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MLPA News: Public Input Sought on Draft Proposals for North Coast Marine Protected Area
MLPA Initiative to hold five "open house" events for the Northern California community July 6-8.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 23, 2010
Contacts: Annie Reisewitz, MLPA Initiative, (858) 228-0526
Kirsten Macintyre,DFG Communications, (916) 322-8988
Public Input Sought on Draft Proposals for North Coast Marine Protected Areas
MLPA Initiative to hold five "open house" events for the Northern California community July 6-8
Open house events have been scheduled in northern California for the public to review and provide input on four draft proposals developed through the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. The open houses will focus on draft marine protected area (MPA) proposals for the MLPA North Coast Study Region, which covers state waters from the California/Oregon border to Alder Creek near Point Arena in Mendocino County. Members of the public are invited to attend at any time during the day and evening sessions - in five locations throughout the study region - to visit informational stations and offer input.
Members of the MLPA North Coast Regional Stakeholder Group developed the draft MPA proposals during Round 2 of a three-round planning process. They will be on hand to answer questions and discuss how these ideas will help meet the goals of improved marine life, habitats and overall ecosystem health. MLPA Initiative staff, California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) staff, California State Parks staff and members of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force will also be available.
"We are seeking additional input from the local community to help re-design California's marine protected areas into a cohesive coastal network that adequately protects diverse marine life and their habitats," said Ken Wiseman, executive director the MLPA Initiative. "These events offer members of the public one-on-one conversation opportunities with stakeholders and staff with regard to the draft MPA proposals and to directly provide their input."
The five open houses are scheduled for:
- Tuesday, July 6, 2010: 5:00-7:30 p.m., C.V. Starr Community Center, 300 South Lincoln Street, Fort Bragg, CA
- Wednesday, July 7, 2010: 8:00-10:00 a.m., The Octagon/Beginnings, 5 Cemetery Road, Briceland, CA
- Wednesday, July 7, 2010: 5:00-7:30 p.m., Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, 921 Waterfront Drive, Room 211, Eureka, CA
- Thursday, July 8, 2010: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., Redwood National and State Parks, South Operations Center, 121200 Hwy. 101, Orick, CA
- Thursday, July 8, 2010: 5:00-7:30 p.m., Elk Valley Rancheria Community Center, 2332 Howland Hill Road, Crescent City, CA
At each open house the public will receive information about the four draft MPA proposals currently under consideration, as well as the various evaluations conducted by the MLPA Master Plan Science Advisory Team, DFG, California State Parks and MLPA Initiative staff. The open houses will also include information about the north coast MPA planning process, next steps in developing MPA proposals and opportunities for public feedback on the draft proposals. To view the Round 2 draft MPA proposals, please see http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/mpaproposals_nc.asp.
Members of the public do not have to attend an open house to provide input on the Round 2 draft MPA proposals; they may also provide input by completing an online form at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/mpaproposals_nc.asp. Print copies of the form may be obtained at a number of local libraries and government offices (for a list of locations, please see http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/pdfs/libraries.pdf). Comments on the Round 2 draft MPA proposals will be most helpful if submitted no later than July 14, 2010, in order for the information to be distributed to regional stakeholder group and task force members prior to the start of Round 3.
Under the guidelines of a master plan for MPAs, the process to develop a recommendation for north coast MPAs involves, among other things, identifying marine species that may benefit from MPAs, considering existing marine protected areas, and developing MPAs that include a variety of habitats and water depths.
The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force is overseeing the north coast MPA planning process and will make a final recommendation to the California Fish and Game Commission in December of this year.
Enacted in 1999, the MLPA directs the state to design and manage a system of marine protected areas in order to, among other things, protect marine life and habitats, marine ecosystems and marine natural heritage, as well as improve recreational, educational and study opportunities provided by marine ecosystems. The California Natural Resources Agency and DFG have partnered with the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation in an initiative to help re-design the statewide system of MPAs to achieve these goals. The advice of scientists, resource managers, experts, stakeholders and members of the public guide this public-private partnership.
