From: alra@governance.net Subject: BOR Still Out Of Control – Kelo Type Evictions Still Planned Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973 E-mail: alra@landrights.org or alra@governance.net Web Address: http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003 BOR Still Out Of Control – Kelo Type Evictions Still Planned No Boy Scouts. No Girl Scouts. No YMCA. BOR says “Lets not let any of them in here.” Public access is going to be reduced. 1,300 trailer and mobile home sites will ultimately be evicted. Recreation access is being reduced or eliminated in many areas. Campsites will be reduced. Motorized watercraft will be drastically reduced from 3,000 to 700. People are going to be locked out. The Bureau of Reclamation is using ZONING to get rid of most users. They call it the Water Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (WROS). They will do this at all recreation lakes nationwide if they get away with it at Lake Berryessa. If you let BOR get away with this that great sucking sound will be your rights going away. The Forest Service is trying to do eliminate “exclusive use” in the National Forests and other recreation areas. If you don’t stand up now and object, you will lose. For example, if they can say, “sure, you can use ski boats” but when they zone the lake 10 or 15 miles per hour in sections, ski boats cannot get the job done. You have a chance in the next few days to help keep access to Federal lands open. You personally can help prevent out-of-control bureaucrats from closing down Federal areas all over the country. The Bureau of Reclamation is trying to rush to a decision (Record of Decision) on its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Don’t let BOR get away with this attack on your rights. Your calls now and over the next three days can overturn this impending disaster. You must overwhelm the Interior Department, the BOR and your Congressman and Senators. Your calls are critical. All of us must be a team. All for one and one for all. That is the only way we can stand up to the greens and the land grabbers. You’ve got to fight for your allies so they will be there to fight for you. The future of recreation and access to Federal lands in America is at stake in the battle of Lake Berryessa in California. If the BOR gets away with ignoring public comment, only listening to the Sierra Club and their own drummer, then there is little hope for access in Forest Service and BLM areas. Look at the BOR’s canned responses below. That is what you get when you send an e-mail. We’re providing the answers to the BOR just below the Action Items. The BOR wants no “exclusive use.” Literally, where you might be standing is exclusively used by you. “Exclusive use” is a term designed to get rid of users so the land reverts back to no use, or limited use. Of course, Lake Berryessa is a man made lake. Access to Federal lands is in jeopardy. The Bureau of Reclamation is trying to get rid of “exclusive use.” They say this is an Interior Department policy. The Forest Service is already trying to get rid of “exclusive use.’ What that means is they ultimately get rid of most any use, except those “approved” by the giant green groups. You should know that a lot of the Federal agency people around the country are looking at what happens to the people of Lake Berryessa. If you succeed in stopping this giant land grab, then they will be less likely to move against you and other people using other areas of Federal land. Do you use access to Federal lands? Do you own private land in or near a Federal area? Do you support recreation on our Federal lands? Are you a sportsman, fisherman or hunter? Are you a grazing permittee? Do you own a mining claim? Do you have a cabin special use permit in the National Forests? Do you have any other kind of special use permit with a Federal agency? Do you use boats or motorized watercraft? Answer yes to any of these questions and you need to make calls immediately to stop the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) from getting rid of people who fall under their term -- “Exclusive Use”. This is about a policy by government agencies to remove what they call “exclusive use” which is a code word for getting rid of existing users at Lake Berryessa and many other Federal areas. The Federal agencies are saying that if you have what the BOR and others refer to as “exclusive use”, then “others” don’t have access. That is, of course, nonsense. Actually, this policy greatly reduces public access. What this policy of removing “exclusive use” really means is getting rid of largely all use or limiting use to special interest groups who want all Federal areas made into natural areas. ***** Action Items*** (bury these officials in calls, faxes and e-mails.) -----1. Call, Fax