December 2007 California Today, PLanning and Conservation League Newsletter

8/3/2019 December 2007 California Today, PLanning and Conservation League Newsletter

1/8

CALIFORNIA TODAYCALIFORNIA TODAYNews l e t t e r o f th e Pl ann ing & Conse r va t i on League PLANNING AND CONSERVATION LEAGUEPLANNING AND CONSERVATION LEAGUE FOUNDATION

December 2007 Volume 37, Number 4

The 2008 Symposium ... page

CALIFORNIA TODAY Planning and Conservation League & PCL Foundation

An Invitation to Change Our WorldBy: Gary Patton

The world in which we most immediately live is aworld that human beings have created. Our world iscomprised of the physical realities of our urban centersand rural communities, and the institutional realitiesthat reflect both human tradition and legislative choice.

Human choices have made and make our world. Andthat means that no matter what realities may existwithin our world, right now, we can change those realities,and modify them, and make things different. When youthink about it, legislation, is how we initiate suchchanges. Legislation is how we tell ourselves what wewant to do, and what we ought to do. Human laws arelike a doctors prescription. Theyre quite different fromthe laws of nature!

We do not live, immediately, in the natural world. Butthats the world upon which our lives ultimatelydepend.

The laws of nature are not prescriptions. We cantchange them! Natural laws are descriptionsof what willand must happen. If we burn carbon fuels, and fill theatmosphere with greenhouse gases, global warming willoccur. AB 32, to use that example, is a prescription forhow we can stop global warming - by changing what wedo in our world, to save the world that sustains all life.

Youll read more in this edition of California Todabout our 2008 Symposium. Please join us in Sacramenon January 12th. We think that several Presidentiala candidates might be there.

Whether the candidates show up or not, we allne

to learn how we can change our world - to save thenatural world upon which our lives, and all life, soutterly and ultimately depend.

Consider yourself invited to our Symposium:


2/8CALIFORNIA TODAY Planning and Conservation League & PCL Foundation2

Dear Friends,

California AffiliateNational Wildlife Federation

CALIFORNIA TODAY(ISBN 0739-8042)is the quarterly newsletter of the

PLANNING AND CONSERVATION LEAGUEAND THE PCL FOUNDATION

1107 Ninth Street, Suite 360, Sacramento, CA 95814

PHONE: 916-444-8726 FAX: 916-448-1789

E-MAIL ADDRESS: [email protected] ADDRESS: http://www.pcl.org

Membership to PCL is $35 a year and includes asubscription to CALIFORNIA TODAY.

Periodicals postage paid at Sacramento, CA.POSTMASTER: Send address changes forCALIFORNIA TODAY to the PCL Office:1107 Ninth Street, Suite 360, Sacramento, CA 95814

PCLF BOARD OF TRUSTEESDAVID HIRSCH, ChairmanRALPH B. PERRY III, Vice ChairmanDANIEL S. FROST, Secretary-TreasurerCOKE HALLOWELL, TrusteeGERALD H. MERAL, Trustee

ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ, Trustee

PCL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEJOHN VAN DE KAMP, PresidentBILL YEATES, First Vice PresidentKEVIN JOHNSON, Senior Vice PresidentSAGE SWEETWOOD, President EmeritusBILL CENTER, Secretary-Treasurer

REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTSELISABETH BROWNJAN CHATTEN-BROWNPHYLLIS FABERRICK FRANKDOROTHY GREENRICK HAWLEYDOUG LINNEYDAVID MOGAVEROLYNN SADLERTERESA VILLEGAS

ORGANIZATIONAL BOARD MEMBERS

Big Sur Land TrustBreathe California, Sacramento-Emigrant TrailsCalifornia Association of Local Conservation CorpsCalifornia Oaks FoundationCalifornia TroutGreenspace - The Cambria Land TrustGolden Gate Audubon SocietyThe Laguna Greenbelt, Inc.Marin Agricultural Land TrustMarin Conservation LeagueMono Lake CommitteeMountain Lion FoundationSierra Nevada AllianceSouthern California Agricultural Land FoundationTrain Riders Association of CaliforniaThe Trust for Public Land

