A. CNRCC Meetintg - Fred Hoeptner
B. CalIfornia Wild Heritage Campaign Report – Holly Owens
C. Report on Meeting with Ron Pugh on May 25

A. Cleveland NF – Cindy Buxton, Gene Frick, Janice McKalson, Jay Matchett
B. Los Padres NF – Alan Coles
C. San Bernardino NF –Joyce Burk, Steve Farrell, Kim Floyd, Peter Jorris
D. Angeles NF – Angeles Chapter Forest TF members, Kim Floyd, Fred Hoeptner, Robin Ives, Don Tidwell

San Bernardino National Forest Begins
OHV Route Designation Process

San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor Jeanne Wade Evans announced on May 22 the beginning of the first phase of public involvement to consider possible amendments to the Forest’s system of designated off-highway vehicle routes. The Forest Service says this action is an important step in a route designation process that began more than two years ago and is expected to conclude in September 2007.

Improved management of motor vehicle use on National Forest System lands will allow the Forest Service to enhance opportunities for public enjoyment of the National Forest System, including motorized and non-motorized recreation experiences. The Forest Service has recently revised its national policy governing the use of wheeled motor vehicles to develop a nationwide system of forest roads, trails and areas designated for motor vehicle use to minimize or eliminate the undesirable impacts from unmanaged use.

Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV), hunting, environmental, and other non-motorized recreation interest groups from California and at national levels have been involved in developing the strategy for route designation and the new motorized rule. The San Bernardino National Forest is seeking and encouraging the participation of local groups in this process at the forest-level.

The San Bernardino National Forest is asking for the public’s assistance in reviewing an inventory of off-highway vehicle routes on the Forest. The purpose of this inventory is to verify the existence of all motorized routes on the Forest, particularly those that members of the public would like to see considered for designation as a motor vehicle route. Maps for review will be posted on the Forest website at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sanbernardino/projects/ohv.shtml. Instructions to access the maps and submit comments can also be found on the website. The public is asked to follow the Route Inventory Review Guidelines and use the San Bernardino National Forest Route Inventory Review Sheet when submitting comments. Only written comments on the Inventory Review Sheets will be accepted.

Hardcopy Route Inventory Review Sheets can be mailed to: San Bernardino National Forest, Attn: Chris Evans, Route Designation Coordinator, 602 South Tippecanoe Ave, San Bernardino CA 92408.

Email Route Inventory Review Sheets to: sanbernardino.route.designation@fs.fed.us

Questions regarding the OHV Route Designation process can be directed to:
Chris Evans, RD Coordinator at (909) 382.2716, or chrisevans@fs.fed.us
Fran Colwell, Forest Recreation Officer at (909) 382-2715

The Forest will also host a series of open house workshops addressing the OHV route designation process. Workshops will be held on Monday, June 26 at the Idyllwild Fire Station, Tuesday, June 27 at the new Forest Supervisor’s Office at 602 S Tippecanoe Ave, San Bernardino, and Wednesday, June 28 at the Hootman Center in Running Springs. All workshops are scheduled from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. The public is being invited to review route inventory maps at these meetings. Forest staff will also be in attendance to answer questions regarding OHV route designation and travel management planning on the Forest.

The San Bernardino National Forest completed its Forest Land Management Plan in 2005, which will protect the natural character of the Forest and provide a wide range of recreation opportunities for the next 10-15 years. Land use zoning decisions made in the new Forest Plan provide the foundation for the route designation effort. These zones identify areas where off-highway vehicle use may be appropriate, but they do not make site specific changes to existing route designations throughout on the Forest. The Forest has restricted motor vehicle use to a system of designated off-highway vehicle routes since the 1980s, a decision reaffirmed through the completion of the new Forest Plan. The route designation process now in place will be used to consider minor adjustments to this system, primarily where needed to protect natural resources, minimize conflict with other users and provide more sustainable opportunities for motorized recreation.

