Will lawsuits follow MLPA adoption?
The Fish and Game Commission is expected to adopt a network of newly created marine protected areas (MPAs) along the Southern California coast and island this Wednesday (Dec. 15) during its meeting in Santa Barbara at the Hotel Mar Monte located at 1111 East Cabrillo Blvd. The fishing closures are part of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative, a process privately funded by charitable trusts that have been using the collective might of their wealth to steer an environmental agenda. To achieve that end, much of what has been hailed by state officials as "an open and transparent" process has taken place behind closed doors and manipulated so as to avoid state laws governing public meetings.

Bob Fletcher, past president of the Sportfishing Association of California and former Deputy DFG Director and Pacific Fishery Management Council member, was a stakeholder in the South Coast Project slated for approval and was so disgusted by the obvious closed door machinations that he successfully filed suit to gain access to the messages transmitted between the official groups that ran the process, including the Blue Ribbon Task Force, Science Advisory Team and the Department of Fish and Game.

Sources say MLPA Executive Director Ken Wiseman has refused to give up critical interactions with the funding resources, but DFG records turned over so far have already produced "smoking guns" that not only reveal "offline" negotiations but intent by those involved to destroy or cover up evidence of such transactions.

It is well known that an attorney(s) representing the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans, which Fletcher is associated with, will be on hand for Wednesday's meeting and that it's possible that details of pending litigation against the state could be revealed.

There is little chance, however, that the adoption will be derailed. Make that practically no chance, although it has also been rumored that newly-appointed commissioner Jack Baylis finally had a chance to check out the Environmental Impact Report and was dismayed to find out it was just as poorly put together as critics maintained. The final certification of that document -- which must occur before the plan can be adopted -- is the first item on the agenda. That vote and any discussion will indicate the tone of the day.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the El Cabrillo Room. There will undoubtedly be a strong showing on the part of the well-funded professional environmentalists-- although it is hoped that they leave behind the busloads of school children who at the last meeting mistook the California coast with the coral reefs of the Phillipines.

All attendees who wish to comment have been strongly urged by commission staff to choose representatives to make a unified statement and avoid repetition. There is little chance of that occuring either. Pompous posturing, on the other hand, is entirely inevitable.

Rich Holland's Roundup