and markets Ski-Doo snowmobiles, snowgrooming equipment, ATVs
and many
other recreational products. Bombardier Inc., a diversified manufacturing
and service company, employs 79,000 people worldwide. Its revenues
for
its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2001 totalled Cdn$16.1 billion.
(R), (TM) Trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.
http://www.recreation.bombardier.com http://www.ski-doo.com
CONTACT:
Bombardier Recreational Products
Joann Smith, 715/847-6821
joann.smith@recreation.bombardier.com
or
Olympic Properties of the United States
Linda Luchetti, 801/212-2909
KEYWORD: MINNESOTA
BW0316 SEP 06,2001
===================================================+
Date: Sunday, September 9,
2001 2:10 PM
Subject: Sign-on: Ten Principles for REFORM of the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation!
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO YOUR NETWORKS...
[... and please accept our apologies for any duplicates you
may receive!]
___________________________________________________________
L I V I N G R I V E R S
POB 466 · Moab, UT 84532 · 435-259-1063/fax
259-7612
POB 1589 · Scottsdale, AZ 85252 · 480-990-7839/fax
990-2662
www.livingrivers.net
___________________________________________________________
Dear Colleague:
Living Rivers is an environmental organization with offices
in Utah and
Arizona, working to restore the Colorado River watershed and
other
watersheds of the West. We are happy to announce a new campaign
that is
timed to coincide with the upcoming centennial of the U.S. Bureau
of
Reclamation (BuRec). This new initiative seeks substantive and
far-reaching reform of the agency on the eve of its second century.
Paraphrasing poet laureate emeritus Robert Hass, the nineteenth
century
was the United States' century of exploration, while the twentieth
was
the century of its exploitation. It is within our power as individuals
and collectively to ensure that the twenty-first becomes the
century of
restoration.
FROM RECLAMATION TO RESTORATION
BuRec has had more impact on the environments of the Western
U.S. than
perhaps any other institution. Subsidized water and power development
has
supplied corporate agribusiness and fueled subdivision sprawl.
The
landscape as well as the rivers have changed dramatically in
response to
the construction of diversion canals, dams --including several
of the
world's largest -- and other infrastructure projects. BuRec's
engineering
prowess and efficiency, emulated by agencies the world over,
often
regarded nature as something to be controlled, not respected.
The time has come to reverse the process, and help BuRec begin
its new
century with a new mandate: rather than developing and manipulating
water
for development, the agency must now begin repairing the damaged
ecosystems and putting back together the pieces of the human
and natural
communities that depend on Western rivers. These include communities
of
Native Americans, Hispanics, and small family farmers whose interests
have long been ignored or taken for granted.
As the late David Brower, co-founder of Living Rivers, stated
in a speech
on his last visit to Glen Canyon Dam, it's time to overhaul the
agency
and make it the "Bureau of Restoration."
Therefore, in honor of David Brower's vision, and in recognition
of
BuRec's role in the ecological collapse occurring in many river
ecosystems across the West, Living Rivers announces its grassroots
"Reclamation Reform" campaign, centered around a ten-point
plan for
change (see below).
COALITION FORMING -- SIGN ON TODAY!
We are building a coalition centered around support for these
principles.
We invite you and your organization to consider signing on and
joining
us. We ask nothing more from you than to lend us the use of your
and/or
your organization's name in publicizing the campaign and promoting
public
awareness of the urgent need for Reclamation Reform, and restoration
of
Western river ecosystems.
Please review the points below and get in contact with us
at your
earliest opportunity. If you agree to sign on to these principles,
please
send an email, fax, or letter to: Living Rivers Reclamation Reform
Campaign, email: david@livingrivers.net. Call us any time for
details!
See letterhead above for phone, fax and US mail info.
MILESTONES AND OPPORTUNITIES
BuRec's centennial will occur on June 17, 2002. However, a
number of
important activities are planned in the interim that present
important
opportunities for getting this message before the public. For
example,
the Colorado River Water Users Association has its annual convention
at
Las Vegas Caesar's Palace on December. Various symposia and other
events
are scheduled before and after. Living Rivers plans to be there,
carrying
the message. We hope to have your group listed as soon as possible!
We're
planning our own ceremony for June next year, and we'll keep
you posted.
You're invited to participate in any of these events, and if
you should
hear of any planned for your area, we'd appreciate hearing from
you!
Below please find the "ten points" document for
your consideration and
endorsement. Comments and questions are always welcome!
Sincerely yours,
David Orr
Director of Field Programs
Living Rivers
Moab, Utah
435-259-1063
_______________________________________
TEN PRINCIPLES FOR ENVIRONMNENTAL AND SOCIAL REFORM OF THE
U.S. BUREAU OF
RECLAMATION, ON THE OCCASION OF THE AGENCY'S UPCOMING CENTENNIAL
1) RECOGNIZE FEDERAL PRIMACY OF A PUBLIC RESOURCE: Reclamation
must
recognize that the rivers that it manages are not the property
of water
agencies under contract, the states, or even in some cases the
United
States alone. Reclamation has an obligation to manage rivers
for public
benefit under the principles of the public trust doctrine. Reclamation
must assert federal authority over water rights and allocations,
including those that may be in conflict with federal environmental
law.
2) BUILD NO NEW DAMS OR DIVERSIONS: Reclamation must focus
attention on
reversing the environmental damage and social inequities caused
by, or
exacerbated by its projects. Building new infrastructure will
not
ameliorate existing problems and conflicts. For example, Reclamation
must
support de-authorization of the proposed half-billion dollar
Ridges Basin
Reservoir (Animas-La Plata project) in Colorado, for which no
need has
been demonstrated.
3) DECOMISSION UNNEEDED, DESTRUCTIVE DAMS AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE:
Reclamation must conduct regular operational reviews of all its
dams and
irrigation projects, and prepare detailed decommissioning plans
for each
of them. A decommissioning fund must be established for all Reclamation
projects and infrastructure, to pay the full cost of infrastructure
removal and ecosystem restoration.
4) PREPARE BASINWIDE RIVER MANAGEMENT EIS's: Reclamation must
prepare
Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) in accordance with the
National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on the effects of the operation
and
management of existing dams, diversions, and irrigation projects,
on each
river basin in which the agency operates. These studies must
address the
need for restoring river ecosystem function, recovery of endangered
native fish species throughout their historic ranges, cumulative
impacts
of water and hydropower development, and evaluation of a wide
range of
alternatives including decommissioning each of the dams within
the basin.
5) UPHOLD INDIAN RIGHTS: Reclamation must recognize the seniority
of
Native American (Indian) water rights, fishing rights, and other
rights
relating to river management and Reclamation project water allocation.
The agency must respect tribes' senior reserved rights and assure
priority over other water delivery obligations. Indian Nations
must
receive full and fair compensation for their water, including
water that
has been denied them in the past. Reclamation must make serious
efforts
to fully restore sacred sites and other traditional cultural
properties
impacted by agency projects.
6) ASSURE INSTREAM FLOWS AND RATIONAL ALLOCATION: Reclamation
must
advocate for overhauling antiquated laws such as the Colorado
River
Compact that no longer reflect current realities of the region's
available water supplies or public demands for habitat preservation
and
social equity. The agency must establish and assure instream
flows as a
senior priority use. Reclamation must ensure that conserved water
left in
rivers will not be made available for appropriation by other
users. No
additional depletions over current rates shall be permitted in
any case.
Reclamation must work with state governments and the Republic
of Mexico
to ensure that necessary water and sediment flows are allocated
to
restore and protect river delta ecosystems, with immediate action
for
both the Colorado and Rio Grande River Deltas.
7) MANDATORY WATER CONSERVATION: Reclamation must require
of all
beneficiaries of federal water projects, regardless of water
rights
priority, to meet mandatory targeted reductions in water consumption
rates, by implementing water conservation and recycling programs,
and by
requiring use of the most efficient technologies in municipal,
industrial, and agricultural water delivery practices. Alfalfa
and other
water-intensive livestock feed crops should be prohibited on
lands under
federal irrigation contract.
8) MANDATORY POWER CONSERVATION: Reclamation must, in concert
with
federal power wholesaler agencies, adjust wholesale market rates
for
hydropower generated at federal dams to reflect the current national
average baseload wholesale price for electricity. Retailers of
federal
hydropower should be required to meet mandated, targeted reductions
in
power consumption, by requiring adoption of energy-efficient
technologies, and industrial implementing aggressive, demand-side
management and energy conservation programs, including providing
low-cost
loans to all ratepayers for installing their own solar and other
renewable energy supply infrastructure.
9) ASSIST SMALL FAMILY FARMS, NOT CORPORATE AGRIBUSINESS:
On the eve of
its centennial in 2002, Reclamation must recommit itself to the
agency's
original purpose of providing irrigation water to small family
farms.
Reclamation must discontinue its longstanding practice of providing
water
to large farms in violation of the Reclamation Reform Act limits.
10) ENFORCE ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS: Reclamation must work with
other
agencies to ensure aggressive enforcement of environmental laws
relating
to operation of Reclamation projects, including the Clean Water
Act,
Endangered Species Act, Reclamation Reform Act, and others. The
agency
has a special obligation to work with other federal and state
agencies to
take action to protect wildlife, endangered species, and drinking
water
supplies--even in Mexico.
===================================================+
Date: Sunday, September 9,
2001 5:36 PM
Subject: ACTION ALERT: Send a postcard today, help drain
Lake Powell Reservoir!
___________________________________________________________
L I V I N G R I V E R S
POB 466 · Moab, UT 84532 · 435-259-1063/fax
259-7612
POB 1589 · Scottsdale, AZ 85252 · 480-990-7839/fax
990-2662
www.livingrivers.net
___________________________________________________________
SEND A POSTCARD TODAY!
YOU COULD WIN A HOUSEBOAT -- AND HELP DRAIN LAKE POWELL RESERVOIR!
The only group we know of that opposes draining Lake Powell
Reservoir is
one that's connected to Page, Arizona's Chamber of Commerce.
Known as the
"Friends of Lake Powell" (FLP), they recently announced
a fundraising
raffle will be held this Friday, September 14, 2001. Grand Prize:
a
houseboat!
Those of you familiar with the writings of Edward Abbey will
really
appreciate the irony.
No, it's not one of those sleek, fancy models that you may
have seen in
Houseboat Magazine (you do read Houseboat, don't you?). This
is a
well-worn 1970s model with a few dents and some rust around the
edges.
But can you imagine the fun you'll have, tooling around the pond,
flying
a huge "Drain It!" flag? Okay, maybe that's not your
cup of tea, but if
you enter and win, you can donate your dubious prize to Living
Rivers,
and you can be the guest of honor on the maiden voyage of the
"S.S.
Hayduke"!
While FLP has stated they are charging $50.00 (yes, FIFTY
dollars!) for
each raffle ticket, the group's very first newsletter (vol. 1,
no. 1)
points out the following:
"Do you know that under Arizona law everybody is entitled
to enter such a
raffle for free. Just send your name and address on a post card
stating
you want to be entered in the raffle and they must include you
by law. If
you win, maybe you could teach them a thing or two."
This is a direct quote! Okay, well, they were referring to
an
environmental group's fundraising raffle, held in 1998. But their
point
is clear and applicable: there is no reason to send them a check
for
fifty of your hard-earned dollars when all you have to do is
send a post
card in for the cost of a first class postage stamp!
Living Rivers, the leader of the campaign to drain Lake Powell
Reservoir,
encourages all you "drainers" out there to send in
your postcard TODAY!
It's up to you whether to send them a check for $50.00, but we
think
their own advice is appropriate to the situation.
ACT TODAY! Send in those postcards right away! The drawing
will be held
at 5:00 PM on Friday, September 14, at the Page Chamber of Commerce
office. You might want to note on there that you're just complying
with
their instructions. Here's the website address of their 1998
newsletter:
http://www.lakepowell.org/newsltr2/newsltr2.html
MAIL YOUR POSTCARD TO:
Friends of Lake Powell, Inc.
P.O. Box 7007
Page, AZ 86040 USA
www.lakepowell.org
928-645-2741 Fax: 928-353-2227
PRINT YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, AND PHONE/FAX NUMBERS -- LEGIBLY!
-- ON THE
CARD AND STATE THAT IT IS AN ENTRY FORM FOR THE HOUSEBOAT RAFFLE
CONTEST.
... And be sure to let Living Rivers know if you win! The
news media will
be interested to know if a "drainer" wins a houseboat
from the Friends of
Lake Powell...
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:03 PM
Subject: Wyden seeks ESA amendment and support from Boxer,
Feinstein
Klamath Falls Herald & News
Wyden working on water
Senior senator, lawmakers seek Basin package
09/07/01
by Todd Kepple
Sen. Ron Wyden said Thursday hes optimistic that a legislative
package
aimed at resolving water conflicts in the Klamath Basin will
win passage
in Congress before the end of the year.
The effort to produce such a package received bipartisan support
during
an informal meeting Wyden hosted Thursday between himself and
six other
members of Congress to begin work on both short-term and long-term
solutions for the Basin.
I think we're off to a good start, Wyden said Thursday after
the meeting
at his office in Washington.
What we focused on was the need to move very quickly to come
up with a
short-term package that would focus on financial assistance to
the
farmers, and we will also try to move quickly to work toward
a long-term
solution, said Wyden, a Democrat.
The meeting was attended by Oregon's Republican senator, Gordon
Smith,
and by Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., David Wu, D-Ore., Peter DeFazio,
D-Ore., Wally Herger, R-Calif., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif.
Also present were staff members representing both of Californias
Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, as well
as
assistants to Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and California Gov.
Gray Davis,
and Sue Ellen Wooldridge, deputy chief of staff for the Interior
Department.
Wyden said he initiated discussion Thursday by referring to
a letter he
sent last month to a federal judge overseeing mediation in a
lawsuit
filed by farmers against the federal government.
That letter set forth several proposals for addressing water
issues,
including buying land from irrigators who wish to sell, funding
water
storage projects, removing Chiloquin Dam on the Sprague river,
continuing
watershed restoration projects, and re-establishing reservation
lands for
the Klamath Tribes.
Wyden said financial relief for farmers will have to be substantially
more than the $20 million in aid passed by Congress in July,
which Wyden
called a down payment to more than 1,000 farmers in the Klamath
Reclamation Project who were denied irrigation water this year.
No specific amounts for additional aid were discussed Thursday,
Wyden
said, although he expressed support for a bill introduced by
Walden to
appropriate $200 million for Klamath Basin relief.
"I very much would like to see the (Bush) administration
support
something like that," Wyden said. "It's clear that
the administration is
going to play a very key role in this."
Long-term solutions, Wyden said, will probably have to be
included in the
Farm Bill that is due to be renewed this year. He hopes support
from both
parties in the congressional delegations from Oregon and Washington
will
help.
"Sen. Smith and I are going to work very closely together
on this," Wyden
said. "This is not a question of who gets the credit. I
think we saw with
the legislation involving the Steens that the important thing
is to focus
on people, and come up with a common-ground approach."
A primary goal, he added, will be to provide a reliable source
of
irrigation water for farmers.
Wyden said staff members for each of the officials who met
Thursday were
assigned to continue the discussion today and begin drafting
legislation.
Opportunities for public input could include congressional
hearings,
field hearings and town hall meetings, Wyden said.
Wyden said he would support revision of the Endangered Species
Act to
make it more flexible, but he said he was uncertain whether that
would be
part of the Klamath package.
"I've already voted to do that, and I've got the welts
on my back to to
prove it," he said. "But I wouldn't want the whole
effort to break down
because you have warring camps going back to their respective
corners
over the ESA."
Thursday's meeting of lawmakers should raise hopes among Klamath
Basin
residents that progress can be made, Wyden said.
Today, your congressional delegation made it clear how serious
the
problem is, and how it's going to be critical that we develop
a consensus
within the region on how to ensure that the agriculture economy
remains
viable, and that we work to protect the environment as well.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:04 PM
Subject: What does U.S. owe Indians?: Rights groups silent
on reparations for our loss
What does U.S. owe Indians?
Rights groups silent on reparations for our loss
By TIM GIAGO
Lakota Journal
http://www.charlotte.com/observer/natwor/docs/viewshorts.htm
Human rights advocates are making international noise about
compensation
for slavery.
American Indians lost far more when this land was settled
than any other
race. They lost lives, land and location. Many tribes were herded
like
cattle to Oklahoma and other regions and placed on "reservations"
so the
settlers could take title to their lands.
The entire wealth of America was built upon the misery and
the loss of
the Indian people.
In 1987 Congress awarded $1.2 billion to Japanese-Americans
for their
internment in concentration camps during World War II. This was
a knife
in the heart for every Indian in America.
Are we less deserving?
Most of the top-10 poorest counties in this land are on Indian
reservations.
Our life expectancy on many reservations is 25 years less
than the rest
of Americans. At one time our longevity was much greater than
that of the
early white Americans. We are dying by the thousands of diseases
like
diabetes. Our schools are crumbling and our students are sitting
in them
trying to learn, although many of the school buildings have been
condemned. In some schools asbestos still lines the interior
walls.
We live in the poorest houses, have the poorest income, have
the poorest
health, have the most substandard educational facilities and
opportunities, and we live on some of the poorest land in this
nation.
Some of our people are second- and third-generation welfare recipients.
We suffer from one of the highest rates of alcoholism, and substance
abuse would be even greater if there was the income on the Indian
reservations to partake more frequently.
When there is little hope, people look for a way to forget.
