THE ROADRUNNER

The Roadrunner

KERN-KAWEAH

UANNUAL CHAPTER BANQUET U

SATURDAY, APRIL 20TH.  5:30 PM.

. MARK IT ON YOUR CALENDAR NOW!

 

     It is time to relax and socialize while meeting old friends and making new acquaintances from all over the Chapter and from the community! Time to feel free to bring a friend(s) to enjoy a convivial evening and/or to introduce them to the Sierra Club. Time to hear about what has been going on in the Chapter over the last year! Time to recognize and honor those who have con­tributed their time and energy to further the environmental causes that Sierra Club and Chapter members hold dear and worth fighting for. Time to think of the rivers, the air, the mountains, the desert, the animals and plants that count on us to speak on their behalf. Time to be proud of how much has been done and is being done with successes against powerful forces.

     This gala affair will be held at the East Bakersfield Veterans Hall on Ridge Road, off Mt. Vernon Ave. The social hour, enhanced by wines, soft drinks and snacks, will begin at 5:30 pm. There will be time to talk and time to view exhibits that will be on display from our Chapter’s groups, other local environmental groups, and government agen­cies.

     Raffle??? Oh yes, there will be a raffle. Wonderful things are offered. It is always lots of fun to take a chance on going home with a real prize to enjoy for many a day and to know that you are supporting the causes you care about.

     Dinner will consist of either lemon chicken or spinach lasagna as the entree, along with vegetables, salad, roll, and dessert. Dinner will be served at 6:30 pm. Price: $15.00 per person.

      With socializing being encouraged on every hand you can’t miss having a truly enjoyable time. Sign up now!

Many thanks to Harry Love,who is the chairman for this year's event.

We are all grateful for his assuming this responsibility.

 

Please complete the coupon below and enclose a check for the total amount. Make check payable to KERN-KAWEAH CHAPTER/SIERRA CLUB. RSVP by April 12. Sorry, there can be no walk-ins or pay-at-the door reser­vations.

Mail to: Harry Love, 13500 Powder River Ave., Bakersfield, CA 93312.

   $---------------$-----------------$---------------------$---------------$----------$----------$

Yes, I wish to attend the 2002 Annual Banquet of the Kern-Kaweah Chapter of the Sierra Club on April 20. At $15.00 per person I have included a check for the total.

     My name________________________________________________Phone___________________

     Number attending: ____ (@ $15.00)    Total amount: $___________

     Desired entrée: indicate number requested for each item:

         ____ Lemon chicken        ____ Spinach lasagna

 

 

 

 

VoteVote Vote Vote Vote

     March 5th is election day—and there is lots that is important on the ballots. We hope that you will take whatever it takes to get your YES vote and the YES votes of friends and relatives on these items.     *Prop 40 The California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks and Coastal Protection Act of 2002, a $2.6 billion dollar bond measure, which, if approved, will provide $1.3 billion for land conservation and improved air and water quality and $1.3 billion to be used for California state and local parks, as well as recreation, cultural and historical resources.

     We REALLY need this one, especially for the land aquisition. Every year the price of land goes up and the choices for wildlife and open space become more limited.  There is more information on this item at the following website: www.vote yeson40.org

    *Prop 45 Term Limits Extension. Would give one-time only, four year extension for state legis­lators. Why recommended?“Rookie”legislature (not enough experienced folks ) can’t get its act together to be really effective; voters want their “good peo­ple” to continue to represent them. Supported by League of Women Voters, Chambers of Commerce, and Sierra Club among others.

Candidates endorsed by Sierra Club:

Johan Klehs for Controller. The Controller is one of three members of the State Lands Commission, which regulates the use of millions of acres of state lands and waterways, and can affect environmental policy in other ways through involvement in a number of taxing and spending decisions. Klehs is life long Sierra Club member. Enviro accomplish­ments include collection of tobacco taxes to fund conservancies, other funds for energy conservation, tire recycling, and toxic spill cleanup.

Phil Angelides for re-election as treasurer, based on his impressive performance in office, his grasp of key environmental issues, and his commitment to promotion of smart growth, energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Cruz Bustamante for re-election as lieutenant gov­ernor, based on his record of environmental advo­cacy in office in areas of coastal protection, park bonds,

Senator Jack O’Connell for Superintendent of Pub­lic Instruction. A longtime Sierra Club member, O’Connell authored major environmental bills, including the 1994 Statewide Offshore Coastal Sanc­tuary law and the Natural Heritage Preservation Tax Credit Act in 2000. He has supported cleanup of un­derground toxics and vigorously opposed offshore oil drilling.