For additional information about the MLPA Initiative, please see http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa.
####
Contacts: Annie Reisewitz, MLPA Initiative, (858) 228-0526
Kirsten Macintyre,DFG Communications, (916) 322-8988
Public Input Sought on Draft Proposals for North Coast Marine Protected Areas
MLPA Initiative to hold five "open house" events for the Northern California community July 6-8
Open house events have been scheduled in northern California for the public to review and provide input on four draft proposals developed through the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. The open houses will focus on draft marine protected area (MPA) proposals for the MLPA North Coast Study Region, which covers state waters from the California/Oregon border to Alder Creek near Point Arena in Mendocino County. Members of the public are invited to attend at any time during the day and evening sessions - in five locations throughout the study region - to visit informational stations and offer input.
Members of the MLPA North Coast Regional Stakeholder Group developed the draft MPA proposals during Round 2 of a three-round planning process. They will be on hand to answer questions and discuss how these ideas will help meet the goals of improved marine life, habitats and overall ecosystem health. MLPA Initiative staff, California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) staff, California State Parks staff and members of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force will also be available.
"We are seeking additional input from the local community to help re-design California's marine protected areas into a cohesive coastal network that adequately protects diverse marine life and their habitats," said Ken Wiseman, executive director the MLPA Initiative. "These events offer members of the public one-on-one conversation opportunities with stakeholders and staff with regard to the draft MPA proposals and to directly provide their input."
The five open houses are scheduled for:
- Tuesday, July 6, 2010: 5:00-7:30 p.m., C.V. Starr Community Center, 300 South Lincoln Street, Fort Bragg, CA
- Wednesday, July 7, 2010: 8:00-10:00 a.m., The Octagon/Beginnings, 5 Cemetery Road, Briceland, CA
- Wednesday, July 7, 2010: 5:00-7:30 p.m., Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, 921 Waterfront Drive, Room 211, Eureka, CA
- Thursday, July 8, 2010: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., Redwood National and State Parks, South Operations Center, 121200 Hwy. 101, Orick, CA
- Thursday, July 8, 2010: 5:00-7:30 p.m., Elk Valley Rancheria Community Center, 2332 Howland Hill Road, Crescent City, CA
At each open house the public will receive information about the four draft MPA proposals currently under consideration, as well as the various evaluations conducted by the MLPA Master Plan Science Advisory Team, DFG, California State Parks and MLPA Initiative staff. The open houses will also include information about the north coast MPA planning process, next steps in developing MPA proposals and opportunities for public feedback on the draft proposals. To view the Round 2 draft MPA proposals, please see http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/mpaproposals_nc.asp.
Members of the public do not have to attend an open house to provide input on the Round 2 draft MPA proposals; they may also provide input by completing an online form at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/mpaproposals_nc.asp. Print copies of the form may be obtained at a number of local libraries and government offices (for a list of locations, please see http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/pdfs/libraries.pdf). Comments on the Round 2 draft MPA proposals will be most helpful if submitted no later than July 14, 2010, in order for the information to be distributed to regional stakeholder group and task force members prior to the start of Round 3.
Under the guidelines of a master plan for MPAs, the process to develop a recommendation for north coast MPAs involves, among other things, identifying marine species that may benefit from MPAs, considering existing marine protected areas, and developing MPAs that include a variety of habitats and water depths.
The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force is overseeing the north coast MPA planning process and will make a final recommendation to the California Fish and Game Commission in December of this year.
Enacted in 1999, the MLPA directs the state to design and manage a system of marine protected areas in order to, among other things, protect marine life and habitats, marine ecosystems and marine natural heritage, as well as improve recreational, educational and study opportunities provided by marine ecosystems. The California Natural Resources Agency and DFG have partnered with the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation in an initiative to help re-design the statewide system of MPAs to achieve these goals. The advice of scientists, resource managers, experts, stakeholders and members of the public guide this public-private partnership.
For additional information about the MLPA Initiative, please see http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa.