PCL/PCL FOUNDATION STAFFGARY A. PATTON, Executive DirectorTRACI SHEEHAN, Chief Operating OfficerTINA ANDOLINA, Legislative Director

JASON AVINA, Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps MemberBARB BYRNE, Water Policy AssistantREN GUERRERO, Project Manager - Legislative AdvocateCHARLOTTE HODDE, Water Policy SpecialistDR. MONICA HUNTER, Central Coast Water Project ManagerMINDY McINTYRE, Water Program ManagerJONAS MINTON, Senior Water Policy AdvisorGERALD PEREZ, Administrative DirectorMATT VANDER SLUIS, Global Warming Project ManagerCHRIS WARD, Database ManagerMELANIE SCHLOTTERBECK, Grants & Outreach Consultant

This year, PCL faced down the Building Industry Association and helpedpass the most significant flood legislation in years! In a bill signing ceremonyheld on October 10th, Governor Schwarzenegger put his pen to a five-bill flopackage that will protect the lives and property of California residents, promotbetter local planning, protect the state (and taxpayers) from unreasonable

exposure to liability caused by floods, while preserving wildlife habitat andagricultural lands by using setback levees and flood bypasses as naturalinfrastructure for flood control. PCL was the only environmental groupinvited to the bill signing, in recognition of our leadership role. Special kudogo to Jonas Minton, our Senior Water Policy Advisor, who negotiated keyelements of the successful flood package on behalf of PCL.

Besides the floodpackage, threeimportant measuresactively lobbied by

PCL were amongthe bills signedby the Governor:SB 719 (Machado)expands the SanJoaquin Valley AirBoard membershipfrom 11 to 15 members, to include additional representation from urban arearural areas, and public health experts. Central Valley activists have been workinfor this much-needed reform for a long time. SB 220 (Corbett) improves oversigand regulation of bottled and vended water and increases inspections, labeling

and consumer right to know requirements. AB 1108 (Ma) prohibits the use ophthalates, a known carcinogen, in childrens toys. PCLs Legislative DirectoTina Andolina and Legislative Advocates Mindy McIntyre and Ren Guerrerwere deeply involved in making these legislative success stories happen.

Three of the most significant environmental bills of 2007 were heldover for consideration next year: SB 974 (Lowenthal) collects $30 per cargocontainer processed at Californias three major ports, and invests those fundsin air quality and infrastructure improvement programs. SB 375 (Steinberg)establishes incentives for smart land use planning to reduce greenhouse gasemissions. AB 224 (Wolk) requires state and local water agencies to incorporateclimate change information into water plans, and requires the state to developreport identifying water management alternatives that will reduce greenhougases associated with water use.

PCL will continue to advocate for these much needed measures when theLegislature reconvenes in January. Plus, were going to be putting more watepolicy, environmental health, and land use reform measures on the table. Staytuned!

Gary A. PattonExecutive Director

The Governor signs the bill package, PCL is on the left!


3/8CALIFORNIA TODAY Planning and Conservation League & PCL Foundation

Golden Gate Audubon Celebrates 90 Years of ConservatioBy: Elizabeth Murdock

On October 11th, Golden Gate Audubon celebratedits 90th Anniversary with an event at Pier One in SanFrancisco, sponsored by PG&E and other partners.Nearly 200 friends of Golden Gate Audubon attendedto celebrate our 90 years of conservation accomplishments

and educational programs, and to honor four awardeeswhose efforts have significantly advanced our missionof conserving local wildlife and empowering all BayArea communities to protect our environment.

