Why Conservationists And Whitewater Boaters Should Oppose The "El Dorado County Streams And Rivers Preservation Act" (Measure W)
A Position Paper From Friends of the River
By Steven L. Evans, Conservation Director
September 4, 1998
The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors recently placed an initiative on the November 1998 ballot that would reduce by 50 percent the number of customers commercial outfitters are permitted to take on guided whitewater raft trips on the South Fork American River. El Dorado County voters will see it on their November ballot as "Measure W."
Measure W arbitrarily restricts commercial boating on the South Fork to no more than 45,820 user days per year (current commercial use is about 90,000 user days per year). The measure claims that this reduction is based on "lengthy studies and review" that simply do not exist. In fact, three years of fact finding, surveys, comments, and meetings have produced a draft South Fork American River Management Plan that permits boating at current use levels and provides more facilities to address access and sanitation needs, while establishing thresholds to deal with future increased use. Because some supervisors didn't like the plan's tentative conclusions, they bypassed the public planning effort with a political measure drafted in secret without any public hearings or input from affected constituents.
In addition to reducing commercial boaters by half, Measure W also defines non-profit organizations such as Environmental Traveling Companions, Friends of the River, and even the Calvary Baptist Church as commercial operations, thereby restricting, if not eliminating, programs that introduce special populations such as the handicapped, youth at risk, and religious youth groups to the whitewater experience.
Measure W proponents are quick to assert that Measure W does not restrict private boaters from the South Fork -- a move that would be patently illegal under the California Constitution. What the county can legally do however is restrict access by prohibiting parking and closing necessary facilities. A closer inspection of Measure W indicates that some of the county supervisors would restrict all boating on the river if they could. In Measure W, the supervisors erroneously assert that increased use of the river somehow poses "a serious threat to the health, safety and welfare" of boaters and property owners, without providing any evidence that boating restrictions are needed for public safety or to protect public resources.
Despite its title, the "El Dorado Streams and Rivers Preservation Act" has little to do with environmental protection. The title alone fraudulently implies that limiting commercial boating will somehow preserve the river, without any proof that boating has impacted the river and without addressing any other potential threats to the river's water quality, fisheries, wildlife habitat, and visual quality. In fact, Measure W focuses exclusively on one use without addressing any other activities that may also impact the river environment.
For example, nearly a half million tourists annually travel local roads to visit the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park and trod the banks of the South Fork where gold was first discovered -- representing about 65 percent of all recreational use along the river. Other activities that could adversely impact the river environment that are not regulated by Measure W include extensive new residential development, suction dredge mining, cattle grazing, upstream logging, and operation of upstream hydroelectric projects.
Notably, the county's own plan to divert significant flows from the South Fork to supply more consumptive water for growing suburbs along Highway 50 is not restricted by the so called "Rivers Preservation Act," even though the proposed diversion could significantly reduce river flows, degrade water quality, harm fish and wildlife habitat, and reduce boating opportunities.
Measure W was crafted by Supervisor Walt Schultz apparently as an act of political retribution. Schultz is a lame duck supervisor defeated in the June election by a candidate who is, in part, supported by commercial outfitters and voters concerned about Schultz' long standing antagonism to the river community and poor environmental record.
There is more than just local political spite in Measure W. It is a key anti-environmental strategy affecting state and national legislation. Measure W's adoption as a ballot measure was strongly supported by Congressmember John Doolittle and retiring Assemblymember Bernie Richter. Both officials have tangled with Friends of the River and other river conservationists over plans to build large, river-killing dams on the American and Yuba rivers. River conservationists have been supported in these true river preservation efforts by some commercial outfitters. In addition, commercial outfitters played important roles in defeating dam plans on the South Fork in the 1980s and overturning the county's original ordinance banning all whitewater boating on the river in the 1970s. Now Doolittle, Richter, and Schultz are attacking the outfitters for their support of river conservation efforts.
El Dorado County voters should vote "NO" on Measure W because:
Private boaters should oppose Measure W because commercial outfitters are a vital link in the river conservation efforts that keep the American and many other California rivers open to boating and other forms of outdoor recreation. Keep in mind that without commercial outfitters:
Don't be misled by the phony environmental rhetoric of Measure W's proponents. If you are registered voter in El Dorado County, please vote "NO" on Measure W. If you are concerned boater, please support the local campaign opposing Measure W.
To find out what you can do to help defeat Measure W, contact Corky Collier, Executive Director of California Outdoors, P.O. Box 401, Coloma, CA 95613, (530) 295-0102, email: corivers@pacbell.net. For more information concerning this issue, check out the web page at http://www.coloma.com/measureW/.
