U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Santa Ana Sucker Wins in Court to Chagrin of Inland Water Agencies

The Santa Ana sucker won in federal court in--where else?--Santa Ana, sucker!Technically, it was the Obama administration's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that Judge James V. Selna ruled for, rejecting the challenge inland water agencies mounted over expansion of the natural habitat for the endanger ... More >>

The Norbertine Code

Monks and canyon dwellers go mano a mano in Silverado Canyon

Sea Otters Get Coastal Commission Assist as Shellfish Groups Take Aim

Environmental and mammal-protection groups are hailing a recent California Coastal Commission vote they say will allow sea otters to swim freely and legally in Southern California waters.This is the result of the commission deciding unanimously last week that a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposa ... More >>

Jimmy Kha, Importer-Exporter, Found with Rhino Horns, Millions in Cash, Gold, Diamonds

​Targeted raids around the country last weekend produced 20 sawed-off rhinoceros horns seized mostly from the Garden Grove home and Westminster business of an importer-exporter accused of running an international smuggling ring, authorities say.And 49-year-old Jimmy Kha kept it all in the family, ... More >>

Santa Ana Sucker Legal Allies Finalized

​Just to be clear, the Santa Ana sucker is NOT a skinny young thing who works Harbor Boulevard. Or, more accurately, the Santa Ana sucker for the purposes of this post is not a tireless working gal/guy.The Santa Ana sucker referenced here is the algae-eating fish whose Santa Ana River habitat prot ... More >>

OCTA Thanks Congress for Transportation Bill Language Friendly to Finishing Toll Road

​When one author praises another on a book jacket, and the second author then does the same on the first author's tome, that's logrolling. It's a practice that's also common among academics and movie critics. In politics, logrolling happens when political favors are exchanged, even among members o ... More >>

Environmentalists and Musicians Lobbying Against NAMM

​ Major environmental organizations have united with musicians in common cause as the NAMM Show in Anaheim commences. They are taking issue with the association's lobbying efforts in support of the RELIEF Act, which environmentalists argue would weaken regulations against illegal logging if passed ... More >>

Santa Ana Sucker, Little Fish at Center of Water Agencies' Suit Against Feds, Gets a Legal Assist

​Inland water agencies may say they want to work with government regulators on a Santa Ana River habitat for a tiny fish known as the Santa Ana Sucker, but as long as the H2O providers press their lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, four conservation groups will press back. The Si ... More >>

Biologist Accuses Inland Water Districts of Spooking Populace Over Expanded Santa Ana Sucker Habitat

​Inland water districts are using unfounded claims, invented projections and a "staged sham" hearing to spread fears to the populace about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) having designated a portion of the Santa Ana River as a "critical habitat" for a little fish known as the Santa Ana su ... More >>

As Ducks Die in OC, Are Gnatcatchers Next?

Small but deadly to land developers.​Readers of the Weekly before there was a Weekly may recall the California gnatcatcher, a cute little bird who managed to stop development in its tracks in Orange County in the early 1990s, cause Donald Bren to forever be saddled with a menacing Mr. Burns squint ... More >>

Santa Ana Sucker Habitat Expansion Sucks, Lawsuit-Threatening Water Agencies Tell Feds

Sucker punched​A dozen water agencies serving nearly 3 million Southern California residents have formally warned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) that it the federal agency does not want to be sued, it must rescind the recent expansion of critical habitat areas for the Santa Ana Sucker, ... More >>

Is That a Song Bird in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

A bulbul sings the song of freedom.Sonny Dong was walking through security at Los Angeles International Airport last month when inspectors noticed something odd: bird feathers and droppings on his socks and bird tail feathers under his pants. Upon closer examination it was discovered the 46-year-old ... More >>

Toll-Road Dissing NOAA Now Fights to Protect Local Steelhead

Perhaps environmentally sensitive locals should withhold sending support to the Sierra Club, the Surfrider Foundation and the Natural Resources Defense Council and instead cut checks to the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was, after all, the NOAA tha ... More >>

241 Toll Road Update

The Department of Commerce has stated their interest in holding a public hearing on the Foothill-South toll road extension, disregarding the impotent raging of Transportation Corridor Agencies counsel Robert Thornton. The LA Times reported on the road's construction cost leaping from $875 million to ... More >>

On the Range

Ridin’, ropin’, rasslin’ & other games of skill & contests of  strength, blazing trails, seeing sights &, of course, Anteaters

Man Bites Frog

OC Board of Supervisors Meeting

Foxes, Henhouses, and the Fashion Police

Just like breaking a leg can take your mind off a toothache, the major traumas the Bush administration has inflicted on the body politic make it easy to forget the lesser damage it's doing.  Or, as Ruth Marcus puts in her column in today's Washington Post, "The tornado of disastrous headlines - ... More >>

Road to Nowhere Fast

Foothill-South delayed until 2011, possibly forever

The Foothills in your Headlights: The Extension approved

Yesterday, the board members of the Foothills/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency voted 12-3 to approve the $875 million Foothills South (241) extension, which will cut through both San Onofre State Beach and the Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy. But that ominous rumbling you hear in the distance i ... More >>

Agran on the Warpath

Indians are the new bogeyman in the war against an already defeated airport

No Mo Moiso

Grassroots campaign aims to stop homebuilder from invading OCs last protected wilderness area

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

Terror Town, USA

The Year in Bits:July - December

Dick of Honor

Blitzkrieg Development

Irvine Co. deploys its troops on eastern border, prepares for war with city of Orange!

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