Please do not look to the Indian casinos as our savior. Ninety
percent of
the income raised by the casinos reaches only 5 percent of the
Indian
people.
And yet, Indians have never whined around about reparations.
They have
only asked that the treaties our ancestors signed with America
be
honored. If the United States honored our treaties, that would
be all the
reparation we would ever need.
Where are the human rights advocates when it comes to the
indigenous
people?
Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is editor of Lakota Journal.
Write him at
P.O. Box 3080, Rapid City, SD 57709-3080, or at editor@lakotajournal.com.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:23 PM
Subject: Visitor centers planned for GSENM
[A visitor center for Grand Staircase-Escalante is planned
for Big Water,
Utah, near Page and Wahweap Marina.]
________________________
Deseret News
Friday, August 31, 2001
Visitors centers planned
The Bureau of Land Management has awarded
contracts for
construction of the first two visitors centers in Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
A contract for a visitors center in Big
Water was been awarded to
Cal Wadsworth Construction of Salt Lake City, and the Cannonville
Visitors Center contract was awarded to Bird Construction of
Provo.
Construction is expected to begin in
September.
"This is a major step in integrating
our monument management
activities with the local communities and improving services,"
monument
manager Kate Cannon said.
The theme for the Big Water visitors
center will be paleontology.
Human geography will be featured at Cannonville.
© 2001 Deseret News Publishing Company
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:07 PM
Subject: Valley of the Chiefs: Tentative Agreement Reached
...and the oil company comes out smelling like a rose!
Valley of the Chiefs
by Ruth Steinberger
http://www.truthout.com/0575.Valley.Chiefs.htm
On Wednesday, June 20, 2001, a tentative agreement was reached
between
some western tribes including the Blackfeet and the Crow and
Denver,
Colorado based Anschutz Exploration Corporation, an oil exploration
company, over company access to the site traditionally known
as Valley of
the Chiefs. The Anschutz Exploration Corporation agreement to
halt
pursuit of oil exploration in the Valley of the Chiefs and to
negotiate
with tribes over the next six months in order to find an alternative
site
came during what was the first formal meeting to discuss opposition
to
the exploration. The agreement to not proceed with exploration
at that
site stunned many tribal members as well as environmental activists.
In addition to being an area with strong spiritual significance
for
numerous tribes, and with tribal people still actively using
the area,
Valley of the Chiefs also contains rock paintings that are over
1,000
years old. Nearby cave drawings have been seriously damaged by
vandalism
that tribal members believe could also occur in Valley of the
Chiefs. The
rock art represents one of the largest collections of rock art
in North
America.
On June 22, 2001, tribal representatives, company officials,
members of
congress and a representative from the BLM met in Billings, MT,
to
discuss the arrangement and to consider the offer from the Blackfeet
to
exchange the proposed drilling in Valley of the Chiefs for drilling
permits on the Blackfeet Reservation.
The area in southeastern Montana that is traditionally referred
to Valley
of the Chiefs, Valley of the Shields, Valley of Peace or Weatherman
Draw
contains sacred lands that are of significance to numerous tribes,
including the Blackfeet, Crow, Comanche, Cheyenne, Kiowa and
others.
Jimmy St. Goddard, Blackfeet, is a member of the Blackfeet Tribal
Business Council and has been an active and vocal member of the
opposition to the exploration in the Valley of the Chiefs. St.
Goddard
told Native American Times that originally ten tribes and 31
individuals
were involved in efforts to stop oil exploration in Valley of
the Chiefs,
but that quickly grew to over 50 tribes from the US and Canada
and the
number of individuals continues to grow daily.
St. Goddard said that the June 20, 2001, meeting was supposed
to be a,
"Get to know" meeting. As the first meeting acknowledging
the problems
between the tribal communities and the exploration company's
request to
begin exploration in the area, no one expected any decisions
to come
about that day. The company has agreed to not begin drilling
in the
valley in the next six months and to consider options proposed
by the
Blackfeet and Crow tribes which exchange drilling opportunities
on the
reservations instead of drilling in the valley. Speaking from
tribal
offices in, Montana, St. Goddard said, "The valley is very
sacred to us.
I am true Blackfeet and have had the privilege of being in the
valley. As
Indian people we are very small in numbers, but you can feel
the power
and it is there."
Bill Miller, Vice President of Anschutz Exploration Corporation
told
Native American Times, "Where we are at right now is both
the Blackfeet
and the Crow have proposed areas on the reservations as alternatives
to
the site in the lease. Once these issues were identified to us,
we fully
recognized the cultural issues inherent in the situation. We
appreciate
the forthrightness of the Blackfeet and the Crow in their willingness
to
offer alternative sites and we will look at what alternative
opportunities there may be."
The lease has existed since 1984, first belonging to a differentcompany
and transferring to Anschutz in the mid-1990's. In March, 1999,
during
the Clinton administration, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
declared
Valley of the Chiefs as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern
(ACEC),
however David Jaynes, of the BLM told Native American Times that
because
this designation came after the issuance of the original leases,
it does
not apply to the current controversy.
Jimmy Arterberry is the Historic Preservation Officer and
NAGPRA Official
for the Comanche Tribe. Arterberry feels that the problem rests
squarely
with historical mismanagement by the BLM that has jeopardized
sacred
sites throughout the US. Arterberry explained that when merely
one third
of the sites were originally assessed, there was enough criteria
to meet
all of the criteria to be eligible for The National Registry.
Arterberry
points out that even after making such significant findings,
the
assessment was not completed and the area was never fully assessed
before
the lease was issued. Calling this a failure of trust responsibility
by
the BLM, Arterberry said, "That's when the problem began.
The BLM didn't
fulfill the assessment and then went ahead and issued the lease."
Indeed, after a partial assessment in 1984 that lead to protection
for
600 acres containing eight rock art panels, the BLM did no further
study
of the valley, and in 1985 issued a lease to the upper portion
of the
valley that ultimately proved to contain over 70 panels of incised
and
painted art. In 1999, the designation of ACEC was expanded to
include
over 4,000 acres. While the 1999 designation protects Valley
of the
Chiefs from future leasing, the permit to drill an exploratory
well is
based on the existent lease, which remains in effect for 37 months
after
drilling begins.
Despite findings indicating the area had extensive tribal
significance,
Arterberry explained that the Comanche Tribe was not notified
of the
pending issuance of the permit until February, 2001, just 2 weeks
before
the permit was issued. The tribe asked the BLM to postpone the
decision
on the permit until the Comanche could complete their own survey
and
assessment. The BLM denied their request. Following issuance
of the
permit to begin exploratory drilling, an appeal was filed by
ten tribes
with the Interior Board of Land Appeals, a court under the Department
of
the Interior. That appeal is pending. Arterberry said, "The
BLM is trying
to ease out of responsibility to the tribes and for the situation
that's
been created. Whether or not Mr. Anschutz donates the lease,
and goes
ahead with drilling on Blackfeet land - that's between him, and
the
Blackfeet. Our issue is with the BLM." On June 1, 2001,
the Comanche
Indian Tribe, issued a proclamation designating special recognition
to
the Valley of the Shields, and proclaiming, "Valley of the
Shields a
Sacred site and inheritance of the Comanche cultural legacy."
Referring
to the shields that are incised into the rocks and then painted
Arterberry said, "What it represents to us is part of our
origins and our
beginnings. Each shield represents an individual and our cultural
legacy.
This is the largest site of petroglyff rock art anywhere in the
North
American continent." Arterberry expressed concern that the
scope of this
issue, no matter how it is resolved, will require attention to
ongoing
management issues for the valley.
Arterberry said, "The BLM has now exposed this place
which is sacred.
More accessible sites have been damaged, no one has offered a
plan to
protect this site adequately." Oil and gas development contains
three
phases; exploration, development and production, the final phase
lasting
up to 60 years. Bill Miller, Vice President of Anschutz Exploration
Corporation, said that Anschutz is committed to providing 24
guards
during the exploratory phase, but acknowledged that no provisions
for
ongoing security for the site have been made. The BLM currently
has no
ongoing plan for security for the site. Kirk Koepsel, of the
Sierra Club
said, "Obviously, because of the potential for vandalism,
publicity is
the worst thing that can happen to a rock art site. Publicity
was weighed
against the threat of oil development in the area. Nearby sites
with oil
and gas development include 20 acre spacing, meaning a pump jack
exists
on every 20 acres. It would go from being a wilderness area to
huge
industrial complex with people coming in and out continually.
We did not
feel the rock art would survive that." Commenting on the
sites that are
in accessible areas that have been heavily vandalized, Koepsel
said "If
you look at other sites containing significant rock art, for
security
they have ended up putting in an eight foot high chain link fence
with
razor wire to protect the rock art." Koepsel explained that
few rock art
panels remain in pristine condition and more accessible panels
have
graffiti over the art or have been blown apart by shot guns.
Koepsel
said, "It's just disgusting to see things like Joe loves
Lori', over
ancient rock art."
As the sixth wealthiest man in the US, Phillip Anschutz has
acquired one
of the foremost collections of western art. His collection is
currently
on display at the Corcoran Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute.
Koepsel
said, "It's ironic that his corporation could impact one
of the most
important Native American rock art areas and there has seemingly
been
little concern whatsoever." The Corcoran Gallery had no
comment on the
matter and the Denver Art Museum, managment ofr the collection,
did not
return calls to Native American Times.
Bill Miller of Anschutz Explration Corporation said that the
archaeological significance of the site was not known to Anschutz
at the
time the company acquired the lease to the land, which is BLM
land.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:02 PM
Subject: Summer tragedies at Lake Powell Reservoir
Summer tragedies
Sep 5 2001
By Seth Muller
Lake Powell Chronicle
When Sason Sharife jumped from a 22-foot cliff in the San
Juan Arm of
Lake Powell, one of two friends who jumped with him swam to where
he
landed within seconds after realizing something went wrong.
The friend made to attempts to dive and retrieve 33-year-old
Sharife, of
Greeley, Colo., but Sharife's body sank to depths the friend
could not
reach.
The medical examiner's reports show Sharife, who hit the water
on his
stomach, did not suffer any serious internal or external injuries.
Without seriously hurting himself, jumping from less than
30 feet and
having a friend to swim to him in seconds, Sharife still died.
"The important thing is that from a safety point of view,
you don't have
to jump from a 70-foot cliff" for it to be fatal, said Mike
Mayer, deputy
chief ranger for the National Park Service. "You can simply
hit the water
wrong and start to sink by the time you take your first breath."
Sharife, who died July 17, became one of six people who died
in accidents
on Lake Powell this summer, an average number of deaths in a
year where
visitation numbers appear to be down by about 10 percent.
Like Sharife, Michael Azevedo, 24, of Littleton, Colo., died
in a cliff
jumping accident. He died on July 4, and despite jumping from
nearly 60
feet, he did not suffer any serious injuries either. He entered
the water
at an angle and his back struck the water, reports show.
Mayer believes the impact knocked out Azevedo's breath.
"People have to realize that water is hard" when
you hit it at high
speeds, he said.
While cliff jumping claimed two lives on Lake Powell this
year, carbon
monoxide poisoning contributed to two deaths as well.
Medical examiner's reports on 18-year-old Chad Ethington,
who died June
25, showed the carbon monoxide levels in his body exceeding 50
percent.
NPS officials report that 25 to 30 percent is potentially fatal.
Ethington, of Centerville, Utah, was attempting what's known
as "teak
surfing," an activity where people hold onto the swim platform
at the
back of a ski boat and surf the wake. Unlike water skiing, the
person
teak surfing is close to the boat's engine, which produces carbon
monoxide.
Teak surfing has become a dangerous trend nationally, and
reports show at
least seven young people have died trying to hang from the ski
platform.
On Aug. 27, the U.S. Coast Guard issued a warning about the dangers
of
the activity.
Another death involving carbon monoxide poisoning occurred
Aug. 2 when
64-year-old Clyde Schwartz of Page disappeared while on a houseboat.
His
body was recovered 22 feet below the stern of the boat, and park
service
reports show the carbon monoxide level in his blood was 38 percent.
"There were tools strewn on the back deck and he may
have been working on
the motors," Mayer said. "It happened on a very calm
day with not much
air moving, and there was just that build-up of carbon monoxide.
Boaters
cannot be too careful when it comes to (carbon monoxide). It's
not just
happening on Lake Powell."
Aspen Fisher, 2, drowned July 1 when she fell off a houseboat
into the
water without a personal floatation device, reports show. Her
death
illustrated the importance of young children wearing life jackets.
"Little kids need to have a life jacket on 24 hours a
day when they are
on the lake," Mayer said. "If it's 2 a.m., they should
still have a life
jacket on in case they get up in the middle of the night and
wander
around."
Park service officials do not have the autopsy reports on
the sixth and
most recent death on Lake Powell, Nicosio Caguioa, 48, of Omaha,
Neb.
But, Mayer said it appears exhaustion while swimming is the culprit.
Since Caguioa swam from the front of the houseboat and swam at
a distance
from it, carbon monoxide is not suspected.
Just like this year, six accidental deaths occurred on Lake
Powell in the
summer of 2000 and six accidental deaths also occurred in 1999.
"We hope the number (of deaths) goes down to zero,"
Mayer said.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:17 PM
Subject: Some Who Vote on Farm Subsidies Get Them as Well
Some Who Vote on Farm Subsidies Get Them as Well
By ELIZABETH BECKER
New York Times
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 " At least seven members of Congress
receive thousands
of dollars in farm subsidies each year, and all but two sit on
the
agriculture committees that are writing the new farm policy.
Although most have not sat on a tractor in years, they all
said their farm
backgrounds helped them understand the complicated legislation
that will
be
debated in coming weeks.
Indeed, Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican
on the
Agriculture Committee, who received $48,464 in subsidies for
his family
farm
in the last five years, has consistently argued that the subsidies
should
be
reduced in favor of conservation programs.
Among the biggest recipients is Representative Marion Berry,
Democrat of
Arkansas, whose family enterprises received $649,750 in farm
subsidies in
the past five years.
At the bottom of the list is Senator Sam Brownback, Republican
of Kansas,
who received $16,913 over the same period. Mr. Brownback does
not sit on
an
agriculture committee.
The information was released under the Freedom of Information
Act to the
Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit group that promotes
agricultural
conservation.
Over the years, members of Congress who receive the subsidies
have asked
the
Congressional ethics committees about them and were told there
was no
conflict of interest. Since farm subsidies affect an entire class
of
citizens rather than a group of select individuals, legislators
were told
they could receive the subsidies and still vote on the farm subsidy
provisions.
In essence, the committees said, these members could vote
on farm subsidy
legislation for the same reason that all members could vote on
a tax
measure
that would affect their individual tax burdens.
But watchdog groups say that with a limited number of farmers
receiving
subsidies, there was at least the appearance of a conflict. Ten
percent of
farmers received 61 percent of the $32.2 billion in subsidies
last year.
"The fact that they can personally benefit from their
vote, that their
farms
will be helped or hurt by the subsidies, is a classic conflict
of
interest,"
said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive
Politics.
Representative Charles W. Stenholm of Texas, the ranking Democrat
on the
Agriculture Committee, is one of the four senators and three
members of
the
House who receive subsidies. He has been one of the principal
authors of
the
$171 billion farm bill that the House will vote on soon.
Mr. Stenholm, who received $39,298 for family farm operations
in the past
five years, said they kept his farm from going out of business
long ago
and
helped him as a lawmaker.
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, still spends
some time
cultivating his fields and harvesting his own crops, although
his son does
the lion's share of the work. Mr. Grassley, who does not sit
on an
agriculture committee, said he has received subsidies since 1961
and sees
them in roughly the same light as the $600 tax rebate check he
received
this
year.
"I'm sitting right here on my family farm, and I can
say that I
participate
in the government program because it's the safety net of farming,"
he said
in a telephone interview from Iowa.
For his 710-acre farm, Mr. Grassley received $110,935 in subsidies
from
1996
to 2000.
In that same period, the family farm operations of Representative
Cal
Dooley, Democrat of California, received $306,902 in subsidies.
In a recent Senate debate, Mr. Lugar of Indiana called upon
his experience
as a corn farmer, as he often does, to explain why he thought
farmers
already received generous protection against adversity through
the subsidy
program.
"I know I am going to get 85 percent of a higher price
than in fact is the
market now," he said. "That is a safety net that is
very substantial any
way
you look at it."
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:04 PM
Subject: SL Trib: 'Recovery Goals' May Save Endangered
Fish Species
www.sltrib.com/2001/Sep/09072001/utah/129881.htm
'Recovery Goals' May Save Endangered Fish Species
Friday, September 7, 2001
BY BRENT ISRAELSEN
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
In a world ruled by numbers, four native
fish of the Colorado River
have had few favoring them in recent decades.
For the most part, the numbers have shown
the fish and their habitat
have declined dramatically during the past half-century, leading
the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to put the fish on the endangered
species
list.
On Thursday, however, the FWS released
a draft set of numbers it says
will lead to a reversal of misfortune for the humpback chub,
the Colorado
pikeminnow, the razorback sucker and the bonytail.
The FWS numbers are known as "recovery
goals," which for the first
time in Endangered Species Act history provides a target that
the agency
and states can work toward in removing fish from the endangered
species
list.
"We believe [the goals] are legally
defensible and will provide
long-term protection for the species," said Ralph Morganweck,
director of
the FWS regional office in Denver.
The state of Colorado, where most of the
species' problems exist, may
not agree with the recovery goals, but Utah is likely to support
them,
said Reed Harris, a former FWS field supervisor who now works
for the
Utah Department of Natural Resources.
