[env-trinity] Eureka Times Herald May 4

[Byron]

TRINITY RIVER:

Stakeholder group dammed up

Eureka Times-Standard - 5/4/05 
By John Driscoll, staff writer

 

It may be easier to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than to
volunteer to help the Trinity River. 

 

People representing groups with an interest in how the river is managed are
presently clueless as to their role in a government process that makes
recommendations to agencies in charge of the river's restoration program. 

 

Eight months after their applications for the 18-member Trinity Adaptive
Management Working Group were turned in, fishermen, rafters, water and power
interests and others have no idea whether they'll be on board. 

 

"There's not really a good reason why it's taken so long," said California
Trout's Tom Weseloh, who submitted an application in September. "This is not
some plot to overthrow the United States." 

 

Rather, the working group advises agencies and tribes on the Trinity
Management Council on how to handle elements of the multimillion dollar
restoration program. 

 

The council then makes recommendations to the U.S. Interior Department. 

 

To get a seat on the committee, nominees have to get clearance -- perhaps
even from the White House. 

 

An April e-mail from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arcata Field Supervisor
Mike Long, sent to members of the working group, outlines the hoops the
applications must pass through. 

 

The package of applications has to go through regional and national offices
of Fish and Wildlife, assistant secretaries, congressional and legislative
affairs offices, the solicitor general, through ethics review and,
potentially, to the White House. That's leaving out a few steps. 

 

Long said he isn't sure why there are so many steps, but that it's similar
for other groups of its kind. 

 

"It's not like they're singling out this group for more scrutiny," Long
said. 

 

But decisions on this year's flow schedule were already made after the old
working group met, and the potential new members sat on the sidelines. 

 

Long has sent e-mails to the current members and the potential nominees
regarding an upcoming June meeting. It reads that the nominees are welcome
to attend the meeting as members of the public, but they won't be reimbursed
for travel. The old members will still be allowed to meet officially. 

 

The original working group, put together after the 2000 federal decision to
authorize the restoration, was more than a year in the making.

 

 

Byron Leydecker, 

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

Consultant, California Trout, Inc.

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org (secondary)

http://www.fotr.org

http://caltrout.org

 

 

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