From Support Rural America.com

June 4, 2012

Rural California Sheriffs face magnitude of issues

By Liz Bowen

Red Bluff, CA. – In an unprecedented event, a panel of 10 county sheriffs will address Northern California issues on June 23^rd at the Tehama County fairgrounds. Time is 1:30 p.m. Public safety is the number one concern shared by all of these Northern California sheriffs, according to Tehama County Sheriff Dave Hencratt, who is hosting this Support Rural America Sheriffs’ Event. With continuing cuts in county and state budgets, sheriffs are finding their resources diminished. Yet, county sheriffs are charged with the safety and health of the people. It is an expanding dilemma.

These sheriffs are committed to the “oath of office” they took to protect their citizens and will stand on the Constitution to address troubles head-on.

This is the fourth Sheriffs’ Event held this year following other Northern California counties of Siskiyou, Modoc and Trinity; and participation by county sheriffs is growing.

Sheriff Hencratt said the gatherings, which feature a panel of county sheriffs, are basically Town Hall meetings. “It is a chance to talk about our issues,” said Sheriff Hencratt, who adds that these sheriffs truly have a “handle” on a variety of concerns and situations affecting their counties.

“We’ve got your back,” Hencratt stated. “We are here to be reasonable and do what is right.”

A rural tax base that once existed from timber, mining and agriculture are either non-existent or threatened. Over-regulations by some environmental government agencies are affecting businesses and rural society as a whole.

Sheriff Hencratt explained there are four National Forests in Tehama County. He claims, under federal law, his county government should have equal say regarding policies and regulations over those lands managed by U.S. Forest Service.

“Road closures in the National Forest will hamper our law enforcement functions,” he said, adding that a Coordination Committee is working through the process of engaging with the federal agency. The goal is to affect federal regulations and re-open roads that citizens utilize for multiple purposes, including recreation and the ability to fight forest fires.

Sheriff Hencratt is pleased so many California sheriffs are participating on June 23^rd. They include: Siskiyou Co. Jon Lopey, Del Norte Co. Dean Wilson, Plumas Co. Greg Hagwood, Trinity Co. Bruce Haney, Modoc Co. Mike Poindexter, Mendocino Co. Tom Allman, Glenn Co. Larry Jones, Humboldt Co. Mike Downey and Shasta Co. Tom Bosenko.

“Every time I listen to these other sheriffs, I learn something. I am like a sponge,” said Hencratt. “And it is gratifying there are so many citizens interested in hearing from us.”

The last three events have boasted 200 to 300 attendees, who are also excited to participate and ask questions. These citizens are hungry to hear from the local officials responding to local issues.

The next event will be hosted by Sheriff Dean Wilson in Del Norte County at the fairgrounds in Crescent City on July 14 at 2 p.m.

Support Rural America Sheriffs’ Events are free. A donation bucket is passed to pay for the rental of the building and basic costs. The Tehama Event will be held in a huge air-conditioned auditorium with seating available for over 1,000. Sheriff Hencratt hopes every seat will be filled. Tehama County Patriots are sponsoring the Event.

Vendors and groups with information to share are invited to participate by renting a 10-foot space for $20. If you need a table, there is an additional $10 charge. Call Patsy Molher at 530-527-6915; Erin Ryan at 530-515-7135; or Liz Bowen 530-467-3515 to reserve your space.

Youtube videos of past events are available at www.supportruralamerica.com

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By Matt Weiser
mweiser@sacbee.com

Published: Monday, Jun. 4, 2012 – 10:43 am

Last Modified: Monday, Jun. 4, 2012 – 12:04 pm

The Delta Cross Channel Gates near Walnut Grove will be closed today at 5 p.m. for repairs that may last two weeks.

The gates, operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, divert Sacramento River water into the interior of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, then to state and federal water export pumps near Tracy. The gates suffered a mechanical failure on May 29 and became stuck open while workers were attempting to close them.