The four endangered fish species, which
are found only in the
Colorado River Basin, were placed on the endangered list in the
1970s and
'80s after research showed the fish had experienced a rapid decrease
in
numbers and habitat.
Dams, water diversions, pollution, and
competition and predation from
non-native sport fish precipitated their decline.
Biologists consider the four native fish
as "indicator species,"
meaning their demise is indicative that the ecosystem of the
river is out
of balance.
Robert Muth, who directs the FWS's Upper
Colorado River Endangered
Fish Recovery Program, likens the fish to "canaries in the
coal mine."
During the past two decades, a partnership
of federal agencies, water
users, environmental groups and the seven Colorado River Basin
states,
including Utah, have been working to re-establish the fish and
minimize
threats.
At the same time, researchers have learned
more about what kind of
populations and genetic pools are needed to ensure the species'
perpetual
survival.
Morganweck said the recovery goals for
the endangered fish of the
Colorado are a major achievement and could be used as a model
for
recovering other imperiled fish species around the country.
To achieve the recovery goals for the Colorado
River fish, the FWS
and states will continue to implement recovery programs that
have been
ongoing for more than a decade. The recovery measures include:
Operating dams in a way that allows rivers
to more closely mimic
their historic seasonal flows.
Altering diversion structures to allow
fish to navigate the rivers at
critical times in their life cycles.
Restoring habitat in river flood plains.
Reducing water pollution.
Removing or reducing non-native fish species,
particularly catfish
and northern pike, that compete with or prey on the native fish.
The proposed recovery goals will be subject
to public comment until
Oct. 24.
© Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:23 PM
Subject: Seismic oil exploration near Canyonlands OK'd
[The Moab Action Network is organizing an Action Camp near
Dead Horse
Point this weekend. Contact David Orr at 435-259-7594 for more
information.]
Friday, August 31, 2001
Seismic oil exploration near Canyonlands OK'd
By Donna Kemp Spangler
Deseret News staff writer
Environmentalists failed to persuade
a federal judge to stall a
seismic oil-exploration project near Canyonlands National Park.
But they still plan to protest when Veritas
DGL Land Inc. of Denver
begins the work on Saturday.
"We are concerned that this project
is only the beginning of the
impact of Bush's energy plan on the Utah environment," said
members of
Moab Action Network, an environmental group organizing a gathering
over
the Labor Day weekend.
U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins gave
Veritas the judicial nod
Thursday to go ahead and search for oil, ruling that Southern
Utah
Wilderness Alliance failed to show that the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management was wrong when it approved the project.
SUWA argued that BLM did not adequately
consider the impacts the
project would have on sensitive wildlife species and soils within
the
36-square-mile area north of the park.
Denver-based Intrepid Oil and Gas Co.,
which holds mineral leases
in the area, argued that Veritas will be required to take measures
to
minimize the impacts, such as completing the work within 45 days.
The work involves laying hundreds of
miles of geophone receivers on
the ground that will record seismic waves to help pinpoint petroleum
deposits. Veritas will use 10-foot-wide "vibroseis"
buggy trucks to
follow the source lines, pounding the ground with vibrating pads.
"The 176 miles of seismic lines
will deface this delicate and
beautiful landscape like knives ripping through a great and irreplaceable
painting," said Patrick Diehl, an organizer with the Moab
Action Network.
Environmentalists point out that the
project area overlaps Dead
Horse Point State Park, the Goldbar inventoried wilderness area
(Bull
Canyon) and the popular Gemini Bridges mountain bike trail. They
say the
trucks will smash pinyon and juniper trees and cryptobiotic soils,
crush
delicate sandstone ledges, and deface one of Utah's best-known
views
along the rim of the Canyonlands Basin.
"It was hypocritical of BLM to approve
this project," said Kevin
Walker, another Moab Action Network organizer, "since BLM
recently
instituted an emergency closure of the same area to cross-country
motorized vehicle travel. This project will cause more damage
than years
of tourists on ORVs would cause."
The group plans to gather at a BLM campground
located about three
miles southeast from where the trucks are scheduled to start
the project.
Activities during the gathering will include workshops and monitoring
damage to the environment by the advancing thumper trucks and
ATVs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-MAIL: donna@desnews.com
© 2001 Deseret News Publishing Company
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:15 PM
Subject: Scripps Howard: Religious shareholders take the
environment on faith
Religious shareholders take the environment on faith
By JOAN LOWY
Scripps Howard News Service
September 2
When investors in Staples Inc., the giant office supply retailer,
gathered for the annual shareholders' meeting in Boston this
week, they
expected a rundown on profits and assets. They didn't expect
a sermon on
man's responsibility to the natural world and to future generations.
But that's exactly what they got from Rev. Pat Jobe, the pastor
of the
130-member Tanner's Grove United Methodist Church in the backwoods
of
western North Carolina. Jobe, who was representing 150 ministers
and
several environmental groups, told shareholders that the clear-cutting
of
forests is destroying his community and that Staples has a moral
obligation to sell primarily recycled paper.
"It's the biblical idea of justice. Do we live in such
a way that one
man's good is not another man's loss?'' Jobe said. "I think
they (Staples
shareholders and company directors) were taken aback. I don't
think that
they had seen it in that light before.''
Since the 1970s, religious groups have been targeting corporations
on
issues ranging from strip-mining in Appalachia to apartheid in
South
Africa to the hiring of women and minorities, often using shareholder
proxies to gain access to annual corporate meetings where they
have a
platform to appeal directly to investors.
But in recent years the number of shareholder-activist campaigns
appears
to have increased and their focus on environmental concerns has
intensified, especially with regard to global warming and genetically
modified foods.
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility in New York
City, for
example, has more than 275 institutional members with investment
funds
totaling more than $110 billion. The center has been involved
in
campaigns this year targeting Exxon Mobil and BP Amoco, as well
as dozens
of food companies that use genetically modified ingredients.
Exxon Mobil
has aggressively promoted its contention that global warming
isn't a
scientifically proven threat. BP Amoco supports oil drilling
in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
A member of the center's board of directors, Sister Pat Daly
of the
Dominican Sisters of Caldwell, N.J., got into a shouting match
with
outgoing General Electric chief executive Jack Welch at one memorable
shareholder meeting over GE's opposition to paying for cleaning
up pcb
pollution in the Hudson River.
Since 1934, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Act has guaranteed
shareholders with a $2,000 stake in any publicly traded company
the right
to file shareholder resolutions. By law, companies must include
these
resolutions as ballot questions in their annual reports to shareholders.
Even if a resolution fails to pass - and most environmental resolutions
do fail - if it garners at least 3.5 percent of the vote, the
company
must offer it again on the next year's ballot.
"I really hate to say this, but I think these efforts
are very effective
even when they fail,'' said Myron Ebell, director of international
environmental policy for the pro-business Competitive Enterprise
Institute. "Corporate CEOs have nightmares over these resolutions
because
they generate negative publicity for the company and they irritate
boards
of directors and shareholders.''
While the corporate world sometimes disregards the criticism
of
grassroots groups, it pays serious attention to its own peer
group - the
financial community, said Michael Passof of the San Francisco-based
As
You Sow, a non-profit group that conducts shareholder campaigns
on behalf
of environmental and other organizations.
The Interfaith Center alone sponsors about 100 shareholder
resolutions a
year, while secular environmental groups sponsor several dozen
annually.
Shareholder activists scored a major success in August 1999
when Home
Depot, the world's largest seller of old-growth timber, agreed
to phase
out the sale of wood products from endangered forests. A shareholder
resolution on the issue received a vote of 12 percent - an
extraordinarily high amount for a resolution opposed by management.
The tactics religious activists have used to target corporations
are
being more widely copied and expanded upon by secular environmental
groups that have grown impatient with their progress in the legislative
and judicial arenas.
"We're finding it much better to go straight to the marketplace,''
said
Trevor FitzGibbon, a spokesman for the Dogwood Alliance, an environmental
group working with Jobe and other ministers on the campaign to
target
Staples. "It's faster than moving a bill through Congress
or beating our
heads against the wall of the Bush administration.''
Faith-based groups, environmentalists, and "socially
responsible''
investment funds are working together to introduce resolutions
at
shareholder meetings and then build support for those resolutions
through
phone-calling and letter-writing campaigns to major stockholders.
Jobe was able to attend the Staples shareholder meeting, for
example,
thanks to a proxy given him by the Calvert Group, one of a growing
number
of "socially responsible'' investment funds.
The Dogwood Alliance, which says that 97 percent of the copy
paper sold
by Staples has no recycled content whatsoever, is asking the
office
products retailer to sell only copy paper that has at least 50
percent
recycled content, FitzGibbon said.
The largest office products retailer in the world with annual
revenues of
nearly $11 billion, Staples has responded to environmental complaints.
In
recent months, Staples has launched "green shops'' inside
stores in
Seattle and Pennsylvania - a section of the store with green
shelves and
large signs that serves as a central location for recycled and
environmentally-friendly products. The company has also hired
a major
accounting firm to study whether it makes economic sense to significantly
expand its stock of recycled paper.
"Our attention has been on these issues recently,'' said
Tom Nutile,
Staples' vice president for communication. "The reverend's
attendance and
his representation of other leaders showed us again that this
is an
important issue that we should remain focused on."
On the Net:
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:03 PM
Subject: Save the Endangered Lake Powell Jetski!
Urges public to rally in Lake Powell issues
By BRIAN HAWTHORNE
Utah Shared Access Alliance
Sun Advocate, Price, Utah
Tuesday, August 28, 2001
When I talk to people about the efforts to drain Lake Powell
they
say, "Awww! It'll never happen!"
When we explain that millions of foundation dollars are currently
going to efforts to ban all motorized use of the lake, they say:
"Ban
boats on Powell? Not possible, it'll never happen!"
And when I talk about the first step in the plan - the ban
on
personal watercraft (PWC), they say: "A ban on Jet Skis?
No way! There's
too many of us. It'll never happen!"
Well, the first step in the ultimate goal of total wilderness
management of the Glenn Canyon recreation area began years ago
when the
wealthy San Francisco based Blue Water Network in California
filed a
federal lawsuit against the United States National Park Service.
The lawsuit was never meant to go to court. Instead, it was
essentially designed to be settled by a negotiated agreement
that
required the U.S. National Park Service to prepare an environmental
impact statement to "evaluate various personal watercraft
use
alternatives to determine their effects on water quality, air
quality,
soundscapes, wildlife, habitat, shoreline vegetation, visitor
conflicts,
safety and other appropriate topics."
Last week during a panel discussion with U.S. Secretary of
the
Interior Gale Norton, I had a chance to speak to several people
involved
in the Lake Powell debate. They gave me a fright.
Folks, the NPS is already engaged in efforts to impose severe
restrictions on all recreational activities on the lake. Plans
to expand
boat facilities have been abandoned and recently the NPS has
proposed
limiting existing slips and facilities. Currently, because of
NPS
policies, slip prices have matched those in Newport Beach.
The personal watercraft environmental impact statement is
only
the beginning.
According to my sources, NPS officials know that the process
to
consider environmental effects of the PWC will lead to the complete
ban
of outboard engines and, ultimately, severe restrictions on all
recreational activity on the Lake. The officials are already
making plans
to implement a new wilderness-type management regime beginning
with
group-size limits, camping restrictions and other policies.
So, what you can do?
If you are like most of my friends and think that: "Awww...
It'll
never happen!" Wake up! It's already happening!
Don't believe it? Take a minute and visit
http://www.glencanyon.org and if you still have questions, feel
free to
attend one of the many academic websites spouting the feasibility
of the
proposal.
For example, consider an article published in Environmental
Law
Journal "Undamming Glen Canyon: Lunacy, Rationality, or
Prophecy?" The
article suggests lawmakers tend to dismiss the proposal as radical
without proper foundation. The journal's foreword stresses the
urgency of
pursuing the decommissioning of Glen Canyon Dam. See
http://elj.stanford.edu/
These people are very serious and they are very well funded.
If
we do nothing they will succeed. Banning PWC's is only the first
step!
Here is what to do. The U.S. National Park Service issued
the
agency's notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact
statement on
Aug. 1. The NPS has requested public input and comments concerning
the
EIS's scope, what issues to cover, the alternatives to consider
and other
personal watercraft resource concerns.
You may submit your comments using mail, e-mail or hand delivery.
Mail comments to Superintendent, Glen Canyon National Recreation
Area, PO
Box 1507, Page, AZ 86040. E-mail comments to glca_pwc@nps.gov.
Include
your name and address in your e-mail message.
If you do not receive confirmation that the officials received
your message, then call 520-608-6339.
You need to submit comments by Sept. 1 to be most effective.!
At
the very least, contact the park service and let the agency know
that you
are interested in following the process and to put you on the
mailing
list for future updates.
Here are some other comment suggestions:
*Make a general statement of support.
Remind the park service that personal watercraft are enjoyed
by
millions of families. Lake Powell is the perfect setting for
PWC use,
with many narrow and winding canyons to be explored.
There is a long tradition of personal watercraft use with
little
or no significant environmental impact.
*Tell the U.S. National Park Service to prove up on any claims
of
environmental effects.
Tell the NPS officials that they should consider only good,
site
specific scientific information.
The phrase "PWC use may cause this impact or that impact"
should
not be tolerated.
*The economic impacts of any alternatives must be fully analyzed.
The personal watercraft ban could impose an unneeded and unfair
hardship to businesses that manufacture, sell service and rent
PWCs.
*The denial of the recreational activity represents a real
harm
to individuals who enjoy personal watercraft.
Any alternative that severely restricts or bans personal
watercraft use represents a real harm to millions of families
who enjoy
this legitimate and legal activity.
*Regarding wildlife, the U.S. National Park Service must remember
that most of the wildlife that exists there is the result of
man's
creation of the lake.
It doesn't make sense to elevate perceived negative impacts
of
man's activity on wildlife that would not be there if it weren't
for man.
*The U.S. National Park Service should consider issues that
actually do negatively impact the environment.
For example, it is quite ironic that the NPS will be spending
millions and millions of dollars in an attempt to determine whether
personal watercraft harm the environment, while the U.S. National
Park
Service does nothing about addressing the infestation of Tamarask.
Tamarask has been proven to destroy beaches and crowd out
native
vegetation and wildlife.
It's long roots fracture the sandstone the transpire billions
of
gallons of water.
Tell the NPS to do something about the Tamarisk instead of
spending millions harassing law-abiding tax paying recreationsists
who
only wish to enjoy a legitimate and legal activity.
*The U.S. National Park Service should consider a full spectrum
of alternatives.
The NPS must consider alternatives other than severe restrictions
or bans on personal watercraft on Lake Powell
If good, site specific analysis identifies any considerable
negative impact from personal watercraft then alternatives that
mitigate
or reduce the impacts should be considered.
*Tell your friends about the very real threat regarding limiting
Americans' recreation and boating privileges on Lake Powell.
Many boaters don't think the threat is real.
If the U.S. National Park Service can ban personal watercraft
because of some perceived negative environmental impacts, then
outboard
motors are next and any boating activity is at risk.
Additional information is available on the net at:
www.nps.gov/glca/plan.htm.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:12 PM
Subject: Reuters: Biggest Europe reservoir to start filling
year end
Biggest Europe reservoir to start filling year end
By Daniel Silva
ALQUEVA, Portugal, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Europe's biggest reservoir
-- the
subject of bitter criticism by environmental groups -- will start
to fill
as planned at the end of 2001, Portuguese Planning Minister Elisa
Ferreira said on Monday.
Along with environmental concerns and worries that the reservoir
would
flood ancient cave drawings, newspaper reports have said the
two billion
euro ($1.82 billion) Alqueva dam on the Guadiana River is behind
schedule
and over budget.
But Ferreira said construction of the reservoir, aimed at
providing water
for Portugal's semi-arid Alentejo region, was following its timetable.
When completed, the project will cover 250 square km (97 square
miles)
and eventually irrigate 110,000 hectares (272,000 acres) of farmland.
"Right now, the work is in fact steaming ahead and is
even making up for
lost time," she told reporters at the dam site.
Ferreira said operations to start filling the reservoir were
scheduled
for December 31 during winter rains.
Ferreira was at Alqueva, about 180 km (110 miles) southeast
of Lisbon,
for a special cabinet meeting that set an initial price of 11
escudos
(0.055 euro) per cubic metre of water from the reservoir for
agricultural
use.
The cabinet of Prime Minister Antonio Guterres also approved
a measure
that set up a land bank in the Alentejo to sell or rent land
to young
farmers.
Construction of the dam involved felling a million trees,
many of them
cork oaks. Environmental groups protested that the project would
destroy
habitat for animals that include eagles, kites, wild boars and
some of
the few remaining Iberian lynxes.
Guterres vowed in April to go ahead with the project despite
opposition
criticism that cave drawings in the Guadiana valley would end
up under
water.
The dam also will force residents of the village of Luz to
move into a
newly built replica of the town on what will be the banks of
the
artificial lake.
The project has cost about 450 million euros since 1995, Ferreira
said.
By its conclusion in 2025, it is estimated to cost two billion
euros.
O Independente newspaper reported last month that the dam
would only
begin to operate in October 2002, leading to a cost overrun of
30 million
euros.
14:05 09-03-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:07 PM
Subject: Range Mag current issue
Check out Range Magazine's current issue--a special issue
on water.
www.rangemagazine.com
They refer to people who "terrorized" skiers at
Lake Powell Reservoir
over Memorial Day weekend...
