Tribes, Immigrants and Fishermen Unite Against MLPA
Assembly Speaker John Perez Is on the Wrong Side of History
By Dan Bacher
Photos by Dan Bacher, Matt Mais of the Yurok Tribe and Stormy Staats of the Klamath Justice Coalition
PHOTO: Over 300 people, including members of dozens of California Indian Tribes, fishermen, environmentalists, seaweed harvesters and immigrant sea urchin industry workers marched through the streets of Fort Bragg to protest the violation of indigenous gathering rights under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative.
FORT BRAGG, Calif. -- In a historic protest on July 21, over 300 members of California Indian Tribes and their allies peacefully took control of a Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg to protest the violation of indigenous gathering and fishing rights under Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggers controversial MLPA Initiative.
Over 60 immigrant workers from the sea urchin industry, many from indigenous communities in central and southern Mexico that were forced to come to the U.S. after they were driven off their land under NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), marched side by side with members of the Yurok, Tolowa, Cahto, Kashia Pomo, Karuk, Hoopa Valley, Maidu, Hopi, Navajo and other tribes. Besides them were recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, seaweed harvesters, environmentalists and sea urchin divers and local political candidates.
I have been to hundreds of protests on a variety of water and environmental justice issues, but it was simply the most moving event of its kind that Ive ever been to. I was touched by the solidarity shown by people from such diverse communities in opposition to a process that that they feel is not listening to them or their needs.
Opponents of the MLPA Initiative believe that Schwarzenegger appointed MLPA officials have railroaded California Indian Tribes and fishing communities on the Central Coast, North Central Coast and South Coast - and now are trying to do it on the North Coast, but they have faced massive resistance there.
The group peacefully took over the task force meeting in a great example of non-violent direct action. After rallying at Oak and Main Street, over 300 people walked a half-mile to the C.V. Star Community Center. Just before heading into the meeting, tribal community members standing twenty deep chanted, No Way M.L.P.A.! to the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) members convened inside.Tribal elders and immigrant workers then spoke on the impact of the MLPA process upon them. Some of the most powerful testimony came from Susan Burdick, Yurok Tribal gatherer, who slammed the Blue Ribbon Task Force members for violation of sovereign Tribal rights.
"Were not going to stop what we have doing for generations," said Burdick. "We have young people here, old people here and we will march everywhere you go.
What is your real purpose: to start drilling for oil off our coastline? she asked. Be honest with us!
Elizabeth Palma, a worker in the sea urchin industry, told the panel how the MLPA threatened the livelihoods of immigrant workers. By taking away our jobs by closing areas of coast, you are taking away the opportunity for our kids to go to college and make a better live for themselves, she stated.
Thomas ORourke, the chair of the Yurok Tribal Council, vowed that tribal members would be willing to go to jail to defend their rights.
It is wise to listen to the people who managed these lands for thousands of years, he continued. We believe in protecting species. We will continue to exercise our right to harvest seaweed and fish as we always have. You wlll have to take us to jail until you go broke and you fix this law.
Our tribal rights are not negotiable, Dania Colegrove, Hoopa Valley Tribe member and a member of the Coastal Justice Coalition, told the task force. Get used to it!
Frankie Joe Myers, organizer for the Coastal Justice Coalition and a Yurok Tribal ceremonial leader, summed up the feelings of many when he said, "This is about more than a fouled-up process that attempts to prohibit tribes from doing something they have done sustainably for thousands of years. It is about respect, acknowledgement and recognition of indigenous peoples rights!
When I got back from the protest, I was shocked to hear that Assembly Speaker John Perez, in spite of the massive opposition to MLPA Process from diverse communities, had recently sent a letter to the California Fish and Game Commission strongly endorsing Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggers fast-track MLPA Initiative.
In his letter, Perez said he supports "the strongest possible network of marine protected areas based on science" along California's southern Coast.
That is simply not true, since the MLPA as implemented on the Central North Central, South and North Coasts of California has completely taken oil drilling, water pollution, wave energy projects, corporate aquaculture, habitat destruction and all other human uses of the ocean off the table other than fishing and gathering.
"You have a historic opportunity to create a legacy for southern California's oceans and generations to come, stated Perez. Please adopt the protections most likely to provide lasting benefits for all Californians by choosing the strongest possible option of Marine Protected Areas in southern California.
