A word to the wise

Robert Minch, a crotchety ol' real estate broker from Red Bluff, Calif., who briefly wrote a column for my Sunday supplement when I held down the Redding Record Searchlight's bureau there, later reclaimed his familiar Friday spot on the Red Bluff Daily News' editorial page.

You might get a kick out of some words of advice he passes along to his readers today:

If you are so inclined to donate to the Humane Society of the United States, be advised that this organization does not own, operate, or directly control a single animal shelter in our country, despite a budget of over $100 million! Tsk, tsk.

City kids to visit valley farm

From the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation:

Thirty-five Oakland middle school students will leave behind their urban surroundings for a day to explore an exciting new world of Central Valley agriculture on April 15.

The students are sixth- and seventh-graders from Roosevelt Middle School and Roots Academy in Oakland. They were selected because of their involvement with REAL Choices, a local youth intervention program. The field trip is a community-focused project organized and funded by Class 40 of the California Agricultural Leadership Program (CALP).

The children will travel by bus from Oakland to Hilmar Cheese Company, the world’s largest single-site cheese and whey products manufacturing facility. They will take part in a one-and-a-half-hour educational tour of the facility, including the cheesemaking process and hands-on exhibits. The company produces more than 1.9 million pounds of cheese and processes more than 2 million gallons of milk each day.

The students will then travel to the family-owned Clauss Dairy Farms in Hilmar to take a tour of a working dairy. They will meet dairy farmers, see cows up close and view the milking process. Clauss Dairy Farms has 3,500 dairy cows and is one of the suppliers to Hilmar Cheese Company.

“This field trip is an incredible and special opportunity to expose inner-city children to things they’ve never seen before in person, such as cows being milked, cheese being made and crops being grown,” said Dan Sutton, one of the CALP Class 40 fellows. “It’s also a chance for us in agriculture to better understand how these children tackle the challenges and issues they face.”

'Wild lands' demise: what they're saying

Western Republicans seem pleased with the fact that the budget deal reached over the weekend apparently blocks funding for the Obama administration's "Wild Lands" initiative, which many had considered detrimental to public lands ranchers and rural communities.

The Congressional Western Caucus issued this press release today:

Washington, D.C. – Today, Western Caucus Chairman Stevan Pearce (R-NM) released the following statement regarding language included in H.R. 1473, the final budget bill for fiscal year 2011, which will prohibit the Department of the Interior from using taxpayer money to fund the controversial Wild Lands initiative:

“The ‘Wild Lands’ proposal issued by Secretary Salazar last December was another attempt by the Obama Administration to circumvent congressional authority in the Administration’s ‘War on Western Jobs.’ It would have had tremendous negative impacts on job creation, energy production and recreation throughout the West and its defunding is a victory for all western states.

“On behalf of the Congressional Western Caucus, I would like to thank Speaker Boehner for ensuring this key provision was included in the final negotiated bill. Speaker Boehner and Republican leadership understand that there is a ‘War on Western Jobs’ and we will continue to work with them to stop these types of job-killing initiatives while putting forward legislation to bring jobs back to the West.

“Additionally, Congressional Western Caucus members Chairmen Mike Simpson and Rob Bishop should be applauded for their leadership on the ‘Wild Lands’ issue.

"As Chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, Mike Simpson played a key role in defunding this dangerous initiative. Congressman Simpson and the House Appropriations Committee deserve the gratitude of all westerner job creators for leading the effort to prevent taxpayer funding of this job killing initiative.

“Chairman Rob Bishop must also be recognized for his tireless work in exposing Secretary Salazar’s effort to circumvent congressional authority to create de facto wilderness areas. As Chairman of the Public Lands Subcommittee, Rob Bishop was one of the earliest and most vocal critics of Secretarial Order 3310 and his vigorous oversight efforts should be applauded.”

The Wild Lands policy, established by Secretarial Order 3310, asserts that the Bureau of Land Management has the authority to “designate appropriate areas with wilderness characteristics under its jurisdiction as ‘Wild Lands’ and to manage them to protect their wilderness value.” The Wilderness Act of 1964 gives Congress the sole authority to designate public lands as Wilderness areas.

The Wilderness designation is the most restrictive land use policy that can be taken as it places severe limitations on public access to public lands. In addition to the impacts on jobs and the economy, many forms of popular recreation and access could be prohibited.

