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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A stoplight being installed on Highway 53 and Olympic Drive is on track to be ready for activation next spring.
Due to a high collision rate at the intersection, one of the entry points into the city of Clearlake, in early 2010 Caltrans announced its plans to install a stoplight there.
The new traffic signal is part of a larger rehabilitation project along Highway 53 that resumed early in August after being on hold for eight months due to the original contractor defaulting, as Lake County News has reported.
Caltrans said the project was awarded to a new contractor, Teichert Construction of Davis, before work resumed last month. The total project is set to be completed next fall.
Caltrans spokesman Phil Frisbie told Lake County News that Caltrans had intended to ask the new contractor to begin with a focus on completing the widening near Olympic Drive so the new traffic signal could be activated. However, he said the new contract with Teichert took longer to approve than anticipated.
“With the late start of work this summer, we realized we must let the contractor focus on earthwork before we are shut down for the winter,” he told Lake County News in an email. “Before we committed to this decision we checked with our Traffic Safety Office to confirm that the current all-way stop at Olympic Drive is working with very few incidents.”
Frisbie said that Caltrans plans to direct Teichert to begin paving near Olympic Drive next spring so that the traffic signal can be activated in May.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
COBB, Calif. – A community group that has advocated for the preservation of the Cobb area has reorganized.
Hamilton Hess, chairman of the Friends of Cobb Mountain, said the group has reincorporated under a tax-exempt nonprofit status.
Hess said the environmental organization, incorporated with the state in 1975, previously had as its actual membership only its board of directors. When the group met, only the directors and invited consultants could attend.
Friends of Cobb Mountain recently applied for – and received – tax-free status for financial donations, Hess said.
However, to complete the process, Hess said the group was required to disincorporate from its earlier status and then reincorporate under the conditions of AB 501.c.3.
The new status is now in effect. The California Attorney General’s charities registry showed that Friends of Cobb Mountain was granted its charitable registration on Sept. 7.
Hess said the Friends of Cobb Mountain’s goal is the preservation and enhancement of the natural environment of the Cobb region, focusing mainly on the control of negative impacts on water quality, air quality, noise, and visual effects from the activities of the geothermal and logging industries.
“Ideally this is accomplished with the cooperation of county state and federal agencies together with that of the industries themselves,” he said.
In June, the group settled a lawsuit with the county of Lake over the certification of the environmental impact report for the Bottle Rock Steam Power Project, which it alleged that the county approved in violation of state law. Details of the settlement agreement can be found at http://bit.ly/K4t8ej .
The objective of reducing the frequency and magnitude of the earthquakes caused by geothermal production and water injection is always on the agenda, Hess said, and again with the cooperation of earthquake scientists and the geothermal industry, “but the matter is complicated and progress toward reduction is slow.”
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – One of Clear Lake’s native species is the focus of new state and federal Endangered Species Act applications submitted on Tuesday.
Estimating that the Clear Lake hitch’s numbers have plummeted from millions to, more recently, a few thousand, the Center for Biological Diversity on Tuesday petitioned to protect the hitch – a large minnow found only in Clear Lake and its tributaries – under both the federal Endangered Species Act and the state’s Endangered Species Act.
The fish, once a staple food for the region’s Pomo tribes, has been tracked closely in recent years by local tribes and the Chi Council for the Clear Lake Hitch. As the fish’s habitat has dramatically changed their numbers have seen a precipitous decline.
The Clear Lake hitch has long been an important part of the lake’s natural and cultural heritage of Clear Lake but, if it’s to survive for future generations, Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity said the fish needs to be put on the pathway to recovery, which means it needs to be protected and have its habitat restored.
Miller said the center has been looking at the hitch for about five years.
There is precedent for the disappearance of a local fish species – Miller pointed out that the Clear Lake hitch’s closest relative, the Clear Lake splittail, became extinct in the 1970s through habitat alterations that dried out spawning streams and barriers that prevented fish migration.
“Fisheries and biologists have been warning about the Clear Lake hitch going the same way,” he said. The fish also has been on a California Department of Fish and Game watch list for decades.
