A group of landowners, business owners and residents of Trinity County have sent a letter to the Office of the Inspector General at the US Department of the Interior, saying that while they support funding restoration programs for the Trinity River’s salmon and steelhead runs, they do not support the current restoration efforts as set forth by the Trinity Management Council (TMC) and administered by the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR).
“The managing entities of this program – the Department of Interior (DOI), TMC and USBR – are the problem, not
part of the solution. They have failed to respond to recommendations and make changes to the Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) that would allow it to achieve its avowed goals. …
To date, more than $300 million in public funds have been spent under the TRRP. Meanwhile, the fishery has declined precipitously during the 23 years that have passed since the 2000 Trinity Record of Decision was signed. …
The failure to implement Adaptive Management is due directly to these conflicts of interest and lack of public involvement. Moreover, several reports commissioned by USBR have identified TRRP’s poor performance and the existing conflicts of interest; they are hardly a recent revelation. But despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on these reports, DOI and USBR have done nothing to rectify these conflicts of interest. …
In short, the TMC has ignored internal and external programmatic review, scientific review and public sentiment and comment while purposefully flaunting state and federal law. … ”
Here is the full letter:
Trinity Citizen Ethics Complaint on TMC to USDOI IG