Avast, Ye Miners!

Aye, ye gravel grovelers, ye watery wastrels, ye ramblin’ rogues of the deep! I’ll sink yer dredges and steal yer gold, ye dirty river rats! Ye say yer dredges don’t hurt the fishes? Excuse me, but I think yer arguments are bullshit! Aaarghhh!

And thus spake Sen. Pat Wiggins, although it’s true that we may have garbled her words a bit as we struggled to hear her speak over the roar of her trusty pirate ship as it sped up the Klamath River last fall toward battle.

But Wiggins’ displeasure with the California Department of Fish and Game came across quite clearly this week as she reacted to the agency’s rejection of an emergency petition to halt suction dredge gold mining on various rivers and streams, including some on the Klamath River Basin, in order to protect vulnerable species of fish. The petition was filed by the Karuk and other tribes, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and several conservation groups. Wiggins said:

California’s once-thriving salmon populations have plummeted to the point that they face extinction unless we take immediate action. It will take courage and bold action on all our parts to bring the fisheries back to healthy levels …

[I]t’s time for our government to step up. If the Department of Fish and Game is unwilling to place the burden of rebuilding fisheries fairly upon all users, I will continue to take legislative action to get government to do its job.

Here’s how the petitioners reacted on Monday to the rejection.

The Sacramento Bee also chided the DFG  in an editorial yesterday, saying in part:

No doubt global warming, dams, logging, pesticides and other human activities kill fish and destroy habitat, but the bulk of the science strongly suggests that suction dredge mining harms fish, too.

As salmon populations dwindle, the state agency charged with protecting them protects gold miners instead.

Need a refresher on the petition?

And, uh, it was Dan Bacher at IndyBay who cleverly used the pirate photo first.

 

Thompson, our squeaky wheel

Our trusty Congressional mouthpiece, Rep. Mike Thompson, is speaking out on behalf of us backwater yokels, a-scrappin’ and a-hustlin’ for some of that $800 kazillion-berzillion (or whatever) stimulus package. In a letter sent last week to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner, Thompson, along with 32 other Congressmembers, argued for the importance of rural infrastructure projects, like highways and bridges (to, presumably, somewhere).

Just today, he singled out the Army Corps of Engineers for special attention. “The Army Corps of Engineers oversees many crucial projects,” Congressman Thompson said in D.C., according to a news release. Said release claims that the Corps is under-funded by some $2.2 billion this year alone, and that by kicking down that cash, the government would almost instantly create hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country.

Having apparently learned a few tricks from the departing administration, Thompson even threw in some scare tactics: “[We] need to recognize the cost should we fail to invest in the levies and flood control projects the Corps helps to build,” he forewarned. “For example, if the levies in the Sacramento Delta were to break, entire towns would be underwater and 63 percent of Californians would be without drinking water.”

Not here, though, right?

 

Rep. Mike hits ground running

This just in from Mike Thompson’s office:

Congressman Thompson Introduces Bill to Permanently Ban Drilling on North Coast

WASHINGTON – On the first day in the 111th Congress, North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) introduced a bill that would permanently prohibit oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. The Northern California Ocean and Coastal Protection Act provides protection to the unique and productive marine environment along Northern California’s outer continental shelf (OCS).

“For the economic and biological health of our country, it’s critical that we permanently protect this unique area from the environmental hazards of off-shore drilling,” said Congressman Thompson.  “Unfortunately in the last Congress drilling became a political drama, rather than a policy debate.  My legislation is one aspect of a broader campaign to restore sensible, science based policy and ensure the health of our oceans for generations.”

During the last Congress, the ban on OCS drilling expired, which leaves the North Coast susceptible to drilling in as little as three years. The moratorium on OCS drilling had been a bipartisan agreement in Congress since 1982, but came under regular attack, and was not renewed in 2008.  In order to make sure that the North Coast of California is permanently protected, Congressman Thompson introduced his legislation today.

“Our coastline is home to one of the four most important upwellings in the world, which together support 20 percent of the ocean’s fish.  Drilling on the North Coast doesn’t make sense, either from an economic standpoint or an environmental perspective.  By permanently banning drilling, we can provide our coast with the protection it needs, regardless of who is in charge in Washington,” said Congressman Thompson.

Upwelling regions are coastal areas that support extremely abundant and productive marine life. This is because an upwelling brings cold, nutrient-rich waters up from the ocean depths that, when combined with sunlight, enhance seaweed and phytoplankton growth. The seaweed and phytoplankton provide energy for some of the most productive ecosystems in the world, including many of the world’s most important fisheries, such as the North Coast fisheries.

Drilling for gas and oil off the Northern Coast of California could cause serious harm to the unique and productive ecosystem and abundant marine life found off the coast, including the fish many local North Coast economies depend on.

Thoughts?

 

Guv signs budget – finally

After an 85 day delay and many compromises Governor Schwarzenegger has signed a budget and California can resume business. Here’s the official announcement from Da Schwarz’ office:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed the 2008-09 state budget, concluding a very difficult budget year and delivering a real win for Californians with a proposal to achieve meaningful budget reform. It addresses California’s $15.2 billion budget shortfall with a combination of cuts and increased revenues. It fully funds education’s Proposition 98 guarantee and does not borrow funding from voter-approved local government or transportation funds. The historic budget reform package includes a strong rainy-day fund aimed at helping smooth out the unpredictable highs and lows in revenues that plague our state and create massive deficits.

