Amen, Bear.

Baykeepers should guard bay against folks who don't have money
4/14/2007
Dear Editor,

I know that these folks, the Baykeepers, will be on my butt for saying this, but it makes no difference in reality: They need to get a grip on stuff that matters and quit hassling Security National about a road and potholes.

SN has done its job in checking with folks about doing what is right about roads, potholes and cleaning up the area to help all and better things.

Now the Baykeepers want to take SN to court over lame stuff. If they want to do some good in reality, watch over the bay and go after folks who are messing up the bay who don’t have money. Yep, folks who trash the rocks, beaches and life in and around the bay.

Go after folks who dump crap in and around the bay, not folks who are trying to help make things better.

No, I do not work for, get paid by, nor know anyone from SN that I am aware of or even The Eureka Reporter. Oops, my mistake; I have met some of the reporters when being in court to make sure abused children are protected and with clients. Get a good grip, Baykeepers!

J. Bear Marler
Rio Dell

(Security National owns The Eureka Reporter.)
Copyright (C) 2005, The Eureka Reporter. All rights reserved.
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The trouble is, Bear, for these new age con men, it is all about money and deep pockets. And Rob Arkley/Security National and Red Emmerson/Sierra Pacific look like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow to them. No need to get a real job, just get some local kayakers to go out and take some samples for you, put up signs along the estuary asking people to call in complaints, and you are armed, pay for a couple of lab tests and threaten a lawsuit, then walk away with millions in go-away money.

That's not to say that there aren't problems. There are. And good people have, for many many years set about solving the problem. The trouble is, the well-meaning laws and regulations that were put in place set the stage for these predatory litigious groups to adopt the grass-roots citizen mantle and operate with impunity.

Think I am overstating the case? Check out Richard Salzman's latest listserve email... It isn't about Palco/Maxxam and Hurwitz, it is about money, and with Palco on its knees, it is very clear who the next targets are. You're already seeing the NEC sounding the drumroll against Simpson/Green Diamond. But that's not where the real money is - and this message says it very clearly:

"Quick, name the largest private landowner in California.

Need some clues? The company owns more than 1.5million acres, mainly in the Sierra Nevada. Each year it clear-cuts thousands of acres of forest. Its logging techniques damage watersheds throughout the Sierra. And most Californians have never heard of it.

Meet Sierra Pacific Industries, a privately owned company led by billionaire timber baron Red Emmerson..."

Notice the author lays the groundwork for demonizing Emmerson with the buzzwords "billionaire timber baron." Class warfare is a big card in the activist deck, makes it easy to upset well intentioned people.

Then they bring up the spectre of political donations to people they do not approve of and end with the ominous statement "SPI's vision is a checkerboard of moonscapes and plantations. Its corporate values are destroying Sierra forests. What are your values?

Well? It's a good question. But the answer may not be what they intended.