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URGENT ATTENTION!   MLPA   Process And The Mendocino Coast: Download the 07 21 09 informational brochure  Seaweed Rebellion  9 page PDF 1.13mb The Blue Ribbon Task Force Panel Of Fisheries Experts 071509 Press Release DFG The next steps in the planning process will be to appoint a science advisory team, a panel of highly-distinguished science advisors who ... WE INTERRUPT THIS TEXT LINE WITH NEWS of another hijack of the process. Cindy Gustafson not only was president of the state Fish and Game Commission, but she also was considered a swing vote on a five member panel that faces some critical votes regarding California's resources. Cindy resigned on a Friday, and by Monday morning her position had been filled by Don Benninghoven (a sure swing vote the other direction) and his seat on the Blue Ribbon Task Farce of Fisheries Experts, was filled by Catherine Reheis-Boyd, Chief of Staff and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association. Read the full August  RDARS 2009 Commission Report  58kb PDF. The game, their game is rigged. The vote on August 5th, 2009 went with the BRTF proposal, not the communities on the coast, or the Stakeholders Interest Groups proposal. The last appointed  MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Farce  will make a final recommendation regarding north coast MPA proposals to the commission near the end of 2010. But their legal authority is being challenged on the North Coast by coastal city and county governments, harbor districts, fishing groups, environmentalists, businesses, and tribes! A COUPLE OFTEN REPEATED QUESTIONS: WHY IS THERE A BRTF? AND WHO are they, what are their common interests? The Blue Ribbon Task Force is an appointed body of 'fisheries experts' which answers to no one and is the link between the public and the Fish and Game Commission! Created by an MOU but individually appointed by Mike Chrisman, the CA Resources Secretary. Well the MOU goes like this, or at least as amended goes like this: Creation of a BRTF was initially stipulated in a 2004 memorandum of understanding (MOU) to which the California Resources Agency, DFG, and Resources Legacy Fund Foundation were parties. The MOU created a public-private partnership, known as the MLPA Initiative, to help the state implement the MLPA. One element of the initiative was a pilot project along the central coast Pigeon Point in San Mateo County to Point Conception in Santa Barbara County. A second MOU was signed in December 2006 for the purpose of continuing the public-private partnership, including a task force, in the north central coast Alder Creek in Mendocino County to Pigeon Point in San Mateo County. And an amendment to the second MOU continues the partnership through the south coast study region Point Conception to the California-Mexico border in San Diego County, including offshore islands, through the north coast study region California-Oregon border in Del Norte County to Alder Creek and to begin planning in the San Francisco Bay study region Golden Gate Bridge to Carquinez Bridge. Term: Each member of the task force shall serve for the duration of the MLPA South Coast Project, through December 2009, or until relieved of duties. Each member shall serve at the pleasure of the secretary. Secretary for Resources Mike Chrisman Announces Marine Life Protection Act Initiative's South Coast Study Region Blue Ribbon Task Farce Aug. 7, 2008. The Seaweed Rebellion and North Coast Fisheries Take a Stand on the MLPA - Join Us Start here  California is taking a regional approach to redesigning MPAs along its 1,100 mile coastline  if you are new to being processed. Official individual BRTF member bios are here  http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/brtf_bios_sc.asp Astral Arts Mendocino Home   Learning Center Links   ORCA   Mendocino Seaweed Sea Palm, Mendocino Nori, Pacific Nori, Mendocino Wakame, Pacific Wakame, Pacific Dulse, Bull Kelp, Sea Whip Fronds, Ocean Ribbons, Kombu, Sweet Kombu Astral Arts Mendocino registered as a Mendocino County business in the Spring of 2003. All artwork, media, audio, video, projet series names and individual titles are Copyright Protected ©2003 ©2004 ©2005 ©2006 ©2007 ©2008 ©2009 Author: Thomas DiFiore. All business logos and product line artwork, are marks with specific fonts used in the identification of goods or services as used in commerce, and are trademarks of the author or Astral Arts Mendocino.