Astroturf Revealed

A short-lived “grassroots” environmental organization, Astroturf, has appeared. The leading figures in this group played a key role in passing President Bush’s Healthy Forests legislation and are now promoting changes to ESA. This “grassroots” organization has ties to corporations likely to benefit financially from legislative changes.

CO2 is Life?
Pat Joseph, RAW Contributor

In what is apparently an attempt to blunt the impact of Al Gore's new film, the geniuses over at the Competitive Enterprise Institute — a neoliberal "think tank" funded, in part, by $$$$ from ExxonMobil—have cooked up two 60-second TV spots attacking politicians and "global warming alarmists" who would have you believe that we ought to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. (Somehow, they fail to mention that the world's leading scientists also believe this.)

You really have to watch the ads for yourself to appreciate just how farcical they are. It's hard to believe they're not meant as self-parody — like something The Onion would have come up with.

The thrust of the spots is captured in the tagline, "Carbon dioxide: They call it a pollutant. We call it Life." Never mind that atmospheric CO2 levels are higher now that at any time in the last 650,000 years: CO2 can't be a bad thing, according to the CEI ads, since "we breathe it out" and "plants breathe it in." In other words, it's natural. They've basically launched a pro-CO2 campaign.

Now, it's true that carbon dioxide is essential to life on Earth. For one thing, greenhouse gases like CO2 keep our atmosphere warm by absorbing infrared energy radiating off the Earth. The problem is one of balance; in other words, you can have too much of a good thing — too heavy a jacket on a warm day, for instance. Or take, for example, water. Water is the very stuff of life, but over-water a plant and what happens? It dies.

Of course, you know this. Everybody knows this, because it's common sense — something the spin doctors at the Competitive Enterprise Institute don't believe you have.

Sierra Club Announces National Action
on Auto Efficiency / High Gas Prices

Sacramento CA - With the White House and Congress continuing to oppose higher fuel economy standards, the Sierra Club is launching its new "I Want My MPG!" fuel economy calculator (www.sierraclub.org/mpg/) to help Americans understand how much they could benefit if automakers were required to use existing fuel-saving technology. As the summer driving season begins this Memorial Day weekend, families across California continue to feel the pinch of the country's oil dependence. With gas prices nearly 50 cents a gallon higher than this time last year, it is time to cut America's oil dependence by raising fuel economy standards.

"Making our cars and trucks go farther on a gallon of gas is the biggest single step we can take to saving money at the gas pump, curbing global warming, and cutting America's oil dependence," said Carl Zichella, Regional Staff Director for the Sierra Club. "Americans deserve to know how much they could be saving if automakers were required to use existing fuel-saving technology."

The technology exists today to make all new vehicles — from sedans to pickup trucks to SUVs — average 40 miles per gallon fleet-wide within ten years. Raising Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) would save the average driver $550-$650 per year at the gas pump. Taking this step would also curb global warming emissions and cut America's oil dependence by 4 million barrels per day — more oil than the United States currently imports from the entire Persian Gulf and could ever take out of the Artic Refuge, combined. The I Want My MPG! allows consumers to find out how much money and pollution they would save by entering their specific make and model, local gas price, and the number of miles they drive each year. For instance, the following examples show consumer savings for a range of vehicles paying $3.00 per gallon and driving 12,500 miles per year.

But instead of helping consumers save thousands of dollars at the gas pump by increasing the fuel economy of American vehicles the Bush administration and Congress continue to block meaningful improvements in fuel economy. Earlier this week, the Sierra Club joined ten states [California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia and New York City] and a coalition of environmental groups by filing a lawsuit against the Bush administration's most recent fuel economy standards for light trucks. The suit contends that the Bush administration's paltry 1.8 mile per gallon increase by 2011 violates the law since it fails to set the standards at a level that is the "maximum feasible," as mandated. In addition, Congress is considering legislation that fails to actually increase fuel economy standards, while allowing the Bush administration to fundamentally weaken the existing fleetwide fuel economy standards for passenger cars. Instead of moving backwards on fuel economy, it is time for the White House and Congress to require automakers to build vehicles that go farther on a gallon of gas.