Section 1769 of the FY2011 CR states:

“none of the funds made available by this division or any other Act may be used to implement, administer, or enforce Secretarial Order No. 3310 issued by the Secretary of the Interior on December 22, 2010.”

Separately, Rep. Rob Bishop, chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee that oversees Public Lands, stated:

“Implementation of the Secretarial Order would take hard-earned taxpayer dollars and put them toward a policy that would lock up millions of acres of public lands and destroy thousands of jobs. The creation of new de-facto wilderness throughout the West would be severely detrimental to state and local economies and create a paralyzing uncertainty for western communities. Since the time it was announced, elected officials throughout the West recognized it was essential that this proposal be halted in its tracks. With the passage of this CR, we do just that. [...]

“The provision to defund Wild Lands is a victory for Utah and all public lands states. I thank my colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee, including Rep. Mike Simpson, for recognizing that funding the Wild Lands policy would be a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars and government resources."

Overcoming 'man-made drought'

From U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.:

Water and Power Subcommittee Chairman Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-04) today made the following opening statement in Fresno, California, at the Water and Power Subcommittee oversight field hearing on “Overcoming Man-Made Drought: Time for Congress to Listen and Act.”

Opening Statement
Congressman Tom McClintock
Chairman, House Subcommittee on Water and Power
April 11, 2011

During the last session of Congress, Republicans unsuccessfully attempted for two years to get the Water and Power Subcommittee to come to Fresno to hear first-hand from the communities that have endured the devastating financial, social and environmental damage done by the government’s decision to deny this region 200 billion gallons of water to indulge the pet causes of the environmental Left.

A little over a year ago, Republicans held an informal listening session, at which time we heard riveting testimony of the human suffering caused by this misguided policy.

· We heard the stories of food lines in communities that once prided themselves on supplying American grocery shelves.

· We heard about the frustration of seeing the same produce once grown in the Central Valley of California instead imported from China -- handed out at those Central Valley food lines.

· And we saw the anger as the absent Secretary’s testimony to the Natural Resources Committee in 2009 was played back, in which he admitted that the Obama administration had the authority to restore water deliveries but that it chose not to do so because that would be – quote – like admitting failure.

Even now, with the snowpack at 165 percent of normal for the season – the wettest year in the last 16 – the San Joaquin Valley has been guaranteed only 75 percent of its contracted allotments.

In this discussion, the left has attempted to pit fishermen against farmers. What they ignore, of course, is the actual science:

* They ignore the findings of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center that determined the Pacific Decadal Oscillation is the principal reason for changes in salmon migration; that these changes are not unique to Delta fisheries but have been observed throughout the Pacific Coast; and that as those conditions have improved over the last several years, salmon populations are rebounding.

* They ignore the California Department of Water Resources analysis of pumping flows that determined that their influence on salmon and smelt migration is negligible compared to natural tidal flows.

* They ignore the overwhelming impact of natural predation in the Delta that alone is responsible for some 90 percent of salmon smolt mortality.

* They ignore the tremendous contribution of fish hatcheries to supporting fish populations.

* They ignore – indeed, they actively oppose – the construction of new reservoirs and other water projects that could dramatically increase year-round supplies of fresh cold water throughout the Delta.

* They ignore the findings of the Federal District Court that the U.S. Interior Department’s biological opinion on Delta smelt to be “arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law.”

* And worst of all, they ignore the plight of the tens of thousands of farm families needlessly thrown into unemployment by these policies.

For too long, our government policies have been misguided by politically motivated junk science instead of the sober, dispassionate and accurate application of real science. For too long, our government policies have focused on rationing of shortages rather than on providing abundance.

Today we will hear testimony about what these policies have done to harm the economy of the Central Valley and the cornucopia of fruits, nuts and vegetables it once produced for the entire world. And we will hear suggestions on the changes in federal law that need to be made to restore abundance and plenty to all those who rely on the Delta.

I know that people are feeling powerless and disregarded by Washington. But the fact is that the debates inside the Capitol are merely a reflection of a much larger debate going on across the country. The public is rapidly engaging, becoming aware of these past policies and demanding change. As this occurs, public policy will follow.

