Happy Trails To You! A Farewell Message from Jon Schwedler

Editor's Note:  This is Jon Schwedler's last post for the Sierra Sportsmen blog, and we wish him the best of luck in his new endeavors. However, as Jon mentions below, there is still much work to be done, and we look forward to continuing this important program. Stay tuned to this blog for news and announcements in the days ahead. And if you'd like to keep up with our friend Jon, drop by his new digs.

Well, fellow sportsmen, the time has come for me to head on down the road.  Due to the needs of my young family I'm going to have to move on.  This is my last blog post here. 

Bush Wants Endangered Species Rules Extinct?

Dozens of diapers and sleepless nights later, I'm back from paternity leave.  Greetings.

While I was out the Bush Administration proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act, ones that allow government agencies to pursue projects without getting "independent scientific review". 

Bottom line, that means agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers could proceed with building projects without checking with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see if any endangered species would be affected by the proposed project.

What are your thoughts on this?  Does this proposal help or hurt hunting/fishing?

For background, here's an article on the proposed changes from the Washington Post. 

Siding with Club, CO's Gov Ritter Protests Roan Drilling Lease

In response to feedback from sportsmen and other environmentalists, Colorado Governor Ritter officially filed a protest against the Bureau of Land Management's leasing out of 55,000 acres of elk, bear, and trout habitat for oil drilling on Colorado's Roan Plateau. 

The Sierra Club ran an ad in the Grand Junction Sentinel asking Governor Ritter to protest the drilling lease earlier this month.  In addition, hundreds of Sierra Club activists sent in messages to the Governor asking him to protest the Roan Plateau leasing.  Read the Grand Junction Sentinel's article on the action. 

YOU CAN ask Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who oversees the BLM, to respect the wishes of our Western Governors and support their efforts to protect wildlife corridors from drilling, and other forms of habitat destruction, HERE!   

Thank you Governor Ritter!  Keep up the good fight!

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has the next move... the lease is scheduled for August 14.

Water (Super) Sentinels Save the World-- and Fish!

I don't even know where to start with this one. 

You all may know about the Sierra Club's Water Sentinels, volunteers who monitor the health of their local streams, rivers, and lakes.  In doing so they help local agencies track pollution, and keep polluters accountable.  Bottom line is that Water Sentinels help people and wildlife, particularly fish. 

So when I got the latest reports from national Water Sentinels honcho Scott Dye, I was blown away-- SO MUCH GOOD NEWS!!!   The challenge was how to share this news with you all.  Instead of doing separate blogs on each bit of news, I've glomped them all together under this blog. 

Here are the subjects (scroll down until you reach the one that interests you):
1.  "I will remember this when I get old" Colorado Water Sentinels at Youth Flyfishing Camp
2.   Movie produced for Arizona's Verde River
3.  Sentinels Help CO's Fountain Creek
4.  Water Sentinels and Federation of Fly Fishers form national partnership

1. "I will remember this when I get old" Colorado Water Sentinels at Youth Flyfishing Camp

This summer, Water Sentinels sponsored several underserved youth to attend Colorado Trout Unlimited’s weeklong Youth Conservation and Flyfishing Camp.  See: http://www.cotrout.org/Conservation/YouthConservationandFlyfishingCamp/tabid/155/Default.aspx

PuebloCOIt’s clear that the camp made a profound impact on the participants.  All of the ‘thank you’ notes were heartfelt, and I wanted to share this one from a single mom and her son from Pueblo, CO:

“Thank you so so so much for granting Alex the honor to attend the fishing camp.  We went fishing Weds and he shared his fishing techniques, and cooked all the fish!!  With appreciation and respect, Mom.”

“Thank you so much for paying for me to go to Trout Unlimited.  I had lots of fun. I will remember this when I get old.  Thank you sincerely, Alex.”

Do what you can to make sure that we leave no child inside.

