Lets sign up to save our fisheries..

[Mike McKenzie]

..Here's something we all can do to let our elected representatives know we are tired of the keepers of our public trust resources squandering them on subsidized agriculture and devopement!

Anyone who fishes should be willing to sign the petition and let your elected representatives know that we want nothing short of full recovery of our fisherires before another dime is spent on water diversion.

If you're not willing to stop the destruction of our fisheries, are you willing to explain to your grandsons and granddaughters why they can't "go fishin' anymore??

Read Here:
http://www.water4fish.org/

Sign here:
http://www.water4fish.org/sign-petition/

Preacher Mike

[slipjoint]

i don't know everything i know about this subject as my post will show - but i do know people need water - fish need water - maybe if the worlds population somehow could be slowed there wouldn't be as many people needing water so less damns would need to be built - i do believe if it gets down to giving fish the water or people the water - i think the people will get it - i also believe a whole lot of people like lakes - i would guess a whole lot more folks go to the Lake then go to the stream? Lakes are very popular with main stream humans - normally to get a lake you must build a dam - i think dams generate power for our over populated world - if it come down to giving a fish a beautiful stream to live in or give people electricty to power their electric knife to cut the Christmas turkey - i think most folks out there will want the electricty - this battle will continue until this old earth just blows up like many other subjects out there - but i also believe if you believe in a cause - fight for it - maybe - just maybe your wish will come true - at 60 years old i have fought many battles - for the next 60 i want to just enjoy what ever you young guys can save for us old farts - tom

[Darian]

Hi Mike,.... Just signed/sent the petition.... 8) I must say that you certainly deserve a lot of credit for your efforts on this and other conservation activities.... 8) 8)

Not sure how much anyone can hope to accomplish with this administration using a petition, tho. :? :? I vote for building an action fund for buying our own lobbyist/politician. :) :) :)

[Mike McKenzie]

buying our own politicians. I've always maintained that we need to buy more legislators than Westlands Irrigation District owns.

One thing we are working on is getting an updated economic study done on the value the central valley's anadromous fishery contributes to the states economy.

A healthy fishery would no doubt, compare favorably with the contribution from Coporate Ag. if you remove the cost of the tremendous subsidies they get from the taxpayers.

Mike

[Darian]

One of the biggest problems facing the fisheries is treating water as a commodity by water distributors/users. :? :?

Please bear with me on this. I'm wondering if there is any way the monetary value of anadromous fisheries can offset the profit levels involved in the current agricultural environment.

First, farmers in this state grow some very diverse, cash crops. In addition, the resale of water that is purchased at prices far below its real value (intended to grow cheap crops) is as much a farming product as the crops, themselves.

Second, the ability to sell something creates a property right for the original purchaser. This property right was found (by the courts) to be interfered with when allocations of water to purchasers are reduced and made for fisheries, instead. The courts, also, found that reductions were confiscations and must be re-imbursed monetarily. This means that water disributors/users (spell that agri-business) are gauranteed a profit on water transactions.

The amount of profits for water distributors and large corporate farmers are obscene.... Of course, only time and the study results will confirm those or not. :? :?

If the current legal theory stands, I'm not sure a petition will have as much clout as a change in the laws regarding water distribution and/or use..... I'm still up for playing the game the way the power guys do it. 8) 8)

[Mike McKenzie]

"Please bear with me on this. I'm wondering if there is any way the monetary value of anadromous fisheries can offset the profit levels involved in the current agricultural environment."

As I posted above, Yes, there is a way and the Striped Bass Stamp Fund Advisory Committee is in the process of doing that right now. (I'm speaking of the "old" stamp funds not the Bay/Delta enhancement stamp )
Back in 1986 there was an economic study done that found the contribution of the striped bass, salmon and steelhead fisheries to the states economy, was pretty close to 3 billion dollars..I can't remember the exact figuers without a lot of diggin', anyway close enough. The Stamp Committee has authorized and requested DFG to update the monetary contribution of the fisheries to todays economic values. This project has been put in motion.

As far as the comments about Corporate Ag and water go, I do want to distinguish between Corporate Ag. and true family farmers..Family farmers are in the same boat as our fisheries when it come to the exploitation of Corporate Ag. They'll all go extinct together, if things don't change. Given that all economic contributions by heathy fisheries do not require any "susidizing" by taxpayers and the fact that corporate Ag would not exist without subsidies, The argument should be a "no brainer"!

Here are a couple of web sites that offer some insight to the magnitude of our governments largess when it comes to Corporate Ag.

http://www.ewg.org/reports/doubledippers/execsumm.php

http://www.ewg.org/reports/westlands/newsrelease.php

http://www.ewg.org/reports/virtualflood/execsumm.php

I think that the court decision you were refering to with respect to environmental use of water, in accordance with the 1992 CVIPA and the ESA, was given the status of a "taking" and contracted water became a "property right", had the possibility of screwing things up. The big problem was that the Bush Administration did not appeal that inane decision. (Would we expect anything different??) I think that the feeling is that in time, by another action, those concepts will be overturned.

Regardless, politicians react to either money or loud screaming constituants (witness the turn around by the Bushies on this years salmon season once 30,000 petitions showed up)
So, we endeavor to perservere!
Thanks for your support!
Mike