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AUDUBON CALIFORNIA NOTES
May 2007 e-newsletter
In this issue:
Richardson Bay Audubon Center Rallies
to Curb Carbon
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Lead Ammunition Ban and Condors
 California Condors have a real chance to sustain wild populations if Fish and Game Commissioners pass amendments to two hunting regulations that would ban the use of lead ammunition in Condor country this June.
Today just 279 condors exist including 70 wild birds in California. Yet despite millions of dollars and enormous effort, the condor remains imperiled. A leading threat to condor recovery is lead poisoning from ingestion of ammunition. Since 1992, at least 6 California Condors are known to have died from lead poisoning with more suspected. And since 1997, 26 birds have required expensive medical treatment to remove lead from the blood. A ban on lead ammunition would mean an opportunity for self-sustaining populations of California Condors in the wild. For at least seven years, education and incentive programs to promote a voluntary switch to copper ammunition have not reduced lead in condors.
Audubon California presented our support for these amendments and went further to recommend the creation of incentives to develop alternatives to lead ammunition and public education programs; and to work towards a phased and effective state-wide ban on lead ammunition at Fish and Game Commission hearings over the last two months.
If new regulations are passed, they would require the use of non-lead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition within the condor's historic foraging range, correcting a long identified problem for these majestic birds. The vote on these critical amendments is expected in June. Read more about condors and recovery efforts here: http://ca.audubon.org/california_condor.html
State to Step Up Wetlands Protections
The State Water Resources Control Board has begun to develop a wetlands and riparian area protection policy to fill in the gap in federal water protection left by recent Supreme Court and EPA decisions. The State Board has held scoping workshops in Sacramento and Los Angeles and should release a draft of the new policy later this year. To see the range of policy proposals the Board will consider, visit http://www.waterboards.ca.gov
/cwa401/docs/wrapp/ wetland_ripairan_policy_rev2.pdf.
We will keep you informed as this policy develops.
Audubon Leaders Appointed to New Heights
Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Steve Blank, Audubon California Chairman of the board to the California Coastal Commission in February. Steve Blank is a faculty member at the University of California Berkeley Haas Business School. Steve has over 25 years of experience in high technology companies and general management as a founder and executive. Steve is an active supporter of the Peninsula Open Space Trust’s land-saving efforts on the San Mateo County Coast. Along with his duties as an Audubon California board member, he was nominated to serve on the National Audubon board in January 2005.
Frances Spivy-Weber, recent president of Palos Verde South Bay Audubon, has been appointed to the State Water Resources Control Board. Fran has a long history with environmental protection. She worked for National Audubon Society as director of the international program where her role was to help local chapters incorporate international issues into their programs--the concept of thinking globally and acting locally. As director of international programs, Fran worked on international treaties that set international policy on the environment. From Audubon, Fran went on to be Executive Director of the Mono Lake Committee from 1997-2006. From her work with the Mono Lake Committee, Fran brings a tremendous background in water policy and conservation to the State Water Board. She has worked intimately with the state’s largest water agency, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. We look forward to the positive influence she brings to the State Water Board.
Orange County just gained another full time conservation advocate. Something we all know is well needed. Scott Thomas has joined Sea and Sage Audubon and Audubon California as a conservation advocate for the county. Scott has been the longtime conservation chair for Sea and Sage Audubon. In recent years, his activity on conservation issues has taken up more and more of his time, until he and Sea and Sage realized it would be best to have his energies fulltime. Scott will be focusing on the immediate threats facing Orange County, in particular the proposed toll road through San Onofre State Park.
Orange County Toll Road Threatens Birds,
Habitat and a Popular State Park
A major fight is underway in southern Orange County pitting a multi-lane toll road proposed by the Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) against an established, significantly influential, and growing coalition of conservation groups including Sea & Sage Audubon Society, Audubon California and other state-wide conservation organizations including the National Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Endangered Habitats League, and Surfrider Foundation.
In seeking to complete the last section of the Foothill-South toll road, the TCA has identified routes through dwindling coastal sage scrub habitat on lands that had previously been set aside as open space and natural reserves for species such as the California Gnatcatcher, Cactus Wren, and Arroyo Toad. Most egregiously, the proposed route would bisect San Onofre State Beach at the north end of Camp Pendleton and result in potential closure of the popular San Mateo campground at the park.
The toll road is being sold as an alleviation to traffic congestion on Interstate 5 in Orange County. However a study last summer concluded that even with construction of the toll road, traffic is likely to remain "severely congested" until the year 2030. “Traffic reduction benefits have been vastly overstated” says Scott Thomas, Conservation Director at Sea & Sage Audubon.
