Friends Of The Earth

November/December 1977

AGRIBIZ SUFFERS DEFEAT IN WESTLANDS CASE

Corporate farming in the Westlands area of California received a severe blow on August 19, 1977 when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled (in a suit brought by National Land for People) that the water from federal water projects can't be used to irrigate any California farms larger than 160 acres, except under certain stringent conditions. This is the first time in the history of the 1902 Reclamation Act that the acreage-limitation portion of the statute has been enforced in California (or anywhere else, for that matter). The original intent of the law (see Friends of the Earth, page 123, MOTHER NO. 40) was to promote family farms and prevent encroachment by agribiz.

Hot on the heels of the Ninth Circuit Court's landmark decision was Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus's announcement of proposed regulations to bring about the enforcement of the 75-year-old law. The most significant part of Andrus's proposal is his recommendation that only small farmers who live on their own land be allowed to work the eleven million acres that are presently irrigated by Bureau of Reclamation projects in 17 Western States.

The Andrus program also calls for a two-year investigation into the extent of violations of the Reclamation Act's 160-acre limitation. (BuRec records show that only 1,074,000 acres are presently being irrigated illegally, but there are strong indications that the actual figure is much greater than that.) Upon completion of the investigation, violators would-at long last-be required to sell off their holdings in excess of 160 acres at per-acre prices comparable to those of nonirrigated land in the same area. (BuRec would-as it has in the pastreserve the right to approve or disapprove all prices.)

In addition, Secretary Andrus would like to see the residency requirements of the 1902 Reclamation Act (which state that farm owners must live within 50 miles of their farms) be strictly enforced.

The ramifications of these two developments (the Ninth Circuit Court's decision and Secretary Andrus's enforcement program) are nothing less than earthshaking. The above turn of events could very well-by opening up large tracts of farmland for settlementtrigger a homesteading movement unequaled since the days of Abraham Lincoln.

This is not to say that the battle is all over, however. It's likely that-in the wake of the court decision and the Interior Department's recent announcementmuch clamoring will be heard in the nation's capital from the board rooms of agribusiness.

What You Can Do: Your help is needed to assure that Secretary Andrus gets the support he needs. Write to your Representative in Congress (c/o The House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515) and urge his or her support of Mr. Andrus's proposals.

FOE BRITAIN INSULATES HOMES, CREATES JOBS

FOE Britain has found a way to help senior citizens save money and stay warm, and create jobs in the process. It's called the Durham Insulation Project ... a project that-over the past two years-has resulted in [1] the insulation of the homes of more than 4,000 residents of Durham, England, [2] the creation of 15 jobs, and [3] the stimulation of over 400 other insulation-related jobs around the country.

Dr. Mark Hughes started the whole thing when he insulated a retiree's loft in Durham back in late 1975. Subsequent appeals to the Department of Energy succeeded in Mark's getting funding (through the Job Creation Programme) for 15 jobs.

There are indications, too, that the project is snowballing: In August of last year, England's Department of the Environment sent proposals for job-creating insulation schemes to local authorities and acknowledged the pioneer work done by FOE Durham.

The FOE group-besides publicizing their project via a number of pamphlets and articles, and working to get local governments to support insulation-related job projects-has created a strong bond with England's labor organizations. Trade union support, in fact, helped FOE's Insulation Project get two major grants to insulate the homes of senior citizens and disabled people.

We hope others will follow the Durham group's example and help make more homes energy-efficient while-at the same time-doing something positive about the unemployment problem.

WORLD'S LARGEST NUCLEAR PROTEST HELD IN SPAIN

Last July 13, some 200,000 people marched in Bilbao, Spain in the world's largest anti-nuclear protest to date, according to Intercontinental Press. Workers, youths, children, Basque separatists, women's groups, and members of most of Spain's political parties marched in an all-day demonstration unmarred by violence.

Neighborhood associations throughout the greater Bilbao area organized the demonstration (the first legal one in a year) to protest plans to transform the Basque coast into a nuclear zone, and specifically to demand that construction of the Iberduero nuclear plant (in nearby Lemoniz) be brought to a halt.

The marchers-borrowing slogans from the antinuclear movements in Switzerland, France, Germany, and the U.S.-shouted "Let the people vote on nuclear plants!", "We want gardens, not nukes!", and "Better active now than radioactive tomorrow!

NEWSBRIEFS

French local authorities have released the results of a study of pollution conditions at 777 beaches. Their findings: Under French guidelines, one beach in four should have been closed at certain times in 1975 and '76, and one in 20 should be closed permanently .... Acid rain is killing millions of fish in southern Norway's lakes. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has named Great Britain as the major source of the problem: the British Isles emit 2.8 million tons of SO2 gas (which-in the presence of water-becomes sulfuric acid) into the air each year .... The FDA has joined with the USDA in asking for new studies of the cancer-causing chemicals known as nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are by-products of the nitrates and nitrites used to preserve bacon, sausage, and other cured meats. Bacon lovers, beware!

To become a member of Friends of the Earth-and receive their excellent publication, Not Man Apart, year round-remit $20 to FOE at 124 Spear, San Francisco, Calif. 94105. - MOTHER.