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:23 PM
Subject: Peabody's Contributions Being Investigated
[from Native News...]
This is a letter from John D. Dingell and Henry A. Waxman, 2
Ranking
Minority Members, Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee
on
Government Reform wrote this letter to the Vice President. Peabody
Coal
is one of the special interests that they want investigated,
noting its
affiliates and employees contributed $900,000.00 to the Republican
campaign gaining extraordinary access to the administration.
August 29, 2001
The Vice President
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Washington, DC 20501
Dear Mr. Vice President:
A front-page Los Angeles Times report, Bush's Energy Plan Bares
Industry
Clout, raises serious questions about the special access granted
by your
energy task force to executives and other representatives of
coal,
electricity, natural gas, and nuclear power companies. According
to the
report, these companies gave millions in contributions to Republican
campaigns.
The article provides a detailed examination of the role of
special
interests in the operations of the task force, and it recounts
numerous
incidents of unusual access and influence. The article describes
how the
final report "adopts word for word a proposal on global
warming from the
U.S. Energy Assn.'s National Energy Strategy, which is dominated
by trade
groups"; how language in the final report was altered to
favor
Halliburton Co., the energy firm you formerly ran; how a close
advisor to
President Bush, Joe Allbaugh, participated in energy task force
talks
"with a direct bearing" on the interests of energy
companies that employ
his wife as a lobbyist; and how one company, Peabody Coal, and
its
affiliates and employees contributed $900,000 to Republican campaigns,
gained extraordinary access to the task force and the Administration's
post-election advisory team, and issued a lucrative public stock
offering
less than a week after the release of the task force's final
report.
Since we first sought information about the operations of
the task force
on April 19, 2001, you have consistently refused to make public
important
information about the task force. In an action without precedent,
you
have even resisted providing the General Accounting Office with
the most
basic information about the task force, such as the identity
of the
interest groups that met with the task force or its staff.
In light of the recent report in the Los Angeles Times, we
urge you to
reconsider your position. The Los Angeles Times article raises
serious
questions about the role of special interests and campaign contributions
on the task force's work. In fact, if the incidents reported
by the Los
Angeles Times are correct, special interests not only received
unique
access to the energy task force, they also wielded extraordinary
influence in shaping the final energy policy.
Without question, these are exactly the types of issues that
deserve
public and congressional scrutiny, and it is in your interest,
as well,
that all of this information be made available. We urge you to
cooperate
fully with both our investigation and -- even more important
-- the
professional, independent, nonpartisan inquiry being conducted
by GAO.
Sincerely,
JOHN D. DINGELL HENRY A. WAXMAN
RANKING MINORITY MEMBER RANKING MINORITY MEMBER
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM
cc: The Honorable David M. Walker
As Navajo people, we have endured the federal government's
repeated
pogrom to remove us from the earth, we have served the United
States in
all of its wars in the 20th Century, and we have contributed
to the
livelihood of non-Indians across this country.
We deserve to be treated with respect, honor, and dignity, or
as Malcolm
X stated in 1964, "We declare our right on this earth...to
be respected
as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in
this
society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring
into
existence by any means necessary."
Milton Bluehouse Jr.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:07 PM
Subject: New deputy chief named, supporter of "recreation
lakes" program
USDA FOREST SERVICE NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: HEIDI VALETKEVITCH, (202) 205-1134
FS-0149
ELIZABETH ESTILL NAMED AS DEPUTY CHIEF, PROGRAMS AND
LEGISLATION
WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 31, 2001 -- U.S. Department of
Agriculture Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth today
named Elizabeth Estill to the post of deputy chief,
Programs and Legislation in the Washington Office.
Estill, who previously served as regional forester,
Southern Region, will now oversee the agencys
legislative affairs, policy analysis, and strategic
planning and resource assessment staffs.
Estill has held numerous Washington Office and field
leadership positions with the Forest Service,
including: assistant director, Recreation and
Management; director, Recreation Management; associate
deputy chief, National Forest System; and regional
forester, Rocky Mountain Region. In her most recent
position as regional forester, Southern Region, she
oversaw forests and grasslands in 13 states and Puerto
Rico covering more than 12.6 million acres.
Additionally, Estill served 14 years with the
Tennessee Valley Authority, directing the only federal
recreation demonstration area, Land Between the Lakes.
Land Between the Lakes was recently added to the
National Forest System.
Estill earned a bachelors degree in natural sciences
in 1970 and a masters degree in ecology in 1973 from
the University of Tennessee. She additionally served
at Harvard University as a Loeb Fellow in advanced
environmental studies.
Estill replaces Randy Phillips, who last week was
appointed executive director of the Forest Counties
Payments Advisory Committee. Bob Jacobs, Eastern
Region regional forester, will succeed Estill.
###
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:11 PM
Subject: Nevada Test Site houses germ factory
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2001/sep/04/512305751.html
Today: September 04, 2001 at 11:14:49 PDT
NTS houses germ factory
By Judith Miller
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
NEVADA TEST SITE -- In a nondescript mustard-color building
that was once
a military recreation hall and barbershop, the Pentagon has built
a germ
factory that could make enough lethal microbes to wipe out entire
cities.
Adjacent to the pool tables, the shuffleboard and the bar
stands a
gleaming stainless steel cylinder, the 50-liter (53-quart) fermenter
in
which germs can be cultivated.
The apparatus, which includes a latticework of pipes and other
equipment,
was made entirely with commercially available components bought
from
hardware stores and other suppliers for about $1 million -- a
pittance
for a weapon that could deliver death on such a large scale.
The factory was built by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency,
an arm of
the Pentagon that works to contain the spread of nuclear, biological
and
chemical weapons. Officials said the project was intended to
assess how
hard it would be for a terrorist or rogue nation to assemble
a germ
factory.
The agency also wanted to see if a small operation produced
any telltale
"signatures" -- sounds, chemical emissions or patterns
of operation that
could help intelligence agencies find such plants.
"The project also showed us how relatively simple it
would be for a
terrorist to assemble such a facility without being detected,"
said Jay
C. Davis, the former director of the agency who, with the Pentagon's
permission, showed the secret plant to a Times reporter and a
team from
ABC News.
Officials stressed that the plant never made anthrax or any
other lethal
pathogen. Rather, it produced only harmless biopesticides during
two
production test runs in 1999 and 2000. Davis declined to say
how much was
made. But if it had been anthrax germs, he said, it would have
made
enough to kill at least
10,000 people.
Officials said the Pentagon built the plant in this largely
deserted camp
because it was well guarded. Building 12-7, the former recreation
hall
and about four dozen other buildings here were abruptly closed
in January
1993 after the global moratorium on underground nuclear testing
took
effect.
Between 1951 and 1963, more than 800 nuclear tests were conducted
here at
the vast Test Site, whose parched sands and eerily quiet,
sagebrush-covered mesas and mountains are scarred by giant atomic
craters.
The interior of Building 12-7 - 120 feet long and 40 feet
wide - seems
frozen in time. Dusty signs warn visitors not to sit on the pool
tables
or to talk about secret projects with anyone who has no "need
to know."
Davis and other officials said the Defense Department's lawyers
had
carefully reviewed the project to ensure that it did not violate
the
biological weapons treaty or U.S. law. Because it was purely
defensive
and never made deadly germs, it was both legal and appropriate,
he and
others said.
But apparently few outside of the agency or even in the Pentagon's
upper
echelons knew much about the secret project. Davis said the White
House
was never briefed about it, given its small scale and low cost.
When subsequently told about the germ factory, several former
White House
officials said they were stunned that the agency's lawyers had
approved
it without having referred it to the White House or congressional
oversight committees for legal review.
The Pentagon's decision to permit a visit to the site came
after the
Times requested information about the program, called Bachus.
Some officials said the project, with its fermentation aspect,
was named
for Bacchus, the Greek god of wine. But an agency spokesman said
the name
was an acronym for Biotechnology Activity Characterization by
Unconventional Signatures.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:02 PM
Subject: Modified Lake Powell houseboat emits "virtually
no carbon monoxide"
New possible solution to carbon monoxide
Aug 30 2001
By Seth Muller
Lake Powell Chronicle
The carbon monoxide problem continues to linger around Lake
Powell, and
has been suspected in two deaths and a number of non-fatal poisonings
this summer.
However, the chances of suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning
on the
75-foot houseboat "Desert Dawn" prove slim, as it has
become the first
houseboat on Lake Powell to have a catalytic converter-style
modification
to its generator.
The Enviromarine Carbon Monoxide Reduction System, created
by the
Tennessee-based Enviromarine LLC, uses electricity along with
a
combination of chemicals to convert carbon monoxide into harmless
carbon
dioxide and water, according to the manufacturer.
The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety
has conducted
an ongoing investigation of the carbon monoxide problem, and
although
they have not tested the ECMRS unit, they are recommending it
and other
retrofitted control systems.
However, the ECMRS should operate in conjunction with a "stack,
side
exhaust or warning device," based on the institute's recommendation.
"Desert Dawn" has the new emission control device
along with an exhaust
stack system. The stack releases the poisonous gas nine feet
above the
boat through a two-inch pipe, which works along with a water
separator.
Bill West manages the boat as a shared ownership venture with
his company
Lake Time, and he said he has decided to take proactive measures
to
reduce the carbon monoxide problem.
"We are pleased to have the first houseboat on Lake Powell
that (has a
generator that) emits virtually no carbon monoxide," West
said.
West and Larry Parks of Larry's Marine Service developed the
stack
exhaust system and both installed the system on each of the boats
in
their respective fleets. NIOSH reports show the stack system
reduces
carbon monoxide around the back deck area by as much as 99 percent.
West's boats also use a collection of golf-cart batteries
to provide
power to the boat through the inverter so the generator does
not have to
run constantly.
"We feel healthy, happy and safe owners of our houseboats
are our
greatest asset," West said. "To wait for government
agencies to mandate
safety changes shows a lack of concern for our houseboat owners
and Lake
Powell."
More than 100 non-fatal poisonings have been confirmed since
the early
1990s, and eight people suffered from it recently while vacationing
on a
houseboat, according to the National Park Service.
Recently, Clyde Schwartz, a 64-year-old Page businessman,
died Aug. 2 in
a suspected carbon monoxide poisoning incident, reports show.
Most of the poisonings occur on houseboats as the gas is created
by the
generators used to power the boat's electricity.
The boat's engine or engines also create carbon monoxide poisoning,
making the problem possible on any boat. More poisonings have
occurred on
houseboats because the generators create the additional threat,
and are
running on a more frequent basis.
The problem has received national attention, and the CBS news
show "48
Hours" will have a segment on carbon monoxide poisonings
on Lake Powell.
The show is slated to air Sept. 5.
©Lake Powell Chronicle 2001
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:04 PM
Subject: McInnis (pride of western Colorado) seeks congressional
subpoena of eco-terrorist spokesman
McInnis seeks congressional subpoena of eco-terrorist spokesman
09/07/2001
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Scott McInnis asked the House Resources
Committee on
Thursday to subpoena the self-described spokesman of a group
that has
claimed responsibility for numerous acts of eco-terrorism.
Craig Rosebraugh has acted as spokesman for the Earth Liberation
Front
since 1997. Through Rosebraugh, the ELF has taken responsibility
for acts
ranging from spray-painting buildings to burning down fur farms.
The group's stated goal is to inflict economic damage on those
profiting
from environmental destruction.
McInnis, R-Colo., who is chairman of the House Resources forests
subcommittee, earlier asked Rosebraugh to participate in a congressional
hearing. Rosebraugh refused.
In a letter Thursday, McInnis asked House Resources Chairman
James
Hansen, R-Utah, to issue a congressional subpoena, compelling
Rosebraugh
to testify.
"Nobody has a more intimate understanding of nor deeper
sympathy for the
work of these underground vigilantes," McInnis said in his
letter. "In
probing the threat of eco-terrorism, it only stands to reason
that
Congress should hear from the voice of eco-terrorism."
The committee will vote Sept. 12 on whether to issue the subpoena,
a move
Hansen supports. It takes a majority of the committee to approve
the
subpoena.
Rosebraugh, who said he retired as the ELF spokesman on Wednesday,
said
he doesn't have any firsthand knowledge about ELF membership
or
operations, and wouldn't cooperate if he did.
"These are individuals who are trying to stop the work
of the Earth
Liberation Front," he said. "I'm not going to participate
in any effort
that is going to incarcerate any of the people involved in the
ELF or
stop their work."
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:02 PM
Subject: LkPowellChron: Antelope Point Marina project
moving forward
Antelope Point Marina project moving forward
Sep 5 2001 12:00AM
By Seth Muller
Lake Powell Chronicle
As the project to build a resort and marina at Antelope Point
edges
closer to a groundbreaking, the National Park Service and the
Navajo
Nation have opened public comment on the proposed facility.
The two entities have scheduled a public workshop for Sept.
14 from 6 to
8 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott in Page, and are encouraging
citizens
to comment about the development of Antelope Point.
A Paradise Valley-based company called GMF Antelope LLC has
proposed a
resort to feature 300 boat slips, a 225-room lodge and an estimated
$56
million price tag. House boat rentals, tour boats, dry storage,
a
restaurant, campground and a cultural center for the Navajo Nation
are
also mentioned within the project specifications.
"We are looking for comment from our visitors,"
said NPS Management
Assistant Char Obergh. "We want to know about their issues,
concerns and
suggestions" with the development of Antelope Point.
The public workshop takes place as officials prepare to do
an
environmental assessment of Antelope Point, which currently has
a launch
ramp and serves as a Lake Powell access area northeast of Page.
No presentations at the workshop are scheduled, but it will
include
informal interactions, exhibits and opportunities to make verbal
and
written comments.
Antelope Point is at once part of the Glen Canyon recreational
area and
the Navajo Nation, and in 1985 the Navajo Tribal Council elected
to
proceed with plans for recreational development at the Antelope
Point
location.
Earlier this year, NPS and the Navajo Nation accepted the
proposal from
GMF Antelope. Since then, the company has continued to move forward
with
the project.
"The Navajo Nation passed an exemption so we can serve
alcohol," said Dan
Dahl, GMF Antelope's chief financial officer, during recent interview.
"We are now in contract negotiation. Things are progressing."
Dahl remains hopeful the company will break ground in mid
to late spring
of 2002.
Officials with ARAMARK, who operate Wahweap Lodge & Marina,
declined to
comment on the proposed project for Antelope Point.
The proposed project is made possible through the Concessions
Management
Improvement Act of 1998, which enhanced a previous act that allows
the
National Park Service to contract out visiting services like
restaurants
and hotels to the private sector, according to information from
the NPS.
GMF Antelope also has to enter into a similar agreement with
the Navajo
Nation, which issues business site leases for such projects.
The principle of GMF Antelope has created two other marinas
in Arizona -
Pleasant Harbor of Lake Pleasant in Peoria and Roosevelt Lake
Marina in
Roosevelt, Dahl said.
The development of an Antelope Point marina could be a major
boost for
Lake Powell, where the demand continues to rise for boat services,
according to those with NPS concessions.
Once groundbreaking takes place, Dahl expects the marina and
some
amenities ready within a year to 18 months. The full completion
of the
project would be about three to five years out, he said.
Comments on the project can be made by e-mailing GLCA
AntelopePoint@nps.gov or write: U.S. Dept. of Interior, National
Park
Service, Glen Canyon NRA, PO Box 1507, Page, AZ 86040. Address
letters to
the attention of Suzy Schulman.
©Lake Powell Chronicle 2001
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:17 PM
Subject: LATimes: Surplus Power Lights Up MWD Desalination
Plans
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-000070196aug30.story?coll
=la%2Dheadlines%2Dfrontpage
Surplus Power Lights Up MWD Desalination Plans
By NANCY VOGEL
L.A. TIMES STAFF WRITER
August 30 2001
SACRAMENTO -- It is a dramatic example of how California's
electricity
forecast has morphed from shortage to surplus: The giant Metropolitan
Water District has restarted plans to strip salt from seawater
as a new
source for Southern California's taps.
For decades, desalination has been talked of as a solution
to the
Southland's water needs. And for decades, it has been dismissed
as too
energy-intensive to be affordable.
Now the idea is coming back, in part as a way to soak up surplus
electrons. For 17 million consumers of the MWD's water--most
of whom are
also customers of Southern California Edison--the idea carries
a painful
irony: A portion of their big electricity bills will go to pay
for
expensive surplus power that, in turn, may be used to produce
expensive
water.
How expensive? At a small desalination plant near Monterey--one
of the
few in use in California--producing enough tap water to serve
one family
for a year costs more than $1,000. Even with the newest technology,
a
plant under construction in Florida promises to produce that
amount of
fresh water for about $400--still almost twice the MWD's current
average
cost of water.
Much of the cost comes from the electricity used to force
seawater
through layers of salt-catching membranes in what is called reverse
osmosis. At a Santa Barbara plant that ran briefly a few years
ago,
engineers found that producing enough water to last an average
family a
month consumed enough electricity to supply the same family for
two weeks.
Power Surplus Offers a New Opportunity
In a state that as recently as four months ago experienced
a rolling
blackout and electricity price spikes big enough to bankrupt
its largest
utility, such a power-guzzling technology might seem the last
idea anyone
ought to embrace.
But the electricity crisis triggered a rush to build new power
plants and
produced a series of contracts that commit the state government
to buy
power in large amounts for years to come. Gov. Gray Davis says
the state
needs to have a 15% power surplus to guarantee that Californians
will
never again be at the mercy of power generators when demand soars.