"Raising fuel economy standards isn't rocket science, it's just good auto mechanics," said Zichella. "The government has the tools to help save families money at the gas pump, curb global warming, and save oil but they are refusing to act."

SNWA Project Equated to Owens Valley Disaster
by Henry Brean

Many consider it the most disastrous water exportation project in American history, an entire valley laid to waste to quench the thirst of a growing city 250 miles away. As cautionary tales go, what happened in Owens Valley, California is tough to beat.

Just ask White Pine County rancher Dean Baker and California water attorney Greg James.

In separate presentations before the Legislature's interim committee on water resources, both men cited the Owens Valley example and urged lawmakers to do all they can to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself in Nevada.

The presentations came as part of the committee's review of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) plan to tap groundwater in rural Clark, Lincoln and White Pine counties. Over the next decade, the water authority intends to build a $2 billion pipeline network to carry groundwater to Las Vegas from dozens of wells scattered across eastern Nevada. The project is expected to supply the Las Vegas Valley with enough water for as many as 425,000 homes.

During the meeting in Las Vegas, James and Baker urged the panel of lawmakers to introduce legislation next year that would shape how such large-scale water transfers are done.

"Nevada has an opportunity to develop these projects in an intelligent way," said James, who for more than 20 years has represented Inyo County, California in its ongoing water war with the city of Los Angeles.

That fight began in the early 1900s, when Los Angeles water officials descended on the Owens Valley in search of water for their growing city. With almost no environmental laws or water regulations to stop them, the powerful men from the city moved quickly to "take the whole Owens River and put it in an aqueduct," James said. The ever-expanding project dried up springs and seeps throughout the valley, leaving dead trees and shrinking farmland in its wake.

A 63-mile stretch of the Owens River ran dry in 1913. Eleven years later, a sun-baked mud flat was all that remained of the 100 square-mile Owens Lake. What followed were decades of legal fights and sporadic violence, James said.

His advice to state officials as they consider the water authority's pipeline plan: "Be sure there is a clear description of the project so that it doesn't grow incrementally and expand over the years."

James also encouraged Nevada lawmakers to require a "rigorous monitoring program" for the water authority's groundwater wells and consider restrictions on how much land the authority would be allowed to own in areas it targets for water development.

In the course of developing its aqueduct, Los Angeles bought some 250,000 acres of private property and convinced the federal government to set aside the area's public land for the city's use. As a result, James said, economic development has been hobbled in that part of Inyo County.

"In Owens Valley, if you want to open a taco stand, bury a body in the ground, dispose of solid waste or build an airport, you have to go to the city of Los Angeles to get permission," he said.

An effort also should be made to set aside whatever water supply that will needed for future development in rural Clark, Lincoln and White Pine counties, James said. Otherwise, the state will end up with "rural residents stranded at the end of an aqueduct system and all the water is flowing away from them," he said.

That is exactly what worries Baker, whose ranch lies at the heart of one of two White Pine County watersheds included in the pipeline plan. Before state officials can even consider allowing the water authority to proceed, Baker said, far more work needs to be done to develop a "baseline" of how much groundwater exists there now. "This baseline has to be so that it is easily accessible and universally accepted," he told the legislative committee. "You don't want to end up in court fighting over what is or isn't or was or wasn't there."

Baker also called for a system, independent of the water authority, under which conflicts can be resolved and the pumps shut down should any evidence of damage appear. "When the water is gone, the future is gone," he said.

Baker, who is also a pilot, flew to Mesquite in a private plane and drove to Las Vegas to address the eight-member bipartisan committee. He wore black cowboy boots, a silver belt buckle, and suntan that stopped abruptly near the top of his forehead, right where his hat would normally sit.

