FOR SALE:  OCEAN LAND

Environmentalists are now targeting the purchase of fishing boats, fishing permits, and possibly even underwater ocean land, all in effort to curb human activity in the Pacific Ocean. This proposal pits wealthy environmental groups squarely against California fisherman, not unfamiliar enemies. Most troubling, yet unsurprising, is the fact that the proposal looks to employ state bond money to fund these efforts.

Much like the environmental land grab presently being experienced in the Sacramento Valley, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Oceans Conservancy are seeking to expand Proposition 50 to include funding to buy fishing boats, fishing licenses, to pay for the cost of environmental studies, and to possibly lease underwater land containing prime fish habitat. This proposal would likely make large areas of the Pacific Ocean off the California coast restricted, effectively banning fishing and other human activities. Supporters of the proposal include The Nature Conservancy’s California Coastal Marine Program. It is posited by the environmental community that population growth and over-fishing are threatening the health of our oceans. To promote their proposal, environmental groups cite a $5.5 million report from the Pew Oceans Commission, which also recommends a Cabinet-level ocean council to oversee this effort.

Prop. 50, a $3.44 billion bond measure passed in November 2002, dedicates said funds to protecting the state’s coastlines and wetlands, and restoring its bays, estuaries, and coastal waters. As such, for this "ocean-real estate market" to proceed, the Bond would have to be expanded by the state legislature, and then again by California voters this coming November.

This course of action sounds all too familiar. Here in the Sacramento Valley, where agriculture is the economic foundation, environmental groups like The Nature Conservancy have been tapping public bond money to purchase farms and plant habitat, to the detriment and dismay of local interests. In many cases, these lands have been turned over to state or federal agencies, oftentimes resulting in unpaid in-lieu-taxes, third party economic impacts, negative impacts on neighboring farms, reduced public access, flood control system degradation, and heightened regulatory concerns. Despite local opposition to these bond measures and loud criticism of these practices, the environmental corporations and state and federal agencies proceed, unashamed and undeterred.

In the opinion of Family Water Alliance, these environmental bond propositions have been promoted by misinformation campaigns, resulting in farmers actually having to pay for imprudent proposals that work to harm our business and communities. These national environmental corporations have already targeted farmers; it appears that the fishermen are next. Let us not be fooled again. #