 
2.   Movie produced for Arizona's Verde River

Upper Verde RiverArizona Verde Water Sentinels Gary Beverly and Tom Slaback helped create this great article and video on protecting a desert gem—the Upper Verde River-- from off-road-vehicles (ORVs) and other human abuses

Gary’s mini-documentary is one of the best and most powerful ever produced by Water Sentinels. 

‘"The movie is supposed to show people what a beautiful place the Upper Verde is, and motivate them to do something," Beverly said. "

The article, with a photo and a ‘How to Help’ graphic, is also a powerful and urgent plea to stop ORV abuse and pollution. 

‘"We pick up trash every month at the same place," said Tom Slaback of the Sierra Club, which is monitoring Upper Verde  River water quality.  He sees numerous signs that people have ripped up or burned."

http://verdenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=100&subsectionID=159&articleID=26595

Video length 10 minutes, 54 seconds

Starting east of Chino Valley, area resident Gary Beverly hiked 30 miles up the Upper Verde in May, 2008 to document damage from off-road vehicles (ORVs) and trash he'd been seeing while volunteering with the Sierra Club Water Sentinels.

3. Sentinels Help CO's Fountain Creek

Colorado's Fountain Creek Water Sentinels earned accolades for their work to enhance protective water quality standards for Fountain Creek. 

From the article:

‘Sal Pace, the sole candidate on this fall's ballot to represent Pueblo in the Colorado House, said the decision will help efforts to clean up the environmentally troubled creek.

"It means that new discharges are held to a higher standard, and potential pollutants must be mitigated before put into Fountain Creek," said Pace, who was one of three to speak in support of the reviewable category, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Sierra Club.’

And ALL HAIL the Pueblo Chieftain editorial board for taking the city’s leaders to task for failing to fight for the Fountain.

From the Editorial:

‘When assistant city attorney Tom Florczak announced that Pueblo opposes stricter state regulation, Sierra Club senior consultant Ross Vincent correctly said, "It's 180 degrees of where the city needs to be. The city seems to be saying Fountain Creek is going to get worse and there's nothing we can do about it. Then, why are we wasting our time on the Fountain Creek Vision Task Force?" Mr. Vincent asks a good question. The task force largely was inspired by U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar's vision of transforming Fountain Creek from the open sewer it is at times into an important watershed marked by good water quality, flood control and reduced sedimentation.’

---------------------------------------

Article-- Water Quality Panel Upholds Stricter Oversight of Fountain Creek:

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/07/16/news/local/doc487df43bb6985356412971.txt

Editorial--Lead By Example
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/07/15/editorial/doc487c0f321d05c244331239.txt

 
4. Water Sentinels and Federation of Fly Fishers form national partnership

The following excerpt is from Flyfisher magazine, Federation of Fly Fisher's national publication, and penned by their CEO/President Pete Van Gytenbeek in his regular column, this one titled ‘Keeping The Target In Sight.’ 

“Your Federation has also entered into a joint youth education agreement with the Sierra Club.  Under this agreement, the Sierra Club will provide the Federation with some $38,000 worth of fishing rods to be used exclusively for youth education.  For our part we are responsible for carefully selecting the participant programs and clubs and follow up to insure that they obtained the best possible returns on their on their programs.  Education Specialist Matt Wilhelm will manage the program.” 

FFF has long been an aggressive leader among national angling organizations in promoting and practicing youth outreach.  We’ve teamed with an outstanding youth angling outreach partner, whose motto is “Conserving, Restoring and Educating Through Fly Fishing.”  This collaboration will result in literally thousands of youth connecting with their natural heritage and the sport of fly fishing over the next several years.

HUGE NEWS: Sierra Club Helps Save Au Sable River!

