[CINC] Tues. S. Sea Otter Translocation Hearing Continues in S. Barbara

[Marty Flam]

http://www.fws.gov/ventura/newsroom/release.cfm?id=69
 
Dear CINC,
 
Have some time Tuesday evening?  You too can witness history as Paul Petrich and I  did Tuesday when I saw my first Endangered Species Act hearing opening night in Ventura.  Most impressive was the civility shown despite divergent views on ending the Southern Sea Otter Translocation Program. This fascinating hearing continues next Tuesday, October 4 in Santa Barbara's Fleishmann Auditorium.  (Information session 5-6 pm; hearing 6-8 pm). There you can meet engaging and friendly U.S. Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service staff who will answer your questions about our Southern Sea Otters, a keystone species in our marine ecosystem protected as threatened under the ESA in 1977, considered depleted under the MMPA, subjected to translocation in 1987, and protected under California's Fully Protected Species statute.
 
Once ranging from Oregon to Baja California, hunted for their luxurious pelts in the 18th and 19th centuries, nearly extinct by the early 1900s, there are now about 2,700.  Three continuous year running averages must exceed 3,090 for removal consideration from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.
 
Besides providing live testimony, you can also submit comments on a proposed rule, the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), and the Revised Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Rev. Draft SEIS), all in conformity with the settlement agreement of the The Otter Project and Environmental Center complaint filed of Sept. 30, 2009, amended Dec. 23, 2009.
 
Marty F.
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