####
For more information:
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa
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Please read this article for the truth about Schwarzenegger's MLPA Initiative:
MLPA Open Houses: Selling Ocean Privatization
by Dan Bacher
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, a privately funded process overseen by oil industry, marina development, real estate and other corporate interests, will be holding a series of "North Coast Summer Public Open Houses in Fort Bragg, Briceland, Eureka, Orrick and Crescent City on July 6, 7 and 8.
MLPA officials are inviting the public to "review and provide feedback" on draft marine protected area proposals for the MLPA North Coast Study Region" from Alder Creek near Point Arena to the California/Oregon border during these "open houses."
"The public is invited to attend the open houses to visit informational stations, review and comment on draft marine protected area proposals, provide input on particular areas of interest, and ask questions of staff and regional stakeholders," according to an announcement from the MLPA Initiative.
Unfortunately, rather than truly protecting the ocean as the landmark law originally intended to do, the MLPA Initiative under Schwarzenegger has completely taken water pollution, habitat destruction, oil drilling, wave energy projects and all other human uses of the ocean other than fishing and seaweed harvesting off the table. These "open houses" are apparently designed to sell the privatization of ocean management through the MLPA process to the public.
North Coast environmental leaders such as Barbara and John Stephens-Lewallen believe that the MLPA Initiative paves the way to the development of offshore oil on the North Coast, particularly in the Point Arena Basin. The initiative is funded by a private corporation, the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, headed by executive director Michael Eaton.
I have a series of questions to ask the MLPA Initiative staff:
• Why does the MLPA engage in cultural genocide by banning the Kashia Pomo Tribe from harvesting seaweed and shellfish off their sacred site, “Danaka," in Sonoma County?
• Why has the Initiative shown no respect for tribal subsistence and ceremonial rights? This is an overt violation of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Article 32, Section 2, of the Declaration mandates "free prior and informed consent" in consultation with the indigenous population affected by a state action (http://www.iwgia.org/sw248.asp).
• Why did MLPA staff until recently violate the Bagley-Keene Act and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by banning video and audio coverage of the initiative’s secretive work sessions?
• Why do the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) and Science Advisory Team continue to violate the California Public Records Act by refusing to respond to numerous requests by Bob Fletcher, former DFG Deputy Director, for key documents and records pertaining to the MLPA implementation process?
• Why did the Governor and MLPA officials install an oil industry lobbyist, a marina developer, a real estate executive and other corporate interests as “marine guardians” to kick Indian Tribes, fishermen and seaweed harvesters, the greatest defenders of the oceans, off the ocean?
• Why is Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, allowed to make decisions as the chair of the BRTF for the South Coast and as a member of the BRTF for the North Coast, panels that are supposedly designed to "protect" the ocean, when she has called for new oil drilling off the California coast?
• Why do initiative officials attempt to divide and conquer environmentalists, fishermen and tribal communities by trying to split them into separate groups in the Regional Stakeholders Group on the North Coast?
• Why has Ken Wiseman, the executive director of the MLPA Initiative, issued a draconian "gag rule" that prohibits members of the stakeholders group from speaking to the press?
• Why does the initiative discard the results of any scientists who disagree with the MLPA’s pre-ordained conclusions? These include the peer reviewed study by Dr. Ray Hilborn, Dr. Boris Worm and 18 other scientists, featured in Science magazine in July 2009, that concluded that the California current had the lowest rate of fishery exploitation of any place studied on the planet.
• Why do initiative officials completely refuse to acknowledge that the California coast has the largest marine protected area (MPA) in the United States – the Rockfish Conservation area - that extends along the entire continental shelf of California?
• Why do MLPA staff and the California Fish and Game Commission refuse to hear the pleas of the representatives of the California Fish and Game Wardens Association, who oppose the creation of any new MPAs until they have enough funding for wardens to patrol existing reserves? That’s why the wardens refer to MPAs as “Marine Poaching Areas.”
• Finally, why is a private corporation, the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, being allowed to privatize ocean resource management in California through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the DFG?
These are the hard questions that people need to ask MLPA staff at these so-called "North Coast Open Houses!"
