The Newsletter of the Conservation Committees
of the Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club. Email items or articles to Editor: Robin Ives, Publisher/Webmaster: Lori Ives
The Conservation Committees provide forums for Club members to discuss impending conservation issues and to coordinate efforts of conservation subcommittees with groups and sections. They meet monthly every third Tuesday (Orange County) and third Wednesday (Angeles Chapter). Contact the Conservation Committee Chairs by the end of the previous month for a place on the agenda. Deadline for newsletter submissions is 16 days before the Chapter meeting.

Quote of Note

Our best way forward is to get out of the oil industry as best we can.
—Michael McElroy, author of a new study on wind energy and Harvard University professor

Environmental Coalition Reaches Historic Agreement
with Tejon Ranch Company

At the urging of Chapter Chair Mike Sappingfield, a special meeting for those who want to learn more about the Tejon Ranch agreement will be held Tuesday May 13, 2008 at 7:15 pm in the Chapter Office.

Please hold your applause and questions until then so that the volunteers and staff can do their work and not try to brief each of you individually. Bill Corcoran will be there to fill in around the edges of Mike's memo and briefly describe what limitations the club agreed to get this deal.

Mike Sappingfield's memo to the Chapter Executive Committee:

Several years ago, the Chapter Executive Committee passed the following resolution:

The Sierra Club supports and will work toward a conservation preserve on approximately 246,000 acres of the more than 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch property in Los Angeles and Kern Counties The preserve should be designated as a state or national park.

On May 8, at a press conference held at Tejon Ranch Headquarters, attended by Ranch Officials, the Governor, and representatives from a number of environmental organizations including the Sierra Club, Audubon Society, Endangered Habitats League, Planning and Conservation League, NRDC, and others, a historic agreement was reached regarding development at Tejon Ranch.

1. 240,000 of the 270,000 acres will be preserved in a non-profit conservancy with 12 directors, 4 from the environmental groups who are part of the agreement, 4 from the Ranch, and 4 independent members to be selected by the first eight. The Conservancy will be funded by contributions from the Ranch and by transfer fees on the sale of property in the existing developments.
2. The framework exists, and there is interest from the State of California to establish a 49,000 acre state park.
3. The Pacific Crest Trail will be granted an easement through the Ranch, completing the Trail.
4. The Conservancy will be charged with developing a plan for the continuing operation of the Ranch which preserves the integrity of the open space in the ranch and enhances its preservation of wildlife.
5. The conservancy will be charged with developing procedures for public access into the ranch, most likely by docent led hikes, etc.
6. No new development will be allowed.
7. The plans for the existing development were scaled back to a degree to ensure protection of the Condor foraging areas and to provide better wildlife corridors.
8. The Sierra Club, and the other organizations agreed that they, as organizations will not oppose the existing developments.

While the actual agreement is very complex and much more detailed, these are the significant points as I understand them.

In summation, the objectives stated in our original resolution have been substantially met. I am recommending that the Conservation Committee call a special meeting in order to conduct a more thorough briefing of the agreement to the interested membership. This should not be done as part of a regular meeting because it will most likely take the entire meeting

Both the Kern-Kaweah Chapter's Executive Committee and the Angeles Chapter's Executive Committees were briefed on the agreement and voted to support it at their respective April 27th meetings.

Katherine Squires, the Chair of the Tejon Ranch Task Force, Gordon Nipp, of the Kern Kaweah Chapter, and I, among others were invited to the press conference and were present.

Mike Sappingfield
Chair, Angeles Chapter

Help Fight the Toll Road - New Action
by Robin Everett

The TCA has asked the US Secretary of Commerce to override the California Coastal Commission's NO vote regarding the Foothill-South Toll Road. Remember that the Foothill-South Toll Road was soundly rejected by the California Coastal Commission for its serious and unmitigable effects on the environment.

In a shocking testament to the TCA's consistent and repeated failure to address the public's concerns regarding this toll road, they have urged the Department of Commerce to deny the public an opportunity to participate in a hearing on the appeal.

This project, if allowed, would be the first time in California that a local agency could take state parkland for its own infrastructure use, setting a dangerous precedent and putting all our state parks at risk. According to the California State Parks Foundation the Foothill-South Toll Road will destroy nearly 60% of San Onofre State Park, California's 6th most popular state park, causing the likely abandonment of the San Mateo Campground, and harming the water quality of Southern California's last pristine watershed.

San Onofre State Beach is far away from Washington DC. US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez is hearing from special interest groups and the TCA's lobbyists. Now he needs to hear from you.

