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Schwarzenegger Appoints New Commissioner Day Before MLPA Vote

by Dan Bacher
Schwarzenegger Appoints New Commissioner Day Before MLPA Vote

by Dan Bacher

In an apparent attempt to "stack the deck" in a California Fish and Game Commission vote today over widely-disputed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Governor Arnold Scharzenegger appointed a new Commissioner, Donald Benninghoven, on Tuesday.

Members of a broad coalition of grassroots environmentalists, fishermen, seaweed harvesters, Native Americans and North Coast elected officials believe that the decision to appoint a Commissioner should have been delayed, since the Commissioner will be making one of the key decisions the Commission will vote on this year. They are asking for a delay in the implementation of Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process, due to concerns over mission creep, conflicts of interest and the corruption of the democracy in Schwarzenegger's corrupt fast-track process.

A Republican from Santa Barbara, Benninghoven served on the Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force in the north central region from 2007 to 2009. He voted for the "Integrated Preferred Alternative" (IPA) for the region under consideration today at the F&G Commission in Woodland.

Benninghoven replaces the former President of the Commission, Cindy Gustafson, who resigned from her post on Friday. Gustafson was considered a swing vote on the MLPA and other natural resource issues. Environmental justice advocates fear that Benninghoven, having served on the MLPA panel where he voted for the IPA, will be a ves vote for the IPA favored by the Governor and his staff.

This alternative will kick American Indian and other seaweed harvesters and seafood gatherers off their traditional harvesting areas in the Point Arena and other areas. It will also remove sustainable recreational and commercial fishermen, already hammered by the most restrictive fishing regulations for groundfish in the world, from their traditional fishing areas.

The Governor and his NGO collaborators, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Ocean Conservancy, are pushing for this vote just five days after a peer-reviewed report in Science Magazine revealed that the California current marine groundfish fishery is the healthiest of any surveyed in the world, due to severe fishing restrictions by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) and other measures.

Schwarzenegger, the worst Governor for fish and the environment in California history, is pushing the fast-track MLPA process in order to tout his "green" credentials at a time that he presided over the collapse of Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, striped bass and other California Delta fish populations. Meanwhile, the Governor, Nature Conservancy, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Schwarzenegger Democrats are campaigning for a peripheral canal and more dams that only exacerbate the imperiled state of estuary fish populations and drive them over the edge of extinction.

Real environmentalists don't support Schwarzenegger in his attempt to kick seaweed harvesters, abalone divers and fishermen off the water in order to remove the strongest opponents of corporate plans to build offshore oil rigs, wave energy projects and corporate aquaculture. Real environmentalists support the suspension or halting of the corrupt MLPA process while taking a strong, definitive stand against the Governor's relentless campaign to build a peripheral canal and more dams!
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Contact: Aaron McLear, Rachel Cameron 916-445-4571

Governor Schwarzenegger Announces Appointment

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the following appointment:

Donald Benninghoven, 76, of Santa Barbara, has been appointed to the Fish and Game Commission. Prior to retiring, he served as executive director and member of the board for the City-County-School Partnership from 1998 to 2000, a cooperative venture of the California State Association of Counties, the California School Boards Association and the League of California Cities. Prior to that, from 1958 to 1998, Benninghoven held several positions at the League of California Cities including executive director. He served on the Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force from 2007 to 2009. Benninghoven also previously served as secretary for the City-County-School Partnership, chairman of the California Center for Civic Renewal and a member of the Institute for Local Self Government Executive Committee. In addition, he was a member on the Governor’s Commission on Transportation Financing, vice chair of the California State Constitution Revision Commission and member on the Governor’s Commission on Local Government Financing. Benninghoven is a member of the California Game Wardens Foundation and is a lifelong outdoorsman, fisherman and hunter. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Benninghoven is a Republican.


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Smash the MLPA!
Sun, Aug 16, 2009 8:55AM
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