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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday that it will not grant an emergency endangered species listing to the Clear Lake hitch, however, a listing under the agency’s regular process could still happen after a species evaluation is complete in two years’ time.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said it will continue to invest in projects that support the hitch’s recovery while moving forward with its full evaluation of the species scheduled to be completed by January 2025.
Lake County News reached out to Sarah Ryan, environmental director for the Big Valley Pomo on Tuesday, to ask for the tribe’s comment. However, as of press time, the tribe did not offer a formal response to the federal emergency listing decision.
Meg Townsend of the Center for Biological Diversity, who has been working on the organization’s efforts to save the hitch, said it’s unfortunate that Fish and Wildlife seems to believe that an emergency listing is only for extremely rare situations.
“We really believe the hitch should have qualified,” Townsend said.
The hitch, also known as the “chi” to Lake County’s Pomo tribes — for whom it’s traditionally been a primary food source — is one of Clear Lake’s native fish.
It’s been listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act since 2014.
In late 2020, Fish and Wildlife declined to list the fish federally, which led to a lawsuit seeking reconsideration filed in August 2021 by the Center for Biological Diversity — whose work led to the state listing.
In recent years, as the back and forth about the federal listing has taken place, tribes and other observers have reported a major decline in hitch numbers, a situation that’s largely been attributed to climate change, habitat loss, a series of drought years and poor water quality in Clear Lake and its tributaries.
In November, the California Fish and Game Commission wrote to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to request emergency listing of the hitch under the Endangered Species Act.
Tribal concerns for the hitch’s survival led them to join with the Center for Biological Diversity to advocate for that emergency listing action in December following a summit on the hitch situation.
In February, the Board of Supervisors proclaimed a local emergency for the hitch.
Then, in March, apparently bolstered by high water in Clear Lake and its tributaries, the hitch appeared by the thousands in local creeks as they began their annual spawning run.
After considering the immediacy of the threats to the species, Fish and Wildlife said its review of the hitch’s current situation of the species “does not indicate that an emergency under the Endangered Species Act exists at this time,” according to the Tuesday statement.
“The Service is committed to helping the Clear Lake hitch regardless of its federal listing status,” said Michael Fris, field supervisor of the Service’s Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. “We will continue to monitor the species closely and work collaboratively with partners on projects that contribute to conserving the species.”
The agency’s Tuesday statement also noted, “While the species’ population numbers in Clear Lake are troubling, many of the issues affecting Clear Lake and its associated tributaries are chronic and have no immediate solution or need further investigation to determine an appropriate solution. The emergency listing provision is effective when there is a clear threat that can be addressed expeditiously by regulatory authorities and has only been used a handful of times in the history of the Endangered Species Act.”
While current data show the hitch population in Clear Lake is declining, the population in nearby Thurston Lake continues to successfully spawn and includes fish ranging in age from juvenile to adult. Hitch have also been reported in Blue Lakes, Fish and Wildlife reported.
Fish and Wildlife said it is funding several studies and working with local parties on a conservation strategy for the hitch.
To date, the agency said it has provided more than $1.2 million in grants and other funding to the U.S. Geological Service and Lake County tribes for monitoring, research and habitat restoration projects related to the Clear Lake hitch.
In April, the Service provided a $250,000 grant to USGS to support a mapping effort of streams and tributaries flowing into Clear Lake and identify where barriers to spawning hitch exist. This data will help Fish and Wildlife and other organizations prioritize efforts to remove barriers that impede the spawning activity.
Fish and Wildlife said it is committed to completing a conservation strategy for the hitch in 2023. The strategy identifies goals, objectives and actions that are needed to improve the species’ habitat. It also addresses the issues that are impacting the Clear Lake hitch and the watershed, including drought and climate change.
The agency said the strategy was developed alongside many partners, including tribes, local organizations, and state, federal and local government agencies. It views the conservation strategy as a recovery plan and intends to complete and implement the strategy while completing the formal evaluation of the species.
