For the first time, Native Americans will have a major presence in the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) process.
Following criticism that tribal interests were overlooked in other California coastal regions, the newly appointed North Coast Regional Stakeholders Group (NCRSG) includes seven Native Americans on a 31-member panel.
Annelore Reisewitz, a MLPAI spokeswoman, said the greatly increased Native American presence was a reflection of the demographic of the three-county coastal region.
“The MLPA north central coast and south coast study regions each had a total of two tribal representatives (among larger panels),” Reisewitz said. “Due to the larger number of tribes, tribal citizens, and tribal use of marine resources on the north coast, Department of Fish and Game Director John McCamman and North Coast Blue Ribbon Task Force Chair Cindy Gustafson believed that broader tribal representation was required for the NCRSG.”
Ten people, the majority from Fort Bragg, were chosen to represent Mendocino County on the three-county panel. Questions have been raised about why apparently qualified people who applied by the deadline were passed over in favor of choices made by MLPAI staff.
A seaweed harvester-business owner (Larry Knowles) and a sea urchin processor (Tom Trumper) give semi-official voice to these industries for the first time.
A total of 82 people applied to be members of the NCRSG, including 25 from Mendocino County. So far none of the 31 chosen has refused the nomination, Reisewitz said.
“Yes, there have been irregularities in how the RSG nominees were selected,” said Jeanine Pfeiffer, who has held several roles in the MLPAI process.
“The guidelines stated that nominees had to have their nomination letters in by Nov. 30. For certain nominees, this stipulation was not followed. Additionally, only a subset of the nominees was interviewed, biasing the results,” she said.
While fishers have dominated MLPAI meetings, those chosen include a broader set, including locals Dave Jensen of the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society and geologist Skip Wollenberg.
Although the two men represent perspectives key to ocean preservation and are heavily involved in a wide variety of community activities, they have not been players in the MLPAI process.
“Staff”s recommendations were selected to represent a broad diversity of interests, perspectives, and geographic locations within the MLPA North Coast Study Region, ” said Reisewitz.
“In some cases, where staff was unable to find strong candidates that could represent a certain interest/perspective, staff was directed by the Director and Chair to seek nominees beyond the initial set of nominees (who had submitted their nomination letters by Nov. 30) to recruit possible additional nominees. In each of these cases, the nominee submitted an application and was interviewed by the neutral facilitators,” said Reisewitz.
The appointments were made by McCamman and Gustafson after receiving recommendations from hired private facilitators, who interviewed each of the recommended nominees, along with other senior MLPA Initiative and DFG staff, Reisewitz said.
Nomination letters and letters of support played a role. Background checks were conducted by DFG to determine whether nominees had fishing violations.
Pfeiffer said the MLPAI passed over some important perspectives, such as someone from Noyo Harbor, the crab fishing industry or any local fisherman who doesn”t catch critters attached to the bottom.
“This is a serious oversight, that deprives the RSG of invaluable expertise,” said Pfeiffer.
She also says at least one person from Albion needs to be added to the panel.
“The Albion Harbor Complex has no representation. Albion Harbor, although small, is a very important commercial and recreational harbor and needs to have proper representation that cannot be provided by the representation of Fort Bragg residents currently selected for the RSG,” Pfeiffer said.
Three Mendocino County Native Americans who came to some of the meetings and were concerned about tribal gathering rights were chosen. Indians who have lived for a century on the bluff northwest of the Noyo River Bridge had initially heard they didn”t fit into the MLPAI study process because they are not a federally recognized tribe. But Valerie Stanley, a well-known member of that Native American community, was among those chosen for the NCRSG.
Some of the people most involved in the process were chosen. Environmentalist Bill Lemos and surfer David Wright, who sometimes were on opposite sides, have both been key movers of the process and both were chosen.
Teacher Robert Jamgochian has put himself and his students at Mendocino High into the heart of the process, prompting discussion and creating their own solutions to conflicts.
The work ahead
Between this week and the end of September, the NCRSG will work with criteria developed by a Science Advisory Team to recommend new areas of the ocean in which to restrict or ban fishing uses.
NCRSG members are expected to participate in six two-day meetings/work sessions between now and September, plus one joint meeting with the Blue Ribbon Task Force in October. NCRSG members will be reimbursed for travel, food and lodging expenses.
NCRSG members who are volunteering their time and are not compensated to attend may apply for a stipend of $175 per day, said Reisewitz.
