Protect Sacred Sites Indigenous People, One Nation

Friends of Rattlesnake Island
P.O. Box 1185 Lakeport, CA 95453
November 19, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Susan Brandt-Hawley, Attorney
Brandt-Hawley Law Group
(w) 707.938.3900 (c) 707.732.0007
susanbh@preservationlawyers.com
http://preservationlawyers.com

Environmental Lawsuit Filed By Friends of Rattlesnake Island

LAKEPORT, CA – On November 18, 2011, the Friends of Rattlesnake Island filed a lawsuit in Lake County Superior Court (Case No. CV 410834) that seeks to set aside the Lake County Board of Supervisors’ approval of permits sought by John Nady to build three structures on Rattlesnake Island. The Petition for Writ of Mandamus asks the Court to order that the County Board reconsider the project only after preparing an Environmental Impact Report as required by the California Environmental Quality Act, commonly known as CEQA.

Upon confirmation of the filing, Jim Brown, a traditional Tribal leader of the Elem Pomo, said: “On behalf of Elem Nation, our ancestors and the direct living descendants of Elem-Modun, and the Friends of Rattlesnake Island, I am honored to be a part of this legal case to help preserve and protect the most ancient, sacred Tribal homeland Island village of Elem-Modun, also known as Rattlesnake Island.”

“When the Board of Supervisors overturned the Planning Commission’s unanimous decision to require an EIR for this project, it ignored the significant impacts of grading and construction on the Island, which is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated historic resource,” said Sarah Ryan, Environmental Director of Big Valley Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. “The County must prepare an EIR to study impacts and consider feasible mitigation measures and alternatives, and it did not.”

The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to approve the project without an EIR. Without benefit of analysis of impacts or the scope and quality of the affected historic resources, nor any data recovery plan, the Board approved the project by simply requiring monitoring.

“CEQA is a citizen-enforced statute,” remarked Herb Gura, who runs the local Self Help Law Center and is assisting the Friends. “The law mandates an EIR process, not only for analysis of environmental impacts and mitigations, but so the public can weigh in and offer valuable information to the County. In this case, the Board of Supervisors skipped CEQA’s fundamental safeguards and approved the project prematurely.”

CEQA mandates that the County prepare an EIR if there is any “fair argument” of significant environmental impacts, even if environmental experts disagree. “That is because the EIR is CEQA’s preferred method of environmental review,” said Friends’ attorney Susan Brandt-Hawley. A fair argument of significant environmental impacts was provided by County Planning Commissioners, members of the Elem Pomo Tribe, a local archaeologist familiar with Rattlesnake Island, and even the California Office of Historic Preservation.

In a letter, State Historic Preservation Officer, M. Wayne Donaldson, advised the County that “given the significance of the cultural resources on Rattlesnake Island, we reiterate our recommendation that the County of Lake require an [EIR] for any projects … [t]he EIR needs to address, in detail, mitigation measures … that avoid any substantial change in the significance of an historical resource.”

Friends of Rattlesnake Island is dedicated to preserving cultural and environmental resources in Lake County and elsewhere
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