Certainly, reaching 90 is an impressive feat forany non-profit, but it is particularly impressive foran organization that accomplishes so much throughvolunteer effort. Volunteers have been the very heartof Golden Gate Audubon since January 1917, when agroup of birders founded the Audubon Association ofthe Pacific for the purpose of enjoying, studying, andprotecting birds. Within months, the organizationlaunched a successful campaign to stop oil companiesfrom discharging crude oil with their ballast waternear the Farallon Islands.

In subsequent years,Golden Gate Audubonvolunteers have played aleading role in creatingand conserving someof the Bay Areas most

critical wildlife habitats,such as Audubon CanyonRanch, Eastshore StatePark, the EmeryvilleCrescent, OaklandsMartin Luther King,Jr. Shoreline, and SanFranciscos Herons

Head Park. Volunteers have also been intimately engagedin our many educational efforts, from the over 100 freelocal field trips we lead each year to our cutting-edge

environmental education programs, which involvethousands of diverse, underserved students and theirfamilies in exploring and restoring their local watershedeach year.

Golden Gate Audubon has grown significantlysince its founding in 1917. One of the oldest conservationorganizations on the West Coast, we are now thelargest Audubon chapter in California, with roughly9,500 members and supporters and 1,500 volunteers.

Although we now have seven staff members, our workstill intensely volunteer-based. We have an active boarof directors, most of whom chair a committee whosework is integral to the organizations activities.

Our current conservation efforts include: leading tcampaign to create the Alameda National WildlifeRefuge; partnering with the North Richmond communito conserve their critical shoreline; and leading the effto reduce egregious bird kills at the Altamont PassWind Resources Area.

Serving the City of San Francisco and the westernportions of Alameda and Contra Costa County, GoldeGate Audubon is one of eight Bay Area Audubon

Chapters, whom we represent on the PCL Board. We proud to support PCLs critical legislative work, whicsupports our efforts to protect and enjoy the richbiodiversity of San Francisco Bay.

CharlesDenson

Greenspace

The Golden Gate Audubon Society

has played a long and distinguished role

in attracting new generations of bird

watchers and in preserving habitat forbirds and other wildlife in the Bay

Area. In Marin they played a role in

the formation of Audubon Canyon Ranch

that went on to save Bolinas Lagoon from development

as well as preserve the heron and egret rookeries.

-- Phyllis Faber, PCL Board Member

Students help restore a wetland at San Franciscos Pier 94. This wetlanow has the worlds largest population of sea blite (an endangered plan

This black turnstone enjoys the sun.

MarinAgriculturalLandTrust



Community organizations havelong played a vital role in the protectionof the Sierra Nevada.

They agitate and advocate for

protections that some local officialsarent willing to advance themselves.They connect volunteers with localissues, while sustaining environmentalvalues in individuals, families, and thecommunity. Conservation organizationsalso unite citizens to take action onstatewide and national environmentalissues.

Building the power of localenvironmental groups is one of the

fundamental objectives of both PCLand PCLF. Thats why the PCLFoundation is creating the SierraNevada Conservation Directory. Itwill be a free, online guide to the

non-profit environmentalorganizations of theSierra Nevada.

The Directory will

list organizations on acounty by county basis, describewhat environmental issues theywork on, what methods they use,and ways that you can get involved.Also listed will be contactinformation for state agencies, localagencies, and elected officials, soSierra residents and local organizationscan better voice their environmentalconcerns.

PCL encourages readers to getinvolved with any of the non-profitconservation organizations thatwill be listed in our Sierra NevadaConservation Directory. If you

would like to bring your family tofun community event, make friendwith other like-minded individualdonate money to a particular conservatiorganization, or personally helpprotect and restore the place JohnMuir once called The Range ofLight, this Directory is for you!

If you have any questions, or

include your organization in thissoon to be published Directory,please email PCLF AmeriCorpsmember Jason Avina atjavina@pcl

Sierra Nevada DirectoryBy: Jason Avina

The Eastern Sierra, above Convict Lake.

