Shrink government and get it as close to the people as possible. Local control in local hands is the ideal makeup of government of, for and by the people!!!
I know we fight against regional government. Siskiyou County just approved a comment letter with a set of principles agreed upon by several groups on the proposed CIP - Conservation Implementation Program (basinwide ecosystem/water management "stakeholder" based proposal for the entire Klamath River system. http://www.usbr.gov/mp/kbao/
The letter read as follows:
Siskiyou County has been participating in an effort to draft an Alternative CIP that includes a major role in coordination and budgeting for elected governmental officials from tribes, counties, state and federal government. The alternative will provide for a bottom-up process to develop recovery strategies and plans both locally and across watersheds. We are assisting in fully developing this concept and building support throughout the entire Klamath River system. We believe we have a much better approach to resolving issues, while also providing for the operation of the Klamath Project. We will make that alternative available in the near future.
While that effort continues, we want to provide the following comments on your CIP second draft that reflect the principles and elements of the Alternative CIP concept. The CIP should:
1. Recognize that a “bottom-up” approach to developing watershed or Project level plans and recovery strategies is mandatory.
2. Recognize the value of incentives to private landowners, respect and protect private property rights and the privacy of individual landowners.
3. Provide for periodic, independent and objective scientific review of technical information, analysis and conclusions pertinent to the recovery plan and the program’s ability to meet goals and objectives.
4. Encourage the aggressive pursuit of adaptive management principles by federal, state and private resource managers.
5. Provide for maximizing the efficiency of dollars spent on the ground.
6. Through peer-reviewed scientific data and analysis, provide for specific benchmarks in goals and objectives of the recovery plan.
7. Provide that plans and actions will not usurp the planning authorities of tribes, counties and federal and state land management agencies.
8. Provide assurances that federal agencies will not attempt to extend their reach beyond the scope of their lawful jurisdiction and authority.
9. Provide that landowners who voluntarily participate in restoration or monitoring activities will not realize adverse regulatory consequences as the result of such participation
10. Broaden the CIP objective to take into account the balanced use of resources for commercial fishing as well as agriculture, timber harvest, mining and recreation.
11. Component plans and recovery strategies should not redirect costs or impose adverse impacts on others in the Klamath system.
12. Provide that the recovery plan will contain:
a) An inventory and assessment of the voluntary conservation actions taken to date throughout the Klamath Basin.
b) A description of the watershed-specific goals and objectives of the recovery strategy.
We look forward to working on a better, revised CIP and appreciate the opportunity to comment on this second draft.
It sounds like this is something that needs to be brought up to a conservative judge.