THE ROADRUNNER

September, 1999 Volume 47 Number 9

A Monthly Publication

of The Kern-Kaweah Chapter Of The Sierra Club

Box 3357, Bakersfield, CA 93385-3357
(805) 323-5569

E-mail: kern-kaweah.chapter@sierraclub.org

Next year, the year 2000, we will elect our next President. It is vitally important that we elect someone who has a vision for our future that encompasses the needs and aspirations of the people of this country and the world. I implore you to get involved. Contact the political party of your choice and volunteer to work in whatever way you can. You will meet people of common interests and concerns, and you will find yourself having a lot of fun. So many have died in the evolution of our form of government, it is a shame that we do not get involved more actively than we do. Come on! Make that call! Youll be glad you did.

We are continuing plans to start a Sierra Club Group in Bakersfield. Many Sierra Club members ask, "Where does the Sierra Club meet in Bakersfield?" There is no, good simple answer, and we aim to correct that. We want to form a local Sierra Club Group, and we are looking for people that like the idea and would like to become charter members. A number of people have responded, so I want to let them know hereby that we are still working to line up speakers, media, location, ambience, agenda, dates, etc. Its a daunting task. If you can help, call me at 832-3382.

For many years Andy and Sasha Honig produced the local chapter newsletter. After a hiatus of four or five years, Andy Honig will again take over the editorship of the Road Runner newsletter. We welcome his return.

During the past nine months, Larry Wailes has served both as editor of our newsletter and treasurer to the Chapter. We owe him a debt of gratitude for taking on these formidable tasks. We want to say here that we appreciate Larrys help beyond what words can express. Without his selfless dedication, we would have been in a world of hurt. Thank you, Larry.

-Glenn Shellcross-

ALERT! SCOPING COMMENTS FOR BUDWEISER GRAZING REQUESTED

By Todd Stuart Shuman, Sierra Club Co-Contact

The Golden Trout Wilderness (GTW) is a very special place in the southern Sierra Nevada. Located just southeast of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, this designated wilderness of over 300,000 acres contains scenic river gorges, old-growth alpine forests, and some of the largest meadows in the whole Sierra Nevada.

The 193,000 acres of the GTW that lie within the Inyo NationalForest contain the northern reaches of the "Wild and Scenic" South Fork of the Kern River, Mulkey Creek, and the Golden Trout Creek watershed -- the last remaining habitat areas for pure strain Volcano Creek golden trout, the California State Fish.

The GTW also provides summer grazing pastures for one of thelargest and most influential multinational corporations in the world:Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Budweiser, Busch, and Michelob beers.For the last decade, cattle owned exclusively by this company have grazed, trampled, and compacted the wet and moist meadow areas of the Whitney and Templeton grazing allotments.

The Inyo National Forest (NF) is currently seeking public scopingcomments concerning a proposed action to authorize the continued grazing of these two allotments by Anheuser-Busch. Members of thepublic have until September 30, 1999 to express their opinions to theInyo NF about this proposal. I strongly encourage you to participatein this process. The stakes involved in this one are very high!

The Inyo NF has developed a proposal that neither reduces nor increases the number of cows allowed to graze these allotments. To mitigate the negative effects of cattle grazing, the Inyo NF is planning to expand the use of fences and brush barricades to protect vulnerable streambanks, seeps, and springs. For a number of areas, the Inyo NF is also proposing a reduction in the amount of vegetation that the cows will be allowed to consume. While this proposal has some positive features, it is probablyinadequate to promote the ecological recovery that is truly needed forthis area. Please write a letter to the Inyo NF and request a more restorative approach. Please include some or all of the requestsbelow:

1 Please request the Inyo NF to follow the Region 5 planning process as described in the R-5 Range Analysis and Planning Guide, Chpt. 2.