Asked if a listing is still possible depending on the assessment, Meghan Snow, a public affairs officer for Fish and Wildlife, told Lake County News in an email, “That is a possibility, but it's too early to determine. The Service will issue a call for data on the Clear Lake hitch this summer. The data collected through this process will be evaluated and integrated into the Service’s assessment of the species. The agency is on track to complete its evaluation of the Clear Lake hitch by January 2025. If the evaluation indicates that listing the species is warranted, the agency will propose listing at that time.”
The Center for Biological Diversity hopes Fish and Wildlife will do “the right thing” once the assessment is completed and list the hitch, Townsend said.
She added, “Listing doesn’t mean a species is saved.”
Townsend said it’s necessary to provide protections for species and habitat.
However, for the hitch, Townsend said no science-supported evidence is showing that protections are working. “We really need to see a population rebound this year.”
That could happen given the significant rainfall Lake County has experienced. Or, Townsend added, the recent developments with the hitch population could just “be a blip on the trend toward extinction.”
In the meantime, she acknowledged that governments are giving money to the effort to save the hitch, which came about because groups like hers, working with the tribes, called attention to the fish’s plight.
“It’s really all hands on deck,” she said.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday evening approved amending a contract for a study to look at Lakeport Boulevard, one of the city’s busiest and expanding commercial corridors.
Public Works Director Ron Ladd asked for, and received, the council’s unanimous approval for the first amendment to the city’s professional services agreement with WMH, hired in the fall to conduct the Lakeport Boulevard at Bevins Street project study report at a cost not to exceed $147,014.
Ladd’s written report for the meeting said the new contract will cost $157,986.
The project’s expanded scope, while being more expensive, “will provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the corridor and provide cost estimates that future development will be required to contribute to for their fair share of traffic improvements to the corridor,” Ladd explained in his written report to the council.
“This has been a challenging project, to say the least,” Ladd told the council, adding, “We have a lot going on in the Lakeport Boulevard corridor.”
When the city initially issued its request for qualifications for the study in June of 2022, Ladd said the plan had been to study the entire Lakeport Boulevard corridor, including the on- and offramps, the east and west sides of Highway 29, future development on both sides of the highway and potential impacts on Bevins and Martin streets.
At the same time, he said the city was aware that the state was moving forward on its courthouse project.
The new $73.1 million courthouse will be built at 675 Lakeport Blvd. The Judicial Council of California reported that construction is expected to begin in February 2024 and be completed by October 2025.
A state priority project list created in 2019 put Lakeport’s courthouse at No. 1 out of 80 projects statewide.
Ladd explained that the city had hoped to use the contract to assist the state in the development of the new courthouse project and so the original, broader scope to the study was scaled down.
Part of the city’s goal had been to introduce a traffic alternative to the state’s proposed plan that will impact the intersection of Lakeport Boulevard at Larrecou Lane, Ladd said.
However, the state presented the city with what Ladd said were “aggressive” timelines and the city, in turn, thought the state was being narrow-minded about some of the traffic design options and wasn’t willing to look at the city’s proposals.
In the end, Ladd said staff felt it was better to go back to the project’s original scope of assessing the entire corridor.
While the cost will be higher, it will provide them with a better study for traffic improvement needs, position them in the future for funding for projects in the corridor, help the city to collect development fees and pursue partnerships with other agencies.
Ladd said he’s been involved every step of the way and the situation is still confusing to him as well.
“There are a lot of moving parts here,” said Ladd.
Mayor Stacey Mattina said Ladd was doing a great job, and that it was the courts that didn't make sense, a sentiment with which City Manager Kevin Ingram agreed.
Ingram said the change in plans allows the city to take a step back. He pointed out that the city’s previous work to complete a revitalization plan helped bring in millions of dollars for the new Lakefront Park’s development.
Similarly, he said the Lakeport Boulevard corridor study will position the city for getting the construction aspects of improvements to the area into the Lake Area Planning Council’s work plan in the future.
