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A CSPA Editorial

AB 1806 goes down to defeat. CSPA, with your help, will do better next time

By Jerry Neuburger
August 14, 2008. – AB 1806, the delta restoration and mitigation bill, was defeated 18-21 in the state senate yesterday. Senator Torkalson, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, asked that the bill receive reconsideration so some slim hope still exists for the bill’s passage but the word is “slim.” Hopefully, some lobbying by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, author of the bill and additional letters of support still trickling in will make the difference and the bill will pass on a second vote.

The vote was close, 18-21, with all of the Republican senators and 6 Democrats voting against the bill. It is reported that the lobbyists for the water contractors spread rumors that the bill would drastically reduce the volume of water moving south, something that is not contained in the bill at all.

The bill would have been the first step towards the delta’s restoration and, except for the funds called for from the water districts benefiting from the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP), would have been painless for the taxpayers of California. It would have been a much simpler way of starting the delta’s restoration when compared to the other option, the courts.

Why did we lose? A number of reasons. Foremost, the legislative process is broken. That can be seen from the vote. Not a single Republican senator voted for the bill, even though, in many cases, the north state constituencies some represent are composed of the commercial salmon fishermen and recreational anglers that would benefit from the bill. The financial benefits to their districts in the form of income to commercial fishermen, sales of fishing gear at retail and wholesale outlets, and spin-offs such as boat sales, bait sales, munchies for outings and all the things that go along with a healthy fishery, were thrown away so that they could stand firm as a “party”. In holding the line, they turned their backs on the people that elected them. The Republicans are to blame in this instance, however, on other issues; the Democrats have proven just as intractable when it comes to breaking the party’s grip.

Another reason is the silence from the governor’s office. While Governor Schwarzenegger claims to be the “green” governor, he did not reach out and endorse this bill, even though it would have done much to restore the valley’s Chinook salmon stocks and numerous fishing and conservation groups endorsed it. Instead, he and Senator Feinstein have focused their attention on the new water bond, the peripheral canal and more dams. Every fisheries, fishing, and environmental group in the state has condemned this plan as a delta killer, but the Governor, held captive by the south state water interests, is attempting to make the canal his, “legacy” bill before he leaves office.

Last, we need to look to ourselves. It’s apparent that fishermen are fragmented by the number of groups they’ve formed such as Trout Unlimited, California Trout, the Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers (with 42 Northern California clubs), the California Striped Bass Association and affiliate clubs, the Black Bass Action Committee, and numerous others. All of these niche organizations do worthwhile work; including taking issues to the courts when necessary but they lack the rallying power or central focus of Ducks Unlimited or the National Rifle Association.

Fishermen, unlike hunters, are much more difficult to organize. If this had been a waterfowl issue, DU would have poured tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaign along with a nation wide letter campaign and plenty of press coverage. If it would have been a gun issue, the NRA would have flown their lobbyists here, the presses would have carried electrifying stories of the legislature’s attempt to take guns away, and the letters generated by gun owners and hunters would have been a deluge.

Fishermen need a central rallying organization such as DU and the NRA. CSPA is working to become that organization. What makes CSPA different? Three things, first, we represent and defend all of the state’s fisheries. and waters. Second, we are willing to go to the mat like DU and the NRA, if need be to get the job done, even when our coffers are bare. And third, we deal with ALL of the state and federal agencies dealing with fish and water as well as the courts and legislature.

In the last week alone, John Beuttler of CSPA worked to have AB 1806 passed by the legislature, Chris Shutes of CSPA drove to Caples Lake to review and assist in the plans for the fish transfer from Caples to Silver Lake, Jim Crenshaw of CSPA met regarding SB 994, the delta smelt hatchery bill, Michael Jackson of CSPA did research and sought additional attorneys to support a coming law suit and Bill Jennings of CSPA followed up on numerous law suits on municipalities waste water discharge into the Sacramento River and delta. That’s not all they were doing. There are numerous other issues being pursued, some public, and others, because of their nature, still confidential.

While CSPA has been in existence for 24 years, we functioned in the shadows for much of that time, winning victory after victory for the state's fishermen but with little recognition. Funded by organizations such as the NCCFFF, and CSBA, private donors and grants, we've been a constant warrior on the front lines, working quietly with only infrequent news coverage. In the last few years it became apparent that if we are to do more, we would need the backing of all of the state's fishermen. To do so, we would need to increase our public exposure.

As part of that strategy, CSPA had a “coming out” party with its new website 150 days ago. The site, according to Dan Bacher, editor of the FishSniffer, has become a, “Powerhouse.” But in truth, the website, along with CSPA’s outreach is still in its infancy. However, the number of page hits is increasing by thousands monthly. Donations are slowly trickling in, giving CSPA more strength, and the e-mail list of supporters, still less than a thousand, is growing slowly as well.

This time CSPA failed in its mission to have a bill passed through the legislature. Why? Our public presence is too young, our outreach efforts are yet not strong enough, and our funds too meager.  If our website was more mature, we would have been able to garner more interest in AB 1806. If our e-mail list was larger, we would have been able to generate more citizen response to pass AB 1806. If our coffers were bigger, we would have been able to grand stand our media release on the steps of the Capitol with reporters attending from all the major networks.

We’re not there yet. But we’re growing daily. Next time, with your help, will be different.