170228_TU_Chris Wood Statement CWRule Rollback.pdf
Rollback of Clean Water Rule could impact steelhead recovery in Pacific Northwest
TU underscores importance of protecting small streams for fish and wildlife as rule is evaluated
CONTACT:
Shauna Stephenson / Trout Unlimited
ssherard@tu.org / 307.757.7861
(Feb. 28, 2017) Washington D.C. – Today President Trump signed an executive order that will begin to unravel the protections of the Clean Water Rule. Trout Unlimited released the following statements from President and CEO, Chris Wood, and Vice President of Western Conservation and founder of Trout Unlimited’s Wild Steelhead Initiative Rob Masonis:
Rob Masonis, Vice President of Western Conservation, Trout Unlimited, and founder of TU’s Wild Steelhead Initiative
“Anglers understand that healthy fish populations require high quality habitat and clean water. Salmon and trout don’t just live in big rivers and lakes, they often spawn in small streams, some of which go completely dry during the summer, and those same streams act as nurseries for young fish during the wet months. If we don’t protect small headwater streams and the wetlands that feed them, we imperil our fisheries and undermine the enormous investments we have made to recover salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. Anglers are not going to sit back and watch that happen without a fight.” — Rob Masonis, vice president for Western Conservation and steelhead advocate.”
Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited
“Today, President Trump signed an executive order that begins to unravel the protections of the Clean Water Act for small headwater streams.
The Clean Water Rule was finalized in 2015 after more than one million public comments and extensive scientific review. It provides protection to streams and rivers including 60 percent of the stream miles in the U.S. that flow seasonally. Protecting these headwaters is important not only to anglers, but also to the one in three Americans whose drinking water comes from small seasonal streams.
The Executive Order directs the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to rescind and revise the Clean Water Rule. It also directs the agencies to use former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s minority opinion that said seasonal streams do not merit protection, as a basis for the revision.
If Justice Scalia’s direction is followed, 60 percent of U.S. streams and 20 million acres of wetlands would lose protection of the Clean Water Act; an unmitigated disaster for fish and wildlife, hunting and fishing, and clean water.
Sportsmen and women have a simple question for the President and EPA Administrator Pruitt: are we going forward or backward on clean water? Today’s announcement is a big step back. Legally, scientifically, and logically a reliance on Justice Scalia’s opinion is wrong-headed—but there’s still time, working through the new rulemaking process, to make it right.
When the new Administration replaces the Clean Water Rule, it must listen to the voices of tens of millions of sportsmen and women who want more clean water, more fish and wildlife habitat, and more hunting and angling opportunities. The Trump Administration can change direction on this Rule but they can’t change the fact that clean water is not a political issue. It is a basic right of every American.
Gravity works cheap, and it never takes a day off. The Administration cannot stop water flowing downhill—and we all live downstream. To be effective, the Clean Water Act must be able to control pollution at its source, upstream in the headwaters and wetlands that flow downstream through communities to our major lakes, rivers, and bays. The Administration’s action places the health of 60 percent of the stream miles in the U.S. at risk. Trout Unlimited intends to work with our hundreds of thousands of members and supporters to reverse course on this misguided direction.”
About Trout Unlimited –
Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America’s trout and salmon and their watersheds. Follow TU on Facebook and Twitter, and follow our blog for all the latest information on trout and salmon conservation.