“While California is certain to face a difficult budget situation again next year, this budget does not take money out of people’s paychecks or borrow from voter-approved local government or transportation funds, and it includes real budget reform with teeth,” Governor Schwarzenegger said. “These budget reforms, when approved by voters, will finally put California’s budget on a path toward long-term fiscal stability.”

Throughout California’s history, numerous attempts have been made to reform our state’s broken budget system. When the Governor was elected, he committed to finally end California’s feast and famine budget cycle. In 2004, the Governor worked with the legislature to pass Proposition 58, which took the first step toward budget reform. In 2005, the Governor attempted the next step in budget reform with Proposition 76, and while it was defeated, the Governor remained committed to reform.

Today, the Governor delivered on his commitment with reforms to address two major flaws in the state budget system-wildly volatile revenues and over spending. In fact, had these reforms been in place over the past decade, this year’s budget problem would have been approximately $10 billion smaller and California would have benefited from $8 billion in additional funding available for infrastructure and other one-time purposes. The proposal will now go before voters on the next statewide election ballot.

Over the weekend, the Governor used his veto pen to make an additional $510 million in General Fund reductions, reflecting the Governor’s determination to reduce spending to the maximum extent possible. The state also captured $340 million in savings due to the delay in enacting the budget and the effect of the Governor’s executive order.

The rest of the Governor’s official statement is here.

 

Arcata Sesquicentennial

Eleven Arcata Mayors

Ten of Arcata’s former mayors joined Mayor Mark Wheetley (on right in top hat) on the Arcata Plaza today to celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary. Those who spoke uniformly had trouble pronouncing sesquicentennial (seskwisenˈtenēəl). Perhaps to mark the occasion, someone had decorated the statue of William McKinley with a brassiere. No one made any attempt to remove it.

 

Driving into the Hydrogen Future

Humboldt State unveiled its hydrogen fueling station today with Rep. Mike Thompson here to help with the ribbon-cutting and talk about the role the Schatz Energy Research Center is playing in our renewable energy future. He’s shown above driving HSU’s hydrogen-powered car, which he’d just helped fill with fuel.

Here’s a soundbite from Rep. Mike’s speech:

Star of the show was Schatz lab director Peter Lehman (below), whose pioneering work was featured in a Journal story, “Peter and the Fuel Cell,” back in 2006.

Here’s an excerpt from Peter’s speech:

Peter Lehman addresses crowd at ribbon cutting

While this is certainly cutting edge stuff, there are limitations. The fueling station at Humboldt State is the northernmost outpost on what’s deemed California’s “hydrogen highway.” The Toyota Prius hydro-car (converted at a cost of cost $45,000) will only go 100 miles on a 2.5 kilogram tank of hydro-fuel, and there is not another fueling station within its range. (A California Fuel Cell Partnership map shows the closest stations being in Davis and Oakland.) So, Humboldt’s lone hydro-car is mostly for show: President Rollin Richmond will be among the drivers, and as a Schatz lab tech explained to Rep. Thompson, there are plans afoot to use the vehicle to take mail deliveries up to the Telonicher Marine Lab in Trinidad.

 

Monday Morning Papers

The Chronicle reports that Humboldt State is now the last member of the California State University system to have no building named for private donors. Probably not for lack of trying.

A new history — Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans — is reviewed in the Chicago Tribune. According to the review, the book at least touches on Humboldt County’s Chinese Expulsion:

In some places, like Eureka, Calif., marauding mobs drove the Chinese from their homes; in other places, like Truckee, Calif., white threats to burn their communities or boycott their employers effectively prompted the Chinese to flee. In still other places — Rock Springs, Wyo., for instance — outright terrorism and assassination accomplished the same end.

On Amazon, reviewer M. L. Lamendola expounds:

Pfaelzer took great pains to thoroughly research events, sort through the facts, and reconstruct what happened. Her method is one of first providing a macro view and then providing a detailed accounting of the subsequent events. For example, she talks about the Eureka method (named after the town of Eureka) in Chapter 4 and explains what it was about. Then, she goes into specific events that occurred as part of putting the Eureka method into practice. Pfaelzer shows the rationalizations that people used to justify their reprehensible behavior.

Eureka was just one of many towns that embarked on a vicious and insane program of forcing the Chinese to leave. In Chapter 5, Pfaelzer uses the same approach to reveal the Truckee method and the atrocities committed there.

The book was written by University of Delaware American Studies Professor Jean Pfaelzer and is published by Random House.

Finally, the Sacramento Bee notes that weasel lovers working to overturn California’s anti-ferret law have found very little traction. Ferrets Anonymous, an advocacy group, has been contacting legislators hoping to find a bill sponsor; the only response that the group has received is an “I’ll think about it” from our own Assembleymember Patty Berg.

Ferret politics are endlessly fascinating.

Creative Commons-licensed ferret photo by Flickr user (and apparent ferret freak) Stacy Lynn Baum.