However, the real "legacy" of the illegitimate process that John Perez adamantly supports is the industrialization and privatization of California ocean and bay waters under an initiative privately funded by the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. This process has violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, the California Public Records Act, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and other laws.
The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces, appointed by the worst Governor in California history to kick Tribal members, fishermen and seaweed harvesters of the water in fake "marine protected areas," are dominated by oil industry, real estate, marina development and other corrupt corporate interests.
In fact, the "strongest possible option of Marine Protected Areas" that Perez gushes over was crafted under the leadership of Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association and the chair of the South Coast MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force, who has called for new oil drilling off the California coast. What kind of protection is that?
Perez's increasingly friendly relationship with big oil companies is no secret. Perez is the author of the "rigs to reef "legislation on behalf of the oil industry that saves them billions in the decommissioning of oil rigs off Southern California, so his strong support of oil industry supported "marine protected areas" that also insulate them from pesky environmental regulations should also come as no surprise.
In a post on the California Majority Report, Marcela Gutierrez, program manager of Wildcoast, spoke up for the MLPA and for Perez's record, stating, Speaker John Perez has a strong and consistent record showing his commitment to social and environmental justice.
Suffice it to reference his work on AB 890, the law passed last fall to address chronic pollution (manganese) to the City of Maywood's water supply. Championing a solution to the oft-ignored problem that plagues Maywood's mostly working-class and immigrant community is hardly the hallmark of a corporate green-washer.
I roundly applaud Perez's work on AB 890, legislation that I strongly support. However, that doesnt excuse Perez from supporting the MLPA Initiative, a widely-criticized process that has united a diverse group of Indian Tribes, fishermen, immigrant workers, environmental justice advocates, conservationists, cities and coastal communities against it.
By supporting the MLPA Initiative, Perez is on the wrong side of history. If he truly cares about environmental justice and his legacy, he should use his power to convene a legislative oversight hearing to investigate the conflicts of interest, total disregard for indigenous fishing and gathering rights, violation of numerous state and federal laws and greenwashing that have plagued the MLPA Initiative since Schwarzenegger privatized it in 2004. Further, he should call upon the Governor to immediately suspend the MLPA process until this hearing is conducted.
People who care about true ocean protection, rather than the fake protection provided under the MLPA, should oppose corporate greenwashing and institutional racism, whether its Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Assembly Speaker John Perez, or any other politician who is supporting it.
For more information about the Coastal Justice Coalition's battle against the MLPA's violation of indigeous rights, go to: http://www.klamathjustice.blogspot.com/
Article 2:
Susan Burdick, Yurok Elder, pointedly told the Blue Ribbon Task Force that "Were not going to stop what we have doing for generations. We have young people here, old people here and we will march everywhere you go.
Tribes and Allies Take Control of Fort Bragg MLPA Meeting
By Dan Bacher
In a historic protest on July 21, members of dozens of California Indian Tribes and their allies marched through the streets of downtown Fort Bragg protesting the violation of indigenous fishing and gathering rights under Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggers Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative.
This is the biggest protest on any issue held on the North Coast since the Redwood Summer of 1990, said Dan Hamburg, former North Coast Congressman and a current Green Party candidate for Mendocino County Supervisor, as he marched beside me on the way to the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg.
Members of the Yurok, Tolowa, Cahto, Kashia Pomo, Karuk, Hoopa Valley, Maidu, Hopi, Navajo and other tribes and the Noyo Indian Community shouted M.L.P.A. Taking Tribal Rights Away and other chants as they marched. Recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, seaweed harvesters, environmentalists, immigrant seafood industry workers and sea urchin divers walked side by side with tribal members in a show of solidarity.
Alongside tribal flags, participants hoisted banners with slogans including Keep Away MLPA, Native Conservation, Not Naive Conservation, No MLPA, MLPA=Big Oil, and RLF What Are You Funding.
The group peacefully took control of the task force meeting in a great example of non-violent direct action. After rallying at Oak and Main Street, over 300 people walked a half-mile to the C.V. Star Community Center. Just before heading into the meeting, tribal community members standing twenty deep chanted, No Way M.L.P.A.! to the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) members convened inside.
Our message was clear: the state will no longer impose its will on indigenous people, said Frankie Joe Myers, organizer for the Coastal Justice Coalition and a Yurok Tribal ceremonial leader. This is about more than a fouled-up process that attempts to prohibit tribes from doing something they have done sustainably for thousands of years. It is about respect, acknowledgement and recognition of indigenous peoples rights!
