LAKE COUNTY ? The Lake County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee voted Thursday night to recommend that the Lake County Board of Supervisors provide $3,400 of the committee”s funding to help Narrows Lodge Resort owner Art Cerini stock Blue Lake with rainbow trout.
Cerini asked for help from the committee after learning in November that the California Department of Fish and Game would no longer stock the lake with trout. A class action lawsuit against the DFG stopped rainbow trout stocking at in Blue Lake and Cache Creek.
“We”