Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 3, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Endangered Species Act change under review
Obama may reverse a Bush-era revision that loosened environmental rules for federal projects.
A lot to CHEER about
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Endangered Species Act change under review
Obama may reverse a Bush-era revision that loosened environmental rules for federal projects.
By Jim Tankersley
Reporting from Washington -- The White House will announce today that it is reconsidering another controversial last-minute environmental rule by President George W. Bush, an Obama administration official said Monday night.
The Bush-era rule loosened the way the Endangered Species Act guides federal projects, such as roads and dams. The change, finalized in December, eliminated a requirement that federal agencies consult with experts about potential effects on endangered plants and wildlife before allowing projects to go ahead. Instead, federal agencies can determine on their own whether their projects would harm protected species.
A major spending bill speeding through Congress includes language that would empower President Obama to reverse the rule. Without congressional action, the administration would need to undertake a lengthy process to roll back the rule.
The move is Obama's latest step toward reversing Bush's environmental policies. Shortly after his inauguration, Obama ordered all pending Bush regulations to be frozen, including the loosening of some air quality standards and the removal of the gray wolf from the endangered species list. Obama's Interior Department has canceled oil and gas drilling leases near national parks and paused efforts to open coastal areas for drilling and Mountain West oil shale for development.
Obama also directed the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its denial of
The chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.
Environmentalists said Bush's decision removed a crucial layer of protection for endangered species. Business and industry lobbyists countered that it eliminated unnecessary delays in projects without harming species.
Then-Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne admitted that the move divided Interior officials. The new Interior secretary, Ken Salazar, said in a January interview that he wanted to reconsider the rule.#
A lot to CHEER about
By Chris Bone, staff writer
Herman Garcia and his loyal band of volunteers rely on elbow grease, prayer and homeless people to save endangered fish.
Workers with Coastal Habitat Education & Environmental Restoration regularly visit the stretch of Uvas Creek west of
Rather than just pick up after folks, CHEER has teamed up with homeless people such as Nicole Boscacci, 19, and Oscar Martinez, 26. They bag their refuse for Garcia in exchange for the canned food he brings them from
"They definitely help, like this here," Garcia said, pointing to a pile of bags as Boscacci smiled behind him.
"We clean up every day," she said. "It's important to think about the fish, and right now it's not that bad, but there are more people who come down here and just leave their trash everywhere."
It's not just an environmental or aesthetic issue either. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - with which CHEER works closely along with the California Department of Fish and Game, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the Gilroy Unified School District and the city - is under part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, something Garcia likes to remind people of.
"Everything that happens here eventually affects the local, state and national economies," he said. "Who wants to live near a polluted river? Who wants to fish in this?"
As children, Garcia, his brother Benny and retired Gilroy Police Officer and long-time CHEER volunteer Bob Brem said they would sometimes catch 10 fish an afternoon. Breakneck development buried those days and if any kids still fish, creek conditions and stricter laws limit them to catch-and-release, Garcia said. A 1991 American Fisheries Society report, which relied on data from some drought years, estimated that between 100 to 200 steelhead trout ran up the
For this reason, Garcia has declared Uvas Creek CHEER's principle "battle line," and in the fight against extinction, the group seems to be winning lately.
"It was an awesome year," Garcia said of 2008, during which he and volunteers transported more than 23,000 steelhead - ranging from babies, known as "young of the year," to adults - from evaporating enclaves to more stable environments.
"I absolutely believe CHEER has saved that many fish," said Jonathan Ambrose, a biologist with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. "I've been out there to these sites and helped, and while 23,000 seems like a lot, you have to remember 31 out of 62 adults are females carrying anywhere from 500 to 5,000 eggs."
The water district has a long-standing agreement with fish and game to release about 3,000 acre-feet, or $825,000 worth, of water from the Uvas Reservoir in addition to the 7,500 acre-feet it pours out for humans, according to water district Spokesperson Susan Siravo. An acre-foot is enough water to supply two families of five for one year.
For those fish that are stranded, CHEER volunteers load as many as they can into a specially designed tank and then make a 50-mile round trip to the mouth of the Pajaro for every 1.5 adults and a 10-mile round trip for the bunches of babies they take upstream toward the Uvas Reservoir. All this driving caused Garcia's Jeep Cherokee with more than 200,000 miles to catch fire recently. Such dedication from a program specialist with FIRST 5
In Uvas Creek, a baby steelhead spends anywhere from one to three years maturing into a smolt, but only about 10 percent make it to the ocean, where they spend another couple of years before 10 to 30 percent return upstream in the late winter and spring to spawn, Ambrose said.
With a lack of funding for fish-tracking cameras or infrared that also require professional review and a shortage of volunteers, Ambrose described CHEER and other Bay Area volunteers as invaluable resources for NOAA.
"Herman is the only person that I work with that I've given my home number to," Ambrose said. "We need partners like CHEER. They're absolutely essential."
So is prayer.
After the first week of regular rain last month, Rev. Edward Fitz-Henry joined CHEER volunteers atop a trestle that crosses the creek near
"I can't seem to find any steelhead prayers," Fitz-Henry joked before reading from Psalm 8, which acknowledges "all that swim the paths of the seas."
For the humans on land, though, Ambrose encouraged people to follow Garcia's example.
"I can't emphasize enough that it's not too late," Ambrose said. "If you get the ecosystem fixed, the animal should take care of it itself."#
http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/254211-a-lot-to-cheer-about
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