The Forest Service has a nondiscretionary duty to identify the minimum roads system. We are very concerned that no attempt has been made by the agency to identify the minimum road system. This is particularly troubling given the massive road maintenance backlog on National Forests and the extreme impact the road system is having on the hydrological, biological and botanical values of the Forest.

Further, the purpose of Subpart A (of the Travel Management Rule) is for each unit of the National Forest System to determine a minimum road system in order to establish the means for “safe and efficient” travel and it requires the agency to identify and decommission unneeded roads.  It is unacceptable for the Forest Service to ignore the regulations and guidance that call for resource protection while preparing documents that will add significant additional road and trail mileage to the Forest Service road system.

Road density is an important indicator of such things as habitat fragmentation, the potential for wildlife harassment, visual quality, recreation opportunities, the cumulative potential for erosion and sedimentation from road surfaces, and cumulative increases in peak flow due to runoff from road surfaces and ditches.  Consequently, the proposed Environmental Impact Statements should include a plan to close and decommission unnecessary or damaging roads to reduce road density in these forests.

To send a message to Six Rivers National Forest through EPIC’s online action center, click here!

The study “Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis)” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Hayes’ lab found that 10 percent of male frogs treated with low doses of the herbicide became physically female, while the other 90 percent suffered lowered testosterone levels and fertility. Compared to a clean control group, the treated frogs were less successful in mating.

The ‘feminized’ male frogs were fully capable of mating with male frogs, producing eggs that hatched only males – because both parents were genetically male.

In an interview with the SF Chronicle, Hayes suggested that atrazine may not only be implicated in worldwide declines of amphibians, but other species as well. “There is more and more evidence from other researchers,” he said, “that Atrazine is also damaging the immune systems of fish, reptiles and birds.”

A recent article by the California Native Plant Society’s Jen Kalt in NEC’s EcoNews notes that, according to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation records, an estimated 12 tons of atrazine was used in Humboldt County forests over the last six years.

Atrazine is heavily used in corn production. In a response to the frog study reported in the Washington Post, Lynne Hoot, with the Maryland Grain Producers Association, noted that atrazine use by corn growers, because “about 70 percent of corn and soybeans grown [in Maryland] are now genetically designed to work better with the herbicide Roundup.

Reassuring? Not so much.

Another recent study identified, for the first time, long-suspected synergistic effects from the key ingredient in Roundup and fish parasites. Fish treated with levels of the herbicide previously believed safe and exposed to common parasites at the same time suffered much higher rates of infection than fish not exposed to the herbicide. To cap it off, the snail species that is host to the parasite produced significantly more parasites when exposed to higher, but still moderate, levels of the herbicide.

The study’s abstract concludes, in uncharacteristically strong language for science, “This is the first study to show that parasites and glyphosate can act synergistically on aquatic vertebrates at environmentally relevant concentrations, and that glyphosate might increase the risk of disease in fish. Our results have important implications when identifying risks to aquatic communities and suggest that threshold levels of glyphosate currently set by regulatory authorities do not adequately protect freshwater systems.”

Related Links:

Study: Weedkiller in waterways can change frogs’ sex traits

Synergistic effects of glyphosate formulation and parasite infection on fish malformations and survival

Wikipedia: Atrazine

Over the last week, EPIC has been working with fishing and conservation groups across Northern California and the Pacific Northwest to build resistance to California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s proposal to suspend Endangered Species Act protections for endangered salmon and other wildlife in California’s Sacramento Delta. Senator Feinstein’s proposal would send more water from Northern California’s Trinity and Sacramento Rivers to the Westlands Water District, despite the harm to crashing salmon populations and the people and ecosystems that depend on healthy fisheries.

Feinstein’s attempt to place a “rider” on the pending Senate jobs bill would benefit fabulously wealthy campaign contributors like Hollywood billionaire Stewart Resnick, owner of Paramount Farms and controller of most of the nation’s almond and pistachio crops, at the expense of the already-decimated salmon industry on the West Coast. It would establish a horrible precedent that environmental laws don’t apply when wealthy and powerful interests like the Westlands Water District object.