 

Assembly Member Kevin Shelley for Secretary of State. Authored the Healthy Schools Act of 2000 to protect children from toxins.  Worked to fund en­vironmental programs, protect marine programs. 100% good votes for conservation programs.

     Decisions on the two other statewide offices, Governor and Insurance Commissioner, have been

deferred until after the March 5 primary.

From the Chair

Group Subventions

     Beginning this year, the Chapter will increase the subvention or transfer of funds to each of our five groups. The funds transferred to the groups will be in two parts. The quarterly subvention of $100 per group will remain the same as in the past. However, in addition we will now contribute $2 per year per member to each group. This will be divided into quarterly payments. The executive committee felt that there was a need to increase our financial sup­port of local activists, whether it was to increase mailings to group members or for other activities.

Air Quality Litigation Succeeds

Club chapters in the San Joaquin Valley, along with the National Sierra Club, Earth Justice and several Latino and public health groups have settled most of our claims against the air district and EPA on vio­lations of the Clean Air Act. Our action gained widespread local and statewide press coverage, and editorials throughout the Valley called for action to “clear the air.” The Modesto Bee, in a strongly worded editorial, demanded that the board of the San Joaquin Valley Air Quality Control District resign en masse for their failure to obey the law, and their failure to confront polluters. While we won on nearly all of our issues, our success contributes only mod­estly toward cleaner air in the Valley. We have a long way to go. For that reason, most of the same litigants, including the Kern-Kaweah chapter, have filed an­other suit against EPA for authorizing the SJVAPCD to exempt industrial agriculture, such as feedlots, from air pollution standards that other industries must meet.

Look for the March Appeal

It seems like just yesterday we were scrambling to get out last year’s March Appeal. Your contributions in 2001 made it one of our most successful ever. While we’d like to attribute that to our stellar letter writing skills, we know that your generosity was more due to renewed and overtly aggressive assaults on the en­vironment both nationally and here in California.

Chapter Excom

Members are always welcome at the Chapter’s and Groups’ executive committee meetings. Contact an ExCom member for details.

 

Chapter Awards Banquet

Mark your calendars for the Chapter’s annual awards banquet, to be held on the evening of Saturday April 20. The venue and format will be similar to last year’s, where we have more time to socialize and enjoy the company of our fellow club members.

                                             Paul Gipe, Chapter Chair

 

SEQUOIA NATIONAL MONUMENT

Please attend local open house meetings

 

 

Notices just arrived that OPEN HOUSES will be held by the USFS to share their progress in the develop­ment of the Sequoia Monument Plan. This will include a review of the working “draft” alternatives. You can review them on the web at:

http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/giant_sequoia.

The final draft is expected to be released sometime in May.

     The open houses will begin at 4:30 to meet with staff, view maps. etc. At 5:30 there will begin a presentation on working “draft” alternatives, at 6:30 a question and answer period.

     President Clinton established the Giant Sequoia National Monument in Sequoia National Forest on April 15, 2000 with a proclamation that the lands within the Monument are to be managed for the protection of all the biological, ecological, geological and historical objects within its boundaries.

     To quote directly from the Proclamation, objects identified and listed for protection include: *The rich and varied landscape; *Magnificent groves of towering giant sequoias; *A great belt of coniferous forests, jeweled with mountain meadows; *An extra­ordinary number of wildlife habitats; *A spectrum of ecosystems; *Unique paleontological and archeo­logical resources, and much more.

     The Proclamation signed by the President is clearly the legal document that must determine how the Monument is managed. But it appears that Se­quoia National Forest Service is attempting to devel­op a Management Plan for the Monument using regulations from the Sequoia National Forest general management plan and the Sierra Nevada Framework Plan, the latter being “reviewed” by the Bush ad­ministration, which might well result in drastic weakening of that document. These regulations have fewer “teeth” in them and would erode the intent of the Proclamation in achieving the clearly prescribed protections detailed in that document. The Monu­ment Management Plan should be distinct and de­mand more protection than the other areas of the National Forest. The final Management Plan should truly protect the resources in the Monument and not allow continued logging and roadbuilding.

