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Legislative Updates 2008

“Then indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute;
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

 — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Sierra Club 2008 Legislative Update #23

June 13, 2008

Hi all!  Not a lot has happened since last week’s update went out, although the Senate did finally let the omnibus energy bill out of the Republican Caucus.  They have not put out any new calendars for Committee of the Whole, so it and several other bills are stuck there now.  The session also stalled this week over the death of Senator Jake Flake, who died last Sunday.  We send our deep condolences to his family.  As I will be out of the office next Friday, you will not be getting an update next week.  Depending on what happens at the Capitol, I may send out something late Wednesday night.

We need to keep up and increase the pressure on the Senate leadership regarding SB1167 NOW: user fee; off-highway vehicles (L. Gray).  It is stuck in the Senate Republican Caucus and as time drags on, the yes votes available for the floor dwindle.  It would be a shame to see the bill die after all of the work and extreme effort it took to get people on the same page and to get the needed improvements for land protection.  SB1167 provides funding for law enforcement and mitigation and restoration of areas damaged by off-road vehicles, plus includes limitations on where new trails can be built with the grant dollars.  It is a step in the right direction to help better protect important public and private lands from irresponsible off-road vehicle activities.  It also includes safety provisions.

Please take the time to email or call Senator Huppenthal and ask him to let this bill out of the Republican Caucus soon, so it can make its way to the Floor for a vote.  You can reach him by clicking on Senator Huppenthal  or by calling (602) 926-5261.  Also contact Senate President Tim Bee and ask him to please help the bill get through the process and to the Floor for a final vote.  You can reach him at Senator Bee or call (602) 926-5683.

HB2766 omnibus energy act of 2008 (Mason, Ch Campbell, McClure, et al.) is ready to go to the Senate Committee of the Whole.  Senator Pamela Gorman has indicated that she is going to try and deep-six it with some amendments.  The biggest challenge will be ensuring that there are enough people on the floor to fight off those amendments.  Please encourage senators to support the bill without the Gorman amendments.  They should not amend on the provisions of HB2017; the bill the governor vetoed which limited actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  HB2766 promotes energy efficiency and clean renewable energy in Arizona.  It requires school districts to reduce their energy consumption by 10% by July 1, 2011, 15% by July 1, 2015 and 20% by July 1, 2020; and it requires that school districts, universities, community colleges, and state agencies purchase 10 percent of their energy from renewable and nonpolluting energy sources.  The bill gives schools flexibility to use the dollars they save on utilities to pay for capital investments that would help save energy.  SUPPORT.

HB2614 renewable energy valuation; expiration extension (Mason, Miranda, O’Halleran, et al) extends the date for the property tax incentive for the valuation of renewable energy equipment from 2011 to 2040.  This awaits action in the Senate Committee of the Whole.  SUPPORT.

HB2156 NOW: railroad projects; review (Paton, Pancrazi) awaits action in the Senate Committee of the Whole as well.  Please ask senators to support this bill as well.  It requires railroads that are considering potential sites for a major rail project to notify the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT).  The railroad has to provide ADOT with the various alternatives for sites and routes and an assessment on the potential impacts to air quality, water resources, areas of historical or geographic significance, and the economic effects on the surrounding communities.  SUPPORT.

Ask senators to oppose HB 2666 aggregate mine reclamation law; exemption (Biggs) when it gets to the Floor.  It exempts sand and gravel pits which are intermittently used for specific governmental projects from aggregate mine regulatory and reclamation mandates.  It is difficult to see why the bill is necessary or why someone doing government projects should get special consideration.  There is already a provision in the current law which allows the mine inspector to grant three subsequent five year extensions before any reclamation has to begin, so someone can delay fixing a problem for 15 years.  This additional exemption is unnecessary and provides another loophole for avoiding reclamation and cleaning up a mess.  There are plenty of opportunities for delays and exemptions in our mining laws, we should not add another.  OPPOSE.

To find your senator’s specific contact information just click on Senators  or you can call (602) 926-3559 or outside the Phoenix area 1-800-352-8404 and just ask for your senator’s office.

Other Volunteer Opportunities!

Support Science-based Management of Mountain Lions on the

KOFA National Wildlife Refuge.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is accepting scoping comments in order to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) regarding management of mountain lions on the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge in western Arizona.  As you may recall, there has been much controversy regarding past actions on the KOFA, including efforts to open it up to mountain lion hunting; construction of water catchments in wilderness with no public notice, review, or any real analysis; and the collaring and killing of mountain lions.  The USFWS is now recognizing that it needs to follow the National Environmental Policy Act and provide the public an opportunity to comment, plus do an analysis, look at the full range of reasonable alternatives, and actually determine if its proposed actions are in any way justified.  We want to encourage USFWS to manage mountain lions in a way that promotes viable and healthy populations of all native species endemic to the KOFA, including mountain lions.

The comment deadline on this was extended and they are now due on June 23, 2008, and should be sent to KofaLionComments@fws.gov or mailed today to Mitch Ellis, Complex Manager, Southwest Arizona National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 356 West 1st Street, Yuma, Arizona 85364.

