End Mining Within 100 Feet of Streams

August 28, 2015, action.biologicaldiversity.org | “For decades legal loopholes have allowed coal companies to mine directly through streams, harming imperiled species like the Colorado pikeminnow and eastern hellbender salamander, and poisoning downstream waterways for people.  But at least the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has proposed a new Stream Buffer Zone Rule that would restrict all mining within 100 feet of streams.”

A court victory in 2014 against exceptions made by George Bush in 2008 requires that a new strict rule be adopted.
For decades legal loopholes have allowed coal companies to mine directly through streams, harming…
action.biologicaldiversity.org

Judge denies attempt to block water release for Klamath salmon

August 27, 2015, www.bendbulletin.com | “A federal judge has denied a request by agricultural water providers in California’s Central Valley to block emergency water releases to protect Klamath River salmon from the drought.  U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill in Fresno, California, on Wednesday rejected a request for a temporary restraining order sought by Westlands Water District and San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority.”

Robert Brothers shared a link to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.

GRANTS PASS — A federal judge has denied a request by agricultural water providers in California’s Central Valley to block emergency water releases to protect Klamath River salmon from the drought. U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill in Fresno, California, on Wednesday rejected a request for a t…
bendbulletin.com

7 million Arctic Defenders, Greenpeace and First Nations communities fight to stop Arctic drilling and defend our coast

Robert Brothers shared a photo to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
Robert Brothers's photo.

“All I have is my voice, my body and the truth I speak. I can’t do this alone.
We — 7 million Arctic Defenders, Greenpeace and First Nations communities — will stop Arctic drilling and defend our coast and our climate.”
— Audrey Siegl (sχɬemtəna:t), Activist and Artist, Musqueam Nation & Greenpeace
Stand with me, as I face off against Shell and join the movement to save the Arctic.

“Facing such a massive machine from a tiny boat is terrifying, but I believe – and I bet you do too – that we all have a duty to do whatever we can to protect our sacred lands and waters. Shell may have money and massive machines, but the people united are more powerful.
Up until now Shell has tried to ignore the voices of millions of people around the world who have said yes to Arctic protection and no to Arctic drilling. But they won’t be able to for much longer, because instead of sitting idly by while Shell forces its way into the Arctic, regular people, like me, are saying enough is enough and creating an international spotlight on Shell’s drilling plans.

In April, six activists boarded and occupied Shell’s drill rig, the Polar Pioneer, for 7 days in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
In May, hundreds of kayaktivists gathered in Seattle to protest Shell’s Arctic drilling fleet.
On Monday, Greenpeace USA activists bravely paddled their kayaks out to Shell’s monster rig and formed a human blockade in front of it preventing it from leaving the port of Seattle!
And today, just when Shell thought they had a clear path to the Arctic, with your help, we were ready, and waiting.

Today I’m accompanied by the Greenpeace ship Esperanza in the Pacific Ocean on the west coast but I am here on behalf 7 million of people calling for the renewable solutions that already exist.

Because of regular people, like you and I, we’ve made it impossible for Shell to sneak up to Arctic waters and drill quietly. The movement to save the Arctic has made Shell’s drilling plans front-page news.

But the reality is that Shell could start drilling as early as July 1st, we need to do everything that we can before then to stop this madness before it starts. Please keep standing with us this summer, as the movement grows. This won’t end today, together we can take on Big Oil!

nə́c̓aʔmat tə šxʷqʷeləwən ct
We are of one heart and mind

Audrey Siegl (sχɬemtəna:t)
Activist and Artist, Musqueam Nation

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Logging Industry Lawsuit Demanding Aggressive Cutting Thrown Out By Federal Court

A BLM-managed forest in Oregon.June 12, 2015, earthjustice.org | “A logging industry lawsuit that sought to force the Bureau of Land Management to increase logging on public lands in southwest Oregon was thrown out today by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling vacates a 2013 decision that would have forced the Bureau of Land Management to sell timber even when those sales would have harmed salmon and had detrimental impacts on water quality and recreation.”

