<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Good Morning </div><div style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><br></div><div style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Below are (1) my breaking news piece about the downgrading of Monterey Shale oil reserves by 95.6 percent, (2) my piece about Restore the Delta's better water resource solution alternative to Senator Feinstein's bailout for agribusiness bill, and (3) A North Coastal Journal piece on yesterday's sentencing of Ron Le Valley, former co-chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Science Advisory Team for the North Coast, on one count of conspiracy to embezzle over $900,000 from the Yurok Tribe.</div><div style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><br></div><div style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Thanks</div><div style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Dan </div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/21/1300935/-Energy-officials-downgrade-Monterey-Shale-oil-reserves-by-95-6">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/21/1300935/-Energy-officials-downgrade-Monterey-Shale-oil-reserves-by-95-6</a> </span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/05/21/18756013.php">https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/05/21/18756013.php</a></span></font></div><div style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><br></div><div style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Photo of Governor Jerry Brown courtesy of Damien Luzzo.</div><div style="float: left; padding-left: 6px; width: 827px; "><div class="webcast" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; "><center style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; "><div class="media" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; "><img width="507" height="350" alt="no_more_fracking____1.jpg " style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " src="cid:A0FAFE43-B7E1-4813-A586-8571BC68C1C8"><br><strong>no_more_fracking____1.jpg</strong><br><small style="font-family: 'MS Sans Serif', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.1px; "></small></div></center><br><div class="article" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="6">Energy officials downgrade Monterey Shale oil reserves by 95.6% </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">by Dan Bacher </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">Oil industry representatives have continually claimed that the expansion of fracking for oil in California will lead to the creation of many thousands of jobs and the influx of billions of dollars to the economy, but these claims were exposed as false when federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) officials downgraded Monterey Shale reserves by 95.6 percent on May 20. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">In her recent blog, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association and former Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called "marine protected areas" in Southern California, touted the jobs bonanza that would supposedly be created by expanded fracking. (</span></font><a href="http://www.wspa.org/blog/post/moratorium-legislation-does-not-make-sense-california" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; ">http://www.wspa.org/blog/post/moratorium-legislation-does-not-make-sense-california</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">) </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">"Senate Bill 4 created a pathway to transparent environmental protections while balancing the need to meet California’s energy demands and create valuable, much-needed jobs in the San Joaquin Valley," said Reheis-Boyd. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">"A study produced by the California State University, Fresno found that hydraulic fracturing in the San Joaquin Valley’s Monterey Shale Formation could grow personal income by as much as $4 billion while creating more than 195,000 new jobs. In addition to these localized opportunities, the entire state will benefit from increased domestic energy production," gushed Reheis-Boyd. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">However, Reheis-Boyd's contention that the expansion of fracking in California will create thousands of jobs and inject billions of dollars into the economy was completely dispelled when the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirmed new estimates for US shale oil reserves, reducing its previous estimate for technically recoverable oil in the Monterey Shale from 13.7 billion barrels of oil to just 0.6 billion barrels of oil. (</span></font><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil-20140521-story.html" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; ">http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil-20140521-story.html</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;"> ) </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">This amounts to a 95.6 percent reduction and "is illustrative of just how much the Monterey Shale is misunderstood," according to a statement from CAFrackFacts, a non profit organization. To put this figure in perspective, the EIA’s latest estimate of 0.6 billion barrels would only be enough to meet US oil consumption for 32 days. (</span></font><a href="http://www.cafrackfacts.org/resources/media/" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; ">http://www.cafrackfacts.org/resources/media/</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">) </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">"From the information we've been able to gather, we've not seen evidence that oil extraction in this area is very productive using techniques like fracking," said John Staub, a petroleum exploration and production analyst who led the energy agency's research, told the LA Times. "Our oil production estimates combined with a dearth of knowledge about geological differences among the oil fields led to erroneous predictions and estimates. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">"This downgrade fundamentally changes the risk-reward calculation when it comes to unconventional oil development in our state,” said Jayni Foley Hein, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law, Energy and the Environment and CAFrackFacts Advisor. “Given that the industry's promised economic benefits are not likely to materialize, the state should take a hard look at the impacts that oil development has on public health, safety, and the environment." </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">For years, the Western States Petroleum Association and oil companies have made extensive claims and invested heavily in attempting to develop the Monterey Shale using unconventional development techniques such as hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and acidization. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">These controversial techniques were believed to be the "answer" to tapping into the oil of the Monterey Shale and replicating the oil boom that is occurring in other regions of the United States, according to CAFrackFacts. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">“With these new numbers from the EIA, it is clear that the Monterey Shale will not be the panacea that will fuel our cars, jobs or the California economy,” said Dr. Seth B. Shonkoff, Executive Director of the scientific organization PSE Healthy Energy. “It is critical that California turn its attention towards energy sources that will meet our energy demands for the near- and long-term, facilitate the meeting of our climate targets and create real jobs in this State.” </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">"As large-scale fracking of the Monterey Shale seems unlikely, other forms of enhanced oil recovery throughout California continue to pose not fully-understood risks to the health and safety of Californians," the group said. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">CAFrackFacts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing public understanding and scientific knowledge about unconventional drilling and well stimulation techniques in California. For more information, visit </span></font><a href="http://www.CAFrackFacts.org/" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; ">http://www.CAFrackFacts.org</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;"> or follow them on Twitter @CAFrackFacts. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) that is leading the campaign to frack California spends more money every year on lobbying in Sacramento than any other corporate group. This massive spending enables the oil industry to effectively buy the votes of many State Assembly Members and Senators. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">The organization spent a total of $5,331,493 in 2009, $4,013,813 in 2010, $4,273,664 in 2011, $5,698,917 in 2012 and $4,670,010 in 2013 on lobbying at the State Capitol - and spent $1,456,785 in just the first 3 months of 2014. (</span></font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/23365-californias-big-oil-dirty-dozen" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; ">http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/23365-californias-big-oil-dirty-dozen</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">) You can bet that a good chunk of this money spent so far this year was spent on stopping Senate Bill 1132, Senator Holly Mitchell and Mark Leno's fracking moratorium bill. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">A ground breaking report released on April 1, 2014 by the ACCE Institute and Common Cause also reveals that Big Oil's combined spending on lobbying and political campaigns in Sacramento amounts to a stunning $266.9 million over the past 15 years. (</span></font><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/14/how-big-oil-bought-sacramento/" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; ">http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/14/how-big-oil-bought-sacramento/</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">) </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">However, the oil industry's ability to effectively buy the Governor's Office, legislators and environmental processes doesn't change the fact that the Energy Information Administration's estimate for technically recoverable oil in the Monterey Shale has been reduced from 13.7 billion barrels of oil to just 0.6 billion barrels of oil. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">Meanwhile, opposition to fracking is mushrooming throughout the state. In the latest victory in the campaign to ban the environmentally destructive oil extraction process, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on May 20 to prohibit fracking and oil and gas development in Santa Cruz County. </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">Food & Water Watch, 350.org, Environment California, Center for Biological Diversity, Californians Against Fracking, Santa Cruz Sierra Club, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and UC Santa Cruz students rallied with Supervisor John Leopold after the vote to celebrate the victory. (</span></font><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/20/1300802/-Santa-Cruz-County-first-to-ban-fracking-in-Caliornia" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; ">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/20/1300802/-Santa-Cruz-County-first-to-ban-fracking-in-Caliornia</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">) </span></font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;">"We congratulate the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors for their historic vote towards protecting California’s air and water, and for setting a positive example for other counties and Governor Brown,” said Adam Scow, California Director of Food & Water Watch.</span></font></div><div class="article" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;"><br></span></font></div><div class="article" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;"><br></span></font></div><div class="article"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">2.</span></font></div><div class="article"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></div><div class="article"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.fishsniffer.com/blogs/details/delta-tunnels-opponents-offer-senator-feinstein-a-better-water-solution/">http://www.fishsniffer.com/blogs/details/delta-tunnels-opponents-offer-senator-feinstein-a-better-water-solution/</a></span></font></div><div class="article" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; "><br></span></font></div><div class="article" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px;"><br></span></font></div><div class="article"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); "><h2v style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; font-size: 22px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); text-transform: uppercase; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; text-shadow: rgb(0, 153, 204) 1.5px 1.5px; ">DELTA TUNNELS OPPONENTS OFFER SENATOR FEINSTEIN A BETTER WATER SOLUTION</h2v><h2v style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: bold; text-shadow: rgb(0, 153, 204) 1.5px 1.5px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font></h2v></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: none; ">Written By: <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; ">Dan Bacher, May 21, 2014 </strong></div></span><div class="round_white" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(251, 251, 251); border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-right-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-bottom-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-left-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); height: 448px; border-bottom-left-radius: 5px 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px 5px; position: static; z-index: auto; background-position: 0% 100%; "><div style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: none; ">In discussing her agribusiness-friendly drought relief legislation, S 2198, Senator Dianne Feinstein recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that environmentalists have “never been helpful to me in producing good water policy."