Recently, Assembly Member Jared Huffman introduced Assembly Bill 1457 to protect state parks from such damaging and unnecessary road projects. AB 1457 stops the destruction of state parks from road construction that is wholly inconsistent with the mission and purpose of park creation. If passed, the new law would increase State Park authority over the construction of roads though parks. The bill ensures that non-park related roads, where a feasible alternative exists, will not be constructed through a park. Great news for San Onofre State Beach because feasible alternatives exist, including improving existing freeways.
Audubon hopes you will stay informed about this important battle and lend your voice to those opposing the toll road. Please visit: http://www.savesanonofre.com/ for the latest news and suggestions on how you can help protect an important state park, rare species and declining habitat in Orange County. If this state park is destroyed, are any parks safe?
Audubon’s Global Warming Initiative
California made international news last year with the passage of AB 32, the first cap on global warming emissions in the U.S. California is leading the way on global warming, but with the new Congress, National Audubon and other environmental groups are also pushing hard in Washington, DC for federal legislation to cut emissions 2 percent per year until 2050 to achieve the 80 percent reduction scientists say is necessary to prevent the most dire consequences of global warming. To learn more about how global warming is affecting birds and other wildlife and what you can do about it, visit www.audubon.org/globalWarming. The theme of this year’s Audubon Assembly at Asilomar is global warming, with top-notch scientific, policy, communications and education presentations on global warming, bird conservation and related issues. We will also send out updates on state and federal legislation, suggestions for reducing your emissions and for protecting birds and their habitat in a changing climate. We’re also looking for volunteers to give global warming Power Point presentations, an Audubon version of the “Inconvenient Truth” presentation, beginning in late May and throughout the year, to increase public understanding of global warming, its impacts on birds and what we all can do about it.
San Bernardino Valley Audubon Challenges County General Plan for Lack of Global Warming Planning
San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society has challenged their county’s short-sighted decision to ignore the impacts of increased greenhouse gases from future growth in the recently adopted general plan. San Bernardino Valley Audubon with the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity have filed a suit alleging that San Bernardino County’s general plan violates the California Environmental Quality Act as the increased greenhouse gases will contribute to the known negative effects of greenhouse gases.
While the state of California has taken steps to address the problem of climate change, San Bernardino County has chosen to ignore it. The county avoided requests from the Attorney General of California and conservation groups to analyze greenhouse gases and climate change in its blueprint for the future.
“We’re trying to get county leadership to stop thinking in their habitual, fossilized, pro-development manner and to see their role with fresh eyes,” said Drew Feldmann of SBVAS. “In light of global warming, issues such as zoning, housing, and transportation pose new problems that require new solutions.”
Two days after SBVAS filed suit, state Attorney General Brown joined suit with a related lawsuit against the County of San Bernardino for approving the updated general plan. The Attorney General, filing the suit under the California Environmental Quality Act, argued that San Bernardino County failed to evaluate and disclose the impending impacts of the plan on climate change and air quality. For more information or to help support this suit, please contact Drew Feldman at Drew-f@att.ne
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Salton Sea Restoration Preferred Alternative
We’re in the home stretch now, poised to select the final restoration plan for the Salton Sea. Your letters and emails have really made a difference – in late April, the California Resources Secretary will propose a Salton Sea restoration plan that provides substantial habitat for the Salton Sea’s more than 400 bird species, protection of air quality and the endangered Desert Pupfish.
It would be a big victory for birds and wildlife except that it also includes two lakes primarily for recreation and development that triple the cost and pose enormous risks to the environment. The money and water needed for these recreational lakes could sink the whole restoration plan unless the habitat and air quality provisions are funded and implemented first. The estimated cost of the draft restoration plan is a whopping $9 billion, and contains the following elements:
The Good: Shallow saline habitat of approximately 60,000 acres; pupfish habitat and some deep water habitat; air quality mitigation on the exposed Seabed.
The Bad: A Marine Sea, larger than Lake Havasu, that would require pumping enormous quantities of water up from the southern end of the Sea, and a smaller recreation lake in the south on what should be prime habitat.
The Ugly: The rock source to construct the northern dam will require destruction of an entire mountain, likely to be endangered species habitat and with huge air quality impacts from the mining, transport and construction. The cost of these recreational lakes in the desert will be $5-7 billion more than the habitat and air quality elements of restoration. The water demand could jeopardize habitat and air quality needs.