Baker said he hoped to be back in White Pine County early enough to attend a public meeting in Ely on the pipeline project.

Water authority officials on hand for the committee meeting did not directly address any of the comments made by James and Baker. In the past, General Manager Pat Mulroy and other authority officials have publicly commented about the protections and precautions recommended by the two men.

The water resources committee is slated to hold its final meeting June 21 in Carson City. There, the panel will finalize its slate of water-related bill draft requests for the 2007 legislative session. Baker said he hopes something can be done to rein in the pipeline project. "It's a whole different magnitude and duration," he said. "Our water law is very good, but it's not designed for something like this."

Court Rules Terrorism Risks Must Be
Considered for Nuclear Power Plants
Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director

"We applaud the court's decision today that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must consider the potential impacts from a terrorist attack on nuclear facilities when conducting environmental reviews. It is common sense that we take every precaution to protect Americans from terrorism and sabotage. The courts are proving what Americans already know: protecting nuclear plants from potential terrorism attacks also protects our communities, our health and our environment."

A copy of the ruling is available at http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/downloads/2006-06-02diablodecision.pdf

Background: The Sierra Club and Mothers for Peace filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's issuance of an amended nuclear license that allows the construction and operation of a long-term nuclear waste storage facility at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, which is located near San Luis Obispo, California. The Club's primary concern is that the proposed nuclear waste storage facility presents a target for cataclysmic acts of terrorism and sabotage. The facility's liquid storage pools are vulnerable to overhead attack, which could cause the pools to lose water. If water were lost from the pools, equipment would heat up and ignite, and radioactivity would literally boil out of the pools. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission refused to examine the environmental and health risks associated with a potential act of terrorism despite requests from the public, California Attorney General Lockyer, and Senator Feinstein.

The Ninth Circuit ruled that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has to analyze potential impacts from a terrorist attack on a nuclear facility.

Wind Power in Alleghenies/Appalachians
Creating Environmental Rift

Some wind farms planned for the Allegheny highlands and northern Applachians are met with the same resistance as those planned off Cape Cod. Wildlife biologist Dan Boone is determined to slow their growth and halt habitat destruction and bat carnage.

The environmental movement, committed to fighting global warming, sees wind energy as one of the solutions. Yet wind comes with its own set of unique problems, and local environmentalists, unlike their national counterparts, may be more concerned with protecting local scenic and wildnerness habitat than solving a global problem.

National groups like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club used to uniting against specific projects are now united for renewable energy in general. And they are particularly high on wind power — with the caveat that a few, but only a few, special places should be turbine-free.

Mr. Boone, 49, a former state wildlife biologist, has traveled across the mid-Atlantic to make every argument he can muster against local wind-power projects: they kill birds and bats; they are too noisy; they are inefficient, making no more than a symbolic contribution to energy needs.

"I'm not sure that wind turbines in this region will significantly reduce the outcome of global climate change or actually have any role," Mr. Boone said. "The very limited benefit doesn't justify the risk of wiping out a lot of interior forest habitat."

National environmental leaders reject this argument.

"There's no free lunch," said Paul Hansen, executive director of the Izaak Walton League of America, a venerable sportsmen's group. " 'Not in my backyard' is not environmentalism."

But Mr. Boone has plenty of allies, too. "He's the greatest naturalist I've even known," said Betsy Johnson, chairwoman of the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club. "Dan has been very helpful in educating us with what problems there can be with an energy source like wind."

"Wilderness conversations are spiritual," said David Hamilton, the Sierra Club's national director of global warming and energy programs. "We've always been a place-based organization, protecting places," but "protecting our climate" is "just looking at it from a different angle and a different elevation."