Every year we need to publish our Statement of Circulation, as required by the United States Post Offic



The Symposium & Awards Banquet Details

Date: Saturday, January 12, 2008Symposium: 9:30AM - 5:30PMBanquet: 6:30PM - 8:30PMLocation: Sacramento Convention Center

1400 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

Registration Fees

Your Symposium registration fee covers continentalbreakfast, lunch, refreshments, and all Symposiummaterials. Registration is as follows:

Before After

2-for-1 Deals (Symposium & Banquet) Dec. 12 Dec. 12

PCL Member $100 $125Non-Member $115 $140

Student $45 $50MCLE $270 $295

Symposium Only

PCL Member $80 $105Non-Member $95 $120Student $25 $30MCLE $250 $275

Dinner Ticket $40 $60

State of Change - the 2008 SymposiumBy: Melanie Schlotterbeck

Registration Form

Name

Organization

Address

City, State, Zip

Phone Fax

Email

Meal Preference: Omnivore Vegetarian Vegan

Payment Options Amount: $

1. Credit card - register online at: www.PCL.org OR fill out thisform and fax it to (916) 448-1789, Attention: Chris Ward

Credit Card # (Visa/MC) Exp. D

2. Check - make payable to PCLFoundation and mail with for

Planning and Conservation League FoundationAttention:Chris Ward1107 9th Street, Suite 360Sacramento, CA95814

B

B

The Event

Our 2006 Symposium was called A Climate ofChange. The 2007 Symposium was titled, How To Win the Environmental Battles that Test ThisGeneration. Next year, in January, our Symposium will

show How Californians Can Change the World.We want you to be there! Working individually - and

above all working together - we canchange our world.We can make changes at the state policy level, and wecan make changes at the local level. Each and every oneof us has the ability to help make the changes we sodesperately need to make.

Among the policy topics being covered at theSymposium are: air quality, the Bay Delta, land use at theurban/wildland interface, agriculture, transportation,

and toxics.How To workshops that educate and empowergroups and will focus on fundraising, designing maps tomobilize community action, greening the local community,and promoting healthy living. Additionally, we will also

Visit the PCL website for

the program: www.PCL.org

be offering MCLE courses on water law, CEQA, land and global warming.

The Presidential Link

Since the California primaries are just a few week

after the Symposium, we have invited all the PresidenCandidates. Though confirmation of their participatiowill only come days before the event, to date wevereceived positive responses from: Hillary Clinton, MitRomney, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, MiGravel, and Bill Richardson.

Join Us to Celebrate

We hope you can join us after the Symposium, tohonor some environmental heroes: Bill Center, CentraValley Air Quality Coalition, Assembly Member LoisWolk, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and PG&E.



Each time a local government approves a business asusual development, were practically guaranteeing anincrease in greenhouse gas emissions. AB 32, the GlobalWarming Solutions Act of 2006, requires state agenciesto start rolling back annual greenhouse gas emissions,beginning in 2012. However, if we continue to make theproblem worse until then, it will become increasingly hardfor the state successfully to implement AB 32.

Like the classic cartoon characters that dig so deeplythat they end up stuck in their own hole, were diggingourselves deeper into a global warming crisis that threatens

our wildlife, our children, our economy, and ourselves. Weneed to start making smarter development decisions now,so well be able to climb out of our hole and emerge into asustainable energy future in the decades ahead. The veryfirst rule of holes is this: if youre in a hole, and youwant to get out, stop digging!

Thats why were pleased to announce our new LocalClimate Action Initiative, to encourage communitiesacross California to enforce and adopt policies that cut thecarbon footprint of new development projects. As part of

the Initiative, were holding a series of workshops to hegrassroots groups strategize about how to get their locgovernments to support carbon-cutting policies. At eacworkshop well present the soon to be released LocalClimate Action Initiative Toolkit which:

Describes state and local policies that, if adopteor better enforced, would cut the carbon footpriof new developments;

Tells stories about communities that have

successfully implemented these policies; and,

Gives some tips on how to organize the localcommunity to advocate for a particular policy orset of policies.