Audubon believes that it is extremely unlikely that $9 billion will ever be spent on Salton Sea restoration. We are working, therefore, to have the implementing legislation, SB 187, written to include the following provisions:
- the final restoration plan will be designed and constructed in phases to ensure that the shallow saline habitat complex and air quality mitigation measures are built and implemented first;
- the final restoration plan ensures that funding and water are used first to satisfy habitat and air quality needs;
- the project level EIR is developed in an open and public manner similar to the process used to develop the programmatic level EIR; and
- construction of a marine lake is subject to additional conditions including:
- 90 percent of its cost is borne by local entities and the source and transport of construction materials comply with all environmental protection laws;
The Salton Sea is California’s largest lake and a key stopover for literally millions of birds each year, including the threatened snowy plover and Yuma clapper rail. The Salton Sea straddles Imperial and Riverside Counties and though little known outside the birding world, the Salton Sea is a national treasure.
But the fate of this desert jewel hangs in the balance as the volume of water that sustains this 360-square mile lake will decrease by more than 30 percent within the next 20 years, rapidly shrinking the lake and increasing the amount of dust and salt that blows through the Imperial and Coachella valleys. The legal agreement allowing this water transfer from Imperial County to San Diego requires the state and federal government to restore the Salton Sea to “maximum feasible attainment” of historic levels of fish and wildlife. With your help, we can make a wildlife oasis out of this murky paradise.
Summer Camps
Making summer plans? Why not spend a week at a summer camp relaxing and learning about nature.
Golden Trout Golden Trout Natural History Workshop
Naturalist-led hikes exploring botany, geology and birds in the Eastern Sierra's Golden Trout Wilderness above Lone Pine. At 10,000 feet elevation, this walk-in camp (three mile hike) offers tented cabins and all meals as you dayhike in the Cottonwood Lakes Basin area. Three one week sessions. in June and July are scheduled. Reserve early - we often fill up quickly. Call Paul at (805)668.8344, email paul.roark@verizon.net
or visit the web site at www.1startists.com/gtc . Golden Trout Natural History Workshop is a 501c3 non-profit.
Hog Island Audubon Camp, Maine
Residential sessions of up to one week are led by world-class naturalists at historic Hog Island Audubon Camp, offering an authentic experience of Maine nature on a 330-acre Muscongus Bay island. Part of Todd Audubon Sanctuary. Since 1936, Hog Island has been home to Audubon camp for adults, educators, and young people, with sessions led by some of the most respected naturalists and environmental educators in the nation. Hog Island campers love its natural setting and rustic 19th-century buildings. Summoned by the clang of the dinner bell, they eat delicious, nutritious meals served family style. Most sessions include a fresh lobster feast on the last night. http://www.maineaudubon.org/explore/camp/hi_overview.shtml
High Sierra Institute
Have you ever wanted to study in the heart of the Sierra? This summer you can take classes ranging from nature writing and philosophy to natural history and wilderness management at the High Sierra Institute at Baker Station. Located at a historic field station near Sonora Pass, the Institute is directed by the Yosemite Community College District in partnership with the Stanislaus National Forest Service and offers students a dynamic place to study and be inspired by the Sierra. Courses run from June through August. Lodging is included in registration fees ($20/unit). For more information, see http://columbia.yosemite.cc.ca.us/BakerStation/index.htm or contact HSI Coordinator, Dimitri Keriotis at 209 575-6718 or keriotisd@mjc.edu.
Upcoming Events and Meetings
June Council Meetings
- Southern California: June 16, 2007 Host: San Bernardino Audubon– Redlands College
- Central Valley: June 23, 2007 Host: Sacramento Audubon- Consumnes River Preserve
- Central Coast : June 23, 2007 Host: Conejo Valley Audubon – Vertebrate Zoology Museum
- Bay Area: June 9, 2007 Host: Napa-Solano Audubon – Richardson Bay Audubon Center
- Northern California: TBD
Sea and Sage Audubon sponsors Audubon at Home
Native Plant Garden Tour, May 5, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Self-guided tour of central and south Orange County gardens. Features 10 gardens using native plants, nearly all gardens new to the Native Plant Garden Tour. Free tour brochures available now. Send SASE to OC CNPS, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine CA 92619-4891 or visit website at www.occnps.org. Or pick up at Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano or at Audubon House in Irvine.
Audubon California Assembly – All Welcome!
Global Warming and Birds - October 7-9, 2007 Asilomar Conference Center
Chapter Coordinator
Audubon California
4225 Hollis Street
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 601-1866 x (extension) 3
(510) 601-1954 Fax
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