and E-mail -- Secretary of Interior Gale Norton's Chief of Staff Brian Waidman (202) 208-7351 – FAX: (202) 219-2100 - gale_norton@ios.doi.gov or brian_waidman@ios.doi.gov Where is a space between names, it means an underscore. -----2. Call, Fax and E-mail – Deputy Lynn Scarlett - (202) 208-4203 -- FAX: (202) 208-1873 – lynn_scarlett@ios.doi.gov -----3. Call, Fax and e-mail -- Commissioner of Bureau of Reclamation – John Keyes (202) 513-0501 – FAX: (202) 513-0309 – jkeys@usbr.gov Request someone from his office attend the November 19th meeting. Tell him how the BOR FEIS hurts people. -----4. Mark Limbaugh – Assistant Secretary for Water and Science – (202) 208-3186 – FAX: (202) 513-0309 -- mark_limbaugh@ios.doi.gov Request someone from his office attend the November 19th meeting. Tell him how the BOR FEIS hurts people. -----5. Call, fax and e-mail your local congressman. Call any Senator or Congressman at (202) 225-3121. Ask for their fax and e-mail. Ask them to ask the BOR support the Pombo request to delay the Lake Berryessa EIS. Here are some local Congressmen who have a significant number of constituents who will lose property or recreation use at the lake. They need to stand up for their constituents. Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) is doing so. Others need to step forward and insist that the Bush Administration stop this atrocity. Call any of these Representatives at (202) 225-3121. Richard Pombo (R-CA) - Staffer Jesica Carter (202) 225-1947 Fax (202) 226-0861 Mike Thompson (D-CA) - Staffer Jonathan Birdsong (202) 225-3311 fax (202) 225-4335 Wally Herger (R-CA) --Staffer Derek Harley (202) 225-3067 fax (202) 226-0852 John Doolittle (R-CA) - Staffer Jason Larrabee (202) 225-2511 fax (202) 225-5444 Dan Lundgren (R-CA) - Staffer Kevin Holsclaw (202) 225-5716 Fax (202) 226-1298 Tom Lantos (D-CA) - Staffer Ron Grimes (202) 225-3531 fax (202) 226-4183 Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) - Staffer Maggie Gumbinner (202) 225-5161 – fax (202) 225-5163 Pete Stark (D-CA) - Staffer Debbie Curtis (202) 225-5065 Fax (226-3085) -----6. Call and fax the Resources Committee –Water and Power Subcommittee – Kiel Weaver -- (202) 225-8331 – FAX: (202) 226-6953 -----7. Call and fax Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee – Water and Power Subcommittee -- Kelly Donnelly -- (202) 224-4971 – FAX: (202) 228-0541 ***Here’s your message: ----- No Kelo type land grab by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) at Lake Berryessa. -----Stop the Record of Decision on the BOR EIS. Instead, do a new and fair Environmental Impact Statement. -----Stop the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) from using the pretext of “exclusive use” to eliminate users from Federal lands. -----Stop the use of ZONING at Lake Berryessa to reduce or eliminate use. That is the Water Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (WROS). -----Stop the BOR from using selective use of comments in their EIS process so they can no pay attention to users. ----- Insist that the Bush Administration officials listed above get involved and force BOR to take back their faulty Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and do it right. They only listened to the special interest groups. They ignored all the comments from users of the lake. ----- No private property should be taken without compensation. -----The must not remove the 1,300 trailer and mobile homes that cannot be moved under California law. -----They must not remove campsites or reduce access. They’ve already kicked out the Boy Scouts. -----They must allow the resorts that are at the lake to stay there. -----They must not reduce the use of motorized watercraft. This is man made lake. It is not a Wilderness, no matter how much they are trying to create one. ----- BOR must stop the removal of long-term tenants. ----- BOR must stop the discrimination against long-term users and motorized watercraft. -----BOR must throw out the present plan to cut down or eliminate public use and access by the general public, long-term site permittees, boaters, and dock owners. -----Administration officials must require the Bureau of Reclamation be good neighbors at Lake Berryessa. Lake Berryessa is important to you and all other users across America. The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation are sending out a canned response form letter that has many inaccuracies. From BOR canned response: The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation have received and reviewed your e-mails on the Lake Berryessa Visitor Services Plan (VSP). Your e-mails were forwarded to the Mid-Pacific Region for response. Reclamation's preferred alternative proposes to increase public access to Lake Berryessa by developing a diverse range of short-term use facilities. ANSWER: FALSE. Reclamation's preferred alternative reduces the facilities for short-term use. Further all long-term uses will be eliminated under reclamation's plan. From BOR canned response: Recreation opportunities developed under the Visitor Service Plan (VSP) must be compatible and in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, codes, and recreation management policies, including policies regulating exclusive use of Federal property. ANSWER: FALSE. Reclamation's preferred alternative does not follow the Exclusive Use Policy. (The policy of removing “exclusive use.”) Reclamation Manual LND 04-01. 