Conservation Committee Voting Criteria for Chapter Entities
From the Conservation Committee Newsletter, February 2004

The Executive Committee of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club establishes the following criteria regarding the status of various Chapter entities to be able to vote at meetings of the Chapter Conservation Committee:

 

Groups and sections which have a Conservation Chair will be considered to be adequately informed on conservation issues to be allowed to vote at any meeting.

 

Issue Committees and Task Forces, to be considered active, must have more than four members and must meet at least one time per calendar quarter. In addition, they must have a mission statement that clearly states their purpose, and must publish an annual report describing their meetings, activities, and accomplishments.

 

To be able to vote at Conservation Committee meetings, active committees and task forces must have had a member in attendance at Conservation Committee meetings either in Los Angeles or Orange County at least once in the previous four months. Attendance will be tracked by the Secretary of the Conservation Committee.

 

Death Valley Superintendent Receives National Award

Parks Group Says Superintendent Goes Above and Beyond
the Call of Duty for Park Protection

 

Washington DC — A leading park advocacy group, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has bestowed its prestigious Stephen T Mather Award on Death Valley National Park Superintendent JT Reynolds for his leadership and unwavering dedication to the long-term protection of the national parks. At Death Valley and throughout his career with the National Park Service, JT Reynolds has demonstrated the strongest possible commitment to park resources, staff, and volunteers.

 

Superintendent Reynolds has worked tirelessly to bring attention to the wonders of Death Valley, and confront challenges to park stewardship, said NPCA Senior Vice President Ron Tipton, who presented the award at the annual meeting of the Association of National Park Rangers with NPCA Vice President for Government Affairs Craig Obey.

 

JT Reynolds always works in the best interest of Death Valley, consistently advocates for greater funding and protection for park resources, and has forged constructive relationships with the park’s neighbors, added NPCA California Desert Program Manager Howard Gross. For nearly 35 years, JT Reynolds has embraced the principles of the National Park Service’s founders, and our country is a better place because of his efforts.

 

In June 2005, NPCA’s Center for State of the Parks released a comprehensive assessment of the health of Death Valley and its neighboring parks, Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve. While noting that the California Desert Protection Act in 1994 provided a critical step toward better desert conservation, NPCA said that the park’s water and air quality and cultural heritage are threatened by rapid regional growth, development of surrounding lands, and insufficient annual funding.

 

At 3.4 million acres, Death Valley National Park is the largest national park outside of Alaska. It is the hottest, driest place in North America with summer temperatures frequently reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit. A region of unrivaled desert scenery with shimmering salt flats, shifting dunes, and rugged peaks over 11,000 feet, Death Valley protects 38 reptile species, more than 200 species of birds, and 31 mammal species. The park also contains the 200 historic structures.

 

Named for the first director of the National Park Service, NPCA gives the Stephen T Mather Award annually to people who have demonstrated initiative and resourcefulness in promoting environmental protection in the national parks, taken significant action where others have hesitated, and exemplified the principles of good park stewardship.

 

Conservation Retreat—February 25, 2006

The Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee will be holding a full-day Conservation Retreat on Feb. 25 from 9 am to 5 pm at Grace Black Auditorium in the El Monte Community Center, 3130 North Tyler Ave, El Monte CA 91731. There will be no charge to attend this event and all Sierra Club members who are interested in conservation are welcome. We will be discussing in depth all of our Chapter's conservation efforts, and will have top-quality speakers. The focus will be on coordinating the efforts of our conservation activists and providing them with tools to be more effective. In addition, conservation topics will be discussed, including: city planning and land use, river and water issues, energy and global warming, animal habitat and endangered species, transportation, air quality, forests, harbors, coastal and park issues and environmental justice.

 

The February Chapter Conservation Committee meeting, which would normally be held at the Chapter office on February 15, will be held as part of the February 25 retreat instead. The length of the meeting of the Conservation Committee will depend on the length of the agenda, up to 1.5 hours. All Sierra Club members are welcome to attend this meeting.

Street parking is available; there is also parking behind the building, off Mildred St. There will be a potluck lunch, so bring some lunch food to share if you come; also bring a cup, napkin, plate and utensils as this event will have a zero-waste policy (i.e. no styrofoam cups, paper plates, plastic forks, paper napkins, etc.). A kitchen will be available so that you can wash the above after you eat.

 

RSVP to Jennifer Robinson, Chapter Conservation Coordinator, (213) 387-4287 x204, jennifer.robinson@sierraclub.org.