Chairman Hastings has made it very clear that he wants priority given to this issue, and from this hearing today, the House majority will craft legislation to restore abundance as the principal objective of federal water and power policy -- and with it, an era of abundant water, clean and cheap hydroelectricity, new recreational centers, desperately needed flood protection, burgeoning fisheries, re-invigorated farms – not to mention lower electricity, water and flood insurance bills for American families.

It is toward that brighter and more prosperous future that this majority seeks to proceed. It is my hope that the testimony today will assist the House in identifying those changes in law necessary to get there.

Ethanol makes strange bedfellows

It's not often you see an organization that promotes a sector of major production agriculture praise a story in the New York Times.

Then again, it's not often the paper runs a story with the headline, "Rush to Use Crops as Fuel Raises Food Prices and Hunger Fears," which includes this quote:

“The policy really has to be food first,” said Hans Timmer, director of the Development Prospects Group of the World Bank. “The problems occur when you set targets for biofuels irrespective of the prices of other commodities.”

The article caught the attention of Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, who e-mailed a link to the article last week.

"Amen to that," he wrote of Timmer's food-first suggestion.

PLF sues over elderberry beetle

From the Pacific Legal Foundation:

Sacramento, CA; April 8, 2011: Attorneys with Pacific Legal Foundation today filed a lawsuit asking that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) be ordered to start the process of dropping the valley elderberry longhorn beetle (VELB) from the U.S. Endangered Species Act list.

Filed in federal court in Sacramento, the lawsuit aims to compel FWS to take the first step toward delisting – i.e., issuing a "finding" on whether to move forward with the delisting process. A study by FWS several years ago indicated the beetle is not threatened, but FWS never followed up with a finding based on that study, so the delisting process has never gotten started. The case is North Sacramento Land Company v. Salazar.

Donor-supported Pacific Legal Foundation is the leading legal watchdog for limited government, property rights, and a balanced approach to environmental regulations. In this lawsuit, PLF attorneys represent – free of charge – a coalition of California landowners, businesses, farmers, and flood-control agencies harmed by unnecessary and unjustified ESA regulation of the VELB.

Plaintiffs include Levee District 1, Reclamation District 784, Butte County Farm Bureau, Solano County Farm Bureau, Yolo County Farm Bureau, Sacramento Valley Landowners Association, and North Sacramento Land Company.

Federal officials have stalled on their own recommendation to delist the VELB
and they failed to respond to a VELB delisting petition last year

These organizations – and others – petitioned FWS last year, asking it to issue a finding on the VELB. But it never responded – in spite of ESA’s requirement for a response within 90 days.

The VELB is found in California’s Central Valley, from southern Shasta County south to Kern County. In Sacramento, "critical habitat" designations include a zone in Sacramento between the Western Pacific railroad tracks and Commerce Circle, and areas along the south bank of the American River.

Although the VELB has been listed as "threatened" under the federal Endangered Species Act since 1980, in 2006 FWS completed a review as part of a settlement agreement in a case brought by PLF attorneys. It found the VELB should be taken off the ESA list. However, no action ensued. The FWS also has failed to respond to a petition, asking for the delisting process to begin, submitted last September by PLF attorneys for a broad coalition of farming organizations, flood-control districts, landowners, and businesses.

"This lawsuit is necessary to stop the federal government from stalling any longer in taking action on its own scientific recommendations with regard to the VELB," said PLF attorney Brandon Middleton. "The federal government is harming businesses, farmers, and the cause of economic recovery by keeping this species on the ESA list when it doesn’t need to be. The general public, and the interests of taxpayers, are also at risk, because costly, unjustified VELB mitigation rules impose major costs on flood control and reclamation agencies charged with building and maintaining levees."

The unjustified VELB listing complicates flood protection

"The federal government’s regulations for the VELB are imposing costly burdens on agencies responsible for flood control and drainage activities within the Sacramento Valley and Central California," said Middleton. "These agencies are required to divert scarce resources to provide ‘mitigation’ when their work impinges on this beetle’s habitat. So, by failing to drop the unjustified ESA listing of the beetle, the federal government is creating difficulties for the agencies charged with protecting us from flooding – and imposing additional burdens on taxpayers."

For instance, Yuba County’s Reclamation District 784 had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for VELB "mitigation," for levee work outside of Marysville, and the permit process took a year.

