Editor’s note: We resume with the Jim Hines Chronicles, which reflect the emails by our premier lobbyist on the ins and outs of environmental activism and its opponents. This covers the last two months (Aug-Sept). Jim is vice-chair of our Chapter and Ventura Network. He is a conservation leader who belongs to many wildlife groups and is active with the Ventura Land Trust’s Advisory Council. He is available as a speaker (see Sept. 21 notice).
By Jim Hines
Sept 21: My passion for gardening keeps me sane in the hectic world I work in to protect wildlife and wild places. You can follow me on my social media sites and see pics of my gardens/yard along with my daily positive living philosophy. On Facebook: James Hines and on Instagram: @jhcasitas
Sept 14: Anti-environmental movement will be at various events throughout Ventura County with national news coverage starting Sept. 22-26. It’s sparked by the 7 candidates for the Republican nomination for President and they will fan out across our county for 5 days prior to attending the Republican Presidential Debate at the Reagan Library. The American voter will decide on Nov. 6, 2024, to bring positive light or send our nation into a dark time.
Sept 11: Minutemen militias were present and ready to do battle against government tyranny, but the targets were not the British Army but liberal politicians and climate activists of today. No, I was not transported back to the American Revolution, but to the CA Central Valley where I attended an anti-30X30 event, hoax of climate change, etc. We cannot ignore these people and organizations, we too must gather, we too have to plan and take action.
Sept 5: Derogatory names have plagued our national public lands and now finally positive change is in the air. It might help change the name of the Los Padres National Forest (due to 17th century missionary treatment of the Chumash) to perhaps have a geographical name instead: such as Central Coast National Forest. In Ohio, the Service will be changing the name of Wayne NF (named after an army general who plundered native Americans).
Sept 2: Wildlife Wins: Yesterday turned out well as the Club’s Wildlife Team’s work is bearing fruit. It helped pass out of committee a ban on rodenticides (AB 1322); the Regional Forester told us the Forest Service will not impede the movement of endangered wolves and at a beaver management meeting we asked for a re-entry program to be at Sespe Creek.
Aug 29: A weird feeling to go to sleep each night and know that people are sitting in offices around the world planning how to drill and mine for natural resources in and off the central coast region where we all live. For instance, moves are being made in congress to allow more ocean mining off our coast.
Aug 29: Red Rock Act: Local Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) has joined the growing list of co-sponsors of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (HR 3031). This bill would protect vast sections of YOUR national public lands in Utah. (Ask Jim for the fact sheet)
Aug 25: Marine Sanctuary opposition (see blog post)
Aug 14: Good news about a pack of 5 wolves (a female and her 4 pups) who have moved south from Lassen County to Tulare County among the giant Sequoia groves, the furthest south wolves have ever roamed in over 100 years. Our Sierra Club California Wildlife Team, which I chair, has learned that a number of anti-wolf people (hunting groups, cattle grazing and oil drilling companies) are putting pressure on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (RCA) to have the wolves killed or removed. Wolves are inconvenient and just in the way in their view. Ironically, the wolf pack is now in McCarthy’s region. Wolves are currently protected in CA, but some officials are wanting to delist them on federal lands.
Aug 11: Election season has arrived. I received an invite to attend a fundraiser event for Supervisor Kelly Long, and this week a young man canvassed in my neighborhood seeking public support of the pro-oil initiative on next year’s ballot. He is a paid canvasser and was from Los Angeles.
Aug 7: Uranium here? Tomorrow President Biden will answer the request of tribal nations and organizations like the Sierra Club and designate a large national monument on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to prevent uranium mining in that region of great natural beauty. But the downside for our region is now that this vast area in northern Arizona will be off limits to uranium mining, pressure will now be put on the smaller and lesser-known sites in the west such as Superior Ridge in the Los Padres National Forest in the Lake Casitas Watershed.
Aug 7: The BIG Wild. A group of hikers are making their way east from the Ventura Land Trust’s Big Rock Preserve along the Ventura River, taking them across the Ventura Hillsides Preserves to reach the Upper Ojai region and into the Los Padres National Forest. What a hike ... but there is one BIG parcel of open space land missing to make this hike a reality: The vast Rancho Canada Larga property between Ventura and Ojai. The property is for sale. Rancho Canada Larga is a top priority for protection in the Sierra Club’s Ventura County 30x30 conservation plan and our team will be fanning out speaking with state legislators and members of Gov. Newsom’s staff.
Aug 4: Our adversaries at the Western Oil and Gas Association others are out meeting with each of the five members of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors during the August recess regarding adding the court approved pro-oil language to the county general plan. The Planning staff is recommending (3-2 vote) to reject the staff’s tougher regulations. The judge in the case granted our Sierra Club chapter Club’s Ventura County status but we were never asked to take part in any discussions between the county and the oil industry.
~ Edited by John Hankins