 

Reporting Live from Montreal, Monsieur Brian O'Malley

December 8, 2005

 

From November 28 to December 9, representatives from more than 180 countries were meeting in Montreal for the first major climate change conference since the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. These representatives (including moi) are here to discuss new measures to be taken in the fight against global warming—a threat some have called more dangerous than terrorism.

 

The conference, to put it bluntly, was a crazy scene. Thousands of people — from Prime Ministers to Native Alaskans — were putting aside their political differences for two weeks in order to address the same goal: curbing global warming. I have seen activists protest the potential death of hockey due to climate change. I drank coffee brewed by solar power. I tried to speak French. And, unlike the Bush administration, I have seen people ready and willing to take action.

 

However, while the world is rolling up their sleeves to address global warming, the Bush administration is continuing its pattern of missed opportunities and broken promises that include reversing campaign promises to cut global warming pollution from power plants and withdrawing from the Kyoto Treaty on global warming.

 

Just this year the chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) was caught doctoring several government reports on global warming to play down the links between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

And what is the Bush administration doing in Montreal? Objecting over the definition of words like “dialogue” in even the weakest proposals for curbing global warming pollution.

 

However, not all hope is lost. The Bush administration’s dangerous approach to global warming has forced local and state governments to implement their own solutions.

 

Right now, the real leaders on global warming solutions can be found in America’s city halls and state capitals. Twenty states have adopted standards that require a percentage of their energy portfolio to come from renewable sources, and eleven states require a 25% to 30% greenhouse gas reduction for new cars. On the local level, 188 mayors—representing almost 40 million Americans in 38 states — have signed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, pledging to reduce global warming pollution in their cities to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012.

 

Montreal was a great time. However, my French is still wicked bad..

 

Cedar Mountains Victory:
Congress Set to Designate Utah Wilderness!

by SUWA

 

Friday, December 16, 2005

 

Today's a day to celebrate! Thanks to an outpouring of phone calls, emails, letters, and lobby visits by wilderness advocates throughout the country, Congress is poised to pass the Cedar Mountains Wilderness bill this weekend.

 

Last night, House and Senate conferees accepted the Cedar Mountains Wilderness provision of the Defense Authorization Act. This means that the provision will be included in the overall bill when it is voted on by both the House and the Senate sometime this weekend. Since the Defense bill is expected to pass both chambers easily and be signed by President Bush, we are confident that within a week or so there will be an official Cedar Mountains BLM Wilderness Area permanently protecting 100,000 acres of stunningly beautiful public land. The bill will also block the transportation of nuclear waste to Skull Valley and extend the life of the Utah Test and Training Range.

This is the first wilderness bill specifically for Utah that Congress has passed in over 20 years, so we all have cause to celebrate.

 

The bill was first introduced by Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) and had the bipartisan support of the entire Utah Congressional delegation, as well as Governor Jon Huntsman. We thank the delegation, and particularly Representative Bishop and Governor Huntsman, for their commitment to achieving this victory for wilderness.

 

This never would have happened without YOU, and without the hard work of many, many other SUWA volunteers, members and activists who have been passionate advocates for wilderness for the past 20 years. It is also thanks to the work of friends and allies in the Utah Wilderness Coalition, including the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, the Wasatch Mountain Club, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Californians for Western Wilderness, and many others. Our friends at Public Citizen also took the lead in rallying their supporters on behalf of the bill.

 

Special thanks go to our friends and activists in Virginia, Michigan, Missouri, California and Nevada who made calls to the House-Senate conferees in the last couple weeks. In three days, volunteers made over 3500 phone calls on behalf of the bill.

This is a victory for wilderness and a victory for all people who care about preserving a legacy for our grandchildren. It proves that reasonable people can work together and agree on a good wilderness bill. We hope it bodes well for the future.

Thank You!

 

Alito Cannot Be Trusted to Protect
America's Water, Air and Wildlife

Sierra Club Opposes first Supreme Court Nomination since Bork

 

December 20, 2005

Statement of David Bookbinder, Sierra Club Senior Attorney

"In the first such move since the Bork nomination of 1987, the Sierra Club today joins with other national environmental groups to urge Senators to oppose the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Americans deserve mainstream, independent Justices, with unassailable integrity, who will protect individual rights and freedoms. Unfortunately, Judge Alito's opinions and other statements, combined with a disturbing lack of candor since being nominated, show that Judge Alito cannot be trusted to protect those rights and freedoms. The more one learns about his positions, the clearer it is that he's the wrong choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Court.