2 Please request an EIS up front as opposed to an EA.

3 Please request that the alternative of "no grazing" for a minimum of10 years and other alternatives that entail fewer numbers than the proposed 900 cow/calf pairs be considered and analyzed. (You might request an alternative that combines mandatory rest-rotation [e.g., rest each meadow from grazing every other year] with a major cattle stocking rate reduction [1/3 to 1/2]. This would enable rest-rotation without promoting the overgrazing of the other meadows grazed in any particular year. Meadows that are especially deserving of restare Volcano and South Fork Meadows.)

4 Please request that the proposed utilization rates for late season Templeton Meadow (non-riparian), Movie Stringer Unit, and the Freckles Unit be reduced substantially if they are to begrazed.

5 Please request a detailed analysis of the costs and benefits to the taxpayer of the different alternatives.

6 Please ask for a full disclosure of the economic impacts of the different proposals on the local and regional economies. This analysis must include the economic effects of grazing-related habitat degradation on the regional fishing and hunting economy.

7 You might also note that the proposal does not appear to meet the intent of the recently signed Conservation Strategy for the Volcano Creek Golden Trout; the proposed action does verylittle to promote recovery of fish habitat, as it aims to promote a gradual improvement of the range; and allowing any grazing use on already damaged stream banks will prevent a moredesirable ecological condition from emerging.

Please send your scoping comments to the following address by no later than September 30, 1999: Inyo National Forest, Mt Whitney Ranger Station, ATTN: Range Management, P.O. Box 8, Lone Pine, CA 93545

For more information, contact Todd Stuart Shuman, Sierra Club, co-contact on this issue at 818-956-0207 or by email at sstuart@lausd.k12.ca.us

Forest Service Fails to consider Non-Logging Alternative

It was disclosed at the University of California, Davis campus "Old-Forests" Workshop on "Sierra Nevada Framework for Conservation and Collaboration" forest plan revision, that the Southwest Region of the Forest Service failed to study or consider any forest management fuels reduction methods that did not include logging to solve high fuels problems of 11 Sierra Nevada National Forests.

The growing body of scientific evidence implicates past management practices of logging, grazing, fire suppression and roadbuilding as major causes of decline of species, loss of habitat and increase in forest fuels. The Forest Service failed to consider the recommended non-logging method of removing lower limbs of the ladder-fuel trees, chipping those branches and the woody brush below those trees, scattering of those chips on the forest floor as a mulch and weed suppressant, followed by small prescribed fires. Instead, the Forest Service is only considering various rates and spacing of prescribed fire and logging. The National Environmental Policy Act requires the Forest Service to study and analyze a variety of alternatives, but every alternative being proposed includes logging, which will only continue the loss of habitat, decline of species and increased flammability of Sierra Nevada National Forests. The Forest Service has failed to present credible alternatives to its current destructive management practices.

Write to Senator Barbara Boxer, fax (415)956-6701, 112 Hart Senate Office Building, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, 361 Dirksen Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, and tell them to stop commercial logging in National Forests.

Mr. Ara L. Marderosian, Sequoia Forest Alliance, P.O Box 988, Weldon, CA 93283 (760) 378-4574 sfa@lightspeed.net

Logging for the Douglas Fir Tussock Moth (DFTM)

No forest-wide Giant Sequoia Grove management plan has been developed. No request has been made for an action plan, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on how to manage the forest in light of the scientific evidence confirming the annual 7 to 10 percent decline in California Spotted Owl populations. Yet, without providing any scientific evidence to prove that these proposed commercial logging projects would improve forest health, these projects are proposed to remove 60 percent of the crown cover in areas of California Spotted Owl habitat and Giant Sequoia Grove watersheds in the Hume District of Sequoia National Forest. These projects are completely inappropriate. They would degrade critical habitats with tractor activity and would leave open-areas in excess of 1/2 acre. Logging would remove trees required for forest health nesting sites and would remove nutrients required for forest health soil replenishment in these critical habitats. Logging would release soil sediments into watersheds, increasing water turbidity and lower water quality. There is some evidence that logging those trees will actually help spread the insect population. The public should support methods of eradicating the moth rather than eradicating the trees, the habitat and the forest structure. Thinning the forest for any reason would increase fire risk according to the Forest Service handbook "FIRE WEATHER". Bark beetles are part of the food chain of a healthy forest. Logging these trees will not improve forest health or prevent further moth activity in the forest. The public should oppose these logging projects. Mr. Ara L. Marderosian, P.O Box 988, Weldon, CA 93283 (760) 378-4574