The TCA would have us believe that a toll road through our state park is the only solution to our traffic problems. This is a false choice presented by a single-purpose agency. Send a message to Commerce Secretary Gutierrez asking him to review the TCA's appeal based on facts. Visit http://ga1.org/campaign/Secretary_Commerce today!

Carrizo Plain Solar Projects
by Cal French

Well, two solar plants are now in the approval process for the Carrizo Plain, one covering a square mile, the other nine square miles, both on private land. Six other such projects are in the pre-approval process (land acquisition, design stage, etc). If all these come to pass, it would make approximately 27 square miles (17,280 acres) of the northern part of the Carrizo Plain (aka Carrisa Plains) into what may be renamed someday as the Solar Plain just as the former Santa Clara Valley is now Silicon Valley. The Carrizo Plain is not the Mojave, but it is desert.

"National Park Wilderness"
Presented at Wilderness 2008 Conference
by John Miles, Professor at Western Washington University

John Miles has studied the topic of wilderness in National Parks extensively; he is the author of book which will be published this autumn: "Playground or Preserve: A History of National Park Wilderness."

Miles says the NPS has long struggled with the idea of wilderness and whether it is appropriate to its mission. Yellowstone National Park was established without any concern about wilderness preservation—it was established to protect natural features, which were believed to be awesome for people to observe. It was John Muir who first established the concept of protecting wilderness for its own sake as a national park. The first directors of the National Park Service, Mather and Albright, believed a major mission of building support for the new agency, established in 1916, was to provide access for the public. They therefore emphasized securing funds for building park roads and facilities.

In the 1920s and 30s there were bureaucratic battles between the National Park Service and the Forest Service over providing recreational services to the public on their respective lands. The Forest Service used the idea of administratively creating "primitive areas" and "wilderness areas" on Forest Service lands as a foil to the establishment of more National Parks. However Harold Ickes in the Interior Department was successful in spearheading the establishment of several additional National Parks (Olympic, Kings Canyon, Everglades) during the administration for President Franklin Roosevelt.

Perhaps not surprisingly, NPS opposed passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964; NPS considered then, and many key officials consider to this day, wilderness designation to be a redundancy to the agency's mission. Although the Wilderness Act required NPS to evaluate all its lands within ten years for determination if additional lands beyond those designated in the Wilderness Act warrant wilderness protection, NPS has never systematically reviewed its land holdings for this purpose. By 1994 there were 43 million acres of congressionally-designated wilderness within the National Park System—yet there is no significant wilderness planning staff in NPS headquarters in Washington DC; management of NPS wilderness is not done with department-wide consistency.

"Climate Change and Wilderness Trammeling"
Presented at Wilderness 2008 Conference
by Jonathan Jarvis, Pacific West Regional Director, Pacific National Park Service

Jarvis is responsible for 54 NPS units in states of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. Among other previous positions, he was superintendent of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the largest park in the continental US (13 million acres).

He cited as example of a tough decision he had to make at Wrangell-St. Elias a proposal by scientists to measure depth of large glacier (Bagley Ice Field) by using explosives. Although there were significant positive arguments in favor of allowing this—some of the NPS scientists were in favor—he denied the permit request because of anticipated adverse impacts on recreational users from blasting noise.

In reference to the Wilderness Act's use of the expression "untrammeled," Jarvis provided a dictionary definition of "trammel" as "hinderance or impediment to action." A fundamental principal of the Act is to allow wilderness to dominate. He remarked that the natural processes of the national parks, including wilderness areas, are being impeded by climate change, which gives rise to the question: "What, if anything, should the Park Service do in response?"

Impacts from climate change are already being experienced by national parks and are significant: less snowpack and lower water density in the snow that falls (example: Lake Mead, key resource of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, is at only 54% of capacity—marinas have had be relocated lower as a result), accelerated melting of glaciers (example: Glacier National Park now has only 27 kilometers of glaciers, as compared to 99 kilometers a hundred years ago), earlier spring rains and resulting flooding, record wildfires in last 2 years, plant and animal species migrating uphill in response to higher temparatues at lower elevations, coral reefs diminishing in Pacific Islands.

Jarvis convened a several-day meeting of all NPS superintendents and senior staff three years ago to address climate change issues. The group heard extensive scientific evidence, and discussed how to address the complex of issues involved.