 

"The Sierra Club's opposition to Judge Alito's confirmation rests on his Constitutional philosophy as expressed in opinions that threaten both the ability of Congress to pass laws to protect the environment, and the ability of citizens to enforce those laws.

 

"In US v. Rybar, Judge Alito dissented from a decision upholding Congress' power under the Commerce Clause to regulate possession of machine guns. Coming after six other federal appeals courts had upheld the same law, his reasoning is extremely troubling. This is not an abstract Constitutional issue; if confirmed, Judge Alito would be ruling on two Clean Water Act cases now pending before the Supreme Court on whether this same Constitutional provision — the Commerce Clause — gives Congress the authority to protect any of America's streams and wetlands (US v. Rapanos and US v. Carabell). This same philosophy could also eventually jeopardize all of the environmental laws that protect clean air, clean water, endangered species and more.

 

"Judge Alito has also ruled (in Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) v. Magnesium Elektron) that the Constitution barred citizens from enforcing the Clean Water Act even against a company that admitted it had been violating the law for years. The Magnesium Elektron decision threatened to effectively put a stop to most Clean Water Act enforcement. Fortunately, the Supreme Court effectively reversed this decision three years later in another case.

 

"The Sierra Club, in coordination with our fellow environmental groups and the Coalition for a Fair & Independent Judiciary, will be mobilizing its members around the country to call on their Senators to vote no on Alito's confirmation. Senators from both political parties must take this responsibility seriously and not be a rubber stamp for the President's choice."

Help Stop Pombo’s Public Lands Mining Rider

 

In his most recent attempt to sell off public resources, Representative Pombo, Chairman of the House Resources Committee, buried a rider in the House budget reconciliation bill that would make public mining lands available for sale for economic development. Pombo claims that the money made from this scheme would assist in paying down the huge deficit amassed by the Republican controlled Congress. However, it is clear that this action is not about reducing deficits as it is about privatizing the public's treasured resources. The Governors of six Western states, law professors, conservationists and many Members of Congress have publicly opposed Pombo's plan.

 

The provision would allow the sale of existing and future mining claims on public lands, National Forest lands, and lands in our National Parks, even if the purchaser never intends to mine the claims. A conservative estimate of the provision's reach is some six million acres of public lands, including more than 600 unpatented mining claims in National Park units. Claimants would not even have to prove that their claims contain mineral deposits before they can purchase the rights to the land.

 

Under the antiquated 1872 Mining Law, private mining companies could stake claims on public land and eventually own it through a process called "patenting." Fortunately, Congress put a moratorium on sales in 1994. The House budget bill would end the moratorium, a scheme that could lead to the privatization of millions of acres of public lands.

 

Victory! Pombo/Gibbons Land Grab Withdrawn
2006 to Bring Real Mining Reform Debate?

Wednesday, Decenber 21, 2005

Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV) and House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo withdrew their controversial land grab provisions from the budget reconciliation bill — thanks to your support! The bill that used to contain the mining subtitle has now passed both the House and Senate without it. It is officially dead.

 

This would not have happened without your action. You were part of an unprecedented bipartisan coalition opposed to this ill-advised attempt to privatize vast tracts of public lands.

The coalition ranged from western Senators to hunters and anglers, from jewelry retailers to local government officials, from Representatives to citizen activists across the country.

 

If the mining provisions had passed, they would have allowed land speculators and multi-national mining and energy corporations to take ownership of hundreds of millions of acres of federal public lands in the West. In the process, public lands now used by millions of Americans for hunting, fishing and myriad other recreational purposes could have been placed off limits. In terms of protecting public lands, this is the most significant mining law victory in decades.

One idea unites both those who opposed the land grab and those who supported it: the recognition that our nation's mining laws need to be updated.

Arctic/Defense: Victory For All Americans

For Immediate Release: December 21, 2005

Washington DC — In an against-all-odds victory for wildlife, wild places and all Americans, the Senate today rebuffed attempts to attach controversial provisions to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the Defense spending bill.

 

"Drilling proponents have pulled out all the stops, and tried every trick in their playbook to open up the Arctic Refuge to no avail," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director. "This is a tremendous victory for all Americans and proof positive that the fate of the Arctic Refuge must be debated on its merits, not as part of a sneak attack."