Reclamation spokesman Pete Lucero said Monday he did not know the nature of the failure. But the work requires the two gates to be in the closed position. Engineers have figured out a way to do that, though it will take longer than usual.

As a result, boaters are urged to avoid the area around the gates at 5 p.m. today. Boating access through the gates, normally available on weekends, will be cut off during the repair period, estimated to take 10 to 14 days.

The gates are normally closed on weekdays to prevent migrating salmon from straying into the mazelike interior channels of the Delta, where they are more likely to be killed by diversion pumps and predators. Reclamation has been in daily contact with wildlife agencies since the gate failure, Lucero said, and no special protective measures for salmon have been required so far.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/04/4537168/delta-gate-repairs-may-take-two.html#storylink=cpy

PNP comment: Hum, I wonder who all the businesses and Greenie groups are that support more Wilderness? — Editor Liz Bowen

Letter from OR. Senator Ron Wyden:

Dear Mrs. Blossom:

Thank you for contacting me to share your concern over the Rogue Wilderness Area Expansion legislation.  I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

As you know, the Wild Rogue Wilderness, and the Rogue River that runs through it, embodies one of the nation’s premier recreation destinations, providing numerous rafting and fishing opportunities.  That’s why I introduced the Rogue Wilderness Area Expansion Act (S. 2001), with Senator Merkley, designating an additional 60,000 acres of wilderness and ensuring these lands are protected for future generations.  Additionally, this bill received a hearing on March 22, 2012.

In general, I believe in a multiple use approach to managing our public lands.  Furthermore, as part of the wilderness designation process, I worked to address the recreational and community needs around the Wild Rogue Wilderness.  I have worked with the timber industry and conservationists to find a compromise that protects one of America’s treasures with additional wilderness designations and more targeted protections for the Rogue’s tributaries.  I am pleased that nearly 60 local businesses—and over 100 organizations and business in total—support protecting the Wild Rogue, and that support grows every day.  The input of local interests and communities is critical to the success of any wilderness proposal.

While we may disagree on this issue, I trust there are many other issues upon which we do agree.  As I  work in the Senate to represent Oregon, please know that I will keep your views in mind.

Thank you again for keeping me apprised of issues that are important to you.  Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I may be of further assistance on this or any other matter.

Sincerely,

Ron Wyden
United States Senator

To write to me, go to http://wyden.senate.gov/

Ridin’ Point

- a weekly column published in the Siskiyou Daily News

June 6, 2012

http://users.sisqtel.net/armstrng/

Battered Communities:

I have just finished writing a white paper on the saga of the systematic war against agriculture in Siskiyou County. http://users.sisqtel.net/armstrng/IWRM%20siskiyou%20part1.htm  After spending a month in research on water issues in the Klamath, there is no doubt in my mind that this is exactly what it is. The paper chronicles the relentless series of lawsuits by fishermen, environmentalists and tribes to reduce water available for irrigation in the upper Klamath Basin. It shows the use of the Clean Water Act Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) to render agriculture a “permitted” activity controlled and curtailed by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

It shows the CA Dept of Fish and Game’s efforts to take water from pre-1914 water right holders through the 1602 streambed alteration agreement, coho incidental take permit and flow studies.  Then there are the repeated attempts to create a “basinwide” governance structure, such as the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, where unelected bureaucrats, tribes and environmentalists will write restoration plans, reallocating water from farmers to the environment.

It is a lengthy chronicle. As one reader of the paper wrote me: “The inflicted tragedy is almost beyond belief, except that I know it is all true.“

The latest items in the lengthy saga are: (1) the lawsuit against the State Water Resources Control Board and Siskiyou County demanding regulation of groundwater use in Scott Valley; (2) the Riverkeeper’s lawsuit against the Montague Water Conservation District regarding Dwinnell dam, and (3) the recent duplicative study by the Karuk tribe regarding Scott Valley groundwater use and the announcement that they plan to convene a technical working group to come up with a restoration plan to impose on farmers there.