Jarvis asserted that it's NPS responsibility to act now to protect the national parks for future generations by acting now to address climate issues. He asserted that the Pacific West Region is a leader in addressing this issue, citing the following examples: (1) all national parks in the Pacific West Region will be carbon neutral by 2016, (2) last year enough solar panels were installed on Pacific West Region facilities to offset all regional travel, (3) a new visitor center meeting LEED platinum standards is being completed at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Jarvis believes NPS must prepare for resilient adaptation to climate change. There are tough questions to be addressed, such as: Should we be willing to put in sprinkler systems around the Sequoia trees to keep them from dying as groundwater dries up? Is there a way to preserve Joshua trees in Joshua National Park as rainfall decreases?

Jarvis concluded on an optimistic note, citing (1) recent signing of $100 million contract to take down two dams on the Elwha River in Olympic National Park (this has been the subject of a decades-long planning process; the dams decommissioning should be completed by 2012), (2) strong public response to last year's drastic flooding in Mt. Rainer National Park—many, many people and groups have volunteered to help restore damaged trails, roads, and other facilities.

Jarvis announced that the book Last Child in the Woods, which highlights the importance of exposing children to the natural world and which he highly recommends, will be published in an NPS edition during National Park Week this April.

Mojave Ground Squirrel on the Governor's Radar
by Tom Budlong

Arnold gave a speech at the Yale Climate Change Conference on April 18, kind of implying Mojave Ground Squirrels are a myth.

So you don’t have to wade through the bulk of the speech, I thought it would be helpful to break out the ‘ground squirrel’ part. Other than being almost pathetic, it shows an alarming ignorance about a large part of California and renewable power in general. It emphasizes the need to publicize the other side.

Here is the rant:

“But the important point I want to make is that environmental activists and Democrats many times are just as much an obstacle in moving forward. Rhetorically, of course, they love to talk about renewable energy and geothermal and wind all those kind of things. But many times we have seen they are trying to slow down the approval process. It's kind of a schizophrenic behavior. They say that we want renewable energy but we don't want you to put it anywhere, we don't want you to use it.

“One energy expert the other day said that the California Mojave desert, which is a vast space with thousands of square miles, is one of the best spots on planet earth for solar power plants. Pacific Gas & Electric wants to put three huge solar plants right there. And the whole world: the Germans, the French, the Canadians, the Japanese; they all want to come out to California and put solar power plants in the Mojave desert and in other places. The only thing is that the problem is getting that new energy to the power grid because of environmental hurdles.

“San Diego Gas & Electric wants to develop solar geothermal fields in Imperial Valley and build 150 miles of transmission lines to go and take this power right into San Diego, but it faces opposition even though it would replace an old carbon-based power plant.

“So the point I'm making is it's not just businesses that have slowed things down, it's not just Republicans that have slowed things down, it's also Democrats and also environmental activists sometimes that slow things down.

“And even my own agency that I'm supposed to be the head of and the boss of I found out is slowing things down. Now, this gets very complicated, I tell you. For example, our Department of Fish and Game is slowing approval of a solar facility in Victorville. It's because of an endangered squirrel, an endangered squirrel which has never been seen on that land where they're supposed to build the solar plants. But if such a squirrel were around, this is the kind of area that it would like, they say.

“Now, the department wants the power company to buy three acres of land to protect these little creatures for every acre of solar land that is being used so that the squirrel could be saved if it exists. So a squirrel that may not exist is holding up environmental progress on a larger and more pressing fight against global warming. What they have here is a case of environmental regulations holding up environmental progress. I don't know whether this is ironic or absurd. But, I mean, if we cannot put solar power plants in the Mojave desert, I don't know where the hell we can put it." (Applause)

Then he goes on about how we all have to work together, relax, don’t panic, young people are open to new solutions, etc.

And then, the double-speak.

“You can feel the momentum. I say, do not be down-hearted about the environment. Every day I see what is happening in California and I tell you, my fellow environmentalists, things are about to move our way.“

A Wilderness Victory

May 8, 2008: Early today, in Washington DC, President Bush signed S.2739, the "Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008," which designates the 106,000-acre Wild Sky Wilderness in Washington State; designates three new National Heritage Areas; expands several national parks; authorizes funding for specified water projects; modifies two existing energy programs; applies US immigration law to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and grants the Commonwealth a non-voting delegate to the US House of Representatives.

Building Better Conservation Action
A Workshop for Current and Future Activists

On Saturday, June 7, 2008 three national training leaders: Cal French, Jill Workman and Vicki Lee will help and guide workshop participants to develop their own action plans.

