California water districts sue U.S. over releases to help Klamath River salmon

Two agricultural water providers in the Central Valley of California are asking a federal judge to stop releases of extra water intended to help salmon in the Klamath Basin survive the drought.

LINK (via:Oregon Live)

This is what happened in 2002 when Klamath water was diverted to agricultural interests for political gain.

The Klamath Basin was once the third most productive river system for salmon on the west coast. It supported combined run sizes estimated between 660,000 to 1.1 million adult fish per year. These included spring-run chinook, fall-run chinook, coho, pink, and chum salmon, and winter and summer steelhead. Only the Columbia and the California Central Valley river systems produced more salmon.

It's why they named it the Environmental PROTECTION Agency

Today, U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, along with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) introduced a bill that would strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its power to block mining permits under the Clean Water Act.

The Regulatory Fairness Act of 2014 would give American businesses a fair shot at going through the process of building or mining without having to worry about politics getting in the way,” Vitter said in a statement.

In other words it would prevent the EPA from blocking the Pebble Mine.

LINK (via: The Hill)

Who are the bad guys when it comes public lands?

Responding to President Obama’s decision last week to protect a stretch of California’s Coast near Point Arena as a new national monument, the House of Representatives is planning to vote this week to overturn a 108 year-old law that presidents of both parties have used to protect iconic American places, including the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, and Arches National Park.

LINK (via:Think Progress)

PTTS now going after their on-line critics

The Professional Tarpon Tournament Series lawyers are back in court trying to ferret out Florida Sportsman Forum members who were critical of their NASCAR inspired snagfest.

Ingman and his Silver King partners are directing their current legal salvo at Wick Enterprises Inc., a Stuart, Fla. company that publishes Florida Sportsman Magazine and operates a companion Florida Sportsman Forum. The Florida Sportsman Forum is a widely-read online message board that hosts a broad range of candid member discussions centering on local and statewide fish and game topics.

In a two-page notice filed with the court, Ingman’s company revealed its intent to go after Florida Sportsman’s business records in an attempt to ferret out the identities of forum members who have posted comments critical of the PTTS and its methods.

LINK (via: Save the Tarpon)

Husband and Wife Face Charges in Rocky River Fish Kill

Tens of thousands of fish were found dead in a local river and now a husband and wife have been charged with poisoning them.

In April of this year, nearly 31,000 dead fish were found floating in a three mile stretch of the Rocky River. 

Federal and state officials announced charges against Renato Montorsi, 79, and his wife Teresina, 74, along with their collectible coin company located in Strongsville, Kennedy Mint, Inc.

“Last April, Mr. Montorsi tried to dispose of a drum of liquid cyanide by putting it in a dumpster, the drum was marked as being toxic, clearly labeled as such and it clearly had the poison sign, the skull and crossbones on the drum,” said Steven Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Investigators said the garbage company refused to take the dumpster, and allege that Montorsi found his own way of disposing of the chemical.

“He took a hammer and a sharp metal object, according to the indictment, and punched a hole in the drum after he had moved it to a storm drain, a storm drain that fed directly into a branch of the Rocky River,” Dettelbach said.

LINK

Sonoma and Medocino County Whine

Scores of Sonoma and Mendocino county grape growers and other farmers packed a Mendocino County Superior Court room Thursday for a lawsuit challenging state frost protection rules for stretches of the Russian River watershed.

Regulators say the rules are necessary to protect salmon and steelhead, the latter a threatened species. Farmers and their attorneys say the regulations are unneeded, trample farmers' water rights and exceed the state Water Resources Control Board's authority.

LINK (via: the press democrat)