Likewise, PLF has been told that the American River Flood Control District has a policy of not touching elderberry bushes with bases larger that one inch in diameter, on or around its levees.

In addition, in the Yuba County area, levee repairs reportedly were delayed more than six years at one point, because of concerns about VELB habitat. A VELB mitigation pond was dug near a levee in Arboga, and Rep. Wally Herger, R-Marysville, argued that it helped cause the levee’s failure in 1997.

VELB listing’s impact on the economy: harming landowners, farmers, and job creation

"Federal regulators ought to take pains to make sure their environmental rules are reasonable in the light of science," said Middleton. "Any unjustified rules must be pruned back so they don’t stifle economic recovery. Instead, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is actively hurting the economy – putting job-creating projects on the endangered list – by keeping its unjustified VELB regulations on the books."

Bob Slobe is a prime example of a business person who is blocked from proceeding with job-creating land use plans. Slobe’s North Sacramento Land Company owns property adjacent to American River Parkway and California Route 160 in Sacramento. The land is zoned for offices which he hopes to build. "But Bob Slobe can’t use his property because the federal government has been stalling on withdrawing its unjustified VELB listing," Middleton continued. "Mr. Slobe is prohibited from disturbing bushes where beetles live – unless he pays a massive sum of money to pay for relocation of the bushes to other property."

Over the years, Slobe’s parcel – vacant because of the federal VELB rules – has become a dumping ground and even camping ground for trespassers. Despite Slobe’s aggressive and continuous work to clean up the property, abandoned cars and bicycles, stolen copper wire, and dangerous waste, such as syringes, all turn up on the land.

Another example of problems for landowners and the larger public created by the VELB listing: Dubious pesticide restrictions – with potential economic harm for farmers and other landowners – were imposed because the listing. Last year, for instance, EPA entered into a settlement with environmental groups that restricts use of numerous pesticides in VELB habitat areas.

"The VELB listing distorts public policy and puts obstacles in the way of positive, productive use of private land," said Middleton. "In a real sense, everybody is hurt by this listing – and not even the beetle is really helped by it, because the government’s own science report says the beetle is not threatened or endangered. By failing to act on its own scientific findings, the Fish and Wildlife Service is failing in its duty to taxpayers, businesses, and the public at large. This is why we have no choice but to take the agency to court."

Plaintiffs: Farm groups, landowners, and water-related agencies harmed
by unnecessary regulations

In filing suit, PLF attorneys represent a number of organizations that are harmed, or have members who are harmed by, the continued, unnecessary classification of the beetle as "threatened," even when the federal government’s own study has concluded that the listing is unwarranted. The plaintiffs include:

Levee District 1 and Reclamation District 784 are among the agencies responsible for flood control and drainage activities within the Sacramento Valley. In recent years, the districts have spent significant amounts of money and labor in order to provide mitigation when their operations have impacts on the beetle and its habitat. Because of the beetle’s status as a threatened species, the districts are prevented from fully devoting their limited resources to their core missions of flood control, drainage, and irrigation management.

Sacramento Valley Landowners Association is a nonprofit organization of farmers and ranchers throughout California’s Sacramento Valley. SVLA members own, manage, or enjoy properties inhabited by or near the beetle and beetle habitat. Improper restrictions placed on land and water use due to the listing of the beetle as a threatened species have significant impacts on the ability of these individuals not only to continue to enjoy California’s wildlife and natural environment, but also their ability to sustain their livelihoods.

Butte County Farm Bureau is a nonprofit organization of farmers and ranchers throughout Butte County.

Solano County Farm Bureau is a nonprofit organization of farmers and ranchers throughout Solano County.

Yolo County Farm Bureau is a nonprofit organization of farmers and ranchers throughout Yolo County.

North Sacramento Land Company owns property adjacent to the American River Parkway and the California State Route 160 in Sacramento. For years, North Sacramento Land Company has desired to develop this property into commercial office space. However, the company is unable to develop this parcel due to its classification as critical habitat for the beetle. Simultaneously, the company incurs substantial maintenance and oversight costs in order to ensure that trespassers do not adversely affect beetle habitat within the parcel and subject the company to potential Endangered Species Act liability.

The lawsuit, titled North Sacramento Land Company v. Salazar, has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The complaint may be found at Pacific Legal Foundation’s website: www.pacificlegal.org.