GROUPS TO SUE FEDS ON BEHALF OF STEELHEAD TROUT.Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News Seven conservation groups have filed notice of their intent to sue the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a United States federal agency. A division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship and management of the nation's living marine , claiming that the agency has failed to complete a year-old proposal to expand Endangered Species Act The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C.A. §§ 1531 et seq.) was enacted to protect animal and plant species from extinction by preserving the ecosystems in which they survive and by providing programs for their conservation. protections for Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, steelhead trout. ``The steelhead can't vote, or make political contributions like Enron, or go to court to enforce the law. Somebody has to do it for them. That's our job,'' said Jim Edmondson, conservation director for California Trout California Trout is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) conservation group dedicated to “protecting and restoring wild trout and steelhead waters throughout California”. , one of the groups involved in the action. CalTrout, which promotes wild-trout fishing and conservation in California, has been active in trying to revive the runs of wild steelhead once thought to be all but extinct in Southern California. Under the Endangered Species Act, the Fisheries Service is required to finalize within one year any proposal to list a species as threatened or endangered. In December 2000, the Service proposed to extend the protected range of southern steelhead from Malibu Creek in Los Angeles County south to San Mateo Creek San Mateo Creek is a perennial stream that provides the only natural outlet of Crystal Springs Reservoir through the Crystal Springs Dam. The waters of Crystal Springs Reservoir consist of runoff from the eastern slopes of the Montara block of the Santa Cruz Mountains and imported in San Diego County, following the discovery of steelhead there in 1999. Jim Lecky of the National Marine Fisheries Service, who has not seen the notice, says that his agency does intend to complete the process and publish a rule extending protection for the steelhead. ``Southern California steelhead are the parent genetic material for all steelhead on this planet,'' Edmondson said. ``They are the only steelhead that are adapted for global warming because they live in cool water, not cold-water environments.'' Much of the money spent to date on steelhead recovery has been in Northern California. Edmondson wants some of that money spent in Southern California to keep local anglers involved and supportive. ``We have lots of people down here but very few fish,'' Edmondson said. ``By asking for a fraction of the action, we go forward as a state in restoring steelhead.'' Southern California steelhead are a distinct population of a species that occurs from Alaska to northern Baja California. Like salmon of the Pacific Northwest, steelhead spend much of their adult life in the ocean, returning to rivers to spawn. Headwater head·wa·ter n. The water from which a river rises; a source. Often used in the plural. Noun 1. headwater - the source of a river; "the headwaters of the Nile" streams in Southern California mountains and foothills provide spawning habitat and shelter juvenile fish. Estuaries provide a zone where young steelhead adapt to saltier water before migrating into the ocean. Coastal rivers and streams serve as migration corridors between the headwaters and ocean. Tens of thousands of the prized sport fish once returned from the Pacific Ocean every year to spawn in Southern California streams and rivers, prompting Hollywood movie sets to stop filming while stars went fishing. ``Dams, development, dirty water and government apathy have all combined to drive southern steelhead to the brink of extinction,'' said Tanya Gulesserian, staff attorney for the Environmental Defense Center. Groups filing the notice include California Trout, the Center for Biological Diversity The Center for Biological Diversity combines conservation biology with litigation, policy advocacy, and an innovative strategic vision to secure a future for animals and plants hovering on the brink of extinction, for the wilderness they need to survive, and by extension for the , Environmental Defense Center, Friends of the Santa Clara River Santa Clara River may refer to:
Heal the Bay is dedicated to protecting California's Santa Monica Bay, a region of the Pacific coast encompassed by Malibu's Point Dume on the north and the Palos Verdes , Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations. |
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