Email Marin Supervisors to Implement Salmon Enhancement Plan Recommendations IMMEDIATELY!

Action Needed by September 15, 2010

Dear Supporters,

Please call Marin's Supervisors today at 499-7331 and send [and personalize] the letter below!

A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.

After almost 3 years of waiting, on August 10th the Marin Board of Supervisors will take action (or not) in support of a progressive new stream forest protection ordinance to protect habitat for critically endangered coho salmon in one of the most important remaining areas left in California, the San Geronimo Valley in Marin County.

This issue affects all Americans who care about endangered species and want to protect public trust resources, and the biodiversity of public parklands immediately downstream including Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area/ Pt Reyes National Seashore, Tomales Bay and the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

And if you live in Marin, YOUR voice is especially important, because it is Marin Supervisors who will decide!

In the last 3 weeks, the Marin County Planning Commission overhauled a poorly written ordinance and took courageous steps towards streamside protection by recommending the Board of Supervisors adopt an ordinance that protects all native trees within 100-ft of streams in coho watersheds, and protects all native plants within 35-ft of these streams too. Currently, the County allows the destruction of 5 trees every year without a permit along salmon streams, an ecologically reckless and outdated regulation. And, word is out that some of the Supervisors currently do not support stronger protections.

TAKE 3 MINUTES & MAKE THE CALL TO YOUR SUPERVISOR TODAY - Ask that they Support the Planning Commissions Riparian Zone Protection Ordinance that protects all native vegetation near coho streams and that you want the Board to take immediate action on Aug 10th to protect habitat for Marin's salmon. No more stalling. The fate of Marin's coho salmon and their habitat is part of every Supervisors legacy [for better or for worse]... they are an ecological treasure in Marin they are all responsible for.

Call (415) 499-7331
Susan Adams - San Rafael
Judy Arnold - Novato
Charles Mc Glashan - Belvedere, Tiburon, Sausalito, Mill Valley
Hal Brown - Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross
Steve Kinsey - Corte Madera, Larkspur, West Marin

Let us know you made the call & ask your friends and neighbors to make the call too.

WRITE A LETTER to your Supervisor and/or to your local newspaper. Send [and personalize] letter below and SHARE with your friends and neighbors.

ATTEND the SPAWN MEETING on WED Aug 4th from 6-8PM. We will need help organizing calls and writing letters. Contact Carrie (663-8590 ×109) to RSVP and get directions if you can attend or if you can help organize!

ATTEND THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HEARING on TUES Aug 10th with us! Please immediately contact us, Todd (663-8590 ×103), Paola (663-8590 ×111), Carrie (663-8590 ×109), if you can attend or if you can help organize!

Future generations will thank you!

STEP 1 - Fill in your response letter

Your Email Address

Subject

Please Enter Your Letter Here
(Please feel free to edit this letter with your own words, too.)
Dear Marin County Board of Supervisor President Judy Arnold, Vice-President Susan L. Adams, and Supervisors Harold C. Brown Jr., Steve Kinsey, and Charles McGlashan, WDear Marin County Board of Supervisor President Judy Arnold, Vice-President Susan L. Adams, and Supervisors Harold C. Brown Jr., Steve Kinsey, and Charles McGlashan, We urge you to enact an effective tree ordinance to protect the San Geronimo Valley's fragile streamside ecosystem and ensures native forests endure into the future. Doing so will support healthy streams and resilient salmon populations. Sufficient stream protections must be prioritized for the San Geronimo Valley and enacted NOW to maintain healthy streams for disappearing coho salmon. We strongly urge you to support an ordinance that protects ALL native vegetation within 35-ft of all streams, and ALL native trees within 100-ft of all streams (regardless of their size) in watersheds critical to the coho salmon in Marin County. As it stands now, the ordinance provides loopholes to remove younger native trees such as California Redwoods, Douglas Fir and California Bay trees under 10 inches both within the 35 foot and 100 foot protection zones. Protection is needed for younger trees to replace mature and decadent individuals, especially with significant losses incurring from sudden oak death. Allowing for succession within the stream side corridor is ESSENTIAL for a sustained protection of coho. What occurs in the San Geronimo Valley does not occur in a vacuum. It directly impacts tens of thousands of Marin residents and millions of other Americans who annually visit Samuel P. Taylor State Park, National Park Service lands, and Tomales Bay, who come to enjoy our common public resources including viewing salmon, and being able to have their children swim and play in and along Lagunitas Creek. An effective ordinance will be a step in the right direction to improve a watershed that has been degraded by poor land use practices occurring in the San Geronimo Valley creating dangerously high levels of fecal coliform, sedimentation and high levels of nutrients from failed septic systems. Marin's salmon are a state and national biological treasure. If you take meaningful action by passing a strong ordinance, future generations will thank you for your actions taken on behalf of wild salmon and the healthy watersheds we all depend on for our survival and enjoyment. Sincerely,

Sincerely,
Your Name

Address

Step 2 - Send your response