I'm definitely not an Oprah fan... but being in the Waspman's Wall of Fame is a GREAT HONOR! :-) Thanks!
So... what now? GeorgeFBP said he had emailed the Sierra Times. I'm ready to start writing letters to Arnie and my legislators. What ultimately stopped the push for the conservancy last time around? Who are its opponents and how can we help? Mass opposition attendance at the meeting I posted above couldn't hurt, huh?
I found an Editorial from Weintraub of the SacBee written a couple of years ago about the Conservancy effort. The theme was: Poor Sierra, everyone else has a conservancy and they don't. There certainly wouldn't be any support there! Anybody know any property rights attorney's that can get some opinion pieces printed?
I poked around a little on the Sierra Fund. The CEO is Shawn Garvey, a political animal involved in alot of these enviro-nazi orgs, most predominantly the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL), affiliated with RiverKeepers (ala RFK, Jr.). He also founded a opposition research firm called Smart Campaigns, Inc., the firm responsible for bringing down many of the 1992 Republican conservatives with false information, most notably Bruce Herschenson. There is a long article of all these stunts/mistakes in a 1994 article in New Republic (a copy of which I got from my library, online). Here is one paragraph re: Garvey:
...Mary Boyle, a Democratic contender for the Ohio seat, hired Shawn Garvey of the San Francisco-based Smart Campaigns Inc. to supervise her dirt-digging efforts. “My grandfather was a labor organizer,” explains Garvey. “I was a young Socialist. Ten days that shook the world, all that kind of stuff.” But after working for three Kennedys (Ted, Joe, Kathleen), he too made the jump to the dark side. “Times have changed,” he says. “It’s getting ugly out there.” Garvey’s company, started in 1992, is one of scores of opposition research firms now sprinkled across the country like a thousand points of spite.
He jumped to the "dark side" after being a socialist and working for the Kennedy's??? How dark does it GET over there?
From looking through websites of many of the SNC proponents, they appear very well organized, well funded, and they have all their talking points lined up. The first statistic that catches ones eye: 65% of the State's water comes from the Sierra Nevadas. Then the scare tactics... contamination, pollution, etc.
So... back to my original question, What Now? Is there anyway to stop these folks?
Shawn Garvey, President is the Founder and President of The Sierra Fund. Mr. Garvey is the former Executive Director of the Nevada City based South Yuba River Citizens League, which during his tenure grew to be the largest single-river advocacy organization in the United States. Under his leadership SYCRL created a nonprofit law firm for California rivers known as RiverLaw, a new regional newspaper, and successfully advocated to secure new funds for non-dam flood control and river restoration.He was also appears to have been heavily involved in the "Save the Yuba Salmon" campaign.Prior to this, Mr. Garvey served as Special Projects Representative for the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Rural Development during the Clinton Administration. He is a founder of a nationally recognized political research and communications firm, Smart Campaigns.
Yes, but it starts the hard way, with public education. Unless and until we get the public to understand why this is wrong for the Sierra as well as the rest of the State, they won't get it.
Would they rather have this:
Or this:
We already have the examples of the Los Alamos, Rodeo/Chediski, San Bernardino, and Biscuit fires. It's time to drive that reality home.