Location: Angeles Chapter Office, 3435 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles. Near the Normandie stop on the “red/purple subway line”

Time: 8:30 am to 5 pm

Lunch: vegetarian potluck

Space Limited: Reserve with Jennifer Robinson (213) 387-4287x204

Preference given to teams of two from committees and task forces.

"How to Make the Best of our Town"
with the California Environmental Quality Act
by Lynne Plambeck

Our upcoming workshop on the California Environmental Quality Act will take place on Saturday, May 17 at the College of the Canyons, Valencia Campus. SCOPE is partnering with the Planning and Conservation League to bring you this local workshop. The Angeles Chapter will be offering some scholarships for this event. Contact Jennifer Robinson at (213)387-4287 x204 for scholarship information and the workshop’s website.

Are you concerned about proposed projects in your area? This revered 30 year old piece of legislation was enacted to help all of us be involved in our local planning processes. Come and hear how the law works and how it can help you shape the planning for your neighborhoods and community.

Go on line to register at the workshop's website. Seating is limited, so register early to ensure your place.

Aliso Canyon/Creek Site Tour
Development Plans Threaten Coastal Resources
by Penny Elia, Save Hobo Aliso Task Force Chair

The Notice of Preparation for the "Aliso Creek Area Plan" has been released by the City of Laguna Beach on behalf of The Athens Group, developers and operators of the controversial Montage Resort & Spa. The proposed "Aliso Creek Area" project will impact nearly one square mile area in beautiful South Laguna.

The Athens Group has agreed to allow the public into their existing "pay to play" golf course for one afternoon only for three hours. This is your opportunity to get up close and personal with the impacts this massive project will have on this gorgeous, one-of-a-kind area that is contiguous with the Aliso Wood Canyons Wilderness Park. Although this site tour will be orchestrated by The Athens Group, we will attempt to have our own environmental ambassadors on hand to clarify issues and impacts. You are of course welcome to contact the Sierra Club's Save Hobo Aliso Task Force following the tour for more detailed information. Contact information is below.

We invite you, your family and friends to join us on May 10, 2008, 2 - 5 pm at Aliso Creek Inn & Golf Course, 31106 Coast Highway, Laguna Beach.

Parking will be available on site, on Coast Highway and in the County lots for Aliso Beach. Please carpool if you can. Bring a picnic lunch, enjoy this special area and arrive early so that you have time to take in the splendor. This is your only opportunity to not only get onto the golf course without golfers, but to also access the areas outside of the existing footprint that are proposed for development. We were not able to arrange for a tour of Hobo Aliso Ridge, but again, can provide you with proposed development details.

If you need a refresher on the controversial Montage Resort development please visit http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/99/33/news-infante.php

You may access most of the application for the project at http://64.58.157.203/government/departments/alisocreekplan.htm

Please let me know if you have any questions or need any additional information prior to May 10. The Sierra Club has been fighting to protect and preserve this area for many years now. Please join our efforts! We are in the process of preparing our NOP comments for the upcoming Environmental Impact Report. The Scoping Hearing is scheduled for Monday, May 19. More info to follow on that.

See you on the 10th!

Penny Elia, Save Hobo Aliso Task Force Chair (949) 499-4499

Sierra Club Opposes Senate Republican Proposal
to Roll Back Clean-Air Standards
by Bill Magavern

April 30, 2008 Sierra Club California responded with outrage today to Senate Republicans’ proposal to delay important measures that will protect California’s air and atmosphere.

Sierra Club California Director Bill Magavern made the following statement:

Once again, these Senate Republicans are showing why they’re a minority party—they’re so desperate to please their corporate contributors that they’re trying to roll back vital protections for our air and atmosphere that most Californians strongly support. Their proposal would further delay our state’s achieving healthy air quality by extending deadlines for cleaning up dirty diesel engines. They also propose to delay for a year the implementation of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), even though that law already is driving technological innovation that will fuel California’s economy. Furthermore, we are highly suspicious that when they say “Streamline the building permitting process,” the Republican leaders mean weakening safeguards that protect our quality of life from rampant over-development.

These same reactionary senators held last year’s budget hostage in a futile attempt to roll back California’s Environmental Quality Act. They are out of touch with the governor and with the voters of all parties, who understand that cleaning up our air and water helps California’s economy.

Sierra Club California calls on both Democratic and Republican elected officials to oppose any proposals to weaken protections for public health and the environment.