Please ask the USFWS to do the following in developing its EA:

• Develop a preferred alternative that sustains bighorn sheep, mountain lions, and the full complement of native wildlife species on the KOFA.  If bighorn populations are increasing, then no lethal lion control should occur.  (If the numbers of bighorn sheep are declining, a thorough analysis is needed.  The analysis should question assertions about the population-level impact of mountain lions on bighorn sheep.  Obviously, mountain lions kill and eat bighorn sheep, but even the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s biologists have questioned some of the assertions made in the Kofa Mountains Complex Predation Management Plan.  (See email from Research Biologist Ted McKinney to Chantal O’Brien, Research Branch Chief, dated July 2, 2007, at 5:48 p.m., in which Mr. McKinney questions making assertions that lion predation can have significant population level impacts: 

“I just reviewed the Kofa Mtns Complex Predation Management Plan.  Statement is made in there that several studies have demonstrated that lion predation can have significant population-level impacts. Concerns me somewhat when I see such comments.  Note that Sawyer and Lindzey state that NO studies have clearly demonstrated population-level impacts.  Our Monograph is the 1^st study to address this in the manner suggested by Ballard (in paper cited in the Predator Mgt Plan), and even it suffers from the difficulty in demonstration  such impact.  Findings are suggestive for several studies, but lack inferential capabilities, and generally show lion kills (frequencies, numbers, difference among specific lions, etc.” )

• Provide a detailed description of the biology/ecology of mountain lions on the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge and on surrounding lands.

• Provide a detailed description of the past and present management of mountain lions on the KOFA as well as on surrounding lands.

• Describe any past and present scientific studies pertaining to mountain lions on the KOFA and surrounding lands, including disclosure and analysis of all of the data collected to date.

• Describe the relationship between mountain lions and bighorn sheep on the KOFA including, but not limited to, the geographic range of both species, depredation of sheep by lions, criteria used to define a lion depredation, and the justification for past management actions, lethal and non-lethal, taken against lions believed to have depredated sheep.

• Provide a detailed description of the biology/ecology and status of bighorn sheep, mule deer, other ungulates, and other potential prey of lions on the KOFA and surrounding lands.

• Provide a detailed description of the relationship between climate and predator/prey dynamics on the KOFA and on surrounding lands.

• Provide a reasonable range of alternatives and an analysis for lion management in the draft EA as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. 

• Use the best research that is actually associated with mountain lions and bighorn sheep to determine actions. 

• Consider the long-term predator-prey relationship.  There is no evidence to suggest that mountain lions are recent arrivals on the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge.  Mountain lions and bighorn sheep have co-evolved, and mountain lions play an important role in the ecosystem.  This should be recognized in any planning and proposed action.

• Consider that the mere fact that mountain lions kill bighorn sheep does not justify their removal as such predation is entirely natural and other factors play an important role.  While the decline in the region’s bighorn sheep population at least temporarily prevents the Arizona Game and Fish Department from using the population as a translocation source, it does not provide reason to engage in a lethal lion control program.

• An EA should consider all of the factors affecting the decline in bighorn sheep and should not merely focus on mountain lion predation.  Furthermore, it should consider the recent increase in population. (The 2007 survey indicated an increase to 460 sheep, up from 390 in 2006.  See 2007 Sheep Survey.)

• Disclose the best available evidence pertaining to the genetic diversity of lions on the KOFA and on surrounding lands compared to other lions in the state and region.

• Consider the impacts of water catchment construction on the bighorn sheep, mountain lions, and other wildlife species on the Refuge.

Jun 28-29 (Sat-Sun) "C+" Sierra Ancha Wilderness trail maintenance trip.  Please join us for a service trip in the beautiful Sierra Ancha Wilderness. This is a great opportunity to help out and also beat the heat, if you are one of the desert dwellers.  We will be doing routine trail maintenance on the Reynolds Creek Trail (#150).  This will mainly consist of brush removal and the sawing of deadfall trees.  As we are working in wilderness, we will be using minimum tools.  Participants will get to visit scenic Knoll's Hole and the surrounding aspen forest.  This trail ranges in elevation from 6,200 to 7.600 feet so temperatures should be moderate at this time of year.  Most people are driving up early Saturday morning.  We will be camping near the trailhead and the Sierra Club will provide snacks, drinks, and Saturday night dinner.  For reservations, meeting time and place contact your leaders Sandy Bahr at sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org or (602) 253-8633 or Jim Vaaler at (602) 553-8208 or jimvaaler@msn.com.  

Conserve Arizona’s State Trust Lands – If you would like to help get the Conserving Arizona’s Land and Water initiative on the ballot for this November, please contact me about getting a petition to circulate.  They are due at the Secretary of State’s office on July 3, so there is limited time remaining, but still enough time to gather 15 signatures from friends and family to fill one petition. 

Thank you for taking action on these important issues!  For more information on bills we are tracking, go to http://arizona.sierraclub.org/political_action/tracker/.  To email legislators go to http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp.  If you are not sure who your legislators are, please go to http://www.vote-smart.org   (You will need your 9-digit zipcode.) or call the House or Senate information desks.  If you're outside the Phoenix area, you can call your legislators’ offices toll free at 1-800-352-8404.  In the Phoenix area call (602) 926-3559 (Senate) or (602) 926-4221 (House).  Correspondence goes to 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890.  For more information on legislation go to http://www.azleg.gov.

All 2008 Legislative Updates

Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633