     As things develop, you will be receiving e-mail alerts, mailings, etc. to encourage you to take the time and make the effort to help protect this world class resource right in our own back yards. Please be ready to pitch in and help when the time comes, and do try to attend one of the Open Houses coming up.

 MONITORS NEEDED TO CHECK  IN SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST.

     Visiting Sequoia National Forest now and in the future? Please add another dimension to your trip. Use your eyes to make extra observations about the surroundings.

     What are we encouraging you to look for? Such things as logging damage, over-grazing, erosion along trails and riverbanks, OHV and other user damage, water diversion from streams, no trespassing signs posted within forest boundaries. Write down as completely as possible what you have seen, take pictures if you can, be sure to record the date and location of your observation as exactly as possible. Turn in your findings as soon as possible. (See below!)

     If you would like to volunteer to monitor timber sale activity like tree marking and cutting, you should indicate that interest specifically. Please e-mail or call to volunteer so you can be notified of the time to do monitoring and a guide for what to look for. (See below)

     AND if you visit your special places frequently over the years, your observations of changes or no changes in the area would be invaluable. They could become a part of a general database of the forest’s conditions and could be most helpful in determining the true health conditions of the Sequoias.

The Hume District has the 215 acre Highway Fire Rehabilitation Salvage Sale near Mt. Sampson and Delilah Lookout. The Cannell Meadow District has the Manter Restoration Project salvage sale off of the Sherman pass road between Bald Mountain, Kennedy Meadows and Troy Meadow, which needs to be observed and recorded for the accuracy of the marking to determine compliance with the guidelines.

 

For further information with details on these volunteer monitoring opportunities, please contact  Ara Marderosian at 760.376-4434 or 866.533. 7873. Web site is www.sequoia forestkeeper.org

 

 

WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN REACHES A CRITICAL POINT

      For the past several years the Sierra Club has been part of a coalition to try and save what remains of the wild areas on the federal public lands in Cali­fornia. We have done an inventory of public lands to map those areas which qualify for Wilderness desig­nation under the Wilderness Act of 1964. Statewide several million acres have been identified, while here in the Kern/Kaweah Chapter there are over 350,000 acres in Sequoia National Forest alone.

     All of the proposed areas would be magnificent additions to the Wilderness System. They contain an enormous variety of plants and wildlife including groves of Giant Sequoias and habitat for endangered species. On top of that, the areas encompass some of the most spectacular and rugged landscapes in the southern Sierra. Current and future generations have a right to enjoy these wild and beautiful corners of the earth just as we have enjoyed them.

     Now we are ready to approach Congress to add some of those areas to the Wilderness System. Legis­lators interested in legislation to protect Wilderness include Senator Barbara Boxer. We expect legislation to protect these areas to be introduced in Congress this spring. (see below)

       If you want to help in this campaign contact Joe Fon­taine in Tehachapi at 661.821.2055, fontaine@lightspeed.net 2055, Harold Wood in Visalia harold.wood@sierraclub.org, harold.wood@sierraclub.org or Mary Ann Lockhart, PMC, 661.242.0432. We will keep you posted in the Roadrunner as the campaign de­velops.

     Descriptions of proposed Wilderness additions in Kern Kaweah Chapter area:

       In Sequoia National Forest we have selected four wild areas as our priorities. Our proposal would add the north flank of the Piute Mountains south of Lake Isabella to the Bright Star wil­derness. The area surrounding Sirretta Peak, at 10,000 feet and the highest peak on the Kern Plateau, would be added to the Domelands Wilderness. The Rincon Roadless Area that extends from the north fork of the Kern River up to the crest of the Kern Plateau would be added to the Golden Trout Wilderness. The Moses Roadless Area in the Giant Sequoia National Monument would also be added to the Golden Trout Wilderness. Finally we are proposing that the lower Kern River below Isabella Dam to nearly the mouth of Kern Rivers System be classified as a Recreational River. The Forest Service has already completed a study that has determined it is eligible for that classification.

       In the Mt.Pinos Dist. of Los Padres NF special emphasis has been on supporting the designation of areas (San Emigdio, Antimony, Salt Creek, Pleito, ) bordering the WindWolves Preserve,  located just north of Mt. Pinos District, in order to add to the travel corridor of tule elk and antelope as well as to protect still unrecorded Native American rock sites. Also recommended is enlarging the Chumash Wilderness and protecting beautiful sites along Quatal and Apache canyons.