Maintaining such a big surplus, however, inevitably raises
the question
of what to do with all the excess power when demand is normal--or
lower.
Much of this summer, the state has been selling the surplus electricity
for pennies on the dollar, and state forecasters expect the surpluses
to
grow through 2004 as 11 large power plants now under construction
begin
operation.
That's where MWD leaders see an opportunity.
"With all the activity, people making investments, you
may find there are
people who are overextended on building these [power] plants,"
said
Ronald R. Gastelum, general manager of the MWD, which supplies
water to
26 water agencies and cities from Ventura to San Diego.
The owners of those power plants might be eager to find a
home for their
electrons in a desalination facility, Gastelum believes.
The idea is more than just speculation. The MWD board has
voted to
solicit proposals for desalination projects capable of supplying
as many
as 250,000 people. To encourage such ventures, they have also
agreed to
subsidize the price of the water.
Most of the power plants under construction or planned for
the state are
inland, while seawater desalination plants must be near the coast.
But
California's transmission grid serves as an equalizer, said Gastelum.
Electricity pumped onto the grid near Bakersfield, for example,
could
offset the power a water plant in Long Beach would consume.
"You could conceivably marry that seawater desalination
demand with your
inland demand, and your net result is you're fully subscribed
and the
average cost might work for you," Gastelum said.
Southern California water leaders also say they want to make
sure that as
the big, aging power plants on California's coast get overhauled
or
expanded, the option of someday attaching desalination plants
to them is
not foreclosed.
"It's a lot easier to acquire the land and protect it
now than it is to
try to dislocate somebody that's built up a business or family
or
community," said Stan Sprague, general manager of the Municipal
Water
District of Orange County.
The production of electricity and the conversion of ocean
water to
drinking water can work well together because the two types of
plants can
share the pipes that take water from the ocean and back. Seawater
used to
cool power plants, once warmed, is more easily stripped of its
salt.
The biggest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere is
under
construction next to a power plant at Tampa Bay, Fla. The plant
promises
to produce cheaper water with more advanced filters and has helped
renew
interest in desalination across the nation.
In Southern California, it's just another phase in a long
flirtation.
Thirty-five years ago, the MWD set out to construct an island
off
Huntington Beach to house the world's largest nuclear-powered
seawater
desalting plant. The complex would have generated water for nearly
700,000 people and power for 1.3 million.
After the estimated cost nearly doubled in 1968, the project
was
abandoned. Today there are just a handful of small plants in
California
treating pure ocean water. They include one in the basement of
the
Monterey Bay Aquarium, another at the visitors center of a state
park at
San Simeon and a backup plant on Catalina Island.
Plants that use the same technology to strip impurities from
brackish
ground water and sewage effluent are more common and cheaper
to operate.
In the early 1990s, the MWD built and then dismantled a pilot
desalination plant at Huntington Beach. The facility worked,
but its
purpose was strictly to test new materials. No company or agency
has yet
shown an interest in paying the MWD to use the particular technology
tested at the plant.
Desalination is just too expensive compared to other sources
of water,
critics say.
'The Question Is: Can We Afford It?'
"It's hard not to look at that huge body of water and
think, 'If only I
could get that salt out of there,' " said Peter Gleick,
executive
director of the nonprofit Pacific Institute for Studies in Development,
Environment and Security in Oakland. "We can get the salt
out of there.
The question is: Can we afford it?"
"We've always had cheaper alternatives," he said.
"And we still have
cheaper alternatives."
Those alternatives, however, may not always be able to meet
the needs of
Southern California's rising population.
Most of the MWD's water arrives via canal from the Sacramento-San
Joaquin
delta, hundreds of miles to the north, and the Colorado River
to the
east. Neither source is as reliable as MWD officials would like.
Federal biologists regularly trigger the shutdown of delta
water pumps to
protect salmon and other endangered species. And after decades
of using
as much as 20% more water from the Colorado than its allotted
share,
California has been sternly warned by the federal government
to wean
itself off the extra amount.
The MWD has responded with an array of projects, including
paying
Imperial Valley farmers to use less Colorado River water and
treating
waste water so it can be used to irrigate landscaping.
The company building the Tampa Bay desalination plant helped
persuade the
MWD to investigate the technology as another way to expand water
supplies.
Poseidon Resources, based in Connecticut, is studying the
construction of
desalination plants next to power plants in Huntington Beach,
Long Beach,
Carlsbad and the port of San Diego.
By asking Poseidon and other companies to submit proposals
this fall, the
MWD is giving private industry an opportunity to show whether
technical
improvements in reverse osmosis make desalination cheaper, Gastelum
said.
Even if the MWD subsidizes water from a desalination plant
at $250 an
acre-foot, said Kevin Wattier, manager of the Long Beach water
department, it would still cost hundreds of dollars more per
acre-foot
than water imported from other regions. An acre-foot--enough
water to
cover one acre to a depth of a foot--is about the amount that
two typical
families consume in a year.
Yet the appeal of the technology never completely vanishes
and sharpens
during drought or when political battles over Northern California
water
intensify. A desperate Santa Barbara, for example, built a $34-million
desalination plant in 1991, the most critically dry year of a
seven-year
drought that left one of the city's reservoirs all but empty.
The desalting plant ran for just three months. Santa Barbarans
had voted
overwhelmingly to construct the plant but also to tap into the
State
Water Project, which brings Northern California water south.
Santa
Barbara had to pay for the imported water regardless, so the
city
consumed it and mothballed the desalination plant, which produced
water
at a cost of about $1,100 an acre-foot. Key parts of the plant
have since
been sold to Saudi Arabia.
"Southern California has a hard time figuring out what
to do about
desalination," said Wattier, "because we have a hard
time figuring out
what we can ever expect from the [San Francisco] Bay-delta system."
Agency Willing to Subsidize Projects
MWD officials say they are willing to subsidize desalination
projects,
much as they subsidized water recycling projects, to sharpen
the appetite
for the water among the dozens of districts and cities that the
district
serves.
The subsidy is justified, they say, because any water produced
through
desalination is water that the MWD will not have to secure elsewhere,
such as by paying San Joaquin Valley farmers to store flood flows
in
their ground water basins.
"The hope is that if Metropolitan puts up $250 an acre-foot,
that will
add enough incentive to local districts to go out and build a
desalter or
two," said MWD board member Langdon Owen, an engineer who
represents the
Municipal Water District of Orange County.
The advantages are many, he said: The ocean is a water supply
free of the
vagaries of snowfall, unfettered by laws that protect salmon.
Desalination does not deplete aquifers. And the process generates
water
so clean it can be recycled several times before being dumped
back into
the ocean.
But cost remains the big hurdle.
"The technology to do reverse osmosis--and particularly
the development
of the membranes--has been improving rapidly the last few years,"
said
Jeanine Jones, drought preparedness manager for the state Department
of
Water Resources.
"But it's still a costly process," she said. "We're
still not there yet."
For now, that's the reality. "Everybody agrees it's going
to happen
sooner or later," said Wattier. "The whole debate is
about when."
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:14 PM
Subject: LA Daily News: L.A., Ventura counties fight just-over-the-line
projects (Ahmanson vs Newhall)
[Our very own Lynne Plambeck featured prominently in this
article...]
September 2, 2001
Sunday, September 2, 2001
L.A., Ventura counties fight just-over-the-line projects
By Dana Bartholomew
Staff Writer
Horrible, just horrible, Los Angeles County officials had
sniffed: A golf
resort of more than 3,000 homes to be dropped with tornado force
on
virgin country across the county line.
Terrible, couldn't be worse, Ventura County officials countered:
Almost
22,000 cookie-cutter homes -- poof! -- to be plopped right in
the mouth
of historic orange grove country just across their county line
in the
Santa Clarita Valley.
But as Los Angeles and Ventura county supervisors have sued
to block
behemoth Ahmanson and Newhall ranch proposals over neighboring
county
lines, they're set to approve their own pet developments. And
that, many
say, is pure NIMBY, or "not in my back yard" politics.
"It is clearly a NIMBY debate," said Michael Dear,
director of the
Southern California Studies Center at the University of Southern
California, who specializes in NIMBY battles and led a "Sprawl
Hits the
Wall" report on Los Angeles this year.
"There is a certain irony of two counties acting in their
own
self-interest -- they want people housed, they want to increase
their tax
base, they want (more) retail sales taxes," he said. "On
the other hand,
counties look over the county line and see congestion caused
by
(neighboring developments)."
Observers of the Southern California water and development
wars see many
parallels between Ahmanson Ranch, a "model community"
planned for
southeastern Ventura County just over the ridge from West Hills,
and
Newhall Ranch, the largest proposed development in Los Angeles
County
history, northwest of Six Flags California's Magic Mountain.
Both share the endangered and newly rediscovered San Fernando
Valley
spineflower. Both share rare amphibians: the California red-legged
frog
in Ahmanson Ranch, and the endangered arroyo southwestern toad
in Newhall
Ranch.
Both contain wildlife corridors. And both, if developed, will
supplant
live oaks and native grasses with massive urban sprawl, greatly
affecting
neighbors with little say-so in their development.
Hypocrisy on both sides
It's governmental hypocrisy, said residents battling both
projects on
either side of the Los Angeles/Ventura county line.
"You've got two county boards of supervisors ignoring
the concerns of the
other county," said Mary Weisbrock, director of Save Open
Space, a group
formed to fight Ahmanson Ranch. "It's very clear they're
being
inconsistent -- both developments will cause environmental impacts
which
can't be mitigated."
Ahmanson Ranch foes contend its development will create surface
runoff
leading to further pollution of Surfrider Beach in Malibu. Newhall
Ranch
opponents claim it will destroy the Santa Clara River and suck
farms dry
all the way to the sea.
While boosters of both developments argue that new homes will
help
relieve the growing Southern California housing shortage, detractors
cite
streets and freeways further that will be clogged by tens of
thousands of
extra cars.
Such claims are vigorously denied by ranch developers and
planners on
both sides of the Santa Monica Mountains divide.
"I think the proposals are night and day," said
Ventura County Supervisor
Kathy Long, who supports Ahmanson Ranch and is working to block
its
Newhall counterpart.
The difference, everyone agrees, is in size.
Plans for Ahmanson call for 3,050 homes, two golf courses,
a hotel and
400,000 square feet of commercial space on 2,800 acres accessible
by more
than 8,000 residents only from Los Angeles County.
Newhall, in comparison, calls for 21,615 homes on 12,000 acres
housing
70,000 residents.
Though Ahmanson will create almost 11,000 acres of open space,
Newhall --
which proposes seven times as many homes -- will give half that,
Long
noted via a published report. And while Ahmanson committed $8.3
million
for park maintenance and traffic reduction, Newhall has offered
a quarter
the amount.
Both counties sued
Both counties -- citing opposing minicities as too congestive,
too
polluting and too destructive of local natural resources -- have
sued to
block each other's project.
Los Angeles, which sued after Ventura County's initial approval
of the
overall plan for Ahmanson Ranch nearly 10 years ago, lost on
appeal.
Ventura, which sued after Los Angeles approved Newhall Ranch,
awaits a
decision by a Kern County judge.
Both counties are expected to vote on environmental preservation
proposals this fall or early next year.
"I think there is a whole bunch of hypocrisy on the Los
Angeles County
Board of Supervisors," said Lynne Plambeck, a Sierra Club
spokeswoman and
force behind the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and
the
Environment, an opponent of Newhall Ranch.
And Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents the San Fernando
Valley in
the fight against Ahmanson, is one of the biggest hypocrites,
she said.
"Mr. Yaroslavsky complains about Ahmanson traffic, and
votes against an
oak tree permit to block (its) exit," she said, "and
then turns around
and votes for a project that will dump seven times the residential
traffic into into Ventura County and pollute the air to such
an extent
that (farmers) can't grow crops."
Not in my district
"He's a total NIMBY," Barbara Wampole, vice chairwoman
of Friends of the
Santa Clara River, said of Yaroslavsky and his colleagues.
"They don't
want sprawl in their own back yards, but what they don't realize
is
they're negatively impacting their own districts" with oozing
development.
Calls for comment from Yaroslavsky and five other Los Angeles
County
supervisors where not returned.
Similar requests to Ventura County supervisors were returned
by Long and
Supervisor Frank Schillo. Supervisor Steve Bennett of Ventura
was on
vacation.
"I don't think we're going to have anything to say on
this," said
Yaroslavsky spokesman Joel Bellman. "I think he'll have
to leave it at,
'declined to comment."'
Bellman did note that Yaroslavsky, having insufficient grounds
to deny
Newhall, voted "with misgivings."
Others, however, said officials were unwilling to pay the
price of a
lawsuit brought by powerful developers.
Bill Fulton, a regional planning expert whose "Reluctant
Metropolis: The
Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles" will soon be published
in
paperback, said the Ahmanson/Newhall debate isn't so much NIMBYism,
but a
failure in regional planning.
"It's electoral NIMBYism," said Fulton, president
of Solimar Research
Group, a Ventura think tank on regional development. "It's
sort of
NIMDism -- not in my district. You can't expect politicians to
rise above
political pressures in their own districts.
"It's just the way it's set up."
Ventura County Supervisor Schillo, while blasting Newhall
Ranch for
planning "to turn Ventura County from a lush valley into
a desert,"
washed his hands of the Ahmanson affair.
Flowers and frogs, said the supervisor, who has been criticized
for
failing to call for a new environmental impact report. He can
only decide
how they are impacted -- not whether Ahmanson Ranch will be built.
"I've got some real problems with Ahmanson -- the traffic
problems are
horrible," he said. "I'm not even going to take a stand
on it, because
there is nothing I can do about it. What difference does it make
whether
I can take a stand at all?"
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:09 PM
Subject: Imperial valley air harmed by farming; EPA may
crack down
Los Angeles Times
--------------------
EPA to Rule on Imperial County's Dusty Air Quality
--------------------
Pollution: The agriculture-dependent area blames Mexico.
Environmentalists say the problem is at least partly home-grown.
By KEN ELLINGWOOD
TIMES STAFF WRITER
September 4 2001
EL CENTRO -- Wafting dust forms a gauzy veil over Imperial
County, a
broad, sun-baked floor of tilled fields and open desert that
has some of
the nation's worst levels of airborne particles.
But after years of trying, the county may be on the verge
of convincing
the federal government that it is not to blame for the disturbing
levels
of dust and soot.
The chief culprit, county officials argue, is Mexicali, a
fast-growing
Mexican city of 760,000 that is thought responsible for tons
of dust that
drifts daily into the air basin shared with Imperial County on
the U.S.
side of the border. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
will rule in
coming weeks on whether Imperial County violates federal standards
for
airborne particles--a finding that could spell new controls on
airborne
dust in a region dependent on dirt-churning activities, such
as farming,
but also troubled by asthma and other respiratory problems.
The decision will be closely watched by farmers who fear potentially
costly new regulations and by environmentalists skeptical of
the claim
that the county would have clean air if not for wind-carried
dust from
Mexico.
The action comes in response to a lawsuit filed last year
by the Sierra
Club seeking to force the EPA to rule in 15 communities nationwide
that
were found not to meet U.S. air-quality standards.
Under the Clean Air Act of 1990, Imperial County was given
until the end
of 1994 to prove to the EPA that it would have been in compliance
with
the law if not for drifting Mexican dust, but the federal agency
failed
to act. The EPA could have found Imperial County a "serious"
violator,
but instead left it in a category requiring less stringent pollution
controls.
In July, the EPA agreed to settle the Sierra Club lawsuit
by vowing to
determine by Sept. 30 whether the county should be held responsible
for
the airborne dust, which amounts to nearly 250 tons a day and
is the
worst in California when averaged over a year.
"It's clear that the levels do exceed our standards.
It's spread
throughout the year, it's not just one time of year," said
Amy Zimpfer,
deputy director of the air division for the EPA's Pacific region
office
in San Francisco. "This is a problem that needs to be addressed.
It's
complicated by the percentage that comes across the border."
The EPA is leaning toward accepting the county's long-held
contention
that it effectively controls home-grown dust and soot. The agency
is
awaiting written comments from the public before ruling. The
comment
period closes Sept. 10.
The EPA decision carries high stakes for local farms, which
cover 581,000
acres--about a fifth of the county--and pump nearly $1 billion
yearly
into an otherwise wobbly local economy. A finding that the county
does
not comply with U.S. air standards could force farmers to take
new steps
to reduce dust, such as by paving some dirt roads, restricting
travel on
them or, some fear, by curbing tilling.
'Fugitive Dust' Is Biggest Problem
The biggest problem north of the border is "fugitive
dust" that billows
primarily from fields and from the more than 5,400 miles of unpaved
roads
countywide. Most of the roads serve farms or the huge network
of
irrigation channels that have transformed a big chunk of desert
into a
verdant farm belt.
"If we get bumped up to the next category of non-attainment,
that
triggers a whole bunch of more restrictive controls that have
to be
done," said Stephen L. Birdsall, agriculture commissioner
and
air-pollution control officer for the county. "There's a
potential to try
to implement controls on agricultural operations, which could
be
devastating to our already faltering agricultural economy."
The county has spent more than $500,000 to make its latest
case.
Consultants examined dust measurements, wind data and other readings
from
the two years preceding the 1994 deadline, concluding that the
Mexican
emissions were a factor during most of the nine days on which
air
standards were violated. A previous study estimated that Mexico
was the
source of 60% of dust measured in Calexico, which sits on the
U.S. side
of the border about 120 miles east of San Diego.
