Save the Delaware!

Act now to Save the Delaware River.

On November 21st, the Delaware River Basin commission will vote on a plan to allow 20,000 gas wells in the Delaware River basin.

The Delaware River Basin commission is comprised of five voting members, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, Governor Christie of New Jersey, Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania, Governor Markell from Delaware and the Obama Administration represented by the Army Corps of Engineers. For the Delaware River to be opened up to drilling three out of five have to vote yes on the draft regulations plan. We need them all to reject the proposal and reject gas drilling and fracking.

There has never been a more urgent moment in the Northeast in the battle against fracking. The Delaware is the primary drinking water source for 15.6 million people and it is a national treasure.

Five actions you can take:

1) Call the the Governors from the member states TODAY and tell them, "Hello, I am calling you to express my serious concerns about hydrofracking. Please Don’t Drill the Delaware!"

Governor Christie’s office - 609-292-6000
Governor Cuomo’s office - 518-474-8390
Gov Corbett’s office – 717-787-2500
Gov Markell’s Wilmington Office - 302-577-3210

2) Come to the DRBC meeting!

When: November 21, 8 am

Where: Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive Trenton, N.J.

There are over 20 buses traveling in from all over the region.

3) Delaware Riverkeeper will be hosting a peaceful non-violent direct action training on November 20th. For more information, sign up HERE.

4) Post it on Facebook.

5) Sign a petition to keep drilling and fracking out of the Delaware River Basin.

Anglers Blast California DFG Striped Bass Proposal

Dan Bacher has all the gory details on the California Department of Fish and Game draft of proposed recreational fishing regulation changes for striped bass on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay. The Department believes reducing the striped bass population will help listed Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, delta smelt, longfin smelt and tidewater goby by reducing smolt predation by bass. Unfortunately the science is not at all clear that striped bass have had any impact on listed species and reducing the population may in fact be detrimental to fish recovery. It appears the Department is caving in to agricultural interests who want the Delta's water. It will be critical for anglers to get involved to prevent these regulations from taking effect, the basic proposed changes are as follows.

Raising the daily bag limit for striped bass from two to six fish.

Raising the possession limit for striped bass from two to 12 fish.

Lowering the minimum size for striped bass from 18 to 12 inches.

Establishing a hot spot for striped bass fishing at Clifton Court Forebay and specified adjacent waterways at which the daily bag limit will be 20 fish, the possession limit will be 40 fish and there will be no size limit. Anglers fishing at the hot spot would be required to fill out a report card and deposit it in an iron ranger or similar receptacle.

Changes to the sport fishing regulations for the Carmel, Pajaro and Salinas Rivers to allow harvest of striped bass when the fishery would otherwise be closed.

DFG is also recommending an adaptive management plan that will help assess how the new regulations influence the fishery.

The proposal and management plan will be presented to the Fish and Game Commission for consideration at its December meeting.

There will certainly be more on this subject to come including what steps you can take to help. You can start by reading Bacher's overview on this absurd draft proposal.

LINK (Via: YubaNet)

Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline

Yesterday, exactly one year before the next presidential election, protesters descended on the White House, to remind the president, our government and the nation that the Keystone XL Pipeline has no place in a national vision of clean energy.

The Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline would originate in Alberta, Canada and pass through the West and Midwest of the United States ending up in Houston where most of the oil will be shipped overseas. Six companies have contracted for three-quarters of the oil. Five are foreign.

By signing a petition you too can send a message to the President demanding he reject the pipeline.

Sign the petition at 350.org.

LINK (Via: The Cleanest Line)

More Hatchery Insanity

This just in from the Wild Steelhead Coalition.

The Bonneville Power Administration has proposed funding a significant expansion of hatchery facilities on the Klickitat. The programs which alleges to be designed to reduce the impact of non-native fall chinook and coho on ESA listed wild stocks would actually lead to an overall increase in the total number of fish released in the watershed, including continuing to release 4 million fall chinook. Equally disconcerting, they would expand the number of skamania smolt released annually to 130,000 and possibly (likely) initiate a wild broodstock steelhead program with a production goal of 70,000 smolts. They also plan to expand the spring chinook hatchery program by 200,000 smolts taking broodstock from the extremely fragile spring chinook stock. The Yakama Nation's Klickitat Hatchery Complex Program with the free money they get from the BPA is completely out of control with pro-hatchery mania and this proposal could place the future of wild summer steelhead and spring chinook in the basin in serious peril. 

You can read the project proposal here.

All comments and responses to comments will be published in the final EIS. The final EIS will also include any changes to their proposal or analysis. Comments may be submitted online at: http://www.bpa.gov/comment

More to come.

Tell Congress not to Undermine the Clean Water Act

Hoping the EPA is going to throw a roadblock up against the Pebble Mine? Think again.

As early as today, the House of Representatives will consider HR 2018, which would curtail EPA authority to enforce the Clean Water Act and would likely allow state-by-state approval of ongoing and future fish habitat destroying activities.

Take action on the TU website, do it now!

Last Chance for Romance

Today is the last day that the WDFW is accepting comments regarding the Snider Creek Hatchery on Sol Duc River. If you have not submitted a comment there is still time and it only takes 2 minutes.

After decades of failed hatchery management policies you have a chance to win one for wild steelhead by advocating the WDFW to close the Snider Creek Hatchery and designate the Sol Duc a wild steelhead refuge.

The Sol Duc is a river steeped in heritage as, this excerpt from Doug Rose's Fly Fishing Guide to the Olympic Penninsula will attest.

“With its strong run of wild fish and rich legacy of Glasso Spey flies, there may very well be no place in North America where the fish, the flies, the river conditions, and a river’s fly–fishing heritage come together in such a compelling way as on the Sol Duc in spring. The Quillayute System produces more wild winter steelhead than any other river in the Pacific Northwest, including many in excess of 20 pounds and few over 30, and the Sol Duc is by far the most productive component of the system.

All anglers, including the ones that still think hatcheries are an effective management tool, should be advocating to give one up for wild fish.

Submit your comment TODAY via the Native Fish Society.