 

Drilling proponents have now failed to include Arctic drilling in the energy, budget and defense bills. The deplorable effort to link Arctic drilling to funding for America’s troops and Hurricane Katrina relief, led by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and bolstered by intense lobbying from the Bush administration, failed in a cloture vote 44-56 (cloture requires 60 votes).

 

"We applaud those Senators who refused to let drilling proponents manipulate them and the democratic process," said Pope. "Today’s vote reaffirmed the Senate’s role as a deliberative body, not a place where unrelated and controversial issues are tacked on to any bill without debate and at the whim of special interests."

 

Senator Stevens—the man who brought us the $450 million "bridges to nowhere"—tried to bully the Senate into passing a bill that benefits his state and the oil industry at the expense of all Americans.

 

"This year the oil industry squeezed Americans at the gas pump to the tune of billions in record profits, carved out billions more in government subsidies, and then lied to Congress. Senator Stevens held defense spending and hurricane relief hostage to help Big Oil out," said Pope. "Today the Senate gave the oil industry and Stevens the lump of coal they deserved. We will remain vigilant as those who would plunder the Arctic Refuge for short-term gain are clearly willing to try anything regardless of cost."

 

"Americans want real energy solutions that protect special places like the Arctic Refuge. Today that message was heard loud and clear," said Pope. "Drilling proponents tried every excuse, but Americans know that Arctic drilling would not put a dent in our dependence on foreign oil, would do nothing to strengthen our national security, and would not save consumers money at the pump."

 

A recent report from the US Department of Energy’s own Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that even 20 years down the road, when Arctic Refuge oil would be at or near peak production, gas prices would only be affected by about a penny per gallon. The United States sits on just 3 % of the world's known petroleum reserves. Government estimates indicate that there is less than a year’s supply of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and even the oil industry admits it would take 10 years to make it to US markets.

 

We Have 90 More Days to Appeal
Monica Bond <mbond@biologicaldiversity.org>

 

I’m sure most of you have heard by now but I wanted to ensure no one is out of the loop — the Forest Service is recirculating the plan and we have an extension to file the appeal. I got a confirmation email from Ron Pugh. I’m still going to keep working hard to get it done since I don’t want it to dominate our lives during the extension, but we have enough time now to perfect it and do a great job on media, etc.

 

Ellen Stern Harris — a Champion for Ballona Gone
by Marcia Hanscom

 

Ellen Stern Harris has passed on today (Monday, January 2, 2006). I just received notice from a friend in Santa Cruz, news about Ellen always traveling in circuitous fashion — but never far from her beloved California coast.

 

Most people know of Ellen's commitment to the California coast, and her co-authoring and championing of Proposition 20, the voter initiative which led to the California Coastal Act.

 

Some in Los Angeles know of her dedication to our Los Angeles coastline.

 

The Ballona Wetlands lost a true and dedicated champion today.

 

For more than 30 years, after being educated on the topic by Dr Rimmon Fay, with whom she had served on the first statewide Coastal Commission, Ellen kept the flame for Ballona going, hoping for more wetlands to be preserved than any of the landowners said was "reasonable."

 

Ellen gave our movement credibility and hope when we had few political friends and allies. She knew taking such a stance was not easy, after the FBI had interviewed her in the 1970s for criminal charges they were considering re: Summa Corporation (once-owner and originator of Playa Vista), whose lobbyists were under investigation related to questionable practices re: Ballona and its sudden removal from the state's list of priority acquisitions.

 

It took a long time to get Ballona back on the priority acquisition list for the State of California, but Ellen never gave up — especially when she met some of us who took up the cause in the mid-1990s.

 

Ellen was still going strong until the end. She even recently scheduled time to meet with long-time Ballona Wetlands leaders in mid-January to talk about her ideas for stronger coastal protection measures and to be honored by those of us who recognized her contribution to the wetlands.

 

Sadly, her body was being ravaged by cancer that had long threatened her enthusiastic spirit. She made it into the New Year, but during a strong winter storm, her strong, stormy, yet gracious style was extinguished. Her gifts of wisdom and mentoring to many of us will live on as we continue to strive for Mother Nature's voice on the California coast to be fortified and heeded.

 

Do You Use Your Computer Printer?

More than 500 million toner and inkjet cartridges are manufactured every year. If these cartridges are not diverted from our landfills, this equates to almost 1,000 tons of unnecessary pollution that can enter our waste stream every day. To produce a single new laser cartridge, over 3 quarts of oil are used. This equates to more than 375,000,000 gallons of oil consumed every year to make toner and inkjet cartridges.

