Email Marin Supervisors to Implement Salmon Enhancement Plan Recommendations IMMEDIATELY!

Action Needed by April 15, 2010

Sign the petition below to the Marin County Board of Supervisors and then SPREAD THE WORD TO YOUR FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS & COLLEAGUES!
Photo: Susan Farrar, Creek Naturalist and Nature Photographer

Dear Supporters,

Critically endangered coho salmon need your help right now! With Marin County's temporary streamside building moratorium about to expire, and coho facing an extinction crisis, we need to strongly urge Marin Supervisors to take immediate action before it's too late.

Here are 2 ways you can TAKE ACTION!
1. Fill out and send the letter below to the Marin Board of Supervisors and SHARE WITH FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES!
2. Give a generous tax-deductable donation by clicking HERE so we can organize more grassroots support before it's too late.

Call us (415.663.8590 X111) if you can volunteer your time to help us with this campaign at our office, in your local neighborhood and at community events.

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, and Supervisors Susan L. Adams, Harold C. Brown Jr., Steve Kinsey, and Charles McGlashan, I congratulate the County on the completion of the San Geronimo Valley Salmon Enhancement Plan (SEP) and on you recent vote to accept the SEP as complete. We now urge you to move swiftly to turn its science-based guidance into meaningful policy to protect critical streamside habitat and function and help our critically endangered coho salmon survive. The SEP reviews the best available science and makes clear that the continued loss of critical streamside habitat and recovery of endangered coho are not compatible, and past, current and future actions in the San Geronimo Valley may well determine the fate of this endangered species. Located in the headwaters of the Lagunitas Watershed, this area represents 9% of the watershed, yet supports up to 50% of the spawning activity and 30% of the coho that survive to migrate back out to sea. What actions you take here are critical to the recovery of coho salmon. I support common sense rules that are equitable to San Geronimo residents, including providing help and incentives to improve land use practices that benefit the community, individuals and the environment. I also ask you to recognize that you have a legal obligation to ensure land use activities in the San Geronimo Valley do not degrade the important natural resources which lies downstream and is directly connected to Lagunitas Creek, which runs through State and federal public lands. 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 that include viewing salmon, and being able to have their children swim and play in and along the Lagunitas Creek that is not degraded by the documented dangerously high levels of fecal coliform, sediment and nutrients from failed septic systems, and poor land use practices occurring in the San Geronimo Valley. Therefore, we urge the Board of Supervisors to immediately: 1. Stop the loss of critical riparian habitat that protect salmon resources and filter pollutants. Implement ironclad streamside buffers that eliminate current loopholes and prevent any further destruction of critical habitat for coho. 2. Enact a Native Riparian Forest Management Ordinance that protects the Valley's fragile streamside ecosystem and ensures viable, native forests endure into the future to support of healthy streams and salmon populations. 3. Fund ecologically meaningful voluntary conservation incentives to help existing landowners achieve restoration goals. Marin's salmon are a state and national biological treasure. Future generations will thank you for the actions you take 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