Action Directory
Sierra Club Legislative Hotline: (202) 675-2394
Sierra Club National: (415) 977-5500
Sierra Club Sacramento Legislative Office: (916) 557-1100; fax (916) 557-9669
White House Comment Line: (202) 456-1111
White House Fax Line: (202) 456-2461
President George W Bush: president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President Dick Cheney: vice-president@whitehouse.gov
White House Address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC 20500
US Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
To contact your senators: Senate Office Bldg, Washington DC 20510 http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
To contact your representative: House Office Bldg, Washington DC 20515 http://www.house.gov/writerep
California Capitol Switchboard: (916) 322-9900
Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger: (916) 445-2841; fax (916) 445-4633; governor@governor.ca.gov
      State Capitol Bldg, Sacramento CA 95814

Sierra Club Links
Sierra Club World Wide Web: http://www.sierraclub.org
Angeles Chapter site: http://angeles.sierraclub.org
Sierra Club California: http://www.sierraclub.org/ca/
Sierra Club Vote Watch Website: http://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/
National Clubhouse activist resource site: http://clubhouse.sierraclub.org/

Need help contacting your US representatives or finding out about legislation?
US House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/
US Senate: http://www.senate.gov/
California State Assembly: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/
California State Senate: http://www.sen.ca.gov/
California State: http://www.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_homepage.jsp
California Legislative Information: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/
California Secretary of State voter information:
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections.htm

This Electronic Conservation Committee Newsletter is sent free, automatically, on email to all activists who hold any of the following positions in the Angeles Chapter or its entities: Executive Committee Member; Entity Chair or Conservation Chair, Political, and Newsletter Editor, Conservation Subcommittee or Task Force Chair. In addition, many activists throughout the Chapter and state receive it free by email, either by request or by position.  Distribution is approximately 350 by email, and 45 by postal hard copy. If you no longer hold the Club office with the automatic pull and wish to continue to receive it, email ivesico@earthlink.net. If we do not have your email address — please let us know. If you wish (and tell us), it will be tagged "private" and not printed or given out. The Newsletter (without upcoming resolutions) is available on the Chapter website at http://angeles.sierraclub.org/home.html Paper postal copy is available ($20/year payable Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club) for those who are technically challenged or simply don't want to be bothered. To receive The Newsletter by first class mail, send a donation of $20 to (almost) cover printing/mailing costs to Conservation Newsletter, 112 Harvard Ave PMB 297, Claremont CA 91711.

National's GoldBook provides information to chapters and groups on the differences between 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) funds; how to utilize and access charitable 501(c)(3) funds; how to get a project approved; fundraising plus much, much, more material on the Sierra Club. It is now available at the Clubhouse website. Go to  http://www.clubhouse.sierraclub.org/; follow the instructions for obtaining the password. The GoldBook can be found by clicking on A - Z List of Materials box, then on "G" under A-Z List of Documents, then on GoldBook, Educational Project Guidelines.
The California/Nevada Directory (RedBook) is available online. It also includes the Handbook of Sierra Club California Bylaws and Standing Rules (GreenBook). Contact Lori Ives for the online address and password. Send your membership number, your position in the Club, and your reason for needing the information. The paper edition ($20) is available on special order. Contact Lori for information.

E-Mail Lists: There are four important discussion lists for Angeles environmental activists:
Angeles Chapter Cons Listserve angeles-conservation@lists.sierraclub.org
Angeles-Alerts Listserve angeles-alerts@lists.sierraclub.org
California/Nevada Listserve calif-activists@lists.sierraclub.org (moderated list for announcements)
California/Nevada Listserve calif-activists-forum@lists.sierraclub.org (unmoderated discussion list)
Subscribe to California Activists: calif-activists-request@lists.sierraclub.org
Subscribe to California Activists Forum: calif-activists-request@lists.sierraclub.org
For either list, send your name, email address, Sierra Club membership number, your position in Club (how are you active?)
Subscription is processed by one of the list owners, usually the same day.
Subscribe to Angeles-Alerts: email listsserve@lists.sierraclub.org with the message "subscribe angeles-conservation"
or "subscribe calif-activists"  or "subscribe angeles-alerts" Note: it's "listserv," not "listserve."
To leave a list, send an e-mail to listserv@lists.sierraclub.org. In the text of your message (not the subject line), write: "signoff calif-activists" or "signoff angeles-conservation" or "signoff angeles-alerts"
The Angeles Chapter's web site is http://www.angeles.sierraclub.org/

