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<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>One interesting disclosure at today’s Hearing:<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Inspector General Investigating Allegations of Politics Over
Delta Species <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Proactive cooperation needs true science <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Vallejo, CA - At a Congressional field hearing today
regarding the environmental crisis in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, a
Department of Interior official could not tell Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA)
whether scientists at Interior were pressured by the Bush Administration to
manipulate science because the matter was currently under investigation. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The Interior official, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Operations Manager for the California/Nevada Office <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Steve
Thompson</st1:PersonName>, said he could not answer Congressman Thompson's
question regarding political influence because the Department's Inspector
General is currently investigating the potential manipulation of scientific
evidence from the Delta. <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Steve Thompson</st1:PersonName>
did say that the investigation involves the former Deputy Assistant Secretary.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"This is exactly the type of situation we are trying to
avoid," said Congressman Thompson. "We learned the hard way how
political manipulation can impact an ecosystem on the Klamath River; when
politics trumped science and 80,000 salmon were killed, closing down the entire
commercial salmon fishing season to <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>
and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>
last year."<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'> <br>
The San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, also known as the Bay-Delta, is an
expansive inland river delta in <st1:place w:st="on">Northern California</st1:place>.
It is formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the Sacramento River
at its confluence with the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType> just east of where the river
enters <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Suisun</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Bay</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. The Bay Delta is the largest
estuary on the West Coast, covering 738,000 acres of land interlaced with
hundreds of miles of waterways. Much of the land is below sea level and relies
on more than 1,000 miles of levees for protection against flooding.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>This March, biologists counted only 25 juvenile Delta Smelt;
a fish found only in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta and is a keystone
species for many other types of fish, including salmon. Extensive
evidence demonstrates that over the past two years, the populations of delta
smelt have been at record lows. The decline of the Delta Smelt is
primarily due to water diversions south of the Delta.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"If there really is an Inspector General's investigation
going on, it calls into question the data being used for future Delta
management," said Congressman Thompson. "As a government, we
need to work together to fix the Delta's deteriorating levees, recover its
endangered species and provide safe drinking water. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Of the original 29 indigenous fish species in the Delta, 12
have either been entirely eliminated or are currently threatened with
extinction. Once one of the most common and abundant of the pelagic
fishes in the delta, the delta smelt population is estimated to have declined
approximately 90 percent in the last 20 years.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The focus of today's hearing was, "Extinction is not a
Sustainable Water Policy: The Bay-Delta Crisis and the Implications for <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> Water
Management."<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place>, Chair</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>California Trout, Inc., Advisor</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 cell</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.caltrout.org">http://www.caltrout.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org"></a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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