Before the group began their march, they spent an hour holding signs and chanting on the corner of Oak and Main Streets as driver after driver honked their horns in support.
The outpouring of support from the Fort Bragg community was amazing, said Jim Martin, West Coast Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance. It was clear that the majority of people supported our protest. Some people were driving around several times so they could honk in support again.
After the protesters entered the meeting, tribal elders, including Walt Lara of the Yurok Tribe, said they would continue to do what they have done for centuries - harvest seaweed, mussels and fish.
Weve managed the ocean in sustainable way for thousands of years, Lara stated. We only take what we need so that nobody should be hungry. You take our water, you take our land and now your are going to take our appetite.
Thomas ORourke, the chair of the Yurok Tribal Council, said, We as an Indian Nation have the right to manage our resources. The people who have managed for the last 200 years havent done so well in managing the land and our coast."
It is wise to listen to the people who managed these lands for thousands of years, he continued. We believe in protecting species. We will continue to exercise our right to harvest seaweed and fish as we always have. You have to take us to jail until you go broke and you fix this law.
The Yurok Tribe has a representative, Megan Rocha, on the MLPAs Regional Stakeholder group. However, ORourke said the MLPA process has viewed tribes exactly the same as recreational fishermen, even though tribes are sovereign nations.
There is nothing more offensive than the lack of recognition we have received from the Initiative, he stated. We are a sovereign government within the State of California and should be treated accordingly. We would like the Blue Ribbon Task Force to do what is morally right and remove tribes from this inappropriate process.
Jimbo Simmons, a Choctaw Tribe member and a leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM) West, emphasized that numerous laws, including the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the UN Declaration of Human Rights, affirm the right of indigenous people to conduct their traditional religious ceremonies including traditional ocean food gathering. Food is a human right, he stated.
Our tribal rights are not negotiable, Dania Colegrove, Hoopa Valley Tribe member and a member of the Coastal Justice Coalition, told the task force. Get used to it!
Some Tribal members and fishermen at the protest questioned the task forces real motives in kicking indigenous people and other fishermen off the ocean.
Susan Burdick, Yurok Elder, pointedly told the Blue Ribbon Task Force that "You are like the Ku Klux Klan - without the hoods! Were not going to stop what we have doing for generations. We have young people here, old people here and we will march everywhere you go.
What is your real purpose: to start drilling for oil off our coastline? she asked. Be honest with us!
Burdicks concerns over the push by the oil industry and others to industrialize the California coast were echoed by environmentalists including Judith Vidaver, Chair of Ocean Protection Coalition (OPC).
For over 25 years OPC, with our fisher and seaweed harvester allies, has protected our ocean from threats such as aquaculture projects, nuclear waste dumping, offshore oil development and recently, wave power plants, Vidaver stated. We are requesting that final Marine Protected Area (MPA) designations include language prohibiting these industrial-scale commercial activities.
She also shocked the panel by asking that task force member Catherine Reheis-Boyd voluntarily step down from her position on the BRTF.
Oil and water do not mixas we are being reminded daily by the disaster spewing in the Gulf, she stated. Mrs. Reheis-Boyds position as President of the Western States Petroleum Association and her lobbying efforts to expand offshore oil drilling off the coast of California are a patent conflict of interest for which she should recuse herself from the BRTF proceedings which are ostensibly meant to protect the marine ecosystem.
Meg Caldwell, a BRTF member, responded to Vidavers request in defense of Reheis-Boyd.
I am a died-in-the-wool environmentalist and I have worked with Reheis-Boyd on the Blue Ribbon Task Force. Not once has she demonstrated any bias for any industrial sector," she stated.
The overwhelming majority of people making public comments criticized the MLPA process for any array of reasons.
However, Karen Garrison, policy analyst for NRDC, affirmed her support for the MLPA Initative. She said that her organization is committed to creating an effective marine protected area network that also supports continued noncommercial traditional Tribal uses.
The Kashia Pomo regulation shows its possible to do both, at least under some circumstances, and shows the flexibility of the MLPA to accommodate Tribal uses," Garrison stated. "We also support the Tribes proposal to separately identify noncommercial traditional Tribal uses in any regulation that allows both Tribal and recreational uses.
The MLPA, a landmark law signed by Governor Gray Davis in 1999, calls for the creation of marine reserves with varying levels of protection from one end of the state to the other.