This is right on the heals of the announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of a large expansion of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl in Siskiyou County. This will only enlarge the field for endless timber litigation by environmentalists. With the help of EAJA (the Equal Access to Justice Act,) environmentalists will get paid for suing on technicalities and tying projects up in court. If the past is a teacher, it is a certainty that this will further reduce the paltry levels of timber harvest we have been allowed to cut.

Also, we just learned of a ninth circuit court decision in and appeal on Karuk Tribe v. Klamath National Forest that states that, even though mining under the 1872 Mining Act is not a “discretionary grant system” and requires only a Notice, the Forest Service must treat it as if it were a “permitted” activity, requiring an Endangered Species Consultation with NOAA Fisheries.

This is the culmination of a series of attacks on suction dredge mining, which have included repeated lawsuits by the Karuk Tribe, ratcheting down of regulatory restrictions by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and Dept. of Fish and Game and aggressive partisan legislation to place a moratorium on and even prohibit the industry all together in California.

In the dissenting opinion in the Karuk v. KNF decision, Circuit Judge M. Smith began his opinion with an illustration of Gulliver tied with ropes to a trolley by the Lilliputians. The caption read:  “I attempted to rise, but was not able to stir: for, as I happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner. I likewise felt several
slender ligatures across my body, from my arm-pits to my thighs. I could only look upwards; the sun began to grow hot, and the light offended my eyes.” – Jonathan Swift, GULLIVER’S  TRAVELS, Chapter 1. (Illustration shown on my homepage here: http://users.sisqtel.net/armstrng/ )

Smith states: “In my view, decisions such as this one, and some other environmental cases recently handed down by our court (see Part VII, infra), undermine the rule of law, and make poor Gulliver’s situation seem fortunate when compared to the plight of those entangled in the ligatures of new rules created out of thin air by such decisions.”

Siskiyou County is a land of abundant resources. We have forests, fertile lands, water and minerals. Yet, like Gulliver, we are being immobilized by the endless chords of lawsuits, oppressive agency regulations, and partisan legislation that takes our wealth from us and sets it aside, preserved from human use. Like Gulliver, these many chords have robbed us of our freedom.

From CA. Congressman Tom McClintock’s May 2012 newsletter

      Eliminating federal red tape and excessive litigation in order to create healthy forests and forest economies was the focus of a joint hearing held May 14th in Montrose, Colorado by the Subcommittee on Water and Power (of which Congressman McClintock is Chairman) and the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.

      In opening remarks at the hearing Congressman McClintock illustrated the issue at hand, stating:  “An old forester in my district summed up the problem we are here to assess when he said, “The excess timber is going to come out of the forest one way or another.  Either it will be carried out or it will be burned out.  But it will come out.”

      “A generation ago,” continued the Congressman, “we carried it out and the result was a thriving economy and a healthy forest.  But then a radical and retrograde ideology was introduced into our public policy transforming sound forest management practices into what can only be described as benign neglect.”

      “The result is now clear and undeniable: economically devastated communities, closed timber mills, unemployed families, overgrown forests, overdrawn watersheds, jeopardized transmission lines, rampant disease and pestilence and increasingly intense and frequent forest fires.

“That is the story of Montrose, Colorado and Saratoga, Wyoming, of Quincy and Camino and Sonora (little towns in my district in California’s Sierra-Nevada) – once thriving and prosperous communities that have been devastated by these policies.

      “When the mills in my district closed in 2009 the owner made it very clear that although the economic downturn was a catalyst, the underlying cause was the fact that 2/3 of the timber they depended upon was held up by environmental litigation.

      “Despite the recession, they still had enough business to keep the mills open — and to keep these families employed — if the environmental Left had not cut off the timber, those mills depended upon.

“This is not environmentalism.  True environmentalists recognize the damage done by overgrowth and overpopulation and recognize the role of sound, sustainable forest management practices in maintaining healthy forests.”

      The Congressman’s full opening statement from the committee hearing can be read here .