If youre interested in a Local Climate ActionInitiative workshop in your area, or would like a copy oour Toolkit, please contact Global Warming ProgramManager Matt Vander Sluis at [email protected].

PCL Initiative Helps Communities Fight Global WarmingBy: Matt Vander Sluis

Every year, public agencies consider thousands ofprojects, and decide whether or not those projects shouldmove forward. These decisions impact our quality of life,our water supplies, energy sources, traffic, schools, naturalresources and open space. Weve got a law - CEQA, the

California Environmental Quality Act - that is premisedon the idea that decision-makers ought to be informedabout the environmental impacts of their proposed actionsbefore they make project decisions, and that better decisionswill be made if the public participates in the environmentalreview process.

Over thirty-five years ago, PCL board members helpeddraft and then pass the California Environmental QualityAct, and its provisions have been proven in the field. CEQArequires full public disclosure the adverse consequencesof proposed projects, and provides the framework for

the public to hold decision-making bodies accountable.To ensure that the public understands the CEQA

process and knows how to use CEQA to protect theenvironment, the PCL Foundation has published anupdated and revised edition of its Community Guideto CEQA, with a special focus on global warming. The

author is PCL Board memBill Yeates, and the newCommunity Guide heswritten is easy to use, geartoward the public, and

incorporates new changesin case law, and the CEQAGuidelines.

November 9th marks tfirst in a series of workshthat the Foundation will hacross the state. Over thenext two years we will tak

our show on the road -- but we need you to let us knowthat your community needs a workshop!

Workshops are being scheduled in 2008 for Merced

Monterey, and Tulare Counties. If youd like more informatabout the Guide, scheduling a workshop in your communitor how to register for one of our workshops, visit ourwebsite at www.PCLFoundation.org, or contact MelanieSchlotterbeck at [email protected].

On the Road Again, Revised CEQA Guide UnveiledBy: Melanie Schlotterbeck



A recent decision by U.S. DistrictCourt Judge Oliver Wanger makesclear that there are legal limits to theamount of water that can be exportedfrom Northern California to SouthernCalifornia. In response, the Governoris proposing that taxpayers investbillions of dollars for costly andunproven dams, while water agencies

are reassessing water use and lookingat options for water supply.

Meanwhile, under the radarscreen, Central Valley agribusinessrepresentatives are angling to receivea special 60-year contract for over onemillion acre feet of Delta water atrock bottom prices. More surprising,the federal government seems to beworking to make sure these thatinterests get what they are demanding.

If they are successful, theWestlands Water District (Westlands),one of the most heavily subsidizedirrigation districts in the country,would be granted a stranglehold onNorthern California water, eventhough the rest of the state is beingasked to live with less water from theDelta. The precious water would beused to irrigate crops like cotton,

which make up about 25% of the600,000 acres in Westlands. Or(our sneaky suspicion) the corporatefarmers who make up the WestlandsWater District would find a way tosell the public water to urban waterdwellers further south, damaging theenvironment, raising water prices forordinary residents and making a

windfall profit!The soils in Westlands contain

selenium, which when concentratedcauses severe birth defects. In 1982,wildlife rangers discovered thatdrainage water from Westlands hadcaused the death and deformationof countless birds in the KestersonWildlife Reserve. The Kestersonbird kill remains one of the worstenvironmental disasters in Californiahistory.

Westlands proposed 60-yearcontract should be an alarm bell forall Californians that rely on and careabout the Delta. The Bay Delta is incritical decline with several species onthe brink of extinction. Over-relianceon the Delta for water supply ispartially to blame for that decline.More reductions in Delta water

exports are likely over the next fewyears.

If the federal government isobligated to deliver massive amounof water to Westlands, the rest ofCalifornia will have to absorb theimpact of future water reductions. simply does not make sense to dedicbillions of gallons of Delta water

irrigate cotton and produce toxicwaste at the expense of the watersupply for the rest of the state.