 

 

 

 

PRIVATIZATION OF WATER

                      A MISTAKE

     The Sierra Club opposes the environmental con­sequences of the Cadiz Water Grab in the Mojave National Preserve, but there is no Sierra Club policy regarding privatization of such resources.

     Private enterprise as an economic engine had done marvelous things for the United States.

     But private enterprise has its limits. 1. Private enterprise doesn’t handle health and safety issues very well. 2. Private enterprise has difficulty dealing with very long-range or non-economic values such as endangered species. 3. Private enterprise is a total failure when dealing with monopoly. Greed over­whelms the system.

     Yet some systems are inherently monopolistic. We have one water pipe coming into our homes. It would be uneconomic to have, say, six. Actually, it is quite possible we will have two in the not too distant future. One will carry recycled water for our water­ing.

     Historically, when we must have monopoly, the state regulates it. In the United States, water and its delivery systems have been largely community owned. There is considerable pressure to privatize it. This would be a mistake.

     Take a look at the mess in the deregulated elec­tricity systems. Once shortages appeared, greed overwhelmed the market. The unregulated market allowed astronomical increases in costs and the bankruptcy and near bankruptcy of once great regulated public utilities.

     In the United States we have always had both private and public water. The change in this century is that the public utilities such as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) are being forced by law to carry private water to private customers using the public pipes. Private monoply of water is facilitated. It is a potential disaster.

     In the Mojave Desert, a private company, Cadiz, Inc., with a farming operation of 1600 acres, is claiming it has the rights to sell all the water in the Fenner/Cadiz aquifer—the size of Rhode Island. MWD is lined up to buy the water and also carry the private water to private customers. It is an uncon­scionable water grab. It is an economic fiasco and, if it happens, an environmental tragedy.

     Perhaps it would be worse if we privatized the air and had it metered out to us. We would pay any price, for we would be paying to stay alive. Without electricity we are certainly inconvenienced and eco­nomically harmed. Without air we would die in a couple of minutes.

     Without water we might last a day. This is too great a risk to allow privatization.

                  By Elden Hughes (Reprint from Desert Report)

 

*March 7. (thur) 6 pm  Dinner social, Los Portales, Visalia. See Mineral King Gp.

*March 9. (sat) See Nordic Ski Patrol on top of Mt. Pinos.  Tentative. See Condor Gp.

*March 14. (thur) 7 pm  “Wolf in the Classroom” See Mineral King Gp.

*March 16. (sat) Birding. See Condor Gp.

*March 19. (tues).  Pilot curbside recycling program.  See Buena Vista Gp.

*March 23. (sat) Jawbone Cyn. area. See Owens Peak Gp.

*March 23. (sat) Frazier Park area hike. See Condor Gp.

*April 6 (sat) Mountain Islands. See Condor Gp.

*April 11, (thur) New Thai Restaurant, Visalia. See Mineral King Gp

*April 14. (sun) Excursion to Windwolves.  See Condor Gp.

****APRIL 20 (sat) ANNUAL KERN-KAWEAH CHAPTER BANQUET. ****

*April 20. (sat) Timosea Peak (8664 ft), west of Owens Lake. See Owen Peak Gp.

*April 20. (sat) Birding. See Condor Gp.

*April 27. (sat) Thorn Peak Hike. See Condor Gp.

WEEKLY WALKS Wed: Visalia. See  Mineral King Gp. Thurs: Bakersfield. See Buena Vista Gp.

LOOKING AHEAD

May 4, (sat) Windmill-Wildflower Hike Planned for Pacific Crest Trail. Call 661.324.1923 to verify.

     The Kern-Kaweah Chapter of the Sierra Club will lead the 15th annual hike to spotlight a little-known section of the PCT trail as well as the 5,000 wind turbines in the Tehachapi Pass.  More than 600 people, from children to octogenarians, have taken the six-mile walk across Cameron Ridge during the past decade.

     The hike leaves the trailhead at the junction of Cameron Road and Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road promptly at 9:00 am. Spring weather at 5,000 feet in the Tehachapi Mountains? Temperature can vary from near freezing to sweltering. Dress appropriately, bring one to two quarts of water per person, lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MIDGEBUZZINGS

     Looking out at one of my bird feeders this morning I saw it thronged with little thistle-eating finches, a sure sign of spring. Soon we’ll see mobs of robins on the lawns cocking their heads for worms and tugging them out of the warming ground.