GREAT news about the historic Au Sable River, one of the country's most productive trout streams.  From the Sierra Club's press release last week:

July 11, 2008

Contact:  Rusty Gates, 989-348-8462
       Marvin Roberson, 906-360-0288

Bay City Court Stops Proposed Drilling Near Mason Tract
Anglers, Sierra Club Joined Forces to Protect Prime Fishing Grounds

Anglers, hikers and canoeists will continue to enjoy the beauty and solitude of the Mason Tract along the Au Sable River in Michigan without the sights and sounds of oil and gas wells, thanks to a decision handed down by Bay City Federal District Court Judge David M. Lawson July 9.  The decision helps protect one of the finest trout fishing streams in the nation and is a major victory for the Anglers of the Au Sable, the Sierra Club and Tim Mason, a descendent of George Mason, who sued to stop proposed drilling on Forest Service land next to the Mason Tract in June 2005. 

“This long awaited decision confirms that the Forest Service under the Bush Administration has been far more interested in giving out permits than in protecting Michigan’s natural resources,” said Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Forest Ecologist. “Clearly oil and gas drilling is more important to the Bush Administration than the solitude required by hunters, anglers and hikers in this spectacular area.”   

The court order overturns Forest Service approvals which would have allowed the Savoy Energy Company to clearcut and drill on National Forest lands adjacent to the Mason Tract and within earshot of the South Branch of the Au Sable River.  The Forest Service failed to adequately consider the environmental impacts and alternatives which would address those concerns.   The court also enjoined the Forest Service from engaging in any activities based upon the Forest Service’s flawed decision.

A federal magistrate issued a temporary restraining order in December 2005 in response to an emergency motion by the conservationists after they learned that Savoy Energy Company proposed to bulldoze the site.

The Mason Tract was established in 1955 when Tim Mason’s grandfather, George Mason, bequeathed a 1,500 acre parcel with eleven miles of frontage on the South Branch of the Au Sable River to the State of Michigan. George Mason’s gift was conditioned on maintaining the pristine condition of the Tract.  Today, the Mason Tract covers approximately 4,500 acres, but the oil and gas rights under the Tract were at least in part owned by the federal government and were leased by the Bureau of Land Management.  No drilling is allowed on the Mason Tract itself however oil and gas can be retrieved through the Forest Service land which abuts the Mason Tract.  Savoy Energy Company proposed to set up a drilling platform in an old growth portion of the South Branch Area of the Huron Manistee National Forest. The drilling platform would be near enough to impact the Mason Tract and the only two track trail that leads to the Mason Chapel within the Tract.

For more info on the Au Sable, go to this Michigan DNR webpage.

Bush's Sportsmen Team Faults Drilling, Water Policies

Ouch. 

A team hand-picked by the cosmically self-deluded Gail Norton, former Secretary of the Interior and head cheerleader for the Bush/Cheney Administration's slash and drill energy policy, found serious harm caused to sportsmen and wildlife by the current bAdministration's approach to natural resources management.  To wit, this article from the Jackson Hole Daily in Cheney's home state of Wyoming:

The Bush administration’s policies on energy development and wildlife management threaten hunting opportunities for Americans, according to a draft report commissioned by the president’s own Interior Department.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a watchdog group, released the draft report Wednesday. The 84-page document was compiled by experts selected by Interior Secretary Gale Norton before she retired in 2006.

The Sporting Conservation Council, which oversaw the report, consisted of groups considered friendly to the Bush administration such as the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International. The report criticizes Bush administration policies in areas such as wildlife management, wetlands and energy development.

The folks on this Sporting Conservation Council are hardly the vegan-hippy-can't throw a spiral-enviro stereotype.  Between this and the recent pledge by the Western Governors' Association to protect wildlife corridors from drilling, you've got to wonder if somebody at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will tap the resident in chief on the shoulder and say "Uh, maybe we should have done this differently."

Of course, I'd advise not approaching Cheney with that opinion.  He shoots his friends.

Other conclusions of the Council include:

• Loss of wetlands due to actions “in 2001 and 2006 by the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers [which] have had the effect of removing wetlands protections that have been in place for more than 30 years”;
• Politicized science and underfunded wildlife management, causing declines in biodiversity. “Federal land management planning decisions continue to hamper the ability …to effectively implement wildlife management projects” and conservation efforts.