It will also help the city determine appropriate developers fees. “The developers want to know what their costs are up front. They don't like the surprises later,” said Ingram, adding that developers would prefer to have a study like this one so they can get that information.
Even though the study’s cost is a significant outlay to the city in the beginning, “This will be paid for through future development,” Ingram said.
There is growing development pressure along Lakeport Boulevard. Ingram said it also makes sense to have Caltrans involved in the planning process from a comprehensive standpoint.
Councilman Brandon Disney said he could think of several new projects — including a possible new pool and “The Hub” commercial development along nearby Parallel Drive — that would impact Lakeport Boulevard.
Ingram said Lake County Tribal Health also has met with the city several times to discuss its expansion plans, which also would affect the area.
“The future of this area is going to be pretty busy,” said Disney. While it’s an expensive study, “There’s a lot going on here,” he added.
Councilman Michael Froio moved to approve the amendment, which the council approved 5-0.
Also on Tuesday, the council presented a proclamation designating May 1 to 7 as Youth Week, and received presentations from Supervisor Bruno Sabatier on the Public, Educational and Governmental, or PEG, channel and the upcoming Shakespeare at the Lake event by the event’s director, John Tomlinson.
In other business, the council adopted a resolution revising the City of Lakeport Legislative Policy to include reference to the League of California Cities 2023 state and federal advocacy priorities and approved a services agreement with OpenGov for permitting, licensing and procurement software.
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Tribal leaders, law enforcement representatives and others shared concerns at an informational hearing and a news briefing today about the continuing Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis with lawmakers and shared that despite new resources to address the issue, California now has two tribes so disturbed by violence against their members that they have declared states of emergency.
Round Valley Indian Tribes declared a State of Emergency in April, after two members were found murdered, the latest victims in Northern California of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People, or MMIP.
The tribal action was preceded In December of 2021 by the Yurok Tribe in Humboldt County.
The Yurok Tribe action followed seven women reported being approached by possible traffickers and the still unsolved case of Emmilee Risling, reported missing in October 2021.
The Yurok Tribe has been at the forefront in confronting the crisis and called for a summit of California tribes and others held last year to address the issue.
Summit participants called for implementation of a public notification alert when Native Americans go missing — the 2022 “Feather Alert” law, similar to the Amber Alert, authored by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino).
“The July 2021 Year 2 Progress Report about Missing and Murdered people reported that more than 150 cases were documented throughout the state, which places California among the top five states with the highest number of cases,” Ramos said.
He added, “The National Crime Information Center reported 5,712 missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls in the U.S. with only 116 of cases logged by the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. We can’t stop the violence with that lack of scrutiny and awareness.”
Yurok Tribe Chairman Joe James, who testified at the hearing, stated at a Day of Action to raise awareness on the MMIP issue, “We got some work to do and again, that’s why we’re here today. It’s us and we are moving this forward as tribes, as a state, as advocates, as organizations coming together, ringing that bell.”
Hearing participants included tribal chairpersons from around the state including James and Randall Britton, Rhonda Pope Flores of the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, and others as well as Catalina Chacon Commissioner on the California Commission of the Status of Women and Girls, Yurok Tribe Chief Judge Abby Abinanti and Dorothy Alther, legal director, California Indian Legal Services.
Ramos said this year’s commemoration of MMIP Day included historic observations such as the Capitol Dome illuminated in red from May 2 to May 5 and the first ever Candlelight Vigil scheduled for May 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the Capitol’s West Steps.
“We can’t stop pressing for solutions to this crisis. Too many lives have already been lost,” he said.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would cut spending, in part by expanding work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, through which nearly 43 million low-income Americans get help buying groceries. The House bill calls for this policy to apply to adults as old as 55, while today this policy only applies to adults under 50. Some Democrats, in contrast, are seeking to eliminate work requirements altogether.
