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^^^ E P I C   U P D A T E   A N D   A C T I O N   A L E R T ! ! ! ^^^

July 23, 1999

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CONTENTS:
1) LAWSUIT CHALLENGES INSTREAM GRAVEL MINING
2) SCIENCE PANEL SAYS LOGGING RULES DON'T PROTECT FISH...
3) ... BUT GOVERNOR'S RULE "IMPROVEMENTS" DON'T EITHER
4) CA: ACTION! A MESSAGE FOR THE BOARD OF FORESTRY
5) EVERYONE: ANTI-ENVIRONMENT RIDERS, ONCE AGAIN
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^ LAWSUIT CHALLENGES SALMON-KILLING GRAVEL OPERATIONS ^

The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for
Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit challenging government approval of
instream gravel mining operations in Humboldt County that kill coho (or
"silver") salmon.  The suit, filed today in Federal District Court in San
Francisco, alleges that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and
Army Corps of Engineers improperly granted gravel mining corporations
permission to kill the fish, which was placed on the list of threatened
species on May 7, 1997.  An estimated 400,000 coho salmon once returned to
spawn every year in these and other California rivers.  Due largely to
habitat degradation, only about 10,000 naturally spawning coho remain.
This represents a 94% reduction in northern California populations in the
past 50 years.

Endangered Species Act regulations allow federal agencies to permit the
killing of threatened and endangered species under certain circumstances.
In all cases, the rules clearly require issuance of a "biological opinion"
that, among other things, specifies the extent to which such killing is
allowed to occur.  The National Marine Fisheries Service, after evaluating
the plan under which all gravel mining in Humboldt County is authorized,
determined that the mining would directly, indirectly and cumulatively kill
coho salmon.  In issuing the biological opinion, however, the agency
completely failed to disclose the amount or extent of damage that will
occur to coho habitat or to even estimate the number of coho that will be
harmed by gravel mining as required by law.

More gravel is extracted from Humboldt County than any other area its size
on the entire Pacific Coast.  Extensive mining operations occur in several
major river systems critical to the recovery of threatened salmon,
including the Eel River, the Van Duzen River, the Mad River and the Klamath
River. Heavy equipment in the rivers can kill salmon directly as well as
disrupt migration patterns, ruin spawning habitat and increase
sedimentation. By failing to follow the law, NMFS and the Army Corps have
evaded an essential duty that was designed and implemented by Congress so
as to prevent species like the coho salmon from becoming endangered or
extinct.


^ SCIENTISTS SLAM STATE'S LOGGING REGULATIONS ^

A panel of scientists convened by the Wilson Administration last year
finally released its long-awaited report to the California Board of
Forestry in early July.  This Scientific Review Panel report contained some
very strong language condemning California's Forest Practice Rules for
failing to protect water quality and aquatic species.  The report adds to a
body of scientific literature critical of the rules, and provides some
additional impetus for change under the administration of Governor Gray
Davis.

Although many conservationists took heart in the panel's criticism of the
rules, the report nonetheless contains some frightening recommendations.
First, specific rules changes recommended by the panel are far weaker than
anything previously offered in other parts of the Pacific Northwest. The
report goes on to admit that current analysis of the cumulative impacts of
logging operations is a joke, but proposes to replace virtually everything
we know about salmon, water quality, and the way watersheds work with a
vaguely defined "watershed analysis" process.  This "watershed analysis"
would be used to formulate site-specific logging rules out of view of the
public, potentially allowing agency and industry "resource professionals"
to write their own rules in the field.

Sound familiar?  The same basic process--issuance of interim standards, to
be replaced by the results of a watershed analysis not yet designed--is the
cornerstone of the Pacific Lumber Habitat Conservation Plan, approved this
March as part of the Headwaters Forest agreement.  The main difference is
that the interim standards offered by the Scientific Review Panel are far
weaker than those provided by the PL plan, and the watershed analysis
process is even less well-defined.

The purpose of this proposal is clearly to streamline regulatory
restrictions for the timber industry, not to recover California's
threatened salmon and degraded water quality.  The Davis Administration is
already moving to implement many of the panel's recommendations.

The report can be downloaded (in PDF format, requiring Acrobat Reader) from
the California Resources Agency web site:

http://ceres.ca.gov/cra/srp.html


^ GOVERNOR'S RULES WON'T SAVE THE FISH EITHER ^

After reviewing the Scientific Review Panel report and existing rules
proposals created by California's Resources Agency and Environmental
Protection Agency, the Davis Administration made public a set of proposed
changes based largely on the panel's report.  Although some activists are
applauding specific rules changes, on balance the package fails to meet the
most important legal and biological test: compliance with the Endangered
Species Act and Clean Water Act.

