original article found @ sfimc



Friday Apr 18th, 2008 10:33 PM



The Bush and Schwarzenegger administrations continue to blame "ocean conditions" for the Central Valley salmon collapse to escape any responsibility for fostering the abysmal conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta that led to the collapse. However, Peter B. Moyle, U.C. Davis Professor of Fish Biology, says blaming “ocean conditions” for salmon declines is like blaming the iceberg for sinking the Titanic.

"Ocean conditions may be the potential icebergs for salmon populations, but the ship is being steered by us humans. Salmon populations can be managed to avoid an irreversible crash, but continuing on our present course could result in loss of a valuable and iconic fishery," said Moyle.

There are a number of fresh water factors that have contributed to the collapse, but increases in water exports and the decline in water quality in the California Delta are undoubtedly the top two. This alert proposes immediate actions to address water exports and water pollution - and shows how you can pressure the federal government to deliver disaster relief to salmon fishing families and communities and Congress to conduct oversight hearing on Pacific salmon management.

Please widely circulate this alert because action is needed to the save the salmon and communities that depend on them now.

Photo: Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA), discusses how the Sacramento River fall run chinook run has declined in direct relation to increases in state and federal water exports out of the California Delta. Graph of water exports by Porgans & Associates



Salmon Closure 2008 – NEVER AGAIN

Saving Fishing Communities — Bringing Back the Salmon

10 Actions You Need to Take Now!

1. Contact U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, 1401 Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC 20230, requesting an immediate declaration of a Fishery Failure for the West Coast salmon fishery.

2. Contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative requesting federal disaster relief through a Congressional Appropriation for direct assistance to salmon fishing families and communities and, further, requesting Congressional oversight hearings on Pacific salmon management and the stock collapse.

3. Contact and attend meetings of the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Board), 1000 I Street, Rm. 1629 Sacramento, CA 95814 (http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/ ) demanding in the development of the “San Francisco Bay / Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta) Program - Strategic Workplan” (http://www.waterrights.ca.gov/baydelta/strategic_workplan.htm) a halt to pumping is mandated at the State (SWP) and Federal (CVP) Delta facilities when any salmon are present.

4. Contact the Chair of the State Board and the Director of the California Department of Fish & Game demanding the adoption, implementation and enforcement of freshwater flows into and through the Delta to San Francisco Bay necessary for the ecological functioning of this estuary and the protection and restoration of salmon.

5. Contact and attend meetings of the State Board demanding in open comment an end to the discharge of toxic fish killing water into the Delta and its tributaries. Send comments by May 30 to the Central Valley Regional Water Board (Susan Fregien, sfregien [at] waterboards.ca.gov) calling for an immediate end to waste water discharge waivers http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/water_issues/irrigated_lands/hot_new s/ilrp_05feb08_nopw.pdf.

6. Contact and attend meetings of California’s Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, c/o CALFED Bay-Delta Program, 650 Capitol Mall, Fifth Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814 (http://deltavision.ca.gov/) to oppose any peripheral canal and any further diversion of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed; demand the Delta be made salmon-friendly again.

7. Contact the Director of California Fish & Game, and the Fish & Game Commission, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, demanding all state salmon hatcheries be operated at full capacity to fully mitigate losses from dams and water projects and call further for the trucking of hatchery fish around the Delta for release into acclimation pens in San Francisco Bay - at least until such time as the pumping, flow and wastewater discharge issues in the Delta are resolved.

8. Contact Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Members of the California Legislature, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814, demanding the State’s policy for doubling natural spawning salmon populations be met; contact U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240, demanding compliance with Federal policy (under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act) for doubling Central Valley natural spawning populations of anadromous fish (e.g., salmon).