The bill passed by a 217-215 vote, with all but four Republicans in favor and every Democrat opposed, on April 26, 2023. Tied to a standoff over raising the debt ceiling, the bill would also make Medicaid – the U.S. program that helps low-income and disabled people get health care – contingent on work requirements for some eligible Americans. It’s not clear whether that’s possible, since a federal court has struck down similar measures enacted in some states previously.
Since the Clinton administration, the government has required that at least some people getting SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, do paid work, get job training or volunteer – otherwise they can’t continue receiving benefits. Those requirements were paused in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are set to return in July 2023 regardless of the fate of the House bill – which is unlikely to pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
I’m a member of a team of economists studying the social safety net and work. Because the rationale for work requirements is that they encourage adults who are able to work to earn more money and become more economically self-sufficient, we wanted to determine whether this policy boosts employment and earnings. We also looked into whether SNAP work requirements lead low-income adults to lose their benefits.
We found that the policy doesn’t make people more likely to find a job or make more money, but it does make Americans who could use help buying groceries less likely to get it.
Tracing a similar case study
Adults with SNAP benefits who are subject to work requirements must document at least 80 hours per month of paid work, job training or volunteering. Otherwise, they can get the benefits for only three months within a three-year period.
Before the pandemic, these rules applied to most so-called “able-bodied” adults without children who were under 50, and that policy will again apply in July. There are some exceptions, such as if the person with benefits is caring for kids younger than 6, has disabilities incompatible with holding a steady job or is in a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program.
To determine this policy’s impact, we studied SNAP, employment and earnings data in Virginia from both the period of the state’s previous suspension of work requirements and afterward.
Virginia, like many other states, suspended work requirements for several years beginning in the Great Recession. During this period, adults could enroll in the program and continue to receive benefits regardless of their employment status.
In October 2013, however, Virginia reinstated work requirements, and they remained in effect in most counties for several years. In those areas, adults under the age of 50 without dependents who were considered able to work needed to either satisfy work requirements or receive an individual exemption to keep their SNAP benefits, while similar adults over the age of 50 did not.
We followed both age groups over time, comparing whether they worked and were getting SNAP benefits both before and after work requirements returned.
No employment boost
By comparing older and younger adults previously getting SNAP benefits, we found that work requirements did not increase employment or earnings 18 months after their reinstatement.
We also detected nearly identical patterns of employment before and after work requirements were reinstated for people in both age groups.
Adults without dependents, whether or not they lost their SNAP benefits to the resumption of work requirements, were earning at most an additional US$28 per month.
Many lost their benefits
But we did find that work requirements dramatically reduced the number of people enrolled in SNAP. Among the adults subject to work requirements once they were restored in 2013, over half lost their benefits because of the policy.
We also found that work requirements disproportionately led people who had faced great economic hardships, such as those without housing or earned income, to lose benefits.
Only 44% of the currently or formerly homeless people getting benefits remained enrolled in SNAP 18 months after work requirements were reinstated, compared with 64% of everyone else, our estimates suggest. Similarly, only 59% of those with no earned income remained enrolled, relative to 73% of those with prior earnings.
Because they are likely to qualify for an individual exemption to work requirements, adults with a history of a disability were more likely to retain benefits compared with others.
Adults kicked out of SNAP because of work requirements typically stood to lose $189 in benefits per month – the most a single person could obtain at the time. It also amounted to about two-thirds of their gross income.
We studied work requirements in Virginia because of the availability of detailed data on both earnings and SNAP benefits.
Although work requirements enforcement varies across states, we believe that our results are likely to be representative of the impacts of this policy, since SNAP recipients in Virginia look similar to nationwide averages on most demographic characteristics except race.
Our findings do suggest that work requirements restrain federal spending by reducing the number of people getting SNAP benefits.
But our work also indicates that in today’s context, these savings would be at the expense of already vulnerable people facing additional economic hardship at a time when a new recession could be around the corner.
Kelsey Pukelis, Ph.D. Student in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.