Many fishermen, environmentalists and Tribal members have blasted Schwarzeneggers MLPA Initiative, privately funded by the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, for taking water pollution, oil drilling and all other human uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering off the table while denying Tribes their fundamental rights.
Whether it is their intention or not, what the Marine Life Protection Act does to tribes is systematically decimate our ability to be who we are, Myers said. That is the definition of cultural genocide.
The MLPA process completely disregards tribal gathering rights and only permits discussion of commercial and recreational harvest, Myers concluded. The whole process is inherently flawed by institutionalized racism. It doesnt recognize Tribes as political entities, or Tribal biologists as legitimate scientists.
The protest surpassed my wildest dreams, said Mike Carpenter, a sea urchin diver and local protest organizer. Im glad that tribal members, fishermen, Latino sea urchin industry workers and local environmentalists all banded together to keep our communities from being robbed by outside interests and big corporate money.
The latest action was preceded on June 29 by a protest during which a group of 40 Tribal members and their supporters interrupted the MLPA Science Advisory Team meeting in Eureka. Members of the Coastal Justice Coalition during both protests emphasized that there is no scientific data that says tribal gathering has any negative impact on the coastal ecosystem and the Act does nothing to stop pollution and off-shore drilling the real threats to the ocean ecosystem.
For more information, go to: http://www.klamathjustice.blogspot.com/
Tribes take control of MLPA meeting
by Dan Bacher Saturday Jul 24th, 2010 1:27 PM
Susan Burdick, traditional Yurok Tribal gatherer, confronted MLPA officials for their violation of indigenous gathering and fishing rights at the meeting.
Article 3.
If Governor Schwarzenegger's MLPA Initiative is so "open, transparent and inclusive," why did 300 Tribal members, fishermen, immigrant workers and environmentalists feel so left out of the MLPA process that they had to organize a march and direct action to peacefully take over a MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg on July 21 so their voices would be finally heard?
by Dan Bacher
Proponents of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative constantly gush in generic terms how the controversial process is "open, transparent and inclusive." Anybody who criticizes any aspect of the privately funded initiative is blasted for being against "ocean protection."
However, what many critics of the MLPA Initiative are actually opposed to is the parody of marine protection that Schwarzenegger's initiative has become. Many supporters of comprehensive ocean protection point out that the intent of the law, signed by Governor Gray Davis in 1999, has been continually violated under a privately funded process filled with numerous conflicts of interest and violations of state, federal and international laws.
The MLPA, as implemented on the South, Central, North Central and North Coasts of California, has completely taken oil drilling, water pollution, wave energy projects, corporate aquaculture, habitat destruction and all other human uses of the ocean off the table other than fishing and gathering. The law, as now implemented, would do nothing to stop an ecological catastrophe like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from devastating the California coast.
What type of marine protection is this?
Many critics of the Initiative believe that the privatization of California ocean and bay management through an initiative privately funded by the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation is very bad public policy. This process has violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, the California Public Records Act, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and other laws.
The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces appointed by Schwarzenegger include oil industry, real estate, marina development and other corporate interests whom many believe have clear conflicts of interest in the process. The current marine protected area proposals for Southern California were crafted under the leadership of Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association and the chair of the South Coast MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force, who has called for new oil drilling off the California coast.
In spite of claims by MLPA Initiative proponents that the process is "open, transparent and inclusive," thousands and thousands of Californians feel that their voices are not being heard in the process. In fact, 300 Tribal members, fishermen, immigrant workers and environmentalists felt so left out of the MLPA process that they had to organize a march and direct action to peacefully take over a MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg on July 21 so their voices would finally be heard.
Those of us who have been involved in creating these marine protected areas under the MLPA Initiative, the citizens who will be locked out of areas in the ocean where we have recreated, fished, and made a living for years, know from personal experience that the most open and transparent process ever, the one with unprecedented transparency and stakeholder involvement -- is anything but, said Jim Martin, the West Coast Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, in his recent article in the Capitol Weekly.
In fact, the members of 50 Indian Nations and their allies who participated in the historic direct action in Fort Bragg felt so disenfranchised by this allegedly open and transparent process that they are willing to risk arrest to defend their sovereign right to gather and practice their religion as they have done for thousands of years.
Thomas ORourke, the chair of the Yurok Tribal Council, told the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force on July 21, We as an Indian Nation have the right to manage our resources. The people who have managed for the last 200 years havent done so well in managing the land and our coast."