Read the full press release from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Largest Conservation Purchase in US History

Good news for people who like good news... or GREAT NEWS!

Plum Creek announces details of largest conservation land purchase in U.S. history - in western Montana
Posted on June 30
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/06/30/bnews/br42.txt

KALISPELL - When the ink finally dries on the largest conservation land purchase in United States’ history n 320,000 Montana forest acres for $510 million n nearly nothing will have changed.

And that, of course, is exactly the point. The deal between Plum Creek Timber Co. and conservation buyers is designed to maintain the status quo; the real change would come if those western Montana acres were sold instead to real estate developers.

Plum Creek lands to be purchased under the deal announced Monday include forests surrounding the Missoula Valley, on up the Swan and even into the Yaak, and all “are worth more as house lots than as board feet,” said Eric Love, regional director for conservation buyer Trust for Public Lands. “It just would be tragic to lose it all to backcountry sprawl.”

Since 1999, Plum Creek has been organized not as a timber company, but as a real estate investment trust, and the company’s bottom line has relied increasingly on land sales. In fact, during the last five years Plum Creek’s real estate revenue has tripled, to more than $330 million annually.

And that has raised concerns in states such as Montana, where supplying urban services and firefighting crews into new forested neighborhoods can often come at a steep cost to taxpayers. The company owns 8 million acres nationwide, 1.2 million acres in Montana, and has targeted some 2 million of those acres for possible sale.

That new reality n in which trees are worth more vertical than horizontal n was the inspiration behind the landmark conservation deal announced Monday, Love said.

The land purchase is expected to be complete in three years, and will place most of the 320,000 acres into either state or federal ownership. The small portion remaining in private hands will be burdened by conservation easements, allowing public access and continued timber harvest, but prohibiting subdivision and real estate development.

The “Montana Legacy Project,” as it is known, is anchored in legislation authored recently by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and included in the nation’s farm bill. The Baucus provision allows qualifying states or non-profits to either issue tax credit bonds or to apply directly for federal grants that then can be used for conservation land purchases.

That mechanism accounts for the first $250 million of the total $510 million needed. The remainder will be raised from private donors and, perhaps, a partnership with state government.

“This is so big,” said Missoula County Commissioner Larry Anderson. “It’s huge. Protecting these portions of the Swan is going to be so important.”

Important to the wildlife that crosses Plum Creek lands between the Bob Marshall and Mission Mountain wilderness areas.

Important to the recreationists who hunt, hike and huckleberry these wild hills.

Important to the locals communities whose economies rely on logging.

And important to taxpayers who otherwise would be paying to extend services into the forest fringe.

“All of us have a moral obligation,” Baucus said, “to leave this place in as good as shape, or better, than we received it. We want our kids and grandkids to enjoy it, as well.“

The deal follows similar conservation sales of Plum Creek land, notably in the Blackfoot River drainage east of Missoula and the Thompson-Fisher area west of Kalispell. In fact, Plum Creek’s Hank Ricklefs said Monday that over the past 10 years, 70 percent of company land sales have been for conservation.

“Plum Creek,” he said, “has worked hard to have balance in our business.” He called the deal announced Monday “a great outcome for the citizens of Montana, and a great outcome for the citizenry of the United States.“

And, surely, a great outcome for Plum Creek, which will receive more than a half billion dollars for timber land it has already logged. (And some key real-estate development acres n in the headwaters of Whitefish Lake, for instance n were not on the table, despite keen interest from the conservation buyers. “Not everything’s for sale today,” said company spokeswoman Kathy Budinick.)

With the future of private forest lands increasingly uncertain, Love said, “we’ll never see an opportunity like this again. Like Humpty Dumpty, once this land gets broken apart [by residential subdivision], we can’t put it back together again.“

Baucus praised the coalition that hammered out the deal n Plum Creek, Trust for Public Lands and The Nature Conservancy, among others n for “bonding together to preserve the best characteristics of our state.”