“Senator Feinstein’s cynical attempt to suspend Endangered Species Act protections for truly imperiled Sacramento River salmon is not only an ecological disaster in the making,” said Scott Greacen, executive director of EPIC. “It would put at risk ten times as many jobs in fishing as it would protect for farmworkers, give the Trinity River’s water to the corporate agribusiness that has been trying to steal it since the 1960s, and establish the horrible precedent that our crucial environmental laws don’t apply to wealthy funders of powerful politicians.”

The good news is that North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson has taken a politically courageous stand for salmon and the salmon fishing industry by co-authoring a very strong letter to Senator Feinstein opposing her rider.

Please call Senator Barbara Boxer’s office in Washington D.C. at 202-224-3553 or in San Francisco at 415-403-0100 and ask her to oppose Feinstein’s water grab.

If you have an extra moment, please call salmon defenders including Mike Thompson’s Washington D.C. office at 202-225-3311 or his Napa District office at 707-226-9898, and thank them for their efforts to defend Northern California’s water and fish.

The Forest Service’s Panther Salvage Project is located within the steep slopes of the Elk Creek Watershed, which is listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act. It is also a key watershed, which is critical habitat for salmon recovery. Despite the impaired nature, the creek is home to Coho and Chinook salmon, steelhead, resident trout and the Pacific lamprey. All of these species rely on the streams within Elk Creek for all life stages (migration, spawning, incubation, rearing, and holding). The Elk Creek Watershed is extremely sensitive to disturbance and has been affected by too many roads and intensive timber harvest.

Logging is proposed in late successional reserves, areas set aside to protect and enhance old growth forest structure and species; in riparian reserves, waterways and unstable areas; and within recreational river boundaries.

The Panther Salvage Project is within critical habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl, a species listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that Northern Spotted Owls roost and forage in post-fire habitats. Thus, owl territories with severely burned stands in the Panther Fire area may continue to be occupied by owls. Fire-killed trees provide perch sites and future nest sites. Recent scientific evidence found that survival and reproduction depended upon significant patches of high severity post-fire habitat because it is suitable for a key prey species, the Dusky-footed wood rat. This habitat is not mimicked by logging as proposed by the Panther Salvage Project, which would remove snags and prevent recruitment of large downed logs.

Human forest visitors regularly use the area for many reasons including the Sulphur Springs and Norcross Campgrounds and to access the Bear Lake and Bear Creek Trailheads, the Kelsey National Recreational Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, which lead to the Marble Mountain Wilderness.

Currently, the District is developing its draft environmental analysis. Once completed, there will be an opportunity for public comment on the analysis.

The responsible official for this action is Patricia Grantham, the Forest Supervisor.
Questions and comments about this project should be directed to Nicholas Larson (District Timber Management Officer) or Ken Harris (District Ranger) at the Happy Camp Ranger District at 530-493-2243 or at the Yreka office at 530-842-6131.

In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged that the threat to fishers—whose populations were diminished by historic fur trapping and logging in old-growth forests—warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). However, the USFWS has failed to protect the fisher, arguing that the agency lacks the resources to do so. The environmental groups suing the agency assert that the USFWS’s failure to make sufficient progress toward listing the fisher under the ESA is illegal.

“We must use every measure available to prevent the Pacific fisher from going extinct. Budgetary concerns cannot be the litmus test on whether an entire species gets to survive or not,” said Kerul Dyer, EPIC’s Outreach Director. “As usual, the grassroots must force the hand of management agencies to follow the laws that govern them. The declining numbers of Pacific fishers indicate a dangerous loss of habitat, food sources and changing conditions. I only hope that this 60 day notice of intent to sue can outrun the mechanisms of destruction these critters are up against.”