But the Sierra Club's attorneys said they will likely oppose
such an EPA
finding of compliance, arguing that high dust levels cannot be
attributed
solely to Mexico.
"We are skeptical that even without emissions from Mexico
the area would
have clean air," said David Baron, an attorney at Earthjustice
Legal
Defense Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based group.
Baron said a dust reading at the border in Calexico in 1999
was 10 times
higher than the federal standard. "Even if three-quarters
of that high
reading were from Mexico, they'd still be in violation,"
Baron said.
"It's not appropriate for the EPA to just let them off the
hook by saying
it's all from Mexico."
The contaminants are blamed for aggravating asthma and other
breathing
problems--a big concern. Children 15 and younger were taken to
Imperial
County hospital emergency rooms for asthma attacks at four times
the rate
in San Diego County, according to 1998 figures provided by Imperial
County's health department. Asthma-attack admissions also were
higher for
adults.
County officials and farm advocates point out that dust is
inevitable in
a region that is, after all, a broad desert. Agriculture officials
say
growers already farm in ways that keep dust at a minimum, such
as
flooding alfalfa fields to irrigate and planting year-round crops,
thus
cutting fallow acreage that is a source of windblown dirt.
Stricter Guidelines for Airborne Dust
The county is writing stricter guidelines for limiting airborne
dust,
including requiring farmers to more quickly clean up mud tracked
by farm
vehicles onto paved roads and ordering that large parking lots
be paved.
The plan, which requires EPA approval, could help move the county
from
its status as a "moderate" violator to being compliant.
The county also plans to urge federal agencies to cut dust
along
primitive roads in the desert wilderness. One problem is the
U.S. Border
Patrol's practice of dragging a row of tires to smooth unpaved
border
roads so agents can more easily spot the footprints of undocumented
immigrants. Zimpfer said the EPA is working with the Border Patrol
to
find ways to control the dust.
U.S. and Mexican officials have expanded efforts to monitor
airborne dust
to get better data on how much is produced around Mexicali, where
many
roads and streets remain unpaved.
Imperial County officials say they are more worried about
emissions from
two power plants being built in Mexicali and a third one that
is planned.
They have lobbied the utilities to use the strictest pollution
controls
available.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:02 PM
Subject: Guardian: Tourist's water demands bleed resorts
dry
Tourist's water demands bleed resorts dry
Esther Addley
Guardian Unlimited
Saturday May 12, 2001
To millions of tourists they are exotic paradises, unspoilt,
idyllic and
full of local charm. But many of the world's resorts are struggling
to
cope
with relentless waves of tourists, whose demands for ever more
swimming
pools and golf courses are sucking them dry.
Springs and underwater aquifers from Ibiza to Barbados are
being drained
faster than they can be replenished, or irreversibly polluted
by
overdrilling. By 2025, the number of people living in areas where
renewable water is scarce will increase from 130m to more than
1bn, much
of it fuelled by booming tourist development.
"The issue is massive and global," says Tricia Barnett,
director of
Tourism Concern, a charity which campaigns for more responsible
approaches to travel."Tourists in Africa will be having
a shower and then
will see a local woman with a pot of water on her head, and they
are not
making the connection. Sometimes you'll see a village with a
single tap,
when each hotel has taps and showers in every room."
Southern Spain and the Balearic islands, favourites with British
holidaymakers, are getting drier by the year, as ancient springs
and
underwater aquifers dry up. Of the seven underground springs
on Ibiza,
five have been so over-drilled that sea water has seeped in,
making the
water unsuitable for drinking or ir rigation.
Benidorm's water table is now so low - and the demand from
its 30,000
swimming pools so insatiable - that it has to pipe much of its
water
along a 300 mile pipeline from Madrid.
The problem is that tourists demand so much water. WWF (formerly
the
World Wide Fund for Nature) has calculated that a tourist in
Spain uses
880 litres of water a day, compared with 250 litres by a local.
An
18-hole golf course in a dry country can consume as much water
as a town
of 10,000 people.
The UN food and agriculture organisation has estimated that
100 tourists
use the same amount of water in 55 days that could grow rice
to feed 100
local villagers for 15 years. Village wells in Goa are running
dry, and
rivers are being polluted by effluent released from hotels. In
the
Caribbean, hundreds of thousands of people go without piped water
during
the high tourist season, as springs are piped to hotels.
Tourism is the fastest growing industry on the planet. In
1950, 25m
people travelled abroad; in 1999 it was 670m. The World Tourism
Organisation estimates that by 2020 1.6bn people will travel
each year.
The growth area is long haul travel. It is growing by 9.5% a
year in
developing countries, as tourists tire of the Costas and head
for more
exotic locations like Thailand and Brazil, once the preserve
of
backpackers.
"In many resorts, there are insufficient controls,"
says Justin Woolford,
tourism officer for WWF. "The implication is that it's the
fault of the
local government, but there's quite a large responsibility with
big tour
operators when they go to a new destination. They will tell you
they have
no influence over infrastructure, but that's not true."
The country may not see many benefits. Poor governments often
offer
tax-free incentives to developers, who then build all-inclusive
resorts
where very little of the income reaches the local economy. In
Thailand,
60% of the £4bn annual tourism revenue leave the country.
Geoffrey Lipman, executive chairman of Green Globe 21, which
offers
accreditation to travel companies incorporating ethical principles,
said:
"The message to governments is that tourism has a much bigger
impact on
your economy than you give it credit for in your policymaking."
Local
communities are beginning to say enough is enough. The Balearic
islands
voted to impose a 60p tax per day on each traveller, to address
problems
caused by hasty development in the 60s and 70s.
Attitudes are changing, says Ms Barnett, but slowly. "We
like to believe
there's consumer power out there. Ask your tour operator where
the water
in your hotel comes from. Who owns the hotel?The travel agent
will look
bewildered, but if consumers start asking these questions
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:23 PM
Subject: Forbes Mag: Ecopragmatists
Forbes Magazine August 2001
Ecopragmatists
It sends chills down some environmentalists' spines, but the
Nature
Conservancy gets in bed with developers, loggers and oil drillers.
This fall ExxonMobil Corp. will drill gas wells on a 2,263-acre
preserve
in Texas City, Tex. Environmentalists are up in arms because
it is one of
only two places in the world where the endangered Attwater prairie
chicken is found. But guess who owns this preserve? An environmental
group.
The Nature Conservancy acquired the land as a donation from
Mobil, and
has reaped $5 million from the company's wells already there.
The oil
money is going to come in handy in the Conservancy's efforts
to protect
land from clear-cutting, strip malls and other heavy development.
The
organization will use most of the Texas City royalties to buy
more
habitat.
The Nature Conservancy is the environmental group that environmentalists
love to hate. Allowing oil drilling on a nature preserve is just
one
reason. Timber giants Weyerhaeuser, Georgia-Pacific and J.M.
Huber--traditional fat targets for greens--are logging at Nature
Conservancy preserves in Arkansas, Maine, North Carolina and
Virginia.
The Arlington, Va.-based organization has also begun developing
housing
units on a rare strip of pristine land on the eastern coast of
the U.S.
If that's not enough to offend the purists, the Conservancy has
refused
to endorse the Kyoto Protocol for cutting carbon emissions.
"I used to say that the only things not allowed on Nature
Conservancy
reserves were mining and slavery, and I wasn't sure about the
latter,"
fumes Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity.
"Now I may
have to withdraw the former as well."
Founded in 1951, the Conservancy has always been out of the
anticorporate
mainstream of the environmental movement. Instead of picketing
corporations, it haggles with them. New Chief Executive Steven
McCormick,
50, a Conservancy lifer who was the head of the California chapter,
aims
to continue the tradition. His group had $655 million in revenues
this
year, which includes $83 million in land sales. In the last year
alone it
has also acquired land worth $400 million. Its revenue is ten
times the
size of the Sierra Club's. The Conservancy's 5 million acres
make it one
of the country's largest nongovernment landowners.
Almost all revenues will go right out the door in more land
purchases or
easements, totaling perhaps 330,000 acres. Rather than just buying
unconnected postage-stamp-size plots of land, McCormick's group
is
acquiring entire ecosystems, making concessions to development
along the
way. "This method is likely to produce far more lasting
results than
trying to oppose human wants and needs," says McCormick.
A couple of years ago the Conservancy paid International Paper
$35
million for 185,000 acres on the St. John River in Maine to save
it from
other timber companies. It then contracted with J.M. Huber to
log 75% of
the land--responsibly, of course. That means no clear-cutting
and no
logging near rivers. The deal has generated $1 million a year
for the Conservancy.
The Conservancy owns or has easements on 50,000 acres of barrier
islands
and salt marshes on Virginia's eastern shore. Development is
encroaching,
and zoning laws
allow one house per acre. McCormick isn't about to build 50,000
houses.
But he is erecting five houses on 250 acres, away from the water,
that
will sell for $330,000 each, $150,000 more than comparable four-bedroom
housing in the area. He believes the houses will serve as a model
for the
inevitable future development of
nearby acreage.
Says McCormick, "If we can design thoughtful developments,
we can ensure
biologica richness and allow appropriate human use."
On the Kyoto agreement, McCormick says the treaty puts too
much emphasis
on energy emissions from smokestacks and autos, while missing
the role of
deforestation in carbon emissions. The Conservancy's position
has made it
a favorite of the Bush Administration, which recently awarded
it a $1.6
million grant to study forests and carbon dioxide.
What would McCormick's group do with the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge?
It doesn't have a position on drilling for oil there yet but
hasn't ruled
out supporting it.
McCormick says its Texas experience shows that careful drilling
can
coexist with environmental protection. It's easy to imagine the
royalties
that would flow from the Arctic's 5.8 billion barrels being spent
for
land protection in the lower 48. This is McCormick's model: satisfy
human
needs while preserving acres of wetlands and forests.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:09 PM
Subject: Farmington DTs: Settling water adjudication suits
crucial, Turney says
Farmington Daily Times
Tuesday, September 04, 2001
Settling water adjudication suits crucial, Turney says
By Dave Burge/Staff writer
FARMINGTON -The state engineer's office is hoping to complete
all pending
and new water rights adjudication lawsuits within the next 20
years.
But the state Legislature will have to cough up roughly $170
million over
the next two decades to complete the project.
That was the gist of the message sent by state Engineer Tom
Turney, who
addressed the Farmington City Council Tuesday morning.
Turney spoke on a variety of interrelated water topics, which
he said
will have a profound impact on New Mexico's future.
Perhaps the most important of these are the adjudication of
water rights
claims. Settling these lawsuits will ensure that the state has
an
adequate water supply and can grow in a orderly manner, Turney
said.
During the past 40 years, New Mexico's population doubled,
Turney said.
The state is expected to grow by another 85 percent during the
next 50
years, he added.
"I don't believe that the Legislature realizes how important
water is,"
Turney said. "It's been an issue that's been placed on the
back burner
for many, many years."
Turney also said that his office bears some of the blame for
putting
longstanding adjudication suits on hold.
"We're hopefully recognizing the extreme importance of
adjudication in
how we manage our rivers," Turney said.
One of the pending adjudication suits involves the San Juan
Basin, and
numerous governmental, tribal and private parties that all have
an
interest in the region's water system.
That lawsuit has been inching its way through the courts since
1975.
Turney suggested that one way the state could speed up water
lawsuits is
to create a special court structure that deals specifically with
these
type of issues.
"During the past 100 years, we've completed about 15
percent of the
adjudications," Turney said. "At that rate, it will
take about 600 years.
I want to do it in 20 years."
To do that, the state engineer's office will need about $170
million of
funding over the next 20 years.
Farmington City Councilor Mary Fischer said she had doubts
about whether
the Legislature would allocate that kind of money to water issues.
"They're always bickering about nonissues, like what
should be the state
cookie and over the legalization of drugs," she said. "It
would surprise
me if they realize that the main issue facing New Mexico is getting
away
from them."
Turney said his office is also supporting speeding up negotiations
with
the Navajo Nation concerning the tribe's water rights claims.
If the Navajo government settles its water claims, the state
engineer
said his office would support building the proposed Navajo-Gallup
pipeline, which would transport a portion of the San Juan Basin's
water
to Gallup and to Navajo communities along the Chuska Mountains.
As an inducement to settle the tribe's water claims, Turney
also said he
would support recognizing all current depletions that the Navajos
are
taking from local rivers and the completion of the Navajo Indian
Irrigation Project.
"I have a problem with our water being pipelined to Gallup,"
Fischer said.
Turney also said his office supports the controversial Animas-La
Plata
Project. The project would help to ensure a "reliable"
water supply for
Farmington and other nearby communities and water users, Turney
said.
This fall and winter, the state engineer's office plans to
open
state-to-state negotiations with Colorado to make sure that New
Mexico's
share of the Animas-La Plata Project is not diverted before it
gets to
the state line, Turney said.
Turney also told the City Council that Farmington needs to
look into
adding a new generation unit at Navajo Dam that can generate
power at
lower flows than currently exist.
He also told the council they might want to explore increasing
the size
of Farmington Lake.
City Councilor Tommy Roberts said the city might want to look
into hiring
a full-time water specialist to deal with some of these issues.
"The thing that hits you in the face is how many of these
issues there
are and the cost of them," Roberts said. "These issues
aren't going away
and they're long term."
Fischer said she was concerned because Turney was low on specifics
concerning how the state would protect Farmington's water interests.
"There was lots of talk about Gallup, the Navajo Nation,
the San
Juan-Chama project and everybody else, but there were no real
comments on
how they'd protect our interests," she said.
<snip>
Dave Burge: daveb@daily-times.com
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:15 PM
Subject: Farmington Daily Times calls Bush a coward over
RECA
Friday, August 31, 2001
The act of a coward
By Barry Heifner/Editor
Farmington Daily Times
You live in a house built from scrap stone hauled from the
uranium mine.
Your children play in the water that leaches out of the mine
and runs in
the arroyo past your home. You spend most evenings washing the
yellowish
dust from work overalls - along with the rest of the family's
clothes -
in a metal tub. The water is poured on the arid ground outside
- your
children's playground - where it is quickly absorbed.
Later, following the loss of your husband, most of your children
die from
mysterious illnesses, and you wonder if your grandchildren will
carry on
the curse.
You are the wife of a uranium ore hauler or miller and your
life has been
shattered by something you don't understand or know how to fight.
Now, nearly half a century later, you are about to be compensated
for the
pain, misery and suffering of all those years by a government
that told
you nothing of the dangers of the yellow dust. Known as the Radiation
Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, it is a promise by your government
in
an amendment to this act - recognition for the sacrifice you
and your
family made to supply deadly uranium to fight the Cold War. Now
the Bush
administration has decided to delay payment of compensation to
the
descendants for more time to study the illnesses to ensure they
were
caused by the uranium exposure.
I'm not a rocket scientist and will be the first to admit
that I am
certainly not an expert on the cause of cancer; but I have learned
a
little about the disease in the past four years. One thing I
have learned
- nothing is certain.
Cancer is strange, unpredictable and deadly. It can lie undetected
for
years and kill in months or it can appear suddenly. It can move
through
your body with deadly ease or it can reappear in the same spot
time and
time again.
I had held out hope for the Bush administration. In my heart
I wanted to
see him succeed and lead this country back to greatness - to
dignity - to
honor.
But the action by the Bush administration to delay and possibly
deny
compensation to many of the people who helped us win the Cold
War -
nearly as much as the pilot in the B-52 or the radar operator
in
Greenland - lacks greatness, dignity and honor.
The majority of the 141 people applying for compensation live
in the vast
wasteland of New Mexico in places with foreign names such as
Shiprock,
Crownpoint, Iyanbito and Coyote Canyon, so there is little political
danger in shunning your duty to 141 obscure people in an obscure
place
like the Four Corners.
But there is something called decency. Decent people back
their promises
with actions. Decent people look beyond the color of someone's
skin or
religious beliefs. Decent people pay their debts.
We owe this debt not only to the uranium miners, millers and
ore haulers,
but to all the cold warriors. The pilots who flew the B-52s,
the
operators who manned the radar stations, the workers who exposed
themselves to danger at Oakridge and the soldier who fought for
our
freedom.
To slight them is to slight us all - the fathers and husbands,
brothers
and uncles, sons and daughters who died either directly or because
of
their actions in the Cold War.
It is the act of a coward.
<snip>
Barry Heifner can be reached by calling (505) 564-4624, by
e-mail at
barryh@daily-times.com or by writing to P.O. Box 450, Farmington,
NM
87499.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:17 PM
Subject: Denver Post: Norton's 'historic' dump may haunt
her
Norton's 'historic' dump may haunt her
Landfill also a Superfund clean-up site
By Bill McAllister
Denver Post
Washington Bureau Chief
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E127679,00.html
Sunday, September 02, 2001 - WASHINGTON - Whatever she does
as interior
secretary, Gale Norton seems certain to be remembered for what
she did
Monday. That's the day she declared a garbage dump in Fresno,
Calif., a
national historic landmark.
The ink on that pronouncement was hardly dry before her aides
began
signaling a retreat. It seems that the former Colorado attorney
general
and her aides didn't realize that the Fresno Sanitary Landfill
had
another government designation. The Environmental Protection
Agency had
declared the landfill a Superfund site in 1989, a designation
given lands
filled with the most hazardous of wastes.
That discovery, made by reporters moments after Norton's announcement
of
the Bush administration's first 15 historic sites, led to a series
of
less than flattering newspaper articles.
"Something rotten on Bush's first list of U.S. historic
sites," declared
a Los Angeles Daily News headline.