Sierra Club Celebrates Eco-friendly Building Projects

The Sierra Club has often gone to court to stop bad development schemes, but now the venerable green group is trying the carrot instead of the stick. The group has released its first "Guide to America's Best New Development Projects," which gives kudos to builders putting up environmentally sound mixed-use projects around the country. Most of the developments singled out for praise, like the Pearl District in Portland, Ore., have been built on the sites of old or abandoned stores, factories, or other properties instead of undeveloped land. The Sierra Club is "recognizing that you can't just be against things all the time," says Eric Olson, who directs the group's Healthy Communities Campaign. "You have to be for things." Some developers welcome the club's effort: "I think someone at the Sierra Club has taken a reality pill, and I'm glad,"says San Francisco-area building industry spokesperson Keith Woods.

 

Center For Biological Diversity Sues to Preserve
Sierra Nevada Bighorn Recovery Habitat

Domestic Sheep a Primary Threat to Bighorn Survival

Critical Habitat Is Proven to Help Endangered Species Recovery

 

NEWS RELEASE: for immediate release Dec 8, 2005

SACRAMENTO — The Center for Biological Diversity today filed suit against the US Interior Department seeking critical habitat conservation to aid recovery of endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep.

 

Critical habitat and recovery plans are very important tools for endangered species conservation and recovery. Species with critical habitat plans are more than twice as likely to have an improving population trend than species without. Species with dedicated recovery plans were significantly more likely to be improving and less likely to be declining than species without. From BioScience, April 2005,

 

But despite having had six years to do it, the US Fish & Wildlife Service has failed to designate bighorn recovery habitat or complete a species recovery plan.

 

Critical habitat designation provides useful maps and guidance to US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Forest Service, and other land managers, helping them make decisions to benefit wildlife and people.

 

"The Bush Interior Department has an moral and legal responsibility to help California's Sierra Nevada bighorn recover. Protecting critical habitat and finishing the recovery plan is the right thing to do, and it will work," said Daniel R Patterson, an ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity who formerly worked with BLM in California.

 

"Americans want wild Sierra Nevada bighorn recovered for future generations. Critical habitat provides the best way to do it. Critical habitat will also help protect the Sierra Nevada quality of life."

 

Sierra Nevada bighorn recovery has been especially threatened this year. Despite a clear threat to endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, the Bush Forest Service is not taking strong action to keep disease-spreading domestic sheep away from bighorns, forcing the California Department of Fish and Game to consider killing wild bighorns that may get too close to encroaching domestic sheep.

 

Domestic sheep were called 'hoofed locusts' by legendary California naturalist John Muir. They are a major reason for the decline of Sierra Nevada bighorn. Domestic sheep can spread fatal diseases such as scabies and pneumonia to bighorns; infected bighorn can then spread disease to other wild sheep, decimating entire herds.

 

Disease spread by livestock is a major threat to bighorn survival and recovery, but not the only one. Domestic sheep also compete with bighorns for limited food plants, compromising bighorn health. Domestic sheep also foul watersheds, and spark killing of ecologically important predators such as mountain lions. Development and poorly managed recreation can also be threats.

 

Documents the Center gained this summer through the Freedom of Information Act revealed that US Rep Richard Pombo (R-CA) has been pushing against bighorn recovery by bullying the Forest Service not to interfere with Nevada-based sheepmen, who are resisting changing grazing practices in order to help bighorn recovery on Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (HTNF) public lands in California. Pombo asked the HTNF to not interfere with domestic sheep grazing on bighorn habitat on the Bridgeport Ranger District in Mono County, and demanded monthly reports on HTNF dealings with sheep ranching permittees.

 

A notorious anti-conservation voice, Pombo often complains wildlife agencies are not doing enough to recover endangered species, but Pombo himself is pushing positions that directly harm bighorn recovery. Although critical habitat is proven to help wildlife recovery, Pombo and the US House moved in September with administration support to strip it from the Endangered Species Act. Environmentalists are now working with the US Senate to keep critical habitat in the Act.

 

Conservationists want a true solution for the bighorn. They have been forced into court by irresponsible federal management.

Critical habitat should be designated and protected along the Eastern Sierra Nevada, including parts of the Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests, and some adjacent BLM public lands.

 

The Center is a 15,000 member national conservation organization based in Tucson, and is represented in this action by Conservation Attorney Lisa Belenky in the Center's San Francisco office. The Center has members in Inyo and Mono Counties and across the Sierra Nevada.