Governor Prioritizes Gold Mining Over Endangered Trout and Salmon; Vetoes AB 1032
It's been thirteen years since the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) updated its regulations regarding instream mining activities. Since that time, multiple fish species, from the coho salmon to the Paiute cutthroat trout, have seen rapid declines and been placed on state and federal listings for threatened and endangered animals.
AB 1032 (Wolk), vetoed today by Governor Schwarzenegger, would have empowered DFG to take additional steps to protect these endangered fish against certain types of motorized gold mining activities in sensitive habitat. The law would have applied only to mechanical suction dredging and would not have affected recreational gold panning activity.
The endangered and threatened species that live in California's rivers and streams have faced increasing challenges over the years. The ill-effects of irresponsible logging and mining activities, commercial dams and water diversion efforts, and polluted run-off from agriculture and other industries have all decreased the quality of the state's waterways. AB 1032 focused specifically on the suction dredging used by gold miners for both recreational and commercial mining activities because it is one major factor known to disturb the sensitive habitat of vulnerable fish species.
"Trout are the 'canary in the coal mine' of California's waterways," said Brian Stranko, Chief Executive Officer of California Trout, a major supporter of AB 1032. "These fish are incredibly sensitive to environmental change. By ignoring one major contributor to fish habitat degradation, the Governor has endangered the long-term health of all California wildlife."
The genesis behind AB 1032 was a 2005 law suit brought against DFG by the Karuk Indian tribe over the need to protect sensitive waterways from the harmful environmental effects of suction dredging on fish habitat. Although DFG agreed to complete an environmental assessment and revise its existing suction dredge mining regulations by July 1, 2008, funding gaps for the department have made it unable to begin this work, making it unlikely - if not impossible - for DFG to comply with the agreement by 2008. AB 1032 would have provided stopgap measures to allow DFG to further regulate mechanical gold mining activity until January 1, 2011, with the hope that additional funding would be made available in the meantime to allow it to complete its environmental assessment.
"We are dismayed that the Governor caved into special interests and failed to stand up for the fish and the Karuk people. Currently recreational gold miners are having fun at the expense of our fishery and our culture. After years of fighting to protect salmon, steelhead and lamprey from suction dredging, we are back to square one," stated Karuk Vice Chair Leaf Hillman.
California Trout and the Karuk Tribe of California were two of nearly thirty organizations that worked together in support of AB 1032.
About California Trout
California Trout is dedicated to protecting and restoring wild trout and steelhead waters throughout California. Founded in 1971, California Trout was the first statewide conservation group to focus on securing protections for California's unparalleled wild and native trout diversity. Among its many current initiatives, California Trout is now leading the effort to save the official state fish, which is the California golden trout.
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