Over the last couple of years, with the continuing decline in spawning runs and the dropping number of fish, Miller said the group decided to act and give the fish “a fighting chance.”
The Center for Biological Diversity’s petition proposes recovery measures for hitch, such as removing or retrofitting barriers to fish migration, improving instream water flows, restoring fish to former spawning streams and reducing predation by invasive fish near the mouths of spawning streams.
The center also is proposing that the hitch be reintroduced into Blue Lakes after it’s determined what caused the fish population there to die. He said so far he’s not aware of studies being done on the previous Blue Lakes hitch population.
“I think it’s necessary,” said Paula Britton, environmental director of the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, of the proposed Endangered Species listing.
Britton’s work for the tribe includes study of the hitch. One of their projects includes tagging the fish, – she said they’re still tabulating results from last year’s tagging work – and they hope to initiate habitat surveys.
At Big Valley Rancheria, Environmental Director Sarah Ryan said the tribe has given input on the application, and has provided Miller and the Center for Biological Diversity information over the past few years, as has the Chi Council.
“I think it’s probably a positive step because the hitch are declining pretty badly at this point,” she said.
Peter Windrem, president of the Chi Council, said the group was unaware that the Center for Biological Diversity was planning to file the petitions for protection.
He said the group was meeting Wednesday afternoon, and he deferred further comment until he had a chance to discuss the matter with the rest of the council.
Tom Smythe, an engineer with Lake County Water Resources who also sits on the Chi Council, said the petitions weren’t a complete surprise. “There’s been discussion of this for a couple of years.”
He said there are pluses and minuses to a potential Endangered Species listing for the Clear Lake hitch.
On the plus side, it could provide funding for habitat restoration for the hitch, which isn’t a game fish and so doesn’t have much of that funding available. Miller also believes projects like the Middle Creek restoration would likely gain funding as a result of the listing.
Among the minuses, said Smythe, is the potential for the permitting process to become much worse, “even if you’re trying to help the habitat.”
Theoretically, the listing shouldn’t add complications to the Middle Creek restoration project, although there is the possibility, Smythe said, adding that a listing would potentially affect any project that impacts local streams.
Miller said that any projects under way currently, whether beneficial or harmful, would likely be unaffected due to the time it will take for a listing decision to be made.
He said restoration projects, scientific monitoring and tribal harvests of fish “are usually permitted within the framework of listings” as long as there is a conservation component to them.
Changes in habitat threaten fish
“The Clear Lake basin and its tributaries have been dramatically altered by urban development and agriculture,” the Center for Biological Diversity states in its petitions. “Much of the former stream and wetlands habitat suitable for hitch has been destroyed or degraded, and barriers that impede hitch migration have been built in many streams which formerly had spawning.”
The petitions continue, “Hitch can no longer reach the majority of former spawning areas, and are forced to spawn opportunistically in ditches and wet meadows during high flows. In recent years, hitch have been able to spawn in significant numbers in only two streams, Kelsey Creek and Adobe Creek, both located in the Big Valley drainage.”
The hitch spawn has become “sensitive to very localized events,” and, as such, “a toxic spill or water use issues of limited size could results in spawn failure for the entire population,” according to the petitions.
The petitions found no local ordinances or regulations to protect the fish.
While the 2008 Lake County General Plan’s goals and policies seek to ensure the protection of sensitive species, limit encroachment into sensitive habitats and protect riparian corridors, the petitions suggested it didn’t go far enough.
The center said the general plan “only superficially mentions the Clear Lake hitch as a state species of concern. The plan contain goals and policies aimed at protecting water quality and biological resources, but some of the policies are couched in qualifiers such as ‘should’ or ‘shall consider’ and ‘whenever possible.’”
Historically, the hitch spawned in all of Clear Lake’s tributaries. Now, however, due to a variety of impacts – changes in creek habitat, migration barriers, water pumping, in-channel mining, pollution and predation by non-native fish – they’re found spawning only in Kelsey and Adobe creeks.
The Endangered Species Act petitions also raise another future concern. “Increased drought and rapid climate change due to global warming will likely accelerate this trend, causing further spawning failures.”
