12/15/06 Subject: DBW Study of Non-Motorized Boating

Hi -- I am working on a project for the California Department of Boating and Waterways (DBW) non-motorized boating in California. As a first step in further planning and potential support for non-motorized boating, DBW seeks to understand how many non-motorized boaters there are in California, the boats they own, and where and why they boat. Another important component of the project is to determine the economic impact of non-motorized boating in California. As part of the overall non-motorized boating study, we are conducting an “active-user” survey of non-motorized boaters. The survey is now online at the DBW web page, www.dbw.ca.gov – the link to the survey is in the middle of the page.

Please let the SPC members know about the survey – we would like to get input from as many non-motorized boaters as possible. Also, if you have members that are not online, but that would like to do the survey, have them contact me, and I will mail them a paper copy.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thank-you,

Wendy Pratt

NewPoint Group
2555 Third Street, Suite 215
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 442-9227
www.newpointgroup.com

Hello North Bay Paddlers:

Please take the time to send our governor a message.....lots of suggestions below...I printed out the form letter and changed a few words here and there and then added our mother bear and cubs encounter just last week on the Wilderness Run. Took only 5 minutes.

Thanks,
Andrea

Here's the alert. Be sure to send to all paddleheads. The bill is ready to be signed by the Governor to protect Cache Creek as a Wild and Scenic river.

The Clock Is Ticking To Save Cache Creek! Ask Governor Schwarzenegger to Sign the Cache Creek Wild & Scenic River Act. He has until September 6 to sign the most important environmental bill of 2005.

Your letter to Governor Schwarzenneger will help convince him to sign AB 1328 – the Cache Creek Wild & Scenic River Act. This important river conservation bill is now on the Governor’s desk after being approved by the California Legislature. The California Constitution gives him 12 days to sign it.

AB 1328 proposes to add 31 miles of Cache Creek in Lake and Yolo Counties to the California Wild & Scenic Rivers System. Wild & Scenic designation of the creek would prohibit new dams and water diversions and help protect the creek’s extraordinary scenic, recreational, wildlife, and fishery values.

Cache Creek is located in the scenic Coast Range northwest of Sacramento. It is one of the most popular whitewater boating streams close to the Bay Area and Sacramento. It supports one of the largest bald eagle and tule elk populations in the state. It is also rich in Native American cultural heritage. The segment proposed for state designation flows largely through public lands managed by federal, state, and local county park agencies.

Sponsored by Assemblymember Lois Wolk (D-Davis), AB 1328 is supported by local county supervisors and city councils, dozens of businesses and conservation groups, and numerous university professors and scientists. It has even been endorsed by the local Chamber of Commerce and daily newspaper. The bill achieved bi-partisan support in the California Legislature.

Please write and send a letter TODAY to Governor Schwarzenegger urging him to sign AB 1328 into law and protecting in perpetuity Cache Creek as a Wild and Scenic River. He has until September 6 to sign this important bill.

Sample Letter:

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor of California
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

Please sign into law AB 1328 (Wolk) – the Cache Creek Wild & Scenic River Act. The bill adds 31 miles of upper Cache Creek to the California Wild & Scenic Rivers System. The bill will help protect one of the largest bald eagle populations in the state, one of the most popular whitewater recreation streams near Sacramento and the Bay Area, and a region rich in Native American cultural heritage.

AB 1328 enjoys widespread support from local elected officials, businesses, scientists, and conservation and recreation organizations. It has been endorsed by the local Chamber of Commerce, the local daily newspaper, and gained bi-partisan support in the California Legislature.

AB 1328 was carefully crafted to ensure that it would not affect local water rights, farms, private property, or efforts to abate mine pollution or control non-native vegetation. Please let me know your position is concerning this important bill.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
(name, address)

Fax your letter TODAY to (916) 445-4633.

Although personally written letters are best, you may also email your letter by visiting: www.govmail.ca.gov

You can also call the Governor’s office at (916) 445-2841 and leave a message urging him to sign AB 1328 (Wolk).

PLEASE WRITE, EMAIL, OR CALL TODAY!

For more information concerning this alert, contact: Steve Evans at Friends of the River, (916) 442-3155 x221, email: sevans@friendsoftheriver.org, or Bob Schneider, Cache Creek Wild, (530) 304-6215, email: bschneider@tuleyome.org.
Andrew Fulks

Visit the Yolohiker web site for trail maps, hikes, and outings in the Putah and Cache creek watersheds.

http://www.yolohiker.org

Another comment period is open for the Lake Berryessa Visitor's Service Plan. Comments may be sent until April 4, 2005.

