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California Game Wardens Association Asks for Delay in Corrupt MLPA Process

by Dan Bacher

July 17, 2009 -- The California Game Wardens Association has joined North Coast environmentalists, seaweed harvesters, recreational fishermen, commercial fishermen, Native American activists and elected officials in requesting a delay or suspension of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrupt fast-track Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Process. 
 
"We understand the need for the Commission to move forward with mandates but must request that you delay or suspend any and all mandates that place additional responsibilities on wardens until such time that furlough and staffing issues are addressed," wrote Todd Tognazzini, President of the California Game Wardens Association in a letter to Cindy Gustafson, president of the California Fish and Game Commission. "A prime example of this is the ongoing work by the Commission related to the Marine Life Protection Act and the designation of protected areas along our coastline. Insofar as legally possible, please delay any further designations of such areas." 
 
With the furloughs in place, he noted that they have field level staffing that provides us about 175 field level wardens, the lowest ratio of wardens to the population of any state in the nation. 
 
"We simply cannot effectively enforce additional mandates without some relief from furlough issues that may continue through June, 2010," he emphasized. 
 
The process has been expanded from a $250,000 per year process to a government boondoggle costing $35 million per year. Opponents of the process charge the Schwarzenegger administration and its collaborators with conflict of interest, mission creep and the corruption of the democratic process in the implementation of the MLPA. 
 
For example, the Point Arena Basin, where a no-take "marine reserve" is proposed by the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force, is now in process to be leased for offshore oil and gas development by the federal Minerals Management Service, with public comment open until September. John Lewallen, author, environmental leader and sustainable seaweed harvester, points out that Catherine Reyes-Boyd, CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, was on the five-member Blue Ribbon Panel of “fisheries experts” that chose the new no-take zones in the Point Arena area. 
 
“Is this because they want to clear independent fishermen and seaweed harvesters out so they can make Point Arena an oil drilling boom town?” Lewallen asks? “Do they think this little town is a soft target?" 
 
This supposedly "public" process is funded by a private foundation, the Resource Legacy Fund Foundation, whose board includes Gordon Smith, the former President and CEO of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a corporation that is now pushing to install wave energy projects on the North Coast. Many opponents consider the MLPA process to be an egregious case of corporate greenwashing where fishermen and seaweed harvesters will be kicked off the water to pave the way for offshore oil drilling, wave energy projects and corporate aquaculture. 
 
Meanwhile, the California Fair Political Practices Commission is conducting a formal investigation into Fish and Game Commissioner George Michael Sutton in response to the sworn complaint against Sutton filed by the Central Coast Fisheries Conservation Coalition. The group has charged Sutton with violating the Political Reform Act (PRA) of 1974 because of his conflicts of interest on votes on the MLPA while serving on the Fish and Game Commission while being employed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation (Aquarium), an organization that has been one of the foremost backers of the fast-track MLPA process in California. 
 
Three public open houses are scheduled in Northern California to provide information about the MLPA planning process in Eureka on July 20, Fort Bragg on July 21, and Crescent City on July 22. "These informal events will introduce members of the public to the planning process to reexamine and redesign marine protected areas (MPAs), provide a forum to ask questions and offer input, and solicit public involvement in the process," according to a press release from the MLPA initiative. 
 
This is a great opportunity to challenge Schwarzenegger's fast track MLPA process! For more information, go to: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/07/16/18608343.php.
Here is the letter from the California Game Wardens Association: 
 
July 9, 2009 
 
Ms. Cindy Gustafson, President 
California Fish and Game Commission 
1416 Ninth Street 
P.O. Box 944209 
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090 
 
Dear Ms. Gustafson: 
 
Thanks to you and the Commission for recognizing the ongoing plight of Wardens in California. We greatly appreciate the tremendous support from those who understand and value California's wildlife and its susceptibility. Poaching and environmental law violations are an everyday occurrence as we continue to provide the ''thin green line" of protection in spite of the ongoing statewide budget crisis and a requirement for taking three furlough days each month. With only a little over 200 field game wardens, the furloughs create a situation where we lose the time equivalent to 28 wardens. We are well aware that a number of state law enforcement agencies have not been furloughed. We have met with cabinet level personnel, but no one can explain how some are exempt and some are not. It is clear so far, that the protection of wildlife resources and ensuring public safety do not appear important enough to remove furloughs from wardens. 
 
We understand the need for the Commission to move forward with mandates but must request that you delay or suspend any and all mandates that place additional responsibilities on wardens until such time that furlough and staffing issues are addressed. A prime example of this is the ongoing work by the Commission related to the Marine Life Protection Act and the designation of protected areas along our coastline. Insofar as legally possible, please delay any further designations of such areas. With the furloughs in place, we now have field level staffing that provides us about 175 field level wardens. We simply cannot effectively enforce additional mandates without some relief from furlough issues that may continue through June, 2010. 
 
We appreciate and support the difficult and conscientious work the Commission must consider. We look forward to your help. 
 
Todd Tognazzini, President 
California Game Wardens Associatio 
P.O. Box 2785 
Paso Robles, CA 93447-2785 
(805)610-3916, ttognazzini [at] dfg.ca.gov 
 
Protecting California's Wildlife Since 1871 
California Game Wardens Association 
Todd Tognazzini, President, 805-610-3916 
ttognazzini [at] dfg.ca.gov.