From: [email protected] Subject: Bush Bureau of Reclamation Out Of Control Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Web Address: http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003 Bush Bureau of Reclamation Out Of Control Friday, November 4th is a key date. Your call could force the BOR to delay the release of their Final EIS. Please make your calls today, Thursday and Friday. Even if you have called, call again. Focus on the Interior Department and BOR officials. The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) plans to release their Final EIS this Friday in spite of Chairman Richard Pombo’s letter requesting that they delay the release. Here is a copy of Chairman Pombo’s letter. U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Committee on Resources Washington, D.C. 20515 October 28, 2005 The Honorable Gale Norton Secretary The Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20240 Dear Madam Secretary: I have been contacted by many of my constituents who are concerned over the pending Bureau of Reclamation Visitor Services Plan for Lake Berryessa. As you know, thousands of Bay area residents, many of whom are on fixed incomes, depend on Lake Berryessa for recreational access and enjoyment. In addition to these constituents, I have also been contacted by the City of Winters, California about its concerns over the proposed changes at Lake Berryessa. The City of Winters and its citizens depend heavily on summer recreation at Lake Berryessa. Although the Bureau of Reclamation indicates that recreation will increase because of its proposed changes, the City of Winters writes that the “Lake Berryessa Re-Use Plan represents the economic equivalent to a military base closure to our community.” I have attached a recent letter from the City for your review. Many of my constituents and the City of Winters have not been satisfied with the Bureau of Reclamation’s level of public involvement on the proposed changes at Lake Berryessa. Specifically they have asked for more public meetings and discourse on the issue to better understand the Bureau of Reclamation’s positions and to find common ground on the many issues surrounding this recreational treasure. As the Resources Committee Chairman, I strongly believe that additional public input can benefit all parties in this matter. Since the City of Winters will be most impacted by any change, I urge you to direct the Bureau of Reclamation to delay the current Environmental Impact Statement process so that agency officials can hold a town meeting in the City as soon as possible. This town meeting will allow agency officials to hear directly from those affected as well as from many of the Bay Area residents who utilize Lake Berryessa. My office will be glad to help coordinate this town meeting. The citizens who enjoy our recreational treasures have asked for and deserve more answers from the Bureau of Reclamation. We hope you agree that this request can only help the process move forward to eventual resolution and continued public enjoyment of Lake Berryessa. Sincerely Richard W. Pombo Chairman Cc: The Honorable Mike Thompson The Honorable George Radanovich The Honorable Grace Napolitano The Honorable Dan Martinez Commissioner John Keys, III Mr. Kirk Rodgers The BOR has agreed to participate in a public meeting in a few weeks. Yet they are slapping the City of Winters and all the users of Lake Berryessa in the face by releasing the EIS BEFORE they hear all the public comments. The City of Winters officially requested a public meeting with Resources Committee staff in Winters. Pombo made the request to BOR and Interior that the BOR be at the meeting. In spite of this, the BOR appears ready to slap Pombo and the Resources Committee as well as the City of Winters in the face by ignoring his request for a delay in the EIS. A copy of the City of Winters letter is below. Why doesn’t the Bush Administration reign in the Bureau of Reclamation? The BOR attack on exclusive use is an attack on recreation and use across America. The Lake Berryessa Plan will set the standard by which all other recreation areas are managed. So all recreation and private property owners in BOR, Corps of Engineers, Forest Service and BLM areas are in danger. The key to winning issues like this is for you to stand up and support your brothers who are facing the Federal bureaucracy driving by the giant green multi-national complex. By all of us working together special on special issues affecting various areas, we bring our cumulative strength to bear. That attitude will help you when you are threatened. There is strength in numbers. Yes, it is hard to believe, but the Berryessa Plan is comes from a Clinton Era planning process that advocates getting rid of users. If the Bush Administration fails to rein in these runaway bureaucrats, it will have failed its constituency. It will have failed you. A Sierra Club drafted plan for Lake Berryessa first started in the Clinton Administration does not appear to answer the campaign