</div><div style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: none; ">“I have not had a single constructive view from environmentalists of how to provide water when there is no snowpack,” said Feinstein in her interview. (<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Feinstein-Environmentalists-no-help-on-5481560.php" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 94, 133); font-size: 12px; ">http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Feinstein-Environmentalists-no-help-on-5481560.php</a>)</div><div style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: none; ">Restore the Delta (RTD), opponents of Governor Jerry Brown’s Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral tunnels, on Monday announced the release of a new video in response to Feinstein’s false claim that environmentalists have “never been helpful” to her in solving California’s water resource challenges. </div><div style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: none; ">Restore the Delta’s storyboard video, <a href="http://youtu.be/Ml_pCr2uMaE," style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 94, 133); font-size: 12px; ">http://youtu.be/Ml_pCr2uMaE,</a> describes what water efficiency would accomplish for the Delta and for meeting California's water and jobs needs. RTD, along with the Environmental Water Caucus in their Responsible Water Exports Plan, has long proposed sustainable water water policies. </div><div style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: none; ">“Sen. Feinstein is carrying water in S 2198 for huge industrial mega-growers who have planted thousands of additional acres of almonds on dry lands in Westlands and Kern Water Districts in the midst of our three-year dry spell,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of RTD. “Sen. Feinstein’s response to this unsustainable overplanting of permanent crops on unsustainable lands without their own water supply is to strip sustainable farms and fisheries of protections so these huge growers can water their unwise plantings.” </div><div style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: none; "> "During times of drought, people think about big water projects as the solution because most people have seen large canals or dams that hold and convey water,” she said. “We decided to create a storyboard that shows what water efficiency looks like with easy to understand facts so that people can learn why water efficiency is the better value for each dollar spent on water infrastructure.”</div><div style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: none; ">“The water efficiency story will be turned into a feature video in the months ahead -- and it will tell the story of how water efficiency throughout California is the solution for the Delta and the citizens of California,” Barrigan-Parrilla concluded. The video is here:<a href="http://youtu.be/Ml_pCr2uMaE%C2%A0%C2%A0" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 94, 133); font-size: 12px; ">http://youtu.be/Ml_pCr2uMaE </a></div><div style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; text-decoration: none; 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text-rendering: optimizelegibility; float: left; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(105, 158, 158); text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 1px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-transform: none; font-size: medium; "><br></span></span><span class="postCategory CategoryBlogthing" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; float: left; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(105, 158, 158); text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 1px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(71, 71, 71); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-transform: none; font-size: medium; "><a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogthing/archives/2014/05/20/biologist-gets-10-months-for-yurok-grift">http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogthing/archives/2014/05/20/biologist-gets-10-months-for-yurok-grift</a></span></span><span class="postCategory CategoryBlogthing" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; float: left; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(105, 158, 158); text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 1px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; "><a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogthing/archives/courts/" class="topic-courts" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(105, 158, 158); text-decoration: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; ">COURTS</a> / <a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogthing/archives/crime/" class="topic-crime" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(105, 158, 158); text-decoration: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; ">CRIME</a> / <a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogthing/archives/environment-natural-resources/" class="topic-environment-natural-resources" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(105, 158, 158); text-decoration: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; ">ENVIRONMENT / NATURAL RESOURCES</a></span></div><h3 class="postTitle" id="a2569380" style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: left; clear: left; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Biologist Gets 10 Months for Yurok Grift</h3><h4 class="postedBy" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 400; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; clear: both; color: rgb(102, 51, 0); letter-spacing: 0.1em; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; ">POSTED BY <a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/ArticleArchives?author=2460443" rel="author" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(102, 51, 0); text-decoration: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; ">THADEUS GREENSON</a> ON <span class="postTime" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(227, 41, 29); ">TUE, MAY 20, 2014</span> AT <span class="postTime" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(227, 41, 29); ">4:58 PM</span></h4><div class="postBody" style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.4em; text-align: left; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><div class="contentImageRight" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; float: