White House to host summit on conservation

"Under President Obama's vision for a "21st century conservation agenda," the federal government would bring together cities, states, tribes and nongovernmental organizations working on conservation efforts, and encourage families to spend more time outdoors, officials said."

The Administration is starting out by amending the Planning Rule that requires the US Forest Service to “coordinate” with local governments and states in the management of federally owned lands. This allows locally elected representatives to have a greater say in management than special interest groups or individuals.

Planning levels will be expanded to include the entire watershed or landscape. They will replace the government to government relationship with the Doctrine of Pre-emption and an MOU offering “cooperating agency” status. Such status requires local government to pay for scientists and their travel to participate in hundreds of meetings of an interdisciplinary planning team in order to have input into the plans. As they have impoverished rural communities with the Northwest Forest Plan and its ilk, rural counties will be unable to afford to pay to play to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollar costs. (Trinity County CA currently has around 24% unemployment - 36% over in Hayfork.)

It is all set up for the enviros to make their push during the Planning roundtable hearings. These have been scheduled by the US Forest Service on days (Tuesdays) when all the County Boards of Supervisors will be in session and unable to attend. Many rural counties in CA are well over 50% in federally managed lands. It is quite clear that the agenda is to restrict usage of forest public lands and the use of adjacent private lands in order to economically starve local towns and drain local government so that it will be unable to continue to provide services, such as road maintenance and public safety.

I discounted allegations twenty years ago that there was an agenda to rewild our area. Now I am firmly convinced that is exactly where they are going.

Here is what was sent out to Defenders of Wildlife members:

“The Obama administration is developing a new set of regulations that will dictate how our national forests and the amazing array of wildlife they support will be managed in the future – and officials will be coming to Sacramento next Tuesday, April 6th to hear what you have to say.

RSVP now to join me at this important meeting on Tuesday to be a voice for wildlife in our national forests!

What:
Weigh in for Wildlife in our National Forests!

When:
Tuesday, April 6th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Where:
Sacramento Convention Center
1400 J Street - Sacramento, CA 95814

Our national forests cover nearly 200 million acres of the U.S. (about twice the size of California), so you can imagine what kind of implications these rules will have for the diverse fish and wildlife – including some of America’s most iconic and endangered species — that depend on these wild lands to survive.

In the coming weeks, officials from the U.S. Forest Service will be sweeping the country to hear from the American people as they come up with new rules for how this vast network of public lands will be managed in the future.

Don’t miss your chance to be a part of history: attend this important meeting in Sacramento and speak out for strong protections for wildlife in our national forests!

From bighorn sheep to bison to cutthroat trout, some of America’s most iconic and endangered species need our help to survive in our national forests.

That’s why it’s so important that the Forest Service hears from people who care about wildlife conservation as they develop these important regulations – especially as climate change continues to create unexpected challenges for some of our most at-risk animals.

I hope you’ll take advantage of this unique opportunity to be a voice for wildlife as the Obama administration puts its mark on these important regulations by joining me in Sacramento on Tuesday.

Let me know you’re coming by sending in your RSVP online now.

For the Wild Ones,

Pamela Flick
California Program Coordinator
Defenders of Wildlife, Sacramento Office

Key points to consider as you prepare to attend a meeting in your community:

· The National Forest Service manages nearly 200 million acres (that’s an area twice the size of California!) of magnificent landscapes that support an incredible array of wildlife, fish and plants — providing habitat for some of America’s most iconic animals like bison, antelope, bighorn sheep and elk.

· Our national forests are many things to many people, but if we fail to protect the wildlife that lives there, they could fail to provide us with the benefits and values we have come to expect from them. We cannot afford to take our national forests – or the amazing biodiversity they support — for granted.

· As people who care about conserving wildlife for the future, we’re asking the Forest Service to incorporate strong provisions to protect wildlife in the new planning rule to ensure our forests continue to be a refuge for the native fish and wildlife that keep these wild lands healthy, resilient and sustainable.

· Our national forest watersheds provide clean water to 60 million Americans, and strong wildlife diversity makes for healthier watersheds. If the fish and wildlife in our watersheds are at risk, what does that mean for our water?

· Wildlife diversity also forms the backbone of our outdoor recreation economy. Healthy forests provide unparalleled opportunities for camping, hiking, boating, hunting, angling and wildlife viewing, which contribute $730 billion to the U.S. economy each year.

· The America’s Wildlife Heritage Act – legislation currently moving through Congress – has important contributions to make to the new forest planning rule. This landmark bill provides clear objectives for fish and wildlife management, as well as the tools to monitor and evaluate the sustainability and resiliency of our forest ecosystems. [we need to go over this one with a fine-toothed comb – it may be the one that requires the identification of 20-indicator species that have to be monitored …]

· To ensure the long-term health of our national forests and the wildlife that lives there, the Forest Service should include the following key elements of the America’s Wildlife Heritage Act in its new planning rule:

1. A robust fish and wildlife standard that provides land managers with a sound and measurable wildlife objective to sustain healthy populations of fish and wildlife;

2. Science-based monitoring provisions that will help managers keep an eye on “focal” fish and wildlife populations, at-risk species and the habitats they need to survive. Loss of key species can destabilize forests, and habitat monitoring alone is insufficient to detect these threats; and

3. A mandate that requires the U.S. Forest Service to coordinate and cooperate [this is new – allows USFS to divert other agencies to cooperator status] with other agencies – federal, state and tribal [note – this does not say “local”] — to allow officials on all sides to benefit from a landscape-scale understanding of management decisions and increased efficiency due to strategic data sharing.

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