promise of the Bush run for the Presidency in 2000 or 2004. *** Action Items*** (bury these officials in calls, faxes and e-mails.) Remember, by standing up for the victims at Lake Berryessa today, they’ll be there to fight for you tomorrow. The key is to keep the pressure on. Don’t let down. Now it is your chance to take back control at Lake Berryessa -----1. Call, Fax and E-mail -- Secretary of Interior Gale Norton's Chief of Staff Brian Waidman (202) 208-7351 – FAX: (202) 219-2100 - [email protected] -----2. Call, Fax and E-mail – Deputy Lynn Scarlett - (202) 208-4203 -- FAX: (202) 208-1873 – [email protected] -----3. Commissioner of Bureau of Reclamation – John Keyes (202) 513-0501 – FAX: (202) 513-0309 – [email protected] -----4. Mark Limbaugh – Assistant Secretary for Water and Science – (202) 208-3186 -- [email protected] -----5. Call, fax and e-mail your local congressman. Call any Senator or Congressman at (202) 225-3121. Ask for their fax and e-mail. Ask them to ask the BOR support the Pombo request to delay the Lake Berryessa EIS. Note: We had Interior Department official Lynn Scarlett’s name mistyped in our Monday e-mail. It is spelled with two t’s. Please correct your records. Here are some local Congressmen who have a significant number of constituents who will lose property or recreation use at the lake. They need to stand up for their constituents. Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) is doing so. Others need to step forward and insist that the Bush Administration stop this atrocity. Call any of these Representatives at (202) 225-3121. Richard Pombo (R-CA) - Staffer Jesica Carter (202) 225-1947 Fax (202) 226-0861 Mike Thompson (D-CA) - Staffer Jonathan Birdsong (202) 225-3311 fax (202) 225-4335 Wally Herger (R-CA) --Staffer Derek Harley (202) 225-3067 fax (202) 226-0852 John Doolittle (R-CA) - Staffer Jason Larrabee (202) 225-2511 fax (202) 225-5444 Dan Lundgren (R-CA) - Staffer Kevin Holsclaw (202) 225-5716 Fax (202) 226-1298 Tom Lantos (D-CA) - Staffer Ron Grimes (202) 225-3531 fax (202) 226-4183 Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) - Staffer Maggie Gumbinner (202) 225-5161 – fax (202) 225-5163 Pete Stark (D-CA) - Staffer Debbie Curtis (202) 225-5065 Fax (226-3085) -----6. Call and fax the Resources Committee –Water and Power Subcommittee – Kiel Weaver -- (202) 225-8331 – FAX: (202) 226-6953 -----7. Call and fax Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee – Water and Power Subcommittee -- Kelly Donnelly -- (202) 224-4971 – FAX: (202) 228-0541 CITY OF WINTERS, CALIFORNIA MAYOR: Dan Martinez MAYOR PRO TEM: Woody Fridae COUNCIL: Tom Stone – Bob Chapman – Harold Anderson MAYOR EMERITUS: Bob Chapman TREASURER: Margaret Dozier CITY CLERK: Nanci Mills CITY MANAGER: John W. Donlevy, Jr. September 23, 2005 The Honorable Richard Pombo Chairman, Committee on Resources 1324 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 RE: Lake Berryessa – Public Input Session Dear Congressman Pombo, It is our understanding that as Chairman of the House Resources Committee, you have jurisdiction over the policies of all agencies under the U.S. Department of the Interior and more specifically over policy decisions of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau of Reclamation is currently in the process of developing new policy for Lake Berryessa. The City of Winters is known as the Gateway to the Monticello Dam and to Lake Berryessa. Many of our businesses greatly benefit from lake visitors who travel through and stop to buy food, gas, sporting goods, etc. On weekends up to 6,000 people pass through our community on the way to lake activities. Many of our constituents use the lake on a regular basis and our youth work in the many businesses which operate there. Finally, throughout the region, there are boat sales and service, sporting goods retailers and a variety of other businesses that depend on Lake Berryessa for a sizable share of their income. Our concern is simple…….. The Lake Berryessa Re-Use Plan represents the economic equivalent to a military base closure to our community. The Winters City Council is concerned about the economic stability of Lake Berryessa. From a practical sense, the re-use plan under consideration presents a real threat to the overall economic stability of our community. Specifically, we are concerned about the following: q The significant reduction in the number of users is of a major concern of our City. Non-motorized uses (kayaks, sailboats, etc.) would change the Lake immensely. Fewer visitors to the Berryessa means fewer visitors to Winters. q The plan calls for a significant departure from the current motorized use of the Lake. Markley Cove, the closest proximity to our community, would change to a less dense use, switching from motorized boats to houseboats. q Markley Cove is a very important Winters business. The operators are superior members of our community and are a wonderful employer to many of our residents. q The plan fails to recognize that Lake Berryessa as