The North Coast region stretches from just north of Point Arena to the Oregon border.
In the fall, the Blue Ribbon Task Force will take the final array or arrays recommended by the NCRSG and turn them into a final recommendation to the California Fish and Game Commission, which has legislative authority.
The task force also has a Native American leader among its eight members, her presence is also an innovation in the MLPAI process. In the past, ocean and harbor developers and California”s top oil lobbyist have dominated the task force. The North Coast has been the most active and contentious of the state”s regions, despite its comparatively tiny population.
Many locals credit that with two members with strong local ties being appointed to the task force — Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith and former state legislator Virginia Strom-Martin, who has actually battled for environmental, fishing and progressive causes in the past.
Two Southern California harbor developers and the top oil industry lobbyist were appointed to the “North Coast” Blue Ribbon Task Force.
MLPAI”s task
The California Marine Life Protection Act of 1999 was intended to protect the ocean from a more robust and less regulated commercial fishing industry than that which survives in 2009. (Recreational fishing, on the other hand, has increased over the past decade.) Two previous efforts by the state to enact the law failed.
The Schwarzenegger Administration contracted with the private Marine Life Protection Act Initiative to create the interconnected Marine Protected Areas that scientists say are needed to protect the ocean.
While the MLPAI has created strict guidelines for the process that control what can be proposed. The MLPAI has chosen not to confront emerging industrial proposals for the ocean such as wave energy, wind energy, new fiber optic trenching and open ocean fish farming, among many. The process so far has targeted only fishing uses.
No effort has been made to seek legislation to accompany the MLPAI that would protect the ocean from expanded commercialization. With the help of an attorney general opinion, the MLPAI staff says that no commercialization restrictions would be included in two of the three types of new closed areas.
In some regions, the livelihood of the Blue Ribbon Task Force majority that suggested fishing closures depends on increased, non-fishing uses of the ocean.
For more information on the MLPAI go to www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa.
Mendocino County representatives
– Benjamin Henthorne, Environmental Coordinator, Hopland Band of Pomo Indians *
– Valerie Stanley, member, Noyo River Indian Community *
– Atta Stevenson, Acting President, Inter-Tribal Council of California and member, Laytonville Rancheria *
– Thomas Trumper, Owner/diver, Pacific Rim Seafood
– Robert Jamgochian, educator, Mendocino High School of Natural Resources
– Dave Jensen, President, Mendocino Coast Audubon Society
– David Wright, member, NorCal Kayak Anglers and Vice Chair, Surfrider Foundation”s Mendocino Chapter
– Larry Knowles, Owner, Rising Tide Sea Vegetables
– William Lemos, retired teacher and consultant, Natural Resources Defense Council
– Skip Wollenberg, professional geologist
Humboldt and Del Norte Counties” representatives
– Steve Chaney, Superintendent, Redwood National Park
– Russ Crabtree, Tribal Administrator, Smith River Rancheria *
– Greg Dale, Southwest Operations Manager, Coast Seafood Company
– John Dixon, Ecologist, California Coastal Commission
– Henry “Ben” Doane, board member, Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers and Klamath Management Zone Fisheries Coalition
– Brandi Easter, member, Humboldt Skin Divers
– Don Gillespie, retired teacher and board member, Friends of Del Norte and Smith River Alliance
– Jacque Hostler, Chief Executive Officer and Transportation & Land-Use Director, Trinidad Rancheria *
– Tim Klassen, Owner, Reel Steel Sportfishing
– Zack Larson, Consultant, Zack Larson and Associates and Chair, Del Norte County Fish and Game Advisory Commission
– Kevin McGrath, member, Shelter Cove Fisherman”s Alliance
– Kevin McKernan, California Program Director, National Conservation System Foundation
– Aaron Newman, President, Humboldt Fishermen”s Marketing Association
– Pete Nichols, Executive Director, Humboldt Baykeeper
– Charlie Notthoff, Owner, Nothoff Underwater Service
– Megan Rocha, Assistant Self Governance Officer, Yurok Tribe *
– Jennifer Savage, North Coast Program Coordinator, The Ocean Conservancy
– Adam Wagschal, Conservation Director, Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District]
– Rob Wakefield, member, Del Norte Fisherman”s Marketing Association
– Reweti Wiki, Tribal Administrator, Elk Valley Rancheria *
– Richard Young, Chief Executive Officer and Harbormaster, Crescent City Harbor District
* denotes Native American representatives