The Lords of Trivial Pursuit
by Carl Pope

May 6, 2008 Washington DC—You've probably noticed that one of the most visible issues of the Clinton-Obama race recently has been the question of a "holiday" from the federal gas tax. John McCain originally supported it. Barack Obama strongly opposes it. And Hillary Clinton favors it with a windfall-profits tax to make sure that it doesn't end up even further enriching the oil industry.

You may also have noticed that virtually every editorial board, columnist, and economist that has commented on this proposal has said that it's a bad policy proposal that will do little or nothing to help drivers, will make it slightly harder to replace our decaying transportation infrastructure, and will likely make the oil companies and oil producers richer.

What gets little or no attention is that this is another example of campaign coverage obsessed with the trivial, even when reporters had enormous opportunities to explore the significant.

Of course, each candidate is using his or her stand on the gas-tax holiday to convey a larger message. McCain wants to show that he is a member of the anti-tax wing of the Republican party, Obama that he will break with the traditional Washington way of approaching these issues, and Clinton that she better understands both the economic pain of the average driver AND their fury at rapacious oil-industry profits.

The public certainly understands this. Yesterday's New York Times poll showed the public divided on the merits of the tax holiday—51 percent against it, 44 percent for it—but overwhelmingly aware that the reason it was on the agenda was to send a political message. Seventy percent of respondents said that candidates were advocating the tax holiday because "it would help them politically," while only 21 percent said they thought the candidates were proposing the idea because it was "a sound proposal that will provide relief for Americans."

Politics, after all, is about communications. Sending a signal (which is what all three candidates are doing on the gas-tax holiday), is simply a short-hand way of communicating. So at one level there's nothing wrong with the way the candidates are operating.

What's puzzling is why the mainstream media steadfastly declines to provide voters with a broader context within which these signals can be received and evaluated. Since at least last December, pollsters have been telling the press that a cluster of issues revolving around energy— gas prices, oil imports, global warming, the war in Iraq—were important to the electorate. The public views an outmoded, outdated energy policy that's dependent on fossil fuels as the problem; high gas prices, global warming, and imported oil dependence are simply symptoms of this underlying failure. By the end of last year, this issue cluster was already the most powerful factor in moving independent and swing voters in states like California. This month, polling by Stan Greenberg is finding that it is the single largest contributor to voters' sense that the country is headed in the wrong direction.

You can be sure that the candidates got this news from their own internal polling. They each put out detailed and fully developed position papers, campaigned repeatedly on the issue, cut paid television spots on the topic, and made it part of their own positive stories and of their attacks on their opponents. And the mainstream political press yawned. As I wrote in January, only three of the first 2,679 questions asked of the presidential candidates on the Sunday talk shows and presidential debates mentioned global warming. Though things improved a bit in recent months, only when McCain used the gas-tax holiday to reduce our nation's enormous energy-policy challenge to a trivia-sized bite did the mainstream media truly rise to the bait.

Newcomer/Member Information Events
Discover the Sierra Club… In your neighborhood!

• Come and learn all about the Sierra Club and the many activities and adventure outings available.
• Meet the leaders of LA & OC Sierra Singles, Sierra Sage, OC Group, Wilderness Travel, 20’s/30’s, Natural Science, Hundred Peaks, Mule Pack and many others.
• Table Displays, Exhibits, Refreshments, Free Drawing.
• Join the Sierra Club at the $25 Introductory rate. Receive a free gift!
• Chapter Membership Co-Chairs: Mary Morales & Donna Specht
• Bring a friend!

Thursday, June 26, 2008, 6:30 pm
Los Angeles Zoo, (Grand Room) Griffith Park
Park in zoo main parking lot. Enter at Security office, main entrance. Tell guard Sierra Club, follow signs.
Contact Info: Jeanne Karpenko (818) 244-0733, jkarpenko@earthlink.net (www.angeles.sierraclub.org/singles)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 7 pm
Peninsula Center Community Room, Palos Verdes Peninsula Library
701 Silver Spur Road, Rolling Hills Estates
Contact Info: Keith Martin (310) 530-1268, keithwmartin@sbcglobal.net, (www.angeles.sierraclub.org/pvsb)

Monday, August 11, 2008, 6:30-9 pm
Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Avenue, Costa Mesa
Contact info: Donna Specht (714) 963-6345, donnaspecht@juno.com, (www.angeles.sierraclub.org/ocss)

Saturday, September 13, 2008 1-4 pm
Eaton Canyon Nature Center, 1750 N Altadena Dr, Pasadena
Contact Info: Don Bremner (626) 794-2603, donbremner@earthlink.net, (www.angeles.sierraclub.org/pasadena)