Maryska Azzena shared a photo to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
Yay!
VICTORY: Today, a logging industry lawsuit that sought to force the Bureau of Land Management to increase logging on public lands in southwest Oregon was defeated. http://ejus.tc/1MwrKmb
If successful, this lawsuit would have allowed logging companies to cut down more 100 year-old forests, decreasing protections for clean water and wildlife on southwest Oregon public lands. The ancient forests of Oregon and all the people that live there can breathe a sigh of relief.
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Northwest tribes are a growing obstacle to energy development

May 28, 2015, www.hcn.org | “On May 13, a tribe in Northern British Columbia turned down a Malaysian energy company’s offer of nearly $260,000 (CAN $319,000) for each member as compensation for building a natural gas export terminal on ancestral lands. The Lax Kw’alaam First Nation said no to the $1.15 billion package after the community unanimously voted against the terminal last week over the risk to local salmon habitat.”

Lax Kw’alaam First Nation said no to the $1.15 billion package after the community unanimously voted against the terminal last week over the risk to local salmon habitat.
B.C. tribal members turned down $260K each in order to stop a gas terminal.
hcn.org

    Nancy BrophyMike H AngelMaryska Azzena

Activists Destroy Road Leading to Elliott Forest Timber Sale

March 22, 2015, earthfirstjournal.org | “But for those of us who are intimately connected to this land, a clearcut is a clearcut. No matter if the trees are 100 or 250 years old: the mountain beavers will be trampled, trapped and poisoned and the coho salmon downstream will struggle to survive as temperatures rise and silt settles on the gravel beds.”

 Robert Brothers

Activists create a three foot deep trench to prevent Scott Timber from clear cutting. They activists want to protect the Murrelet nesting habitat, the salmon from the temperatures rise and silt settles on the gravel beds, the mountain beavers in Elliot, Oregon.

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  •  Nurjamila Elliott: “No compromise, Once these standers are gone everything turns to dust.”

 

The Color of Victory is not Always Clear

Robert Brothers shared a photo to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.

THE_COLOR_OF_VICTORY_IS_NOT_ALWAYS_CLEAR
Floods clean rivers like fires clean forests. The tan silt that you see in this photo mixing with clear blue water of a tributary is the Trinity River doing its job of washing silt out of the river’s salmon spawning gravels — the result of an artificial flood mandated by a court victory of the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes in 2004, enforcing 20-year old legislation by the U.S. Congress.
On May 5th, releases from the Lewiston dam were increased from 500 to 8,500 cfs and will not return to 500 cfs until the end of June.
Major floods in the Trinity River were reduced by the Lewiston Dam in 1964, and 90% of the river’s flow was diverted to irrigate farms in the Central Valley. The result was an 85 percent drop in salmon, a prime food source for native peoples.
In 2000 the tribes negotiated a plan with federal and state agencies to help restore the Trinity River fishery by reducing the amount of water diverted to 50 percent. Normal flows are restored to the river by the current release, mimicking spring flooding, and by releases during the summer to keep water temperature cool enough to support salmon survival.
This is a long, complex, and on-going story of a battle to keep a river alive.
The tributary shown here is the South Fork of the Trinity River. A victim of corporatel clearcutting on highly erosive soils, the South Fork usually shows noticeably more sediment than the mainstem. It is only clear in this photo because of the lack of recent rain. For a larger view of the confluence at this time, see https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204406210655599&set=a.1052779839997.2009051.1240817813&type=1&theater
Robert Brothers's photo.