Hunters, anglers, snowmobilers, loggers and all who recreate on western Montana’s forest lands will benefit by conserving “what’s best about Montana,” the senator said, adding that such traditional uses are deeply ingrained in Montana’s rural culture.

“We intend to honor that tradition,” said Dana Christiansen, of the Nature Conservancy. “This project will maintain that public access” and also “allows us to preserve this truly magnificent wildlife habitat.” In addition, Christiansen said, “we will continue the process of sustainable forestry on this property.”

Plum Creek, in fact, will do some of that future logging, but under a sustainable forestry program created and monitored by third-party certifiers.

If funding falls together as expected, Plum Creek will receive $200 million by the end of this year, then another $200 million by the close of 2009. The final $110 million is to be paid when the deal is completed, in December 2010.

It represents a considerable chunk of change, Love admitted, but he called the deal “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, in our view, at a very, very fair price.”

As to raising the money not yet in the bank, “we’re going to do whatever it takes,” Baucus said, “because it’s the right thing to do.”

A CRP in Hand Is Better than Bush

Another blog from Bart...

Last November, fellow Sierra Club staffers Paul Shively, Jim Margadant and I took a day to enjoy some of
South Dakota’s world famous pheasant hunting. We were joined that season by over 180,000 other hunters who explored the wide open spaces and added $219 million to the state’s economy during the roughly 4 month long pheasant season.

Paul, Jim and I hunted on a beautiful ranch that gave this Easterner a nice taste of the rolling grasslands, pronghorn herds and endless blue skies that make South Dakota a world class destination for lovers of the outdoors. Even though we were hunting late in the season we saw lots of roosters, and we killed a few that would later be turned into stew or pheasant au vin. Standing there on the prairie, my 12 gauge over my shoulder, feeling the weight of birds in my pockets, my legs aching from all the walking, I didn’t want the day to end. I was already making plans to come back next year. All of the hallmarks of a good hunt were there.

Some of the ranch we hunted on was enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP.)  Despite the benefits its provides for America’s wildlife, the Bush Administration has now authorized allowing CRP lands to be used to feed livestock, a move many conservationists see as continuing the Administration’s practice of weakening America’s system of conservation.

Luckily, not everyone sees the Great Plains the same way the Bush Administration does. Luckily most Americans recognize that the economy and conservation can be balanced and reconciled and that is exactly what many plains states residents are doing. Not only are they seeking to conserve what natural treasures are there but they are also seeking to restore some of the riches that have been lost. In the process, they are creating a new economy, a green economy where by all accounts there is a still a lot of money to be made.

 What is happening on the Great Plains is conservation for the 21^st Century, conservation that works for both people and wildlife. If the Bush Administration were true to its rhetoric it would be supporting this work instead of undermining America’s conservation infrastructure.

Send a message to the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, to fully restore the CRP.

Contest Over, Winners Are...

Thanks to all of you who submitted photos and voted in our first Sierra Sportsmen Photo Contest!  We had nearly 400 photos submitted, and all were entertaining.

We'll be sending out an email to the Sierra Sportsmen network next week to share the four $500 gift certificate winners.  Keep an eye out!

If you're not already part of the Sierra Sportsmen Network, sign up here for free to receive the winners. 

View photos submitted in contest.

Vote by Father's Day in Photo Contest!

We've got 12 great finalists in the Sierra Sportsmen Photo Contest!  Now until 12 midnight this Sunday you get to vote who wins in the four categories:

1.  Best Kid's Fishing photo
2.  Best Kid's Hunting photo
3.  Best Adult's Fishing photo
4.  Best Adult's Hunting photo

Prizes are $500 gift certificates either to Patagonia or Bass Pro Shops. 

VOTE HERE
(if you don't register, your vote doesn't count.  the electronic version of the hanging chad)

Enjoy!

Jon