"Spirit of John Muir" Lives on at the Visalia Library As almost anyone who has ever carried a canteen and a backpack knows, John Muir is one of the founders and the original President of the Sierra Club, unanimously elected in 1892. He later enjoyed national renown as a land preservation leader, visionary, and, of course, author. His first book, THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA was published in 1893 when he was 56 years-old and became a classic. In all, he published 10 major books and he died in 1914 with a manuscript by his side. The California Historical Society voted Muir "The Greatest Californian in History' some years ago. Today, the inspired and spiritual, yet still authoritative, qualities of his words live on for countless Americans of all walks of life.

Muir is extremely relevant today and can be seen as the godfather of the environmental movement in the U.S. which has steadily grown since his time. He's particularly important to California where he lived during virtually all of his greatest accomplishments. Muir is owed a great deal of credit for the very existence of Sequoia National Park (in Tulare County). His beautiful and stirring writings helped make the wonders and the endangered status of the giant sequoias nationally known.

Because of Muir's tremendous importance today, the Visalia Library will be presenting a month-long exploration and celebration of the great environmental activist during September called "The Spirit of John Muir." Lee Stetson, renowned Muir interpreter (and lookalike) who regularly appears in Yosemite National Park and elsewhere will perform in a free public performance at the Visalia Library on Friday, September 10th at 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30). The program will be fun, enlightening, and informative and members of the audience are invited to ask questions of Stetson as Muir. The program will be appropriate for all ages, but Stetson will be returning to the Visalia Library on Saturday, September 11 at 10:00 a.m. for a special children's performance that will feature animal stories (doors open at 9:45 a.m.).

During the entire month of September the Visalia Library will present a John Muir exhibit that will showcase rare early editions of Muir's works, original signed letters, and reproductions of significant diary and manuscript entries as well as photos of Muir himself. The Visalia Library is located downtown, two blocks north of Main Street, at 200 West Oak Street. For more information please call (559) 733-6954. The entire project is funded with a grant from the California Council for the Humanities. - Steve Fjeldsted

Read the Condor Flyer, news of Condor Group in Frazier Park Area. http://www.frazmtn.com/~localtlk/SierraClub

Last months article re Help CalFed solve water problems gave an incorrect phone number for the contact person. The fax number was the one listed. The correct number follows. The one public hearing still to be held is at the Visalia Convention Center at 6 pm September 14. Please contact Sierra Club Staffer Jackie McCort, jackie.mccort@sierraclub.org
415 977 5727 (CA/NV/HI Field Office), for local training and further information.

Buying Books And Contributing To The Kern-Kaweah Chapter The Kern-Kaweah Chapter has entered into a cooperative agreement with The Book Shoppe of the Kern River Valley. The proprietors Ron and Judy Hyatt have a percentage contribution program whereby they contribute the discounted amount of your purchase to the Chapter. They are located at 109 Piute Drive (next to circle park) and are open from 10-4 every day. Many of us will probably do our buying over the Web at www.hyattbooks.com. You can also call them to place your order at 1-887-Ron Hyatt. There is a postage charge for mailing your books but it is well worth supporting your Organization. Also, the owners are supporters of the Turkey Vulture Festival that will be held this year September 24-27 in the Kernville area. Lorraine Unger

The Kern Kaweah chapter newsletter is now available at www.kernkaweah.sierraclub.org. We invite members who wish to view the newsletter only on the web to instruct us to discontinue mailing them hard copies. This, along with email with Roadrunner attachments is the future. We will save mailing costs, paper, & printing costs with each edition we do not send you. Any one who wants an extra hard copy anytime should call 661 323 5569.