9. Don’t forget the Klamath, even though it didn’t cause the 2008 closures. Contact Governor Ted Kulongoski, 160 State Capitol, 900 Court Street, Salem, OR 97301 and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, requesting state negotiators expedite the process for removal of the four PacifiCorp’s dams on the Klamath. PacifiCorp is owned by billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett; contact Mr. Buffett at 1440 Kiewit Plaza, Omaha, NE 68131

10. Contact the Pacific and North Pacific Fishery Management Councils demanding an end to salmon bycatch in Pacific Whiting, Pollock and other fisheries.

For More Information on what you can do, contact the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, P.O. Box 29370, San Francisco, CA 94129-0370, Tel: (415) 561-5080, http://www.pcffa.org



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NOTE; Dan Bacher did NOT write the following coments below, these options 11 A-C were posted by an unknown individual who is NOT Dan Bacher. Dan Bacher should in no way be held responsible for any of the text written below this line..

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Comments;

If all those legitimate effort fail us,

try action #11 for dam removal!

Sunday Apr 20th, 2008 1:58 PM

What is action #11 you say? Well, one option (#11, A-C) is to research some methods of dam removal that could either take some time or be sudden. While waiting for some of the bigger quakes to fracture enough inland to shift the dam foundations and produce eventual fracture, someone could;

11A; Go out there to the dams surface with a hammer and pick and begin the gradual process of chipping away at flakes of concrete that currently restrain los rios and the salmon travelers. This is a largely symbolic act and would show the dam tourists and the dam media that we mean business and want those damned dams removed. This is a lower risk of arrest than 11B, though potential tresspassing and vandalism charges should be taken into consideration..

OR

11B; Grab some dyn-o-mite in a truck and just set it near the dam edge, then warn everyone there (prefer to do this when no dam tourists are around!!) to vacate the premises and run away from the loaded truck on the dam. The resulting "bang" need not bring down the entire infrastructure, though should cause significant damages to the top infrastructure and cause enough media attention so that a copycat may be tempted to try it somewhere's else. Any dam is fair game, and the top prize (100 points) goes to anyone who get Hoover Dam. Forty points for any of the lower four Klamath dams. There is no financial reward being offered, only the satisfaction that the self-appointed dam remover did something to save the salmon. The downside of an 11B action is probable arrest and long term incarceration in a state prison and/or forensic mental health ward for terrorist charges. This could be a life sentence, make sure that nobody gets hurt and there could be chance for early release for good behavior. Possible book and movie option included with public infamy..

11C; Obviously we can't reveal all our plans or that would be poor strategy. Some plans are best left unsaid and should not be discussed. Therefore 11C will be the catch-all category for any undisclosed actions of a more creative nature. Try to remain on the non-violence to ALL living beings (especially mammals!) platform of previous ELF actions to maintain good standing with the public. No doubt a few algae colonies will not like being suddenly displaced from their concrete residency, though they'll continue to grow on the dam rubble for a while..

We (proponents of options 11A-C) openly invite any pro-salmon militia members who are not (c)overtly racist, classist, sexist, etc.. to help people interested with training in these sorts of devices. We feel it is indeed showing true love of one's people, country and land to remove industrial obstructions that interfere with the safe passage of our bioregion's salmon populations. To allow the salmon to become extinct would not be showing much love, though good positive thinkers, prayers for love, healing meditation and verbal helpers are always appreciated.

No neo-nazi skinheads nor al-Queda Wahhabists need apply as device trainers. We need grounded, sane and logical civil libertarian militia members who recognize that these dams are an intrusion to the local communities of the Western U.S., and the price of extinction of salmon is too great a price to pay for the benefit of unethical and monopolizing agribusiness corporations..

DISCLAIMER; For the record we'll need to admit that the 11A-C option is for humor and joking purposes only, and should not be taken seriously by any police or terrorist watch group. We're just trying to blow off some steam at the frustration of this entire process of begging politicians to undo what should never have been done to begin with. There were so many salmon here in these rios before the intrusion of the dams. We would like to prove our point that following dam removal the salmon populations will rebound as their territory in tributaries will be restored, and the water quality will improve..

DOUBLE DISCLAIMER!! Again, for entertainment purposes only. DO NOT try any of the above actions!!