New U.S. panel aims to unify smelt, salmon protection

Sac Bee ^ | 5/4/10 | Michael Doyle

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Monday set up a new task force to wrangle California water decisions, with long-term hopes of consolidating protections for smelt and salmon.

The new task force eventually envisions one unified environmental management plan assisting the fish species dependent upon the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Guided by an Interior Department veteran with considerable California experience, the task force has shorter-term goals, as well.

"(This will) ensure that we are coordinating to use state-of-the-art science and to find the best alternatives to protect both endangered fish and water supplies," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement.

Salazar and his Commerce Department counterpart, Gary Locke, oversee the two federal agencies responsible for protection of the smelt and salmon. Under intense pressure from California lawmakers, both have been scrambling to free up more water and to show that they feel the state's pain.

The task force, and a unified environmental management plan, are supposed to address worries that federal agencies aren't properly coordinating their actions.

The Interior Department wrote one "biological opinion," spelling out protection measures for the Delta smelt. Separately, the Commerce Department wrote another biological opinion spelling out protection measures for steelhead and chinook salmon.

[NormsRevenge]

no bites yet..

need more bait.

[NormsRevenge]

[RC2]

Protect the smelt.....get rid of the farmers. Those shady farmers don’t do anything for us anyway......well.....maybe food production, but what the hell, we don’t need food.

[marstegreg]

I wonder if this new department will have death panels too? Watch out delta smelt.

[NormsRevenge]

In Alaska , they know how to handle their salmon.

[concentric circles]

CUCUMBER SAUCE:
1 cucumber peeled, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 c. sour cream
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. dill
Salt and pepper

[PIF]

“Protect the smelt.....get rid of the farmers. Those shady farmers don’t do anything for us anyway......well.....maybe food production, but what the hell, we don’t need food.”

Never fear, the Chinese ad the Mexicans will fill the grocery stores for us...

Meanwhile, all those buildings, roads and so forth have absolutely no effect on run off water quality... which is why smelt do not need water.

[goat granny]

I was 7 the first time my dad took me smelt fishing off the streams of lake huron...it was after dark and I loved catching them in the net...with daddy having a big smile on his face...his baby daughter was fishing and having fun, even sloching across some of the larger streams....also had to gut them myself and they tasted great..lots of flash light fishermen out that night...