a spring/summer lake, not year round as projected in the economic reports. We feel this economic stability could very well be created or destroyed by the policies the Bureau of Reclamation choose and your committee authorizes in the coming months. We respectfully request a town hall meeting with the Bureau of Reclamation staff and our community so that we may voice our concerns and ideas regarding the current policy alternatives under consideration by the Bureau of Reclamation. We are specifically concerned with the following: · The potential reduction of long-term use at Lake Berryessa. · These users are being treated as the “bad guys” when in fact they have provided economic stability at the lake for years. We feel this use should be given consideration as a viable “multiple use” just as convention hotels or boating or cattle grazing are given consideration as uses on federal land. · The “zoning” of the lake to drastically restrict motorized watercraft uses. · The upcoming “Concession Bid Process.” We are aware that all the concession agreement will go out to bid. This is a part of doing business on a governmnent property. However, we hope the federal government will handle this transaction in a fair and equitable manner. The worst economic nightmare imaginable would be to have the entire lake snarled in lawsuits that could conceivably cause indefinite closure of the resorts resulting in a huge economic losses to everyone. In summary, we firmly believe this dialogue would benefit your committee as you review the Bureau of Reclamation alternatives. It would also be a posit8ve action for us as a city council and for the surrounding impacted communities that are very concerned with the future economic stability of this beautiful lake that sits in our backyard. Please contact John W. Donlevy, Jr., City Manger at 530-795-4910 Ext. 110 to schedule this meeting. Sincerely, Dan Martinez, Mayor City of Winters Cc: Congressman Mike Thompson Mike Finnegan, Bureau of Reclamation Here is your new message: -----Insist that the Bush Administration officials listed above get involved and take action to hold up the final EIS and Lake Berryessa. This land grab and police action must be stopped. -----How can the Bush Administration allow the BOR to ignore Chairman Pombo and the Resources Committee? ----- No private property should be taken without compensation. ----- Don’t take away the homes of 1,300 people with manufactured recreation homes who have no way to cover the loss. ----- The BOR must follow Public Law 96-375. (see below) ----- BOR must stop the removal of long-term tenants. ----- BOR must stop the discrimination against long-term users and motorized watercraft. -----BOR must throw out the present plan to cut down or eliminate public use and access by the general public, long-term site permittees, boaters, and dock owners. -----Bush Administration officials must require the Bureau of Reclamation be good neighbors at Lake Berryessa. They must redo their entire plan. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - Public Law 96-375 October 3, 1980 - 96th Congress - An Act Portion appropriate to Lake Berryessa Sec. 5 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to enter into new negotiated concession agreements with the present concessionaires at Lake Berryessa, California. Such agreements shall be for a term ending not later than May 26, 1989, and may be renewed at the request of the concessionaires with the consent of the Secretary of the Interior for no more than two consecutive terms of 10 years each. Concession agreements may be renegotiated preceding renewal. Such agreements must comply with the 1959 National Park Service Public Use Plan for Lake Berryessa, as amended, and with the Water and Power Resources Service Reservoir Area Management Plan: Provided, That the authority to enter into contracts or agreements to incur obligations or to make payments under this section shall be effective only to the extent and in such amounts as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts. (b) Notwithstanding any other laws to the contrary, all permanent facilities placed by the concessionaires in the seven resorts at Lake Berryessa shall be considered the property of the respective current concessionaires. Further, any permanent additions or modifications to these facilities shall remain the property of said concessionaires: Provided, That at the option of the Secretary of the Interior, the United States may require that the permanent facilities mentioned herein not be removed from the concession areas, and instead, pay fair value for the permanent facilities or, if a new concessionaire assumes operation of the concession, require that new concessionaire pay fair value for the permanent facilities to the existing concessionaire. Please make your calls to the Interior Department and BOR officials. Please forward this message as widely as possible. -- To unsubscribe from this mailing list; please visit http://governance.net and enter your email address.