And there was lots of snickering among the environmental groups
that have
been among Norton's harshest critics. "This is just what
the Bush
administration would like to do to the entire state of California,"
Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope told the AP. "Trench
it, compact
it and shovel dirt over it."
By midweek it was clear the dump's designation was in doubt.
The Fresno
Bee took a tongue-in-cheek approach. "Cancel the parades.
Reroute the
tours. Shut down the T-shirt concessions. The dump has been dumped,"
proclaimed the paper under the headline "Garbage in, garbage
out for
Fresno."
The paper quoted Martin Melosi, a professor at the University
of Houston
and chief proponent of the landfill's historic designation, as
being
stunned that officials had overlooked the Superfund designation.
So did
EPA officials who noted that the dump's unsavory history is outlined
on
their website.
Fresno Mayor Alan Autry was peeved at Interior's "knee-jerk
reaction,"
but city officials said they didn't plan to protest any withdrawal
of the
landmark status. After all, taxpayers have spent $38 million
trying to
clean up the site that Interior had hailed as "the oldest
"true' sanitary
landfill in the United States."
It was the first to use the so-called trench method of disposal
and the
first to use compaction, Interior had said in describing the
dump's
worthiness for national historic landmark designation.
What the mayor didn't talk about is how California health
officials in
1983 had discovered that methane gas and vinyl chloride had migrated
from
the landfill to surrounding areas, contaminating groundwater
for wells in
the area. Nor did he mention how the landfill is fenced and locked
to
keep the public out.
The fall guy in the whole affair appeared to be Dennis Galvin,
deputy
director of the National Park Service. He was the interim head
of the
agency when it recommended the landfill to Norton.
On Monday night, he quickly fired off a memo to Norton saying
he was
"unaware" that the landfill was a Superfund site and
urged that the issue
be reconsidered.
Park Service spokeswoman Elaine Sevy held out hope that the
agency would
retain the historic designation. "Our history isn't all
wonderful and
beautiful," she said.
Oh, yes, all that happened the same day that lawyers in the
big Indian
trust case against Norton and her department renewed their efforts
to get
the secretary cited for contempt of court. Their charge: Norton
is part
of a continuing cover-up and deception of the true status of
300,000
trust accounts held by Interior for American Indians.
All in all, it was a week that the secretary would probably
just as soon
have spent at home in Denver.
<snip>
Bill McAllister's e-mail address is bmcallister@denverpost.com.
Denver
Post staff writer Mike Soraghan contributed to this column.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:02 PM
Subject: AZ Daily Sun: Prelude to permanence for mine?
Arizona Daily Sun
Saturday, September 8, 2001
Prelude to permanence for mine?
By ANNE MINARD
Sun Staff Reporter
09/08/2001
Critics say a new report by Peabody Energy predicting no damage
to the
Navajo Aquifer is little more than company posturing for permanent
rights
to operate the controversial Black Mesa Mine.
Peabody Energy has released a report the company says validates
the
results of a study earlier this year indicating its mining activities
will have no significant, long-term effects on the 400-million-acre-foot
aquifer beneath the Navajo Reservation.
But environmentalists, noting that the company has released
two studies
in four months defending its water use, contend the studies will
be used
to convert an initial federal pumping permit into a permanent
one.
Potential impacts to the aquifer have been a longtime sticking
point.
"I don't think they're issuing press releases on their
(pumping) model
for the sake of science," said David Beckman, an attorney
with the
Natural Resources Defense Council, which issued its own aquifer
study
last year with different conclusions. "They're after something."
Beckman said he suspected the water studies are a prelude
to renewed
efforts to try for a permanent permit for the mine under Gale
Norton's
tenure as secretary of the Interior Department.
Beth Sutton, a Peabody spokesperson, confirmed that results
of the
aquifer studies have been added to a permanent permit application
that
has been on file with the agency for more than a decade.
"The decision rests with the Secretary (Norton)"
about whether to issue
that permit, she said.
She said the current permit to operate the Black Mesa Mine
is not a
temporary one, rather it's an "initial permit" drafted
under an old set
of rules.
"We have a valid permit to operate Black Mesa mine and
are under full
compliance," she said. "We're subject to rigorous environmental
review.
We've operated under the same rules for 10-plus years and the
Office of
Surface Mining continues to recognize our permit as valid."
Sutton declined to speculate on how long it can remain so.
Officials with
the Office of Surface Mining in Denver could not be reached for
comment
on Thursday and Friday.
SLURRY STALEMATE
Peabody runs two mines on the Navajo and Hopi reservations
in northeast
Arizona. The larger Kayenta Mine produces about 8 million tons
of coal
each year, and the smaller Black Mesa Mine up to 5 million tons
each
year.
Kayenta coal goes to the Navajo Generating Station in Page
via a conveyer
system and is operated under a permanent permit.
But a point of contention over the Black Mesa Mine -- and
one of the
biggest reasons a permanent permit has been tabled for more than
a decade
-- is the potential for negative impacts to the aquifer that
supports a
coal slurry line to the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin,
Nev., and
the water needs of nearby Navajo and Hopi communities.
Peabody, the world's largest private coal company, purchases
about 3,800
acre-feet of aquifer water from the Hopi and Navajo tribes each
year for
$3.5 million, most of which is used for the pipeline. Eight wells
provide
water to the mining operation and 200 local residents.
The company has been studying its water use for many years,
and has
routinely concluded there will be no long-term impacts to the
aquifer.
But even as Peabody justifies current practices, it's touting
a recent,
good-faith partnership with the Navajo and Hopi tribes to explore
alternate sources of water for the 270-mile slurry line that
transports
the Black Mesa coal.
"The beauty of the partnership is all of us share a common
vision,"
Sutton said. "People of good will have concerns about our
water use,
despite what the scientific studies say."
However, not all of the scientific studies are in agreement.
A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION?
The NRDC study, released in October 2000, was based on government
documents and data from 15 community and government wells monitored
by
the U.S. Geological Survey. The environmental group found that
two
monitoring wells fell by as much as 100 feet when compared with
their
1968 levels before the mining operation began.
The study also reported that "discharge from five of
nine monitored
springs has slackened by more than 50 percent" and that
springs on Black
Mesa, some with sacred significance to the Hopi Tribe, are drying
up. The
NRDC recommends ending Peabody's pumping by 2005 and urges the
Environmental Protection Agency to act quickly to preserve the
aquifer.
Peabody's studies -- one released in April and a follow-up
study released
this month -- conclude that the pumping has "no significant
effect on the
integrity of the aquifer or surrounding community water supplies."
Officials from the company frequently say pumping by Peabody
Coal will
use less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the total volume of water
stored
in the aquifer during the life of the operations. That equates,
they
contend, to displacing less than half of a beverage can from
a 55-gallon
drum.
An analysis of the aquifer's health 12 years ago by the federal
Office of
Surface Mining and Enforcement supported Peabody's claims at
the time
that its pumping had not damaged the aquifer or caused local
springs to
decline.
Even the Navajo and Hopi tribes disagree about which studies
to trust.
"We disagree with the input data" in the Peabody
study, said Claire
Heywood, a public relations officer with the Hopi Tribe. "Our
hydrologist
maintains that once you take a certain amount of water out, the
aquifer
is damaged."
But Stanley Pollack of the Navajo Water Rights Council with
the Navajo
Department of Justice, said, "As far as the technical studies
are
concerned, we think they do demonstrate what Peabody is showing."
He said there are effects to the aquifer that are "temporary,
local and
minor. But the integrity of the aquifer is not at risk."
Sutton said both the Kayenta and the Black Mesa mines have
projected
lifetimes that extend for more than a decade.
"The mining provides a tremendous economic benefit and
it helps keep the
lights on for 31Ú2 million families," mostly in Phoenix,
Los Angeles and
Laughlin, she said.
The Black Mesa mine's 1970 Mohave Station contract runs through
2003, and
discussions are under way to extend the contract for 15 more
years.
Kayenta's contract with the Navajo Generating Station extends
through
2011 and also has the opportunity for extension, Sutton said.
Reporter Anne Minard can be reached at aminard@azdailysun.com
or
556-2253.
© 2000-2001 Arizona Daily Sun
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:17 PM
Subject: AP: Timber Cos. Struggle to Stay Alive
[Forest activists have reduced timber CEOs to wearing worn
jeans and work
boots. Bankruptcy is just around the corner!]
__________________________________
Timber Cos. Struggle to Stay Alive
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
.c The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A handful of logging executives in worn jeans
and work
boots sat hunched over paperwork, bidding on $1.4 million in
federal
timber by increments of 25 cents. Loggers in suspenders and thick
leather
belts lined the walls, silently watching the numbers flicker
on a screen.
Federal timber sales like this, plentiful a decade ago, have
dwindled to
just a handful each year because of tighter logging rules and
a series of
environmental lawsuits brought against government agencies.
The result has been a standoff in which neither environmentalists
nor
logging companies struggling to make ends meet are willing to
give
ground.
The Bureau of Land Management auction this week, the first
in the state
in months, brought together for one hour the protesters, timber
executives and riot squads that Oregonians have come to associate
with
the complex issue of logging on public lands.
Inside the office, two timber bosses battled for 58 acres
of Douglas fir
and Western hemlock, trying to ignore the protesters in camouflage
pants
and black handkerchiefs shouting outside.
Police dressed in riot gear stood watch around the building
and in the
halls, ready to whisk the timber representatives away at the
first sign
of trouble.
``We are less interested in going to the wall on these timber
sales
because of the headaches associated with them. But without them,
we can't
run our mills at full speed. They're critical,'' said Rob Freres,
vice
president of Freres Lumber Co. in Lyons.
Freres has seen the amount of government lumber passing through
his
business decrease by two-thirds in the past decade, yet the company
still
counts on federal timber contracts for 35 percent of its yield
- an
amount it has to sustain to stay in business, he said.
Companies can log on private land, at comparable prices to
the government
sales, but ``there is only so much private land that is ready
to be
harvested each year,'' said Chris West, director of the American
Forest
Resource Council.
When it comes to the public lands, lawsuits brought by environmental
groups have severely limited the amount of forest federal agencies
can
auction off.
Almost all clear-cutting is on hold and timber companies must
choose from
a trickle of sales that only permit ``thinning,'' or the removal
of a
certain amount of trees per acre for forest maintenance, said
Al Wood, a
BLM Forester.
The effect of the restrictions shows in BLM records:
In 2000, the bureau's Oregon sales were equivalent to 69 million
board
feet of lumber.
In 1990, its sales in the state were nearly twice that, 1.17
billion
board feet.
This year, BLM officials were projecting 23 forest land sales
in Oregon
amounting to just 52 million board feet.
In the wider Pacific Northwest region, the industry had been
counting on
1 billion board feet a year, West said. ``We don't expect to
see but 10
percent of that target produced this year, and it was the same
last
year,'' he said.
That's largely the reason that the country's dependance on
foreign timber
has increase from 20 percent to 40 percent in the past eight
years, he
said.
The impact is most obvious in the region's logging towns,
like Lyons,
where eight of the town's 10 lumber companies have disappeared.
Statewide, records show jobs in the lumber and wood products
sector have
dropped from 64,100 in 1990 to 49,000 in 2000.
The companies that have survived the tightening restrictions
and low
market prices so far say they can't lose the public land sales
now.
The possibility of tree-sitters and road blocks might decrease
what a
timber company is willing to bid for a government logging contract,
but
it won't prevent them from buying, West said.
``Protesters and equipment sabotage - it's the cost of doing
business
today,'' he said. ``If the price is right, people will be able
to make
that money and absorb those costs and risks.''
Groups such as the Portland-based Cascadia Forest Alliance
say they are
just as dedicated to stopping timber harvests and have focused
increasingly on logging companies to do so.
Anti-logging activists last month set up two new tree-sits
- aerial
encampments suspended in forests slated for harvest and now operate
more
than a dozen tree-sits statewide, said Don Fontenot.
Fontenot said members of the Cascadia Forest Alliance would
protest at
every federal timber sale through the end of the year - about
20 in all.
``I would hope that they would think twice about buying controversial
timber sales, about whether they want to deal with tree-sitters
and
blockades every time they come into old-growth forests,'' he
said.
``Certainly, if we slow them up that's going to cost them money.''
That's a risk many lumber companies are willing to take because
of a
dwindling supply of harvestable forest, timber representatives
say. They
can't shy away from sensitive timber sales because they need
the wood.
Freres is holding on and hoping the logging restrictions will
loosen. He
knows the protesters will likely never go away.
``We've seen the social fabric of our community decay because
of these
issues,'' he said of Oregon's logging communities. ``You've got
to care,
but not that much. We don't have the intensity that we once had.''
On the Net:
Bureau of Land Management: http://www.blm.gov/nhp/index.htm
Cascadia Forest Alliance: http://www.cascadiaforestalliance.org/
American Forest Resource Council: http://www.afrc.ws/
AP-NY-09-01-01 0227EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:14 PM
Subject: AP: SDG&E wants power line on SoCal Indian
tribe's property
SDG&E wants power line on SoCal Indian tribe's property
http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/data/N2001-09-02-1700-2.html
PECHANGA RESERVATION, Calif. (AP) -- A Southern California
Indian tribe
that wants to expand its reservation is locked in a battle with
a utility
company that wants to run a power line across tribal property.
San Diego Gas and Electric Co. wants a 500,000-volt line through
southwest Riverside County, where the Pechanga Band of Luiseno
Indians
has purchased 724 acres the tribe hopes to incorporate into its
reservation.
SDG&E has been trying to prevent the federal government
from placing the
acreage into trust, which would make it part of the reservation
and
off-limits for a power line unless the tribe gives permission.
SDG&E officials say the power line could be built through
the property
without severe impact, but the tribe disagrees. Tribal officials
say the
land contains burial grounds, and Pechanga Tribal Chairman Mark
Macarro
said archaeological and cultural resources supersede the need
for a power
line.
In July, the tribe voted to oppose any power line route on
its land,
although Macarro has said that decision could change. The tribe
wants the
utility to explore alternative routes and prove a power line
has to be
built.
The utility says the line is needed to meet increasing demand
in San
Diego, and to put surplus energy on the statewide grid.
SDG&E has formally filed an objection to the trust application,
a process
that can take years. U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has introduced
an
amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill that would make
newly-acquired tribal lands federal trust by legislative fiat.
Copyright © The Sacramento Bee
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:09 PM
Subject: AP: Parking garage planned for 'second homes'
Parking garage planned for 'second homes'
09/02/2001
TUCSON (AP) -- A self-storage company plans an elaborate garage
in
suburban Marana that will be capable of storing 300 motor homes.
Robert Schoff, chairman of Tucson-based National Self Storage
Management
Inc., said the new facility will offer just about anything a
motor coach
owner needs and all under one roof.
"We are totally catering this to the high-end, class-A
motor home, but we
will rent to everyone," Schoff said Friday.
There is no such facility in metro Tucson and few which even
offer
covered parking. Schoff said that if the Marana center is successful,
National Self Storage plans to build similar ones in other Southwest
markets.
The company operates 61 storage centers in Arizona, California,
Colorado,
Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah.
It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Schomac Group, a local
real estate
development and equity firm.
Some owners and industry representatives predict it will be
well-received, and Barb Tackett is one.
Tackett said she parks her 27-foot "second home"
in her back yard so it's
less likely to be vandalized, but she said others have had to
find
parking accommodations because of neighbor restrictions or other
reasons.
Kathy Liljekvist manages Space Saver Storage, a facility that
can hold up
to 40 motor homes inside a converted lumberyard building.
"People have a lot invested in motor homes and want to
protect them,"
Liljekvist said. "I've got a waiting list."
Schoff said monthly rental rates will depend on the RV's size,
but they
probably will range between $200 and $400 for 40-footers.
His market research shows that indoor parking in Tucson goes
for $160 to
$200 per month and $25 to $60 for outdoor storage.
National Self Storage RV Central will be built on seven acres
just off
Interstate 10. Since the area is zoned for light industry, the
facility
will have landscaping and masonry-covered buildings that blend
with the
desert, in keeping with zoning requirements, officials said.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:09 PM
Subject: AP: Navajo Nation Council's attorney resigns
"Boos said he was joining a Durango, Colo., law firm
which deals with a
variety of Indian issues, especially those of the Southern Ute
Tribe."
__________________________
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
Navajo Nation Council's attorney resigns
09/02/2001
WINDOW ROCK (AP) -- The chief attorney for the Navajo Nation
Council
resigned Friday effective Sept. 14.
Steven Boos told the council, the tribe's legislative arm,
that he and
his wife long had planned to seek better educational opportunities
for
their son than in Gallup, N.M., when he was of school age, a
point now
reached.
Boos said he was joining a Durango, Colo., law firm which
deals with a
variety of Indian issues, especially those of the Southern Ute
Tribe.
Boos once served as an associate judge with the Ute Mountain
Ute Tribal
Court.
He also worked with DNA People's Legal Services in the Mexican
Hat, Utah,
office for several years.
© 2000-2001 Arizona Daily Sun
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:17 PM
Subject: AP: Homesteader's daughter sues Sierra Club,
others over Klamath water
August 31, 2001
Homesteader's daughter sues over Klamath water
By JEFF BARNARD
The Associated Press
GRANTS PASS - A 72-year-old widow who inherited her father's
Klamath
Basin homestead is suing environmental and commercial fishing
groups,
claiming that they conspired to shut off water to farmers to
buy their
land for public open space.