It is wise to listen to the people who managed these lands for thousands of years, he continued. We believe in protecting species. We will continue to exercise our right to harvest seaweed and fish as we always have. You have to take us to jail until you go broke and you fix this law.
The Yurok Tribe has a representative, Megan Rocha, on the MLPAs Regional Stakeholder group. However, ORourke said the MLPA process has viewed tribes exactly the same as recreational fishermen, even though tribes are sovereign nations.
There is nothing more offensive than the lack of recognition we have received from the Initiative, he stated. We are a sovereign government within the State of California and should be treated accordingly. We would like the Blue Ribbon Task Force to do what is morally right and remove tribes from this inappropriate process.
"If the MPLA is so 'open, transparent and inclusive,' why are the California tribes continuously being ignored?" emphasized Morning Star Gali, a member of the Ajumawi band of the Pit River nation and IITC (International Indian Treaty Council) community liaison coordinator.
Everybody who supports environmental justice and sound public policy in California should support an oversight hearing to investigate the conflicts of interests, mission creep and violation of state, federal and international laws under the MLPA Initiative. Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez last year proposed such a hearing, but Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg apparently squashed it. Assemblyman Wes Chesbro also announced at this springs Legislative Fisheries Form that he planned to hold a hearing on the MLPA.
I have challenged MLPA proponents to answer the following questions that cut to the core of the current MLPA process. None have responded to the specific questions, but only continue to repeat their unsubstantiated claims that the Initiative is "open, transparent and inclusive" and that anybody who criticizes the initiative is an opponent of "ocean protection." Here are the questions:
Why did the Governor and MLPA officials install an oil industry lobbyist, a marina developer, a real estate executive and other corporate interests as "marine guardians" to remove Indian Tribes, fishermen and seaweed harvesters from the water? Isn't this very bad public policy?
Why is Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, allowed to make decisions as the chair of the BRTF for the South Coast and as a member of the BRTF for the North Coast, panels that are supposedly designed to "protect" the ocean, when she has called for new oil drilling off the California coast? Do we want to see oil rigs off Point Arena, Fort Bragg and other areas of some of the most beautiful coastline of North America?
Why is a private corporation, the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, being allowed to privatize ocean resource management in California through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the DFG?
Why do the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) and Science Advisory Team continue to violate the California Public Records Act by refusing to respond to numerous requests by Bob Fletcher, former DFG Deputy Director, for key documents and records pertaining to the MLPA implementation process?
Why do MLPA staff and the California Fish and Game Commission refuse to hear the pleas of the representatives of the California Fish and Game Wardens Association, who oppose the creation of any new MPAs until they have enough funding for wardens to patrol existing reserves?
Why did MLPA staff until recently violate the Bagley-Keene Act and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by banning video and audio coverage of the initiative's work sessions?
Why has the Initiative shown no respect for tribal subsistence and ceremonial rights? This is an overt violation of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
Article 32, Section 2, of the Declaration mandates "free prior and informed consent" in consultation with the indigenous population affected by a state action (http://www.iwgia.org/sw248.asp). The MLPA also violates Article 26, Section 3, that declares, "States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the indigenous peoples concerned."
Why are there no Tribal scientists on the MLPA Science Advisory Team and why were there no Tribal representatives on the Blue Ribbon Task Forces for the Central Coast, North Central Coast or South Coast MLPA Study Regions?
Why does the initiative discard the results of any scientists who disagree with the MLPA's pre-ordained conclusions? These include the peer reviewed study by Dr. Ray Hilborn, Dr. Boris Worm and 18 other scientists, featured in Science magazine in July 2009, that concluded that the California current had the lowest rate of fishery exploitation of any place studied on the planet.
Why does the MLPA Initiative refuse to acknowledge California Indian Tribes as sovereign nations?
Finally, why did 300 Tribal members, fishermen, immigrant workers and environmentalists on July 21 feel so left out of the MLPA process that they had to organize a march and direct action to take over a MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting so their voices would be finally heard?
Ill leave you with a quote from Frankie Joe Myers, a Yurok Tribal citizen and organizer of the Coastal Justice Coalition:
This is about more than a fouled-up process that attempts to prohibit tribes from doing something they have done sustainably for thousands of years. It is about respect, acknowledgement and recognition of indigenous peoples rights.
Executive Director of the California Coastkeeper Alliance.
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