[env-trinity] Fish Activists Forge Ahead After the Election

[Daniel Bacher]

Fish Restoration Activists Forge Ahead After the Election

by Dan Bacher

Since the reelection of President George W. Bush in one of the most widely 
contested elections in U.S. history, fishery and river restoration activists 
have been regrouping and deciding how best to move forward.

The Bush administration distinguished itself for the damage its policies 
caused to salmon, steelhead and other fisheries during the past four years. 
Anglers and conservationists can expect to see similar challenges face us in 
the next four years.

Key events over the past four years include:

• The Klamath River fish kill of September 2002, where over 68,000 salmon 
died after the Department of Interior diverted river water to farmers at the 
expense of fish.

• High pre-spawning mortality - 181,709 salmon over the past three falls - 
on the lower American River due to low, warm water conditions caused by 
Bureau of Reclamation mismanagement of Folsom Dam.

• A series of administration-imposed rewriting of scientific reports to 
benefit agribusiness and industry at the expense of fish and wildlife. The 
most recent example was when higher-ups in the federal government ordered 
NOAA fisheries scientists to revise a biological opinion from “jeopardy” to 
“no jeopardy” on the dangers of increased Delta diversions to endangered 
fish.

The list could go on and on. However, what are the prospects for the years 
ahead?

“The outcome of Tuesday’s election will very likely intensify the challenges 
we all face protecting and restoring healthy, natural rivers,” said Rebecca 
Wodder, president of American Rivers. “If the past is any indication, we can 
expect the Bush administration and its allies in Congress to look the other 
way as our streams grow more polluted, to place rivers last in line for 
their own water, and to encourage the poorly planned sprawl development to 
make both of these problems so much worse.”

However, Wodder said there is cause for optimism. “During the past four 
years, local river and watershed organizations, individual activists, the 
science community and national groups - the river movement – have 
accomplished a lot despite the political climate in Washington and 
elsewhere.”

She cited successful battles to defeat attacks on the Clean Water Act, as 
well as the removal of over 110 dams in 20 states.

Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of 
Fishermen’s Associations, believes the problems that California and Pacific 
Northwest fisheries have experienced over the past four years will be 
amplified.

“The results of the election aren’t good from the standpoint of our three 
main rivers, the Columbia, the Klamath and the Sacramento,” said Grader. 
“Each had its problems under the Bush administration and I expect them to 
get worse. Most people consider themselves pro-fish and for the environment, 
so bringing the issues of our fisheries into the public spotlight is our 
only hope.”

He said that fish activists should continue putting political pressure upon 
the National Marine Fisheries Service to convince them to back their 
biologists, rather than bending to political interference in writing 
biological opinions.

“De watering streams or continuing dam operations that harm fish is a big 
economic issue,” emphasized Grader. “We need to get the administration to 
realize that these fish have economic value.”

Craig Tucker, outreach director of Friends of the River, concurred that the 
election outcome makes the task of fish restoration more difficult on the 
federal level. “The Department of Interior plays a big role in issues that 
we’re working on, including Klamath Dam relicensing, renewal of the Central 
Valley contracts and the proposed enlargement of Shasta Dam,” said Tucker.

He forecasts that restoration efforts will increasingly focus on litigation. 
“In the past, we have used litigation as a last resort,” said Tucker. “With 
the reelection of the president, we can expect to rely more on litigation in 
our environmental battles.”

On the state level, Tucker is more optimistic, since Governor Schwarzenegger 
recently signed all three bills that FOR sponsored. This legislation 
includes Senator Wes Chesbro’s bill strengthening  the environmental 
protections for California's Wild & Scenic Rivers ( SB 904); Senator Mike 
Machado’s Delta Water Use bill (SB 1155) mandating the state Department of 
Water Resources to develop a plan to meet water quality standards for the 
Bay Delta estuary; and a bill requiring Sacramento and other cities to use 
water meters.

In the coming years, Tucker said FOR is researching the possibility of 
extending state “wild and scenic” status to Cache Creek, the North Fork of 
the Stanislaus and the Clavey River.

Bob Strickland, president of United Anglers of California, forecasts that we 
will see increasing attempts to remove environmental protections for fish 
and wildlife with four more years of the Bush administration.

“My feeling is that the administration won’t do a thing to protect the 
environment and natural resources,” said Strickland. “For this reason, it is 
crucial that fishermen and the environmental groups work together for clean 
air and clean water. We need to look at the whole resource, not just trees 
and fish.”

On the state level, Strickland urged environmental and fish groups to make 
sure that all diversions are properly screened to prevent the entrapment of 
juvenile salmon and steelhead. He also believes that to promote water 
conservation, state legislation requiring water meters for agricultural 
users should be considered.

The effectiveness of litigation as a tool for fish restoration was 
demonstrated by recent court victories by the Hoopa Valley Tribe in their 
decades-long struggle to restore the Trinity River. The federal Ninth 
Circuit Court of Appeals on November 5 rejected a petition by the Westlands 
Water District and the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) to prolong 
the Trinity River litigation with a rehearing.

“This is yet another hard-fought legal battle in our efforts to save the 
Trinity River,” said Clifford Lyle Marshall, chairman of the Hoopa Valley 
Tribe. “We are pleased that the court has upheld its decision because 
continued litigation will only cause undue delays with the restoration of 
the river.”

“The court system is where the water wars are fought,” added Billy 
Colegrove, vice-chair of the tribe. “Maybe the farmers will see the light at 
the end of the tunnel and see that restoration is good for them as well as 
the fish.”

We face many challenges in the coming four years to restore and enhance our 
salmon, steelhead and other fisheries. That is why it so crucial that 
recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, Indian tribes, environmental 
groups and small farmers put aside our differences to work for the common 
cause of the fish and the environment.