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the fisher is one of 249 species designated as candidates for listing as endangered species. Many species have been waiting decades for protection and most are gravely endangered. Although lack of resources is the purported reason for delaying protection for these species, the Obama administration has proposed to cut funding for listing of endangered species by 5 percent. To date, the administration has only protected two species under the Endangered Species Act. By comparison, the Clinton administration protected an average of 65 species per year.

The fisher has a long, slender body with short legs. Its head is triangular, with a sharp, pronounced muzzle and large, rounded ears. Fishers are mostly brown, with a long bushy tail. Males range up to 47 inches in length, while females typically reach 37 inches. Fishers run in a bounding gait, with their front feet leaping forward together, followed by the back feet. The fisher has a diverse diet, preying on small mammals, snowshoe hare, porcupine, and birds, and also eating carrion, fruit, and truffles. Because it is the only animal that regularly preys on porcupines, which often kill or damage small trees, the timber industry reintroduced the fisher to parts of the United States, including the southern Cascades of Oregon.

An example of one of the signs the County of Del Norte has put up around Tolowa Dunes State Park and the Lake Earl Wildlife Area.

Take Action Now! Send a letter to California State Parks and the Department of Fish and Game.

It looks like the County of Del Norte likes to disregard the law and play by its own rules. A series of signs designating county roads as combined use—allowing both cars and off highway vehicles (OHVs)—have been placed within the Pacific Shores subdivision providing easy access to adjacent Tolowa Dunes State Park and the Lake Earl Wildlife Area north of Crescent City, California. The only problem is, the County needs a permit from the California Coastal Commission before any development or road designations can be made. In other words, the combined use road signs are patently illegal. The County’s facilitation of ongoing illegal trespass, which is destroying wetlands and dunes, is doubly disturbing.

For years, illegal OHV use in Tolowa Dunes State Park and the Lake Earl Wildlife Area has caused extensive damage to sensitive habitats, hurting endangered and threatened wildlife species. The recently posted signs are yet another attempt to subvert the law and unlawfully operate OHVs in these areas. The signs stem from a May 2009 Del Norte County Supervisors meeting where a resolution was approved to designate the roads in question as combined use. The supervisors skipped the essential step of procuring a permit from the Coastal Commission to legally make the road designations and quietly slipped this item through without public hearing.

James Baskin, coastal planner for the California Coastal Commission, has sent a letter to the County of Del Norte alerting the county of the illegal signs and road designations. Baskin warns the County that if it does not remove the signs and continues allowing the roads in question to be designated as combined use, the County will face fines.

Damage similar to crop circles caused by OHVs at Egret Slough in Tolowa Dunes State Park.

Unfortunately California State Parks and the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) have failed to effectively enforce laws prohibiting OHV use in state parks and wildlife areas. While the Coastal Commission has responded rapidly and warned the county of the illegality of the road designations, State Parks and DFG are not calling the county to task.

Send an electronic letter to Ruth Coleman, Director of California State Parks, and John McCamman, Director of the California Department of Fish and Game, and demand that they enforce the law and end the illegal use of OHVs in Tolowa Dunes State Park and the Lake Earl Wildlife Area.

In his book Doug Bevington describes the three types of environmental organizations that have been prominent in the United States from the 19th century to the present. He defines the earliest traditional type of environmental groups as National Environmental Organizations. A few examples include: the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, the National Parks and Conservation Association, and National Wildlife federation. These groups all use an insider strategy to pursue their environmental goals. Insider strategy entails the use of lobbyists and conventional political participation. These groups receive the most funding and have been able to make connections in government. The problem with big National Environmental Organizations is that they are often forced to make big compromises in order to keep their position within government.