     For several weeks I’ve been suffering from ser­ious garden nostalgia, sharpened by regret over having gone out of the chicken business. Long-time readers may remember the stories that used to come from the antics of my three banty hens and plucky little rooster, all famous with the neighborhood chil­dren and endlessly entertaining.

     Even in their demise there was a touch of comedy. A neighborhood dog, long neglected by her family and lonely, squeezed through a hole she had dug under the fence and destroyed the little flock. She was still in the garden when I came home and saw the carnage. When I confronted her angrily with the evidence, she looked up from what remained of one of the corpses and belched, expelling a cloud of feathers that fluttered up before settling around her feet. I did the only thing I could do in a case like that; I buried the chickens and kept the dog.

     Two things have happened fairly recently that have contributed to the aforesaid longing. The first occurred on my favorite coastal road with an old friend whose husband had entrusted us with his fire engine-red sports convertible—two ladies approach­ing seventy, with dangerous vestiges of adolescence still in occasional evidence to the wary.

     It was a beautiful day on a road where old family farms remain unthreatened by the hideous huge houses lately so popular with the newly rich and springing up everywhere to the ruin of experience. We gossiped and sang with the wind in our hair and rounded every curve a little too fast in anticipation of the next gorgeous sight.

     Then we saw chickens. They were running around in a large green pasture, dodging cows, and busily scratching up insects and grubs. In their midst was a wonderful little rooster. He was all black except for an outrageous crown of wild white feathers and a yellow beak, and he was exhausting himself in a futile attempt to command the attention of the hens.     We couldn’t help ourselves; we pulled over just to laugh at this phenomenon, and I have been unable to get it out of my mind ever since. I would love to have that rooster!

     The next thing was an obituary in the local paper. Our editor, Dianne Hardisty, has rightly said of obituaries that they are “family-written pieces that create a community’s rich mosaic.” One morning I saw the gentle face of a little lady who had been photographed in the traditional headgarb of women from India. She had reached a good age in the midst of a devoted family. In her last years she had begun to cultivate a vegetable garden, and she loved sharing her produce with family and neighbors. They called her “the little backyard farmer.”

     I wish her family could know how much I was affected by that phrase. What an achievement! She might have written a best seller or made a killing in the stock market. But she was better than that. She coaxed abundance from the earth and shared it with others. I would like to have known her and to have learned her gardening secrets.

     We are daily harried by thoughts of the violence and mean abuse of public trust we are steeped in now, and by our unending environmental problems. But in a garden, given the graces of sunlight and adequate water, one can create a delightful world, especially if there are chickens to give it a comic dimension.

     So keep reading, friends. What better metaphor for the whole environment than this?

                                                       By Ann Williams

What’s up at RED ROCK CANYON?

    The fate of magnificent country in the 1994 addition to the park is the big concern. Last Chance Canyon and Nightmare Gulch are places that can be accessed by high clearance vehicles with difficulty, but the delicate riparian systems are impacted by such activity.

     The Club believes there should be opportunities for vehicle touring in Red Rock Canyon. It is para­mount, though, that no visitor activity, including vehicle use, ought to be permitted without restrictions to protect natural values. In particular, vehicles should be prohibited from using washes. Protection must come first for the unique blend of spectacular geology, human and fossil history and suite of ecosystems that comprise the park.

     There was reason to expect release of the Draft General Management Plan (DGMP) and resulting public comment period to start next month. How­ever, there has been further delay. State Parks are gathering more data, and we are confident that will lead to a better DGMP. Thanks for all the past support and please help us see the planning process through.  

     Sign up for State Parks mailing list for Red Rock Canyon notices (Contact: Marsha Moss, California State Park, 8885 Rio San Diego Dr. Suite 27, San Diego, CA 92108 or mmoss@parks.ca.gov) and our local task force mailing list too: Red Rock Canyon State Park Task Force, P. O. Box 1569, Ridgecrest, CA 93556 or jeanie.stillwell@sierraclub.org or call  760.375.8973.

 

 

 

 

 

General Publication Information

Deadline: April 5th for next issue

     *Want to submit an article?

                  650 words max., shorter is better.

     *General questions about outings?

                  Call Theresa Stump, 559-781-0594

    *Submission after deadline?   we will try.

         *Web questions? harold.wood@sierraclub.org

 

RoadrunnerAddresses: jmal@frazmtn.com  or

Editor, Roadrunner, P.O. Box GG, Frazier Park, CA 93222