MLPA Open Houses: Selling Ocean Privatization
by Dan Bacher
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, a privately funded process overseen by oil industry, marina development, real estate and other corporate interests, will be holding a series of "North Coast Summer Public Open Houses in Fort Bragg, Briceland, Eureka, Orrick and Crescent City on July 6, 7 and 8.
MLPA officials are inviting the public to "review and provide feedback" on draft marine protected area proposals for the MLPA North Coast Study Region" from Alder Creek near Point Arena to the California/Oregon border during these "open houses."
"The public is invited to attend the open houses to visit informational stations, review and comment on draft marine protected area proposals, provide input on particular areas of interest, and ask questions of staff and regional stakeholders," according to an announcement from the MLPA Initiative.
Unfortunately, rather than truly protecting the ocean as the landmark law originally intended to do, the MLPA Initiative under Schwarzenegger has completely taken water pollution, habitat destruction, oil drilling, wave energy projects and all other human uses of the ocean other than fishing and seaweed harvesting off the table. These "open houses" are apparently designed to sell the privatization of ocean management through the MLPA process to the public.
North Coast environmental leaders such as Barbara and John Stephens-Lewallen believe that the MLPA Initiative paves the way to the development of offshore oil on the North Coast, particularly in the Point Arena Basin. The initiative is funded by a private corporation, the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, headed by executive director Michael Eaton.
I have a series of questions to ask the MLPA Initiative staff:
• Why does the MLPA engage in cultural genocide by banning the Kashia Pomo Tribe from harvesting seaweed and shellfish off their sacred site, “Danaka," in Sonoma County?
• Why has the Initiative shown no respect for tribal subsistence and ceremonial rights? This is an overt violation of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Article 32, Section 2, of the Declaration mandates "free prior and informed consent" in consultation with the indigenous population affected by a state action (http://www.iwgia.org/sw248.asp).
• Why did MLPA staff until recently violate the Bagley-Keene Act and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by banning video and audio coverage of the initiative’s secretive work sessions?
• Why do the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) and Science Advisory Team continue to violate the California Public Records Act by refusing to respond to numerous requests by Bob Fletcher, former DFG Deputy Director, for key documents and records pertaining to the MLPA implementation process?
• Why did the Governor and MLPA officials install an oil industry lobbyist, a marina developer, a real estate executive and other corporate interests as “marine guardians” to kick Indian Tribes, fishermen and seaweed harvesters, the greatest defenders of the oceans, off the ocean?
• Why is Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, allowed to make decisions as the chair of the BRTF for the South Coast and as a member of the BRTF for the North Coast, panels that are supposedly designed to "protect" the ocean, when she has called for new oil drilling off the California coast?
• Why do initiative officials attempt to divide and conquer environmentalists, fishermen and tribal communities by trying to split them into separate groups in the Regional Stakeholders Group on the North Coast?
• Why has Ken Wiseman, the executive director of the MLPA Initiative, issued a draconian "gag rule" that prohibits members of the stakeholders group from speaking to the press?
• Why does the initiative discard the results of any scientists who disagree with the MLPA’s pre-ordained conclusions? These include the peer reviewed study by Dr. Ray Hilborn, Dr. Boris Worm and 18 other scientists, featured in Science magazine in July 2009, that concluded that the California current had the lowest rate of fishery exploitation of any place studied on the planet.
• Why do initiative officials completely refuse to acknowledge that the California coast has the largest marine protected area (MPA) in the United States – the Rockfish Conservation area - that extends along the entire continental shelf of California?
• Why do MLPA staff and the California Fish and Game Commission refuse to hear the pleas of the representatives of the California Fish and Game Wardens Association, who oppose the creation of any new MPAs until they have enough funding for wardens to patrol existing reserves? That’s why the wardens refer to MPAs as “Marine Poaching Areas.”
• Finally, why is a private corporation, the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, being allowed to privatize ocean resource management in California through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the DFG?
These are the hard questions that people need to ask MLPA staff at these so-called "North Coast Open Houses!"
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