In the last spring hitch run, Ryan said they found that while the hitch were spawning, there was not enough water in the creeks, such as Adobe Creek, for them to make it back to Clear Lake.
Ryan said that an Endangered Species listing could lead to changed water usage in the creeks, making sure that the fish have the water they need.
“The intent is not to stop projects and not to stop progress and things that are already being planned,” said Ryan, pointing to the Endangered Species Act’s goal of preserving heritage species populations.
If there are actions or activities that are affecting hitch being able to survive and thrive, Ryan said they will have to be modified in conjunction with the act.
Smythe said he’s noted a decline in hitch populations over the past 25 years.
During the spring spawn in 2011, which was a wet year, Smythe said the hitch were seen in streams where their presence hadn’t been noted in years.
However, this year, with late rain – and less rain overall – the hitch were harder to find, he said.
“We don’t really have good data this year because it’s hard to see them in a muddy stream,” Smythe said, adding that, overall, the hitch spawn “looked pretty poor.”
The Endangered Species listing process “takes a lot longer than it should,” said Miller.
There will be a 90 day finding, but Miller said that step rarely is as quick as three months. After that, there is a yearlong status review that’s similar in both the state and federal process.
During the status review, Miller said the government will collect information from stakeholders, hold public hearings and take public comment, followed by a Federal Register notice if the listing is granted.
“Optimistically, you’re looking at a couple of years,” Miller said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Clear Lake Hitch Federal Petition 9-25-12Clear Lake Hitch State Petition 9-25-12
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
California Attorney General Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced that claim forms will be sent to approximately 432,584 California borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2011, and may be eligible for a settlement payment under the $25 billion national mortgage foreclosure settlement.
Borrowers receiving the claim forms had mortgages serviced by Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the servicers that agreed to the settlement with the federal government and attorneys general of 49 states and the District of Columbia.
The settlement, which was signed by the Court in April 2012, earmarked approximately $1.5 billion in payments for 2 million borrowers nationwide. The actual payment amount will depend upon the total number of borrowers who decide to participate. Payment checks are expected to be mailed in mid-2013.
Last week, the national settlement administrator mailed notification postcards to eligible borrowers across the nation.
In California, packets containing a letter from the California Department of Justice, a claim form and answers to frequently asked questions are being mailed to eligible borrowers starting this week and continuing through October 12.
Eligible California borrowers should complete the claim form and return it as soon as possible in the envelope provided, or file the claim form online at www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com . The deadline for all claims is Jan. 18, 2013.
The one-page claim forms are simple to complete. Borrowers who have questions or need help filing a claim should contact the settlement administrator, toll-free, at 866-430-8358, or send questions by email to
Eligible borrowers do not need to prove financial harm to receive a payment, nor do they give up their rights to pursue a lawsuit against their mortgage servicer or to participate in the Independent Foreclosure Review Process being conducted by federal bank regulators. More information about that program is available at www.independentforeclosurereview.com .
Eligible borrowers may receive payment from this settlement even if they participate in another foreclosure claims process. However, any payment received may reduce payments that a borrower may be eligible to receive in any other foreclosure claim process or legal proceeding.
Borrowers who believe they may qualify for a payment, but did not receive a notice because they have moved, should contact the settlement administrator, toll-free, at 866-430-8358, or send an updated address by email to
Attorney General Harris also is warning all homeowners to be aware of settlement-related scams. Do not provide personal information or pay money to anyone who calls or emails and claims to provide settlement-related assistance. The official claim form does not ask for personal financial information. If you believe someone is conducting a settlement-related scam, please file an online complaint with the Attorney General’s Public Inquiry Unit at http://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general .
The national settlement followed state and federal investigations, which alleged that the five mortgage servicers routinely signed foreclosure-related documents outside the presence of a notary public and without personal knowledge that the facts contained in the documents were correct.
This civil law enforcement action also alleged that the servicers committed widespread errors and abuses in their foreclosure processes.
The settlement resulted in broad reform of the mortgage servicing process, as well as financial relief for borrowers who are still in their homes via direct loan modification relief, including principal reduction.