Coho salmon are listed as "threatened" under the ESA, and it is technically
illegal in most parts of California to kill these fish.  The Clean Water
Act prohibits degradation of water quality to the point where "beneficial
uses" like drinking, agricultural use, and support of aquatic life are
threatened.  By any comparative standard, Governor Davis's rules package
falls far short of meeting these goals.  The proposed rules are on balance
far weaker than the standards in the Pacific Lumber HCP, which was designed
specifically to permit logging operations that kill fish within certain
limits.  The rules also contain provisions that will do no better than
maintain the already degraded status quo in many coastal streams and
rivers, which run coffee brown with sediment every winter.

Predictably, the timber industry is already making its opposition to the
rules package known.  According to the San Francisco Chronicle this week,
Governor Davis recently met with top industry brass at an expensive Redding
fundraiser.  At this meeting, Davis reportedly professed ignorance of the
rules package, which is odd given that the Governor's office stalled
release of the rules package for at least ten days in late June.  This is a
troubling development, especially given the Chronicle's disclosure that
Davis followed up a similar fundraiser with health insurance industry
representatives by taking action to stall the legislation they opposed.

Fortunately, the Board of Forestry also released a separate rules package
(entitled "Coho Considerations 1999") that would close many long-standing
loopholes in the Forest Practice Rules, require better analysis of
cumulative impacts, and focus attention to salmon habitat on a
watershed-wide scale.  The Coho Considerations package is the product of
nearly two years of work on the part of activists, policy experts and one
supportive Board of Forestry member.  Wilson holdovers on the Board,
however, are apparently attempting to slow down this package so that it has
no chance of moving through the Board process by the end of the year.  The
Davis Administration can--and should--remove these procedural roadblocks
very easily by openly supporting the package.

The Governor's rules package was formally released for public comment
today; contact the Board of Forestry at (916) 653-8007 for a copy or visit
the following web site:

http://www.fire.ca.gov/bof/board/board_proposed_rule_packages.html

Download the document entitled "45-day Notice Protection of Threatened and
Impaired Watersheds."  Due to procedural difficulties, the Coho
Considerations package is not yet available on the web, but a draft may be
obtained from the Board office.

On August 2, the Board of Forestry's Forest Practice Committee will discuss
both rules packages, and a public hearing may be scheduled soon thereafter.
The Davis Administration needs to be reminded not only that the rules fail
to protect salmon and water quality, but also that the timber industry
shouldn't be permitted to buy an even weaker package through "campaign
contributions" of the kind lavished on Davis in Redding.


^ ACTION!  SOME WAYS IN WHICH DAVIS CAN PROVE US ALL WRONG ^

Infuriated by the negative coverage in the Chronicle, Governor Davis
demanded to be judged by his actions, not by his expensive associations
with campaign donors and oddly coincidental political positions.  So,
always wanting to give the benefit of the doubt, here are a few things he
can do to show that we've all been too hasty in assuming that large
contributions from the timber industry might influence the administration's
position:

1.  Any rules claiming to protect water quality and fish habitat must meet
state and federal legal standards, including those of the Endangered
Species Act and Clean Water Act.  The Governor's rules package should be
strengthened sufficiently to avoid killing threatened salmon, degrading
water quality, and preventing habitat recovery.

2. The administration should fully support the "Coho Considerations 1999"
rules proposal, and work to remove any procedural roadblocks to its passage
this year.

Please direct your comments to:

Members, California Board of Forestry
PO Box 944246
Sacramento, CA 94244-2460
Phone: (916) 653-8007
Fax: (916) 653-0989

Governor Gray Davis
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 445-4633


^ SURPRISE! NASTY RIDERS ON APPROPRIATIONS BILLS! ^

In an all-too-familiar display of special-interest politics, Congressional
members beholden to the timber, mining and ranching lobbies have loaded the
legislation that funds our government with anti-environmental "riders,"
pieces of extraneous legislation that would doubtless fail if considered on
their own.  Defenders of Wildlife is watching the situation closely, and
has compiled a list of riders on the Senate Interior Appropriations bill,
headed for a vote early next week:

http://www.defenders.org/rider1.html

Now is the time to call both of your Senators and urge them to remove
anti-environmental riders from the Interior bill.  This underhanded tactic
has been thoroughly abused by member of Congress out of touch with the
environmental ethic of the American people, and now is the time to put an
end to it.  Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and ask to be
connected with your Senators' offices.

The Clinton Administration also needs to hear from us.  With next year's
election politics already shaping today's headlines, Clinton and Gore have
one final chance to reverse their rather shoddy record on timber, grazing
and endangered species issues by vetoing any appropriations bill containing
destructive riders.  Call the White House at (202) 456-1414.

Thanks to Defenders of Wildlife and American Lands Alliance
(http://www.americanlands.org) for keeping the grassroots informed of
developments in DC... and THANK YOU for taking action!


The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC)
P.O. Box 397
Garberville, CA 95542
(707) 923-2931
Fax 923-4210
http://www.wildcalifornia.org
***Note new email address:  epic@wildcalifornia.org***
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