Angeles Chapter Conservation Management Committee
Chair: Dean Wallraff (818) 679-3141

Vice Chair/Policy/Grants Chair: Bonnie Sharpe
Vice Chair/Outreach: Marcia Hanscom

Secretary: TBA

Newletter Editor: Robin Ives (909) 624-5522
At Large: Jan Kidwell, Jay Matchett, Lynne Plambeck, Virgil Shields, Rosemarie White
Publisher/Webmaster/Circulation (non-voting): Lori Ives (909) 621-7148
Staff Conservation Coordinators (non-voting): Rachel Myers & Jennifer Robinson

Angeles Chapter Grants Committee
Chair: Bonnie Sharpe. Members: Judy Anderson, Marcia Hanscom, Robin Ives, Jay Matchett, Rudy Vietmeier, Dean Wallraff

Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee
3435 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 320, Los Angeles CA 90010-1904. Motions should be submitted in advance, together with objective background material and supporting and opposing arguments, both to the Committee Chair (Dean Wallraff) and Newsletter Editor (Robin Ives), for distribution with the agenda. Other motions will be postponed for action at a later meeting unless the motion is submitted in writing and unless the Committee votes by a two-thirds majority an exception to the ordinary procedure. Motions needing further action by the Angeles Chapter ExComm or some higher level of the Sierra Club should start out: "The Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee recommends that the Sierra Club..."

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

PRELIMINARY AGENDA
(Final agenda will be sent out June 17 on the Angeles Conservation listserv.)

7:15 Introductions, approval of the agenda, announcements

7:30 Staff Report (Jennifer Robinson)

7:45 Program (TBD)

8:30 Urban Gardens Committee (Virgil Shields, Juanita Dellomes)

8:45 Resolution on National “Why I Hunt” Contest (Rosemarie White)

9:00 Adjourn

Next meeting, July 19, at the Chapter Office.

Orange County Special Events

June 28, opening in a theater near you “Who Killed The Electric Car?”

July 15, 5-10 pm, 2nd Annual Treehugger's Ball at Baker Canyon Ranch, Silverado CA — 714-649-2820 for information.
August 6, 5-8 pm, OC Group’s Annual Fundraiser at the Muth - gourmet veggie dishes, organic wines, music by Ron Kobayashi.

Orange County Conservation Committee
Bob Siebert/Chair — http://angeles.sierraclub.org/ocosc/

LOCATION: Inn at the Park, 10 Marquette, Irvine. Take the 405 to Culver and go west towards the beach. Follow Culver past Michelson and University and turn right on Harvard. Take Harvard to Marquette and turn right. It's on the corner of Harvard and Marquette on the right hand side.

DRAFT AGENDA — Tuesday, June 20, 2006

7:00 Welcome, Introductions, Announcements

7:10 Staff Report - Jennifer Robinson

7:20 Laguna Wilderness - Penny Elia

7:30 Habors, Beaches & Parks Strategic Plan - Penny Elia (acting)

7:40 SAMTF Update and Report “The Green OC” Panel: - Robin Everett

7:55 Upper Newport Bay Report - Lori Kiesser, Constance Bean

8:05 Break

8:10 Saddleback Canyons - Rich Gomez

8:30 Orange Hills Task Force Report - Carole Mintzer

8:40 Sacred Sites Task Force Report - Rebecca Robles

8:55 Adjourn     Next meeting: July 18

Conservation Committees Calendar
If you have an upcoming meeting or event to be listed in this calendar:

In LA County, contact Lori Ives (ivesico@earthlink.net);
In OC, contact Bob Siebert (eesolar@sbcglobal.net)