PCL has been pushing the fedegovernment to choose a much morsensible option. The Westlands WaDistricts water contract expires atthe end of this year. The federalgovernment has the option to reduthe contract amount and to stopirrigating the 300,000 acres ofdrainage impaired lands in WestlanThe question is, will the governmedo what is right for California, or wthey choose to compound our wateproblems for another 60 years?California cannot afford to allow thfederal government to make thewrong choice.

To learn how you can help, contMindy McIntyre at [email protected]

California s WaterCrisis Compounded byWestlands Water DistriBy: Mindy McIntyre

The fragile Bay-Delta Estuary is threatened by the 60-year contract proposed by Westlands.

iStockPh


8/8

30% post-consumer waste; processedchlorine free and printed in soy ink

PERIODICAL

POSTAGE

PAID

SACRAMENT

CALIFORNIAPLANNING AND CONSERVATION LEAGUE

LANNING AND CONSERVATION LEAGUE FOUNDATION

107 NINTH STREET, SUITE 360 SACRAMENTO, CA 95814

VISIT US ON THE WEB: www.PCL.org or www.PCLFoundation.org

Did you know that the currentClean Water Act doesnt protect all ofour streams and wetlands? Did youknow it used to? Its sad but true. In2001, I sat in the Supreme Courtwatching the Justices argue aboutwhich waterbodies should and shouldnot be protected. In the end, theCourt decided that even though theClean Water Act had protected smallstreams and wetlands for 30 years,

only navigable waters would nowreceive protection under the Act.Waterbodies considered too isolatedfrom main waterways, or semi-permanent waters like manyheadwater streams, would no longerbe protected. I was astonished! It wasclear to me and others on Capitol Hillthat the intent of this law was toprotect ALL of our waters, and thatimpacts to small or isolated streams

and wetlands certainly had impactson these larger waters that we dependon for so many things.

It is now 2007, and up to 25% ofour nations wetlands and 59% ofour stream and river miles are notprotected from dumping, dredging,and destruction. Developers andpolluters have taken advantage ofthese loopholes for the past six years,and these critical waters are being

impacted at an alarming rate.

In California, theEnvironmentalProtection Agency(EPA) estimates thatapproximately 44-66%of its streams are atrisk, including almostall waterways inSouthern California(which do not flowall year round). They

estimate that at least14,272,000 Californiansget their drinking waterfrom the areas containing thesestreams. California agencies alsoestimate that at least 77,371 acresof isolated wetlands are at risk.So much is at stake that CaliforniasAttorney General, Jerry Brown,joined 30 other states to ask theSupreme Court to uphold broad legal

protections for small tributaries andtheir adjacent wetlands. However, theSupreme Court hasnt changed itsoriginal ruling.

So what can we do about it?Some members of Congress arefighting back. Realizing that theoriginal intent of the Clean WaterAct is to protect all waters, certainsenators and representatives havewritten a law that would make this

certain. Our job is to help them pass it!

Please tell your member ofCongress to add their name to thelist of senators and representativeswho support the Clean WaterRestoration Act of 2007. InCalifornia, Senator Boxer hasco-sponsored the bill in the Senate(S.1870), but Senator Feinstein has

not. For the House Bill (H.R. 2421our targets for co-sponsorship are:Gary Miller, Jim Costa, KevinMcCarthy, Diane Watson, Joe BacaJohn Campbell, and Brian Bilbray. any of these members represent yoplease ask them to do the right thinto protect our nations wetlands anstreams!

Protecting Our Streams and WetlandsBy: Matt Little, National Wildlife Federation

This Sierra Nevada stream could be at risk.

CanStockPh

December 2007 California Today, PLanning and Conservation League Newsletter

Documents

Transcript of December 2007 California Today, PLanning and Conservation League Newsletter