THE_COLOR_OF_VICTORY_IS_NOT_ALWAYS_CLEAR
Floods clean rivers like fires clean forests. The tan silt that you see in this photo mixing with clear blue water of a tributary is the Trinity River doing its job of washing silt out of the river’s salmon spawning gravels — the result of an artificial flood mandated by a court victory of the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes in 2004, enforcing 20-year old legislation by the U.S. Congress.
On May 5th, releases from the Lewiston dam were increased from 500 to 8,500 cfs and will not return to 500 cfs until the end of June.
Major floods in the Trinity River were reduced by the Lewiston Dam in 1964, and 90% of the river’s flow was diverted to irrigate farms in the Central Valley. The result was an 85 percent drop in salmon, a prime food source for native peoples.
In 2000 the tribes negotiated a plan with federal and state agencies to help restore the Trinity River fishery by reducing the amount of water diverted to 50 percent. Normal flows are restored to the river by the current release, mimicking spring flooding, and by releases during the summer to keep water temperature cool enough to support salmon survival.
This is a long, complex, and on-going story of a battle to keep a river alive.
The tributary shown here is the South Fork of the Trinity River. A victim of corporatel clearcutting on highly erosive soils, the South Fork usually shows noticeably more sediment than the mainstem. It is only clear in this photo because of the lack of recent rain. For a larger view of the confluence at this time, see https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204406210655599&set=a.1052779839997.2009051.1240817813&type=1&theater

Six Environmentalists Each Win $175,000 Goldman Prize

winnersApril 20, 2015, ens-newswire.com | “The activists honored with the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize at a ceremony Monday evening have protected the planet by shutting down a lead smelter, blocking dam construction, stopping a proposed gold and copper mine, and safeguarding fisheries.”

Robert BrothersGoodNews FortheEarth

Six Environmentalists Each Win $175,000 Goldman Prize SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 20, 2015 (ENS) – The activists honored with the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize at a ceremony Monday evening have protected the planet by shutting down a lead smelter, blocking dam construction, stopping a proposed gold and copper mine, and safeguarding fisheries. – Six Environmentalists Each Win $175,000 Goldman Prize | ENS

Feds to Release Water for Klamath and Trinity Salmon; Farm Districts Protest

(Dan Brekke/KQED)August 22, 2014, blogs.kqed.org | “The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced Friday that it will release water over the next several weeks to aid chinook salmon on the Klamath and Trinity rivers — a move that native tribes on the river have lobbied for to prevent a repeat of a catastrophic die-off that killed tens of thousands of fish headed upstream to spawn in 2002.”

BUREAUCRAT STANDS UP FOR SALMON
A big shout out to David Murillo, Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Regional Director, for his openness to new information about the risk of a disastrous fish kill in the Klamath River, and his courage to reverse his earlier decision to withhold water, knowing that he would now be immediately challenged in court.
Given the choice between a massive fish kill vs. a bit more irrigation water for the Central Valley, he made the right call. Bureaucrats who stand up to big money need our support, so let’s give it to him! Call his office at 916-978-5000 during business hours, Monday-Friday.
Photo: BUREAUCRAT STANDS UP FOR SALMON
A big shout out to David Murillo, Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Regional Director, for his openness to new information about the risk of a disastrous fish kill in the Klamath River, and his courage to reverse his earlier decision to withhold water, knowing that he would now be immediately challenged in court. 
Given the choice between a massive fish kill vs. a bit more irrigation water for the Central Valley, he made the right call. Bureaucrats who stand up to big money need our support, so let's give it to him!  Call his office at 916-978-5000 during business hours, Monday-Friday.

EPA Finalizes Standards to Protect Fish, Aquatic Life from Cooling Water Intakes

May 19, 2014, yosemite.epa.gov | “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today finalized standards to protect billions of fish and other aquatic life drawn each year into cooling water systems at large power plants and factories. This final rule is required by the Clean Water Act to address site-specific challenges, and establishes a common sense framework, putting a premium on public input and flexibility for facilities to comply.”

EPA Finalizes Standards to Protect Fish & Aquatic Life from Cooling Water Intakes at Power Plants
yosemite.epa.gov
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