Bevington uses the group Earth First! to demonstrate the new radical environmentalists that were prompted to attack in part because of the shortcomings of National Environmental Organizations. Their slogan is “no compromise in defense of mother earth.” This group used an outsider strategy, taking direct action to fight against environmental injustice. This group was not interested in political compromises and didn’t avoid confrontation or conflict. For example they often used their own bodies in protest by sitting in trees or lying in front of bulldozers. While their tactics drew attention, they failed to promote long-term solutions

His main focus is on the emergence of Grassroots Biodiversity Groups. These groups arose as a third path between the effectiveness of National Environmental Organizations and the uncompromising nature of Earth First!. These groups are made up of a small number of intelligent specialists such as environmental lawyers. They use litigation as a powerful tool to ensure that environmental laws are enforced and that biodiversity is protected. The tactics Grassroots Biodiversity Groups create long-term beneficial results. Bevington argues that these groups are so successful because they are both influential and uncompromising (complete text available here).

EPIC and the Coalition to Save Richardson Grove will host two forums to discuss the implications of the controversial project.

February 17 at 6:30, at the Bayside Grange in Arcata

February 24 at 7 p.m. at the Vets Hall in Garberville

Call 707-822-7711 for more information.

Download flyer here

Kimberly Baker inspecting logging within the Orleans Community Fuels Reduction project.

I work with the Klamath Forest Alliance and EPIC to protect and defend our North Coast Watersheds. Our organizations strongly support the Traditional Ecological Knowledge and cultural management techniques of the Tribes. This is a very brief rendition of a very heated story. The Orleans “Community Fuels Reduction” Project (OCFR) is a tangled mess of broken assurances. Four years ago the Orleans Ranger District on the Six Rivers National Forest came to the community and the Karuk Tribe with a map and a Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) plan. Forced collaboration from the start got this project off on the wrong foot. After hundreds of meetings, field trips and discussions it has proven to be worse than we all imagined.

The OCFR plan consists of treating over 2,500 acres-1,404 acres of hand thinning and commercial logging on 1,179 acres. Within the Panamniik World Renewal Ceremonial Area, which is culturally and spiritually significant to the Karuk Tribe, 941 acres of treatments are proposed.

It is hard to know where to begin listing the violations of laws and promises. Each purpose and need spelled out by the agency has run counter to their word in the Environmental Impact Statement.

1) Reduce hazardous fuels and promote restoration of fire-adapted ecosystem functions.

A 10-foot width limit was identified in the EIS for skyline logging corridors and on average they are 20-40 feet wide. Most of these corridors seem to target the largest, most fire resistant trees, many over 4 feet in diameter. Collectively these swaths of open forests will lead to increased brush growth, which increases the fire risk. Canopy closure in these stands is now less than the 60 percent that was pledged.

2.) Enhance cultural values associated with the Panamniik World Renewal Ceremonial District

In order to secure logging equipment, cables (guy-lines) are wrapped around large trees and in effect these trees are mortally damaged. Large tan oak trees that are in very sensitive areas have been damaged. Logging equipment has been parked in spiritually sensitive areas. The EIS promised the use of different equipment in these logging units so this would not happen. Furthermore, non-local crews did hand thinning with no regard to cultural interests, including slashing hardwoods.

3.) Improve forest health and promote stand diversity

Throughout the EIS the Forest Service emphasizes the importance of hardwood species not only from a forest health perspective, but also from a traditional ecological perspective and it assures hardwood retention and protection. However there is an economic incentive for cutting these trees for firewood and that is what this logger has done. Hundreds of “protected” hardwoods have been cut. Not only is this devastating to forest health but will also increase the risk of fire.

It doesn’t end there. Tyrone Kelly gave his word in the EIS and in person that “Multiparty monitoring would be an effective way to build trust and collaborate with local communities and diverse stakeholders including interested citizens and Tribes. As contracts develop, we will continue to work with collaborators to establish priorities for implementation and monitoring.” Well, up until a couple weeks ago, because of pressure from bad press, Tyrone said that he would not allow or take any part in monitoring. He said it was a conflict of interest. The collaborative group was supposed to have access to files, contracts and basic information. We had to send in formal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the project file (minus the culturally and endangered species information), which any citizen in the country is allowed access. Even then thy have denied our request saying that it was not specific enough. Where will it end?