FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Court Issues Restraining Order to Halt Species’ Poisoning

Pristine Wilderness Stream in Carson-Iceberg Wilderness Preserved

Contact:   Mary Conley, Western Environmental Law Center,                       (541) 485-2471

Court Issues Restraining Order to Halt Species’ Poisoning

Pristine Wilderness Stream in Carson-Iceberg Wilderness Preserved 

(Sacramento) – A California federal court judge has ordered an immediate halt to the poisoning of a pristine stream in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness due to concerns that rare species may be destroyed in the process. The court granted conservationists’ request to stop Department of Fish and Game personnel from using the pesticide rotenone to poison 11 miles of stream plus a lake this weekend in the Silver King Creek basin until the agency releases critical information from its files to show whether other rare species live in the stream and, if so, how they would recover.

“The judge preserved the community’s right to know what the results of this poisoning would be on a pristine area that Californians care deeply about,” said Pete Frost, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene, Oregon. “This is a win for the stream and the community.”

The agency claims it must poison the stream to eradicate non-native trout that compete with Paiute cutthroat trout, a rare fish protected by federal law. Fish and Game and federal authorities hoped to eradicate non-native trout in Silver King Creek to restore Paiute cutthroat so that  anglers can eventually fish in the area for the rare species.

The case was filed by the nonprofit conservation groups Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, Wilderness Watch, and Friends of Hope Valley, based in Alpine County.  They are joined by two individuals, including Laurel Ames, who previously served on the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board after her appointment by Governor Reagan.

The plaintiffs said they support restoring Paiute cutthroat but not unless agencies disclose fully the impacts of their actions. “Rotenone does one thing well: it kills,” said Pete Harrison of Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, based in Eureka, California.  “Before we dump rotenone into our wilderness creeks, we should consider what we will kill, and what can be restored.”

The Western Environmental Law Center is a non-profit public interest law firm that uses the tools of law to help protect and restore the environment, and to serve as an advocate for people, wildlife, and communities throughout the West. For more information, visit: www.westernlaw.org.

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