1. Definitions. C. Exclusive Use. Exclusive use is any use that excludes other appropriate public recreation use or users for extended periods of time. Exclusive use includes, but is not limited to, boat docks, cabins, trailers, manufactured or mobile homes, structures, roads, or other amenities that are determined by Reclamation to be exclusive use Reclamation admits that most long-term sites cannot be used for any other public recreation use, yet it is requiring their removal. -----From BOR canned response: Reclamation is not proposing any restriction on the numbers of either motorized or non-motorized watercraft at the lake. ANSWER: FALSE. FEIS pg 1, "the WROS is a zoning classification system ..." (WROS means Water Recreation Opportunity Spectrum in BOR speak. This is bureaucracy run amok.) FEIS pg 110, "Stated another way, parking, launching and boat mooring would be three of the essential factors in determining the number of boats and boaters that could use the new marinas or Capell Cove and hence, the reservoir, at any given time." FEIS pg 131, "Small Island and Big Island would be changed from Rural to Rural Natural Non-motorized zones, and the area south of the entrance to Steele Canyon Cove would be reclassified as Rural Developed. If adopted, these re-classifications would restrict those areas to non-motorized..." WROS (Water Recreation Opportunity Spectrum) pg vii, "My big problem is the number of boats on my lake" ... " go to the boating capacity section in chapter 4" WROS pg 22. "WROS is an inventory planning and management tool. ... As such, it is valuable to the managing agencies ... for the tasks listed ... Decide type and location of visitor management activities. ... Develop visitor capacities. ... Legally justify planning and management decisions." WROS pg 32, "WROS can directly and immediately help manage the current recreation situation by dealing with those inconsistencies ... or by changing the current situation to another desired water recreation opportunity." WROS Chapter 4 pg 78, "Boating Capacity ... to improve visitor capacity decision making affecting the land and waters managed by ... Bureau of Reclamation." WROS pg 94, "Reasonable recreation boating capacity coefficients" Figure 24. WROS pg 95, "A Boating Capacity Range Decision Tool" Figure 25. -----From BOR canned response: Reclamation received 3,480 comment letters and e-mails during the two public review and comment periods on the Draft EIS, held from October 31, 2003, to April 22, 2004, and from February 16 to April 4, 2005. ANSWER: FALSE: The BOR recieved 17,000 signatures on a petition opposing their plan, which they report as one comment. 880 identical form emails were counted as 880 comments. -----From BOR canned response: Reclamation is holding public meetings to ensure the Visitor Service Plan (VSP) is clearly understood and to answer any questions the public may have. ANSWER: FALSE: Reclamation is not answering questions. They are trying to mask their intentions (what is actually written in the preferred Alternative) with VERBAL statements such as "Reclamation is not proposing any restriction on the numbers of either motorized or non-motorized watercraft at the lake." "I can assure you that BOR does not intend to change the number of boats on the lake." WE CAN NOT trust verbal statements, the next bureaucrat will follow what is written, not the verbal promises of someone who is no longer there. Stop BOR from moving forward with the Kelo land grab. Stop BOR from taking land use from little people and turning it over to giant conglomerates. Stop this “exclusive use” nonsense. Keep recreation open on Federal lands. Your message to the Administration along with many others is a powerful weapon. We did not elect you to eliminate recreation and drive property owners out. Remember, by standing up for the victims at Lake Berryessa today, they’ll be there to fight for you tomorrow. The key is to keep the pressure on. Don’t let down. Please forward this message as widely as possible. -- To unsubscribe from this mailing list; please visit http://governance.net and enter your email address.