The plan is available online at //www.usbr.gov/mp/berryessa/index.html

For kayakers, the most useful comments would suggest changes you would like to see at the lake to make the lake more kayak friendly.

To submit comments, you may go to the website for Berryessa Trails and Conservation at http://berryessatrails.org. Comments may be composed and sent by email or by using a form.

Please consider making a comment, however short. Comments are needed for a kinder and gentler lake.

---Herb Howe

In your initial phone call to the trip leader you will be discussing the skills necessary for that particular outing as well as equipment, clothing, and logistics. If you would like to invite a friend, your friend must personally contact the trip leader prior to the trip.

Be on time (or early). Trip leaders often base the trip's launch or put-in time on optimum tide, current, and/or wind conditions. Being on time is not only considerate to the rest of the group but may be essential for a trip's success.

When you go on an Sequoia Paddling Club outing the trip leader is, indeed, the leader, and you are part of a group. Your behavior should reflect this understanding. If you are experiencing any difficulty such as dehydration, hunger, cold, tiredness, seasickness, apprehension, or you simply need some help in assessing how to best deal with the particular water you are in ... SPEAK UP! Think of yourself as being there for each person in the group and as the group being there for you. Then a group can be strong and even an outing with many challenges can become a positive and exciting adventure.

Hello paddlers:

As some of you may know, all concession contracts at Lake Berryessa are expiring and the federal Bureau of Reclamation is planning to redevelop this recreation area. We have until April 22, 2004 to let the Bureau know our desires. If you would like to have non-motorized areas for kayaking with boat-in-campgrounds and public campgrounds where private trailers now sit (on public land!) please take a few minutes to send your comments on this quick and easy online form.
www.berryessatrails.org/eform.htm

Thanks,
Andrea

A little known fact of California’s hydropower deregulation requires PG&E to divest itself of its hydroelectric facilities. According to the current proposal; the powerhouse’s (68), the surrounding watershed lands (140,000 acres), dams (174), the lakes and other assets are to be put up for public auction. PG&E maintain public auction will fetch the best value for the properties. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will oversee and approve of the divestiture plans. The CPUC is investigating several scenarios, retention within a regulated utility, transfer to an unregulated PG&E affiliate, State ownership and others.

Currently PG&E’s vast land holdings have provided access to some of California’s finest backcountry, rivers, and lakes. PG&E’s hydropower system is the largest holding of it’s kind under private ownership in the world. The system controls the flows in sixteen major watersheds on the West slope of the Sierra Nevada and the Southern Cascades.

Once sold at auction the new owners could be a concoction of electric companies, land developers, and private citizens. Once these lands are transferred, nothing may stand between the new owner selling out to a timber company.

In the future, environmentalist groups could be dealing with a variety of land developers and private hydropower companies unlike now where they deal with a single company (PG&E) and a single state commission (CPUC). The new owners could change water releases, changing river flows based on obtaining the best profit during peak hours. Stable and natural river flows could well change when these properties are auctioned off.

Our state lawmakers need to hear from us now. An environmental impact report is due out in September. Much of what is taking place right now is within State Commission rooms and the legislative chambers. The current panic in Sacramento may not be taking the long view and insure environmental stewardship.

Become informed. Available on-line is a copy of "Power Play: The Sale of PG&E’s Hydropower System and the Future of California’s Rivers" It’s a report prepared by the California Hydropower Reform Coalition and Environmental Defense . Let Governor Gray Davis know about your concerns - email graydavis@governor.ca.gov.

Source: Fly Fisherman Magazine, "California’s River Auction", Dick Galland, California Fly Fisher Magazine, "Status of PG&E’s Hydro Sale", Steve Wald

SPC member Ron Swinhart, sailor, canoeist, kayker, and fly fisher, ronraven@pacbell.net.

White Water
by Rand Nash

Deep canyon, walls shimmering in heat,
Parched eyes flow down the hills of gold,
Drawn by the blue coolness, the cool blue
Water rushing wild, the rocky course.
Enchanted, energy filled snow-melt magic,
Churning in white foam, the canyon floor.

Boats like leaves on the water.
Paddles stroking, stirring the honeyed heart of the river,
Moving like water bugs, skittering the surface
Shining, like mercury in the moonlight.
Laughing paddles flash in the foam,
Carving, slicing, delicately caressing the backs of the waves.

Hulls humming with the speed of the river racing
Below, souls soaring, faces smiling above the curve,
The arching gesture of careless power
Moves, graceful in line and form.
We dance and weave from trough to peak,
At one with Natures rhythm.

Hypnotic flowing changing patterns
Guessed by primal intuition,
We strive to know, be for a moment,
These deep blue rivers, foaming rapids,
We join as children, set free in summer,
The waters of joy, wild waters of life.