The class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Siskiyou County
Superior
Court in Yreka, Calif., on behalf of Georgette Kirby of Tulelake,
Calif.,
who owns 80 acres homesteaded by her father, and by California
farmers
served by the Tule Lake Irrigation District. It seeks unspecified
damages.
The lawsuit claims that the defendants conspired to fraudulently
persuade
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the Klamath Project
irrigation system, that endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake
and
threatened coho salmon in the Klamath River need water that in
past years
has gone to farmers.
Glen Spain of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
said
the lawsuit was an attempt to intimidate anyone trying to show
that the
federal irrigation system in place for the past century can no
longer be
sustained.
Based on federal reports on the needs of endangered suckers
and
threatened coho salmon, the Bureau of Reclamation last April
shut off
irrigation water to 90 percent of the 220,000 acres of the Klamath
Project. The network was started in 1907 to irrigate the Klamath
Basin.
Robert Hannon, a Walnut Creek, Calif., attorney who grew up
in Tulelake
and filed the lawsuit, claimed that environmental groups want
to drive
down the price of farmers' land to the point that they can cheaply
buy it
for conversion to publicly owned open spaces.
"The Sierra Club and other so-called ecological groups
are trying to
acquire Tulelake by shutting off the water," Hannon said.
Named as defendants are the Sierra Club, the Pacific Coast
Federation of
Fishermen's Associations, the Klamath Forest Alliance, the Golden
Gate
Audubon Society and the Institute for Fisheries Resources.
Most of the defendants were involved in a lawsuit in which
a federal
judge ruled that the Bureau of Reclamation violated the Endangered
Species Act by failing to take into account the needs of coho
salmon when
irrigation water was released to farmers last year.
I am confident the case will be dismissed quickly," said
Todd True, a
lawyer for Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, which represented
the groups
in the lawsuit against the bureau.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:09 PM
Subject: AP: Construction booms in Lake Havasu City
Construction booms in Lake Havasu City
09/02/2001
LAKE HAVASU CITY (AP) -- The city's construction-related sales
totaled
more than $11 million in July, an increase of more than 40 percent
over
the same time last summer.
The boom has resulted in about $220,000 in sales tax revenue
for the
city.
"This is a very desirable place to live," said Bud
Schulz, executive
director of the Colorado River Building Industry Association.
"We have
clean air, a relatively low crime rate, and low housing costs
when
compared to a lot of other areas. Word of mouth travels fast."
Meanwhile, a handful of city building officials have little
time to catch
their breath with 346 inspections and 129 plan reviews in the
past week
alone.
Staff received 94 new plans during that time, including those
for 79
single-family homes.
The number of available single-family lots dropped below 1,000
in recent
months -- a first for Lake Havasu City.
"There hasn't been any let-up," said Stan Usinowicz,
the city's community
development director.
Construction sales continue to be a major driving force of
the entire
local economy.
The city reported more than $56 million in total sales in
July, resulting
in $1.17 million in city sales tax revenue. That was a 14.5 percent
increase over the same month last year.
The retail trade is the city's largest industry group with
$25.9 million
in total sales in July -- an 11-percent increase over July 2000.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:12 PM
Subject: AP: Coal Industries Hope for Revival
Coal Industries Hope for Revival
.c The Associated Press
READING, Pa. (AP) - Coal-related industries in Pennsylvania
hope for an
economic boost from proposed changes in federal energy policy
they say
could bring jobs and clean up piles of waste coal littering the
countryside.
The plan stresses development of domestic energy sources such
as coal,
and in its current form would include $33.5 billion in tax breaks
for
energy producers over the next 10 years.
President Bush's emphasis on coal in his national energy plan
can only
help Pennsylvania's coal industry, according to the state's two
major
coal groups.
``It's very encouraging,'' said George L. Ellis, president
of the
Harrisburg based Pennsylvania Coal Association.
``It wasn't too long ago that we were thought to be a dinosaur,''
he
said. ``The very fact that coal is being debated on a national
scale,
(that it's) now part of a public debate on how to address our
energy
problems, that's extremely encouraging.''
Ellis represents the state's bituminous coal industry, for
the most part
located west of the Susquehanna River and concentrated in the
southwestern part of the state.
Ninety percent of the state's high-sulfur bituminous coal
is sold to
electric utilities, and that makes the $2 billion earmarked for
clean
coal research and development vital to clean up bituminous coal's
high
sulfur content.
Duane C. Fegley of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Council said
the
anthracite coal from a 10-county region in northeastern Pennsylvania
hasn't seen the resurgence in demand and price that bituminous
coal has,
but the focus on coal is good for the industry overall.
Two years ago, U.S. power firms were considering perhaps three
or four
new coal-fired electric power plants, totaling at most about
2,000
megawatts.
``Today, there are about 50,000 megawatts of coal-fired plants
now in the
planning stages,'' said Rod J. Ragan, senior vice president of
Green
Hills-based Parsons Energy & Chemicals Group.
The power plant designer is among a number of companies that
hope to
benefit, along with Carpenter Technology Corp., which makes many
of the
specialty steels used in the plants, and construction and support
firms.
AP-NY-09-02-01 1856EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:14 PM
Subject: AP: Californians used 9 percent less electricity
during August peak periods
Sunday, September 2, 2001 (AP)
Californians used 9 percent less electricity during August peak
periods
(09-02) 14:46 PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --
State energy officials said Sunday that Californians used
9 percent
less electricity during peak periods this August. The usage was
compared
to last year.
They also said that 4.3 million Californians qualified for
rebates
from the state's 20/20 energy conservation program. That's a
25 percent
increase over the previous month.
The 20/20 program gives customers a 20 percent rebate on their
summer
energy bills if they reduce their energy usage by 20 percent
or more. The
program runs through September.
Officials said overall energy use in August was down by 1.6
million
megawatt-hours.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2001 AP
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:02 PM
Subject: AP: Archaeological dig unearths artifacts of
unknown culture
Archaeological dig unearths artifacts of unknown culture
ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 25, 2001
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/fri/news/news_1n25ancient.html
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Archaeologists say they've found evidence
of an ancient
native Southwestern culture that doesn't fit those already known
and may
be a new and separate type.
"This is a part of the Southwest that culturally we know
very little
about and I would argue is pretty much distinct," said Jeffrey
Altschul,
president of Statistical Research Inc. "While these people
were part of
what was going on in the Southwest, they also formed a distinct
group."
Altschul's Tucson-based firm has been excavating a site about
30 miles
southeast of Tucson as part of the Arizona Department of Transportation's
revamping of an Interstate 10 interchange that will include replacement
of a railroad bridge.
The site is at the cultural nexus of three major Southwestern
groups --
the Hohokam of the Phoenix and Tucson basins, the Mogollon of
western New
Mexico, and the Chihuahuan of northern Mexico.
The site also sits at the geographic transition from the Sonoran
Desert
to the Chihuahuan grasslands and along a natural corridor that
connects
the Santa Cruz and San Pedro valleys in southeastern Arizona.
Site field director Robert Wegener said the evidence unearthed
appears to
be that of a diverse people who don't fit into any of the three
groups.
"We might be looking at a unique ethnic group that we
don't currently
recognize," Wegener said. "These people and the artifacts
they left
behind kind of suggest that their technology was unique and that
they
probably had a distinct ethnic identity."
Thousands of artifacts and storage pits and hundreds of the
subterranean
foundations of dwellings have been unearthed at the site.
Preliminary research indicates the site was in use off and
on from about
2000 B.C. to A.D. 1450, Altschul said.
He said ancient people may have hunted at the site even earlier
but that
it probably wasn't inhabited until the advent of the corn agriculture,
which moved north from Mexico about A.D. 600.
The ancient people who lived at the confluence of the two
waterways
probably used the site seasonally or in a series of good years,
Altschul
said.
The dwellings range from small, round pit houses similar to
those found
along the Santa Cruz River in the Tucson area to larger rectangular
versions and even larger structures. The likes of the larger
ones have
been found only at excavations done more than 50 years ago by
the Amerind
Foundation at two other sites in southeastern Arizona, Altschul
said.
These rectangular structures, two to three times as large
as the average
pit house, contain unusual artifacts and have sunken areas surrounding
a
hearth, the perimeters of which may have been lined with benches.
They also have grooves lining the bottom of the structure,
evidence of
raised floors that may have created a sound mechanism for dancers
or
musicians, Altschul said.
The inhabitants of the site probably farmed the flood plains
near the
Mescal Wash. But unlike the Tucson basin, that higher elevation
-- about
3,600 feet -- precluded farming twice a year and the farming
they did was
riskier, Altschul said.
That may well explain why the proportion of cooking and storage
pits to
houses exceeds that of sites in the Tucson basin by a ratio of
about
4-to-1, said Rein Vanderpot, project coordinator at the site.
Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:14 PM
Subject: Anchorage Daily News: Amchitka testing sought
http://www.adn.com/front/story/676949p-719177c.html</A>
=========================================
Amchitka testing sought
RADIATION: State wants U.S. Department of Energy assessment.
By Don Hunter
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: September 2, 2001)
The state's top environmental officials have asked the U.S. Department
of
Energy to look for signs of radiation leaks on Amchitka Island
and in the
surrounding sea and fish and marine mammals.
In a letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, the state
says a
thorough assessment is necessary to reassure Alaska Natives who
live on
other Aleutian islands that the subsistence foods they rely on
are safe.
Tests also could allay any potential concerns about the quality
of the
rich North Pacific commercial fisheries, the letter says.
The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association and residents of
villages on
other Aleutian islands have lobbied for such tests for years.
In addition, the state wants the DOE to evaluate Amchitka's
susceptibility to earthquakes and volcanic activity. There are
no active
volcanoes on Amchitka now, but the radionuclides left over from
atomic
testing will remain dangerous for thousands of years.
The U.S. exploded three atomic devices in pits drilled into
Amchitka
between 1965 and 1971. The last, the 5-megaton Cannikin explosion
of a
Spartan warhead, was among the largest underground nuclear blasts
ever
conducted by the United States.
Two years ago, the DOE agreed to finance a medical surveillance
program
for people who worked on the island during the atomic era, and
Congress
has funded a benefits program for former Amchitka workers who
later
developed radiation-related cancers.
The Energy Department has said it has found no evidence that
buried
radiation from the tests may be leaching to the surface or into
the ocean
through groundwater seeps. But the agency has conducted no tests
for
radiation there since the 1970s, state officials say.
In the Aug. 6 letter, Alaska's commissioner of environmental
conservation, Michelle Brown, notes that the federal government's
own
computer models predicted that radionuclides produced by the
first atomic
test, Long Shot in 1965, could begin leaking from beneath Amchitka
anywhere from 10 years to 1,000 years or more after the explosion.
Though the probability of current leaks is believed to be
low, even the
prospect is enough to unnerve subsistence users. It could also
rattle
commercial fish markets, state officials said.
"Please understand that the possibility of radionuclides
leaking from the
island, even at very low levels, is a very real concern for subsistence
food users and Alaska's major commercial fisheries," Brown
wrote.
In an interview Thursday, Brown said Amchitka may have a lower
priority
for the federal agency because it is remote. That's not acceptable
to the
state, she said.
"They caused the situation," Brown said. "It's
not acceptable to allow it
to continue . . . without some kind of monitoring."
Alaska is wary of taking on the cost of a monitoring program
itself,
state officials have said.
The federal agency hasn't responded to Alaska's request yet.
But Mike
Giblin, the DOE's Nevada-based task manager for Amchitka, said
energy
officials want to perform a model-based risk analysis before
committing
to a sampling program on the island.
The analysis will consider what is known about ocean currents
around the
island, the nature of the seabed and water depth, and the types
of fish
and mammals taken for subsistence, he said.
It "will try to measure what we think is a likely amount
of radiation
that could emerge into the marine environment and how that would
interact
with those other factors."
"Once we have some perspective on the risks involved,
we'll be in a
better position" to decide what kinds of long-term monitoring
are
warranted, Giblin said.
That kind of analysis, "a paper risk assessment,"
doesn't satisfy the
state, said Doug Dasher, an environmental radiation manager with
the DEC.
"The last monitoring done out there with regard to the
marine environment
was in the late 1970s," Dasher said. "So for almost
25 to 30 years, we
don't have any information as to what's occurred."
Since the end of the testing program, Amchitka intermittently
has been
home to military bases and radar sites. It is now uninhabited,
but people
who live on other islands in the chain sometimes travel near
to fish and
hunt, and seals and other marine mammals used for food travel
from island
to island.
The DOE and several other federal agencies that have occupied
the island
during the past 50 years spent much of this summer cleaning up
abandoned
sites. Those cleanups were directed at other types of hazardous
materials, including PCBs and debris left from various federal
installations, as well as capping drilling muds produced during
the
atomic testing era. The DEC collected seaweed samples from the
shallows
near Amchitka and plans to have those tested this fall, Dasher
said.
Sampling conducted around French nuclear test sites and in
other parts of
the Arctic suggest that radiation leaks from Amchitka are "probably
not a
problem," Dasher said. But until samples from the island
are tested, no
one can know for sure.
What is certain, the state says in a report attached to Brown's
letter,
is that sooner or later, the radionuclides buried in Amchitka
will
creep-free.
"Based on the historic modeling, general knowledge of
island hydrology
and radionuclide transport mechanisms, the question is not if'
leakage
will occur to the marine environment, but when, where, and how
much," the
report says.
Reporter Don Hunter can be reached at dhunter@adn.com or 907
257-4349.
===================================================+
Date: Saturday, September
8, 2001 10:03 PM
Subject: American Land Conservancy would build new reservoir
to "save" Klamath Falls
http://www.mywebpal.com/mywebpal_cfmfiles/npv2/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localn
ews&pnpID=670&NewsID=171880&CategoryID=2196&on=0
Conservation group wants to buy ranch for reservoir
09/07/01
Anita Burke
Larry Jespersens four children were growing up and away from
a life in
agriculture when he decided to put the Swan Valley ranch he owns
with his
brother and cousin on the market last year.
He and his partners knew the 8,000-acre ranch on the shores
of Swan Lake
might take several years to sell, so they wanted to get it listed
sooner
rather than later. When it finally sold, they would still be
young enough
to enjoy an active retirement. He thought the ranch nestled in
the valley
just east of Klamath Falls might make a nice wildlife preserve.
Now, a potential buyer has come forward that wants to make
Jespersens
ranch a piece in the giant puzzle to preserve agriculture, wildlife
and
other competing players in the struggle for water in the Klamath
Basin.
The American Land Conservancy, a San Francisco-based organization
that
strives to preserve environmentally sensitive land and water,
has an
option to buy the property.
Jespersen now envisions the land that was reclaimed on the
lakes shore
for farming being reflooded to create a reservoir that could
hold 80,000
to 100,000 acre-feet of runoff from the surrounding hills and
well water.
Four or five other landowners around the lake are amenable to
the
proposal, he said.
The lake could be linked by way of a channel down the valley
and over a
slight rise to the Pine Flat Drainage District. That district
is
connected to the Lost River and the rest of the Klamath Reclamation
Project. The water then could be distributed to irrigators within
the
project.
Creating additional water storage areas for the Klamath Basin
is one
element of a three-part proposal the American Land Conservancy
has put
forth to help bring water supply and demand back into balance.
The group
also advocates improving water quality and cutting demand for
water by
reducing the amount of irrigated agriculture in the Basin.
The conservancy estimates that as much as $300 million might
be needed to
pay for all three parts of its proposal. It hopes to get federal
funding
for its ideas.
Lauren Ward, a San Francisco-based real estate consultant
for the group,
said he doesnt know whether the money will be available and,
even if it
was, whether the groups proposal could be enacted without fierce
challenges from competing interests.
Congress will do what Congress will do, he said. We must put
constructive
ideas out there and push for them.
In more detail, the conservancys ideas include adding storage
capacity
for surplus winter water in the Klamath Basin by reflooding lands
next to
Upper Klamath and Agency lakes and by storing more water in the
Southwest
Sump of Tule Lake than is typically stored there now.
To reduce water demand, the organization proposes buying agricultural
land within the project from farmers who are ready to retire,
who want to
seek opportunities off the farm or who dont have children who
wish to
remain in farming.
It currently has options to buy more than 28,000 acres of
land in the
Upper Klamath Basin.
Ward said the group would like to see that land held in trust
by a local
group, such as the Tulelake Irrigation District, and leased to
farmers
who now lease land within the wildlife refuges. After 10 years,
the lands
would be resold to private owners.
The group also proposes to reduce demand by acquiring water
easements on
another 20,000 acres of land in the project, so those lands could
no
longer be irrigated with project water.
Taking the water off removes lots of value from the land,
Ward
acknowledges. However, the land could still be dry land cropped
at
sharply reduced productivity, wells could provide enough water
for
high-value crops such as mint, or other sources of water could
be
explored, he said.
Watershed restoration efforts to improve water quality are
another key to
meeting the needs of agriculture and fish and wildlife in the
Basin, the
group believes. It advocates funding for a variety of groups
including
watershed councils, Klamath Basin Ecosystem Foundation, Water
for Life,
Ducks Unlimited, the Hatfield Upper Basin Working Group that
do
restoration work such as fencing off rivers and stream, planting
vegetation along waterways and creating wetlands that help filter
water.
Reporter Anita Burke covers agriculture and business. She
can be reached
at 885-4413, (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at aburke@heraldandnews.com.
American Land Conservancy
1388 SUTTER ST STE 810
SAN FRANCISCO,CA 94109
Program / Activities
Land Resources Conservation Financial Info
Fiscal Year: 1999
Assets: $24,277,635
Income: $10,272,088
===================================================+
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