Central Valley Earth First!ers organizing

There are many issues in the Central Valley that need some direct action support by EF!ers. There are a few environmental groups like the Butte Environmental Council protecting vernal pool wetlands from development, though this may not be enough with the current administration going full throttle on suburban sprawl development. Also Arnold "the Actor" Schwarzenegger recently fired the flood control board because they were aware and vocal about the risks of development in flood prone valley locations..

There's a few possibilities to network with forest defenders also (NCEF!, SNEF!), the Sierra Pacific Industries headquarters in Anderson (I-5 near Redding) has a visible location on the 273 Hgwy for a bannerhang or streetside protest. SPI is one of the largest private landowners in California and they also are given permit to engage in clearcut logging on National Forest lands. Red Emmerson, the CEO of SPI also lives near Anderson. Where do all those wood preserving chemicals from the SPI mill in Anderson go? Mostly as runoff into the Rio Sacramento watershed, bioaccumulating in fish, etc..

SPI corporate profile;
http://www.endgame.org/spi.html

Vernal pool wetlands are habitat for many endangered species like Butte
meadowfoam, vernal pool fairy shrimp, etc. that could become extinct if
current development trends continue. Arnold's regime of professional actors would rather take bribes from developers and pave over the vernal pools with Wal-mart parking lots..

vernal pool info;
http://www.becnet.org/home/vernalpool.html

The suburban sprawl taking place in the valley is the final destination of so many trees from the surrounding foothill forests. These McMansions are a wasteful use of forest timber for elitist suburbanites who flee the cities, even though there are many buildings downtown in disrepair that could comfortably house people without the sprawl of the newer developments. This is another chance to point out the connections between deforestation from clear cutting, sprawl paving over wetlands, and the resulting smog and petroleum addictions of sprawl's overdevelopment..

SprawlWatch info clearinghouse;
http://www.sprawlwatch.org/

After the recent Katrina flooding disaster we need to realize the effects of global warming on sea level rise, severe storm surges and the effects on the low elevation valley and Sacto/San Joaquin delta. The flood planning of this former wetland is poor, the islands near the delta are subsiding
below sea level, the levees protecting them are expensive to maintain.
Wetlands are able to absorb storm surges and some run-off from human non-point source pollution, yet developers are charging taxpayers to fill in more wetlands for suburban sprawl developments. Once again environmentalists are blamed for developer's short sightedness..

"The spotted owl ordeal left many timber workers in the Northwest frustrated with government intervention, particularly since attempts to limit the export of unmilled trees never got far. But is regulation really what's killing western jobs? More likely the real culprits are the forces that are fostering economic insecurity everywhere else in the country: globalization, technological advances, and reduced bargaining power of labor. (Weyer haeuser, a leading timber company in Washington, gets 26 percent of its profits from exporting raw logs overseas.) Of course the corporate-financed anti-environmental groups don't dwell on questions about free trade, corporate profits, or executive salaries."

more on corporations scapegoating environmentalists;
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=4954

Organic farms can use less water than monocultura agribusiness and have zero fertilizer runoff if seasonal flooding is allowed to restore silt and topsoil to the floodplains. By using crop diversity, an equal if not greater outcome of nutritional food can be grown in organic farms, though with less dependency on petrochemical fertilizer, pesticides, rio agua, etc.. This is the deep ecology approach that places humans in the center of the web of life, we cannot be outside of the natural system any longer. By restoring the river's natural flood cycle and meandering path, seasonal oxbow lakes and groundwater percolation will also gradually raise the water table..

Valley Seasonal Floodplain;
http://www.laspilitas.com/comhabit/California_Valley_Grassland.html

Pesticide and herbicide drift in the windy Central Valley effects everyone and all ecosystems, the agribusiness corporations are dependent on toxic pesticide chemicals because they have replaced diversity with monocultura. Here is a chance for IWW network support and demanding zero tolerance for pesticide exposure of migrant workers. This includes the biotech corporations and their test plots at unknown locations in the valley. Pollen drift of biotech crops can contaminate any organic farms as witnessed in the maize of Oaxaca, MX. The residents of the valley have a right to clean air without the threat of biotech pollen drift..

Pesticide drift and infant mortality;
http://www.pesticidereform.org/article.php?id=210

Biotech contamination of maize in Oaxaca;
http://www.organicconsumers.org/corn/maizestudy081105.cfm

CIEPAC alternatives to NAFTA/CAFTA neoliberalism y globalization;
http://www.ciepac.org/

Then there's the issue of every river that enters the Central valley is blocked by dams. Anadromous fish like salmon are prevented from accessing their spawning grounds, and the water temp is too high. Many of the dams are outdated and beyong their FERC license. Safety of dams in a seismic active state is another issue to flooding and human health and safety. Conserving water can be accomplished by converting wasteful monocultura agribusiness corporations to organic farms with crop diversity, shade trees, etc..

salmon on the cosumnes rio;
http://www.sccrg.org/water_follies.htm

There are many other problems with CA's Central Valley ecosystem under the current government, we cannot wait for the buerocracy to put more band-aids on..

Any potential Earth First!ers interested in organizing either Sacramento or San Joaquin Valley actions can email;

vernalpool [at] riseup.net

or organize a local action on your own! The Central Valley geography is similar yet covers a great distance. Sometimes action is safer without electronic communication!

Security culture is a must for EF!ers, we always assume FBI/Homeland Security is monitoring every word. We are continuing the Earth First! tradition of non-violent direct action, so please keep email text and actions non-violent!