right; position: relative; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; "><span class="clicktozoom" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; display: block; text-align: right; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(119, 119, 119); ">click to enlarge</span><a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/imager/biologist-gets-10-months-for-yurok-grift/b/original/2569385/f064/grift.jpg" class="zoomable" rel="contentImg_gal-2569380" title="" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(214, 17, 0); text-decoration: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; "><img width="250" height="368" alt="grift.jpg" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); display: block; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; " src="cid:EE8D5244-E380-4B54-841F-2F22168B55CA"></a><ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; width: 250px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; "></ul></div>A judge today sentenced a local biologist to serve 10 months in prison for his role in conspiring to embezzle nearly $1 million in federal funds from the Yurok Tribe over a three-year period beginning in 2007, according to Yurok Tribal Chairman Thomas O’Rourke.<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">Mad River Biologists founder Ron LeValley pleaded guilty in February to a single count of conspiring to embezzle funds from an Indian tribal organization and faced up to two and half years in federal prison in the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the federal probation department felt a one year prison sentence was appropriate in the case, but U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ultimately opted for the 10-month sentence, citing cooperation with a federal investigation into the grift — cooperation that led directly to the conviction of LeValley’s co-conspirator, former Yurok Tribe Forestry Director Roland Raymond, who was sentenced to a three-year prison term in January.<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">LeValley’s attorney, William Kimball, argued that his client’s criminal conduct was a blip in an otherwise law-abiding life and that he should be spared a prison confinement.<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">Reached after the sentencing, O’Rourke said he was very disappointed in the sentence, and the system. “He’s considered a leader in the community, and pillars of the community are held to higher standards,” he said. “In my mind, and in the tribe’s mind, he’s a crook. And, basically, he was slapped on the wrist with the sentence.”<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">According to court documents, LeValley and Raymond conspired to steal the funds through a complex scheme of fake and inflated invoices and payments for northern spotted owl survey work that Mad River Biologists never performed. In court documents, LeValley claims Raymond told him he was using the ill-gotten funds to pay for tribal forestry and fire crews. LeValley said he thought he was helping the tribe and its members, but concedes he knew what he was doing was, in fact, illegal. Court documents also indicate that none of the stolen funds paid for the work crews and that they were instead spent to support Raymond’s drug and gambling addictions.<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">As a part of their sentences, both Raymond and LeValley have been ordered to repay the $852,000 they stole from the tribe.<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">Mad River Biologists submitted more than 75 false invoices between 2007 and 2010, according to court documents. Under the scheme, Raymond would then cut checks from the tribe and LeValley would funnel the money back to him, less 20 percent taken off the top.<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">The survey work that was never done was primarily looking for habitats for the federally endangered northern spotted owl to determine what tribal properties could be logged without harming owl populations. It’s unclear whether Raymond and LeValley’s conspiracy affected timber harvest plans or led to the destruction of potential owl habitats.<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">In addition to having founded Mad River Biologists in Arcata, LeValley is an acclaimed wildlife photographer and birder, and was a member of the Marine Life Protection Act science advisory team for the North Coast. He lives in Mendocino County and is due to surrender to authorities in July to begin serving his sentence in a minimum security prison.<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">In a memorandum urging Alsup to keep his client out of prison, Kimball noted that the court received more than 80 letters in support of LeValley, many lauding his many volunteer endeavors and charitable acts. “These letters tell the story of a man who has consistently put service to others and to his community before himself,” Kimball wrote. “The profound, positive impact that Ron has had, and continues to have, on so many lives should be a powerful mitigating factor as the court weighs the appropriate sentence for his offense.”<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">O’Rourke said LeValley has never taken full responsibility for his actions, or showed remorse for the damage he’s done to the Yurok Tribe. “He said he was duped, that he was tricked,” the chairman said. “He’s an intelligent man, a business man, and he didn’t get this far in life being tricked … The Yurok Tribe is very disappointed in the sentence, and in the system.”<br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><br style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">For more information on the case, see past <i style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; ">Journal </i>coverage <a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/the-yurok-grift/Content?oid=2133111" target="_blank" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(214, 17, 0); text-decoration: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; ">here</a>, <a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogthing/archives/2014/01/13/former-yurok-official-sentenced-in-embezzlement-case" target="_blank" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(214, 17, 0); text-decoration: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; ">here </a>and <a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogthing/archives/2014/02/11/biologist-pleads-guilty-in-yurok-embezzlement-case" target="_blank" style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(214, 17, 0); text-decoration: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; ">here</a>.</div></div><div class="link" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; "><a href="https://www.indybay.org/admin/article/article_edit.php" style="color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; "></a></div></div></div><br><div><br></div><div><br></div></body></html>