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CONTENTS:
1) EPIC'S WEB SITE HAS MOVED!
2) BOARD OF FORESTRY TO CONSIDER NEW RULES IN JULY... MAYBE
3) CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE REFORM UPDATE
4) ACTION #1! CALIFORNIANS: KEEP ENVIRONMENT MONEY IN THE BUDGET!
5) ACTION #2! EVERYONE: ENDANGERED SPECIES HABITAT UNDER ATTACK!
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^^ SAME GREAT WEB SITE AT A NEW ADDRESS ^^
EPIC's web site has moved to a new location...
...where you'll find information, updates, alerts, links and the online version of our Wild California newsletter! Check your bookmarks!
EPIC's 1998 Annual Report is also available upon request, but only in printed form; our contact information appears at the end of this update. Thanks to all of our supporters--you make everything we do possible!
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^^ CALIFORNIA LOGGING RULES: CHANGES ON THE WAY? ^^
For sixteen long years, Republican administrations in California looked the other way while big timber companies exploited loopholes in the state's logging laws, fouling streams and driving native salmon to the brink of extinction in the process. The election of Governor Gray Davis last November raised some hopes for a reversal of this trend. However, these hopes have once again faded due to long months of silence and inaction on the part of the new administration, which has failed to fill even one of the five vacant positions on the California Board of Forestry.
The next two weeks may prove very interesting for Californians concerned with forestry reform. Rumor has it that the Governor's office is putting the finishing touches on a rules package to be unveiled at the July 6 meeting of the Board of Forestry. Of course, in order for the Board to act on the package, Davis will also have to appoint at least one new member, probably before the end of next week. Finally, a "Science Panel" convened years ago to review the effects of state logging laws on salmon is scheduled to release its long-awaited report any day.
An industry-backed legislative restriction allows new logging rules passed by the Board to take effect only once per year (on January 1). If the Davis administration delays the rules package beyond the July Board meeting, the changes cannot take effect until 2001... which may be too late for many disappearing coastal salmon runs.
Thus the Davis administration faces another critical environmental test. Many other long-delayed rule change proposals, some of them fairly strong, may be put aside once again to make way for the Governor's package. Environmentalists and industry lobbyists alike will surely scrutinize the Davis proposal for clues as to what "governing from the center" means in terms of forest conservation. We will soon have a very good idea whether or not this administration is interested in doing just enough to look "green," or is really serious about taking solid, meaningful steps toward the recovery of our endangered fisheries, clean water and healthy forests.
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^^ FOREST LEGISLATION ON THE MOVE ^^
A heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you who called and faxed your State Senators regarding SB 620 and 621, the forestry bills authored by Senator Byron Sher (Palo Alto). Both bills passed the Senate floor before the June 4 deadline, and now await action in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. SB 620 instructs the Board of Forestry to review the relationships between logging and landslides and adopt new rules to address such problems; SB 621 requires protection of major remaining coho salmon runs and institutes strong civil penalties for illegal logging.
Two other measures authored by Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fred Keeley (Santa Cruz), AB 717 and 748, still await action by the full Assembly; the final vote will probably not come until January. This means we have plenty of time to build momentum behind these reform measures, which will help restore accountability to the logging plan approval process and require timber companies to begin paying some of the costs associated with plan review.
Strong grassroots pressure and involvement is the only way we'll ever move substantial forestry reform through the Legislature, which is still very vulnerable to the old-fashioned arm-twisting methods that powerful special interests use to preserve business as usual. We'll keep you informed about what you can do.
In the meantime, here are two suggestions for action now!
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^^ ACTION #1: PRESERVE ENVIRONMENT FUNDING IN THE STATE BUDGET! ^^
(This one is especially for Californians... Distant folks, please see Action #2 below!)
The California Legislature sent a budget to Governor Davis last week that contains funding for several significant environmental projects, including:
* The Redwoods-to-the-Sea Corridor project, which would match private donations for acquisition of ancient forest habitat atop Humboldt County's Gilham Butte (successfully defended by a 1998 lawsuit brought by EPIC and Friends of Gilham Butte)
* New agency positions for more thorough review of logging plans
* Millions of dollars for habitat acquisition and protection statewide
To Governor Davis's credit, the new logging plan review positions were added to the budget at the administration's request. Habitat acquisition funding, however, remains at levels slightly below those set in last year's budget.
It is vitally important that funding for environmental projects remain intact in this year's budget! California Governors have "line item veto" authority to trim specific budgetary items--a tool past governors have used to strip funding for critical conservation efforts.
PLEASE LET GOVERNOR DAVIS KNOW THAT CONSERVATION IS A TOP BUDGET PRIORITY!
Call or fax the Governor's office TODAY!
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 445-4633
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^^ ACTION #2: DEFEND CRITICAL ENDANGERED SPECIES HABITAT! ^^
The Clinton administration, with help from allies in Congress, continues its underhanded efforts to weaken the federal Endangered Species Act. Only a coordinated political effort from grassroots and national conservationists has kept the ESA largely intact during this Congress; it seems that our help is needed once again!
The following alert comes from American Lands Alliance. For more information, you can also visit the Endangered Species Coalition's website at
DOMENICI BILL WOULD DELAY CRITICAL HABITAT DESIGNATION
Next week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will consider a bill (S.1100) offered by Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), John Chafee (R-RI), and Mike Crapo (R-ID) that would delay critical habitat designation for endangered species. According to Capitol Hill sources, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is the driving force behind the bill and has made it clear this Administration would like to get rid of the ESA's critical habitat requirements altogether.
When Congress passed the ESA it recognized the importance of protecting habitats to recover imperiled species. Critical habitat is a vital tool for reaching recovery goals because it protects habitat essential to a species' survival and recovery, identifies special management efforts that a species may require and lets land managers know which areas are important to a species.
Unfortunately, fewer than 10% of the 1,200 species listed in the U.S. have designated critical habitat. S.1100 would makes species recovery even more difficult by:
*Leaving habitat essential to a species' survival vulnerable. In a 1995 report, the National Research Council recommended critical habitat be designated upon completion of a recovery plan. It also recommended interim designation of "survival habitat" to protect core habitat during the period between listing and recovery plan completion. S.1100 contains no such "survival habitat" provision.
*Neglecting species with recovery plans. Although S.1100 sets timetables for completing recovery plans and designating critical habitat, it does not specify when to designate critical habitat for species that already have recovery plans. This oversight would allow the government to ignore many species awaiting critical habitat designations.
*Reopening a loophole that would expand government's ability to avoid designating critical habitat altogether. Under the ESA, critical habitat designation can be avoided if it is determined such designation is "not prudent" (e.g. if designation would make a plant species susceptible to illegal collection). If the government makes a finding that critical habitat is "not determinable," this merely entitles it to postpone designation for one year after listing. Under S.1100, designation could be avoided if the government determines it would either be "not prudent" or "not determinable."
Urge your Senators to OPPOSE S.1100. Capitol Hill Switchboard: 202/224-3121
For more information please contact Brian Vincent, 530/265-3506, mailto:wafcca@nccn.net
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The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC)
P.O. Box 397
Garberville, CA 95542
(707) 923-2931
Fax 923-4210
http://www.wildcalifornia.org
Contact us at epic@igc.org to join our listserver
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