Anglers have an opportunity to right historical wrongs by writing letters to the Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, urging him to make the correct decision for the Trinity River Basin by adopting the Maximum Flow alternative. "Our opponents - mostly huge corporate welfare agribusiness in the San Joaquin Valley - are heavily financed, lobby extensively and otherwise are very formidable foes," said Leydecker. "So If you never, ever write another letter to the Interior Secretary, please write to him now. This is your last chance to make your voice heard in favor of more water for restoration of The Trinity River Basin and its fisheries."

Babbitt is expected to make his decision by mid-December or later. The decision was supposed to be completed by 1996, so it is long overdue.

When the construction of Trinity Dam was authorized by federal legislation in 1955, the Secretary of the Interior was mandated to insure that fish and wildlife of the watershed were protected. However, this promise was broken by the federal government when they diverted 90 percent of Trinity River to the Central Valley. The steelhead and salmon runs, once some of the largest on the coast, declined dramatically.

However, federal legislation passed in 1984 reiterated the original mandate of the Bureau of Reclamation's to reestablish fish and wildlife to levels immediately preceding the construction of the Trinity Division of the Cental Valley Project.

The passage of the Miller-Bradley legislation of 1992, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, further compelled the government to fulfill its original mandate. This legislation made fish and wildlife a purpose of the federal project for the first time and mandated 800,000 acre feet of water for fish and wildlife.

Anglers should support the "Maximum Flow" alternative of the EIS, which provides for the return of 81 percent of the fishery to Pre-dam flows. The "Preferred Alternative," supported by the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife, NMFS and Trinity County, provides for the restoration of 66 percent of the fishery. Unfortunately, it allows 53 percent of the flows to be diverted.

Virtually all of this water will be diverted to Westlands Water District, where large agribusiness corporations farm selenium-laden soil, polluting Central Valley rivers and the Bay-Delta Estuary while at the same time depriving the Trinity River of much of its water.

In addition, funds slated for the Trinity River restoration are being cut and no funds have been requested by the Interior Secretary for some critical elements for river restoration, including watershed habitat rehabilitation and the replacement of four bridges and the relocation of a few structures downstream of the dam. "If bridge replacement and structure relocation are not funded and accomplished, any decision for increased water will have no meaning because river flows cannot be increased," said Leydecker.

Leydecker also noted that the proposed management of the Restoration Program would be vested primarily in a "Trinity Management Council" accountable to the Interior Secretary. Selection of the Executive Director of the Council is of critical importance. "That person should be selected by you and should be of national stature," he said, "a proven strong leader and unaffiliated with the present program, or any of its current agency - federal, tribal, state, local or Central Valley Project - financial beneficiaries."

If Babbitt fails to make a decision this December, there's no way we know whether we'll have a Interior Secretary that is sympathetic to fish and wildlife, judging from the surrealistic - and still undetermined results of the Presidential Election.

You can send your message now to the Interior Secretary in two ways. First, you can write your own letter to the Honorable Bruce Babbitt, Secretary, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW Room 6151, Washington, DC 20240-0001. Second, you can send a letter to the Secretary through the "Action Alert" at the end of this article.

Our recent campaign against rockfish cutbacks by the Pacific Fishery Management Council and the California Fish and Game Commission generated 1004 letters, and was instrumental in pressuring the Council to defeat draconian proposals that would essentially have kicked rockfish anglers off the water for six months.

For more information, visit the Friends of the Trinity River website - www.fotr.org. There you will find much information on the historical and legal background of the Trinity River Division of the Central Valley Project. For more information, contact Byron Leydecker, chair, at 415-383-9562, or send email to him at: bwl@dnai.com.

It will be quoted in its entirety prefaced by your comments (should you wish to add any) and:

The Honorable Bruce Babbitt, Secretary
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW Room 6151
Washington, D.C. 20240-0001

Dear Mr. Secretary,

Very soon, after nearly 20 years of study and major attempts at restoration, at long last you will be provided with the opportunity to make history and to leave a major legacy in the United States-national model of a restored river basin ecosystem below a federally financed dam.

You have this opportunity because of the original Trinity Division legislation and considerable subsequent law. Your decision is your chance finally to conform to every law ever passed and regarding the Trinity Division. Your decision can reverse the damage inflicted upon the river basin ecosystem, its fisheries and wildlife by construction of Trinity Dam and related facilities.

For almost four decades, excessive water diversions from the Trinity Basin have led to a crippling of the river's ecosystem and to the land and ocean economics of the North Coast of California and Southern Oregon. To restore the river system's fisheries and wildlife in accordance with the law, I continue to support far greater flows than recommended in the Preferred Alternative.

Meanwhile, funds for Trinity Restoration are being cut and no funds have been requested by the Interior Department for some critical elements of river restoration. These are watershed habitat rehabilitation, replacement of four bridges, and the relocation of a few structures downstream the dam. If bridge replacement and structure relocation are not funded and accomplished, any decision for increased water will have no meaning because river flows cannot be increased. This critical responsibility for necessary funding rests squarely on the shoulders of the Interior Department.

Apparently, proposed management of the Restoration Program would be vested primarily in Trinity Management Council accountable to the Interior Secretary. Selection of the Executive Director for the Council is of critical importance. That person should be selected by you and should be of national stature, a proven strong leader and unaffiliated with the present program, or any of its current agency-federal, tribal, state, local, or Central Valley Project-financial beneficiaries.

Since the EIS/EIR clearly demonstrates that the Maximum Flow Alternative provides the best opportunity to restore the Trinity's fisheries as required by law, I urge you to decide upon and promptly to begin implementation of the Maximum Flow Alternative. However, if you should choose the Preferred Alternative, and if funds needed to implement its provisions are not appropriated, you should provide in your Record of Decision for an increase in flows to those of the Maximum Flow regime. Adequate funds have not been appropriated thus far, nor have they even been recommended for appropriation by the Interior Department.

Thank you so very much for your leadership in making certain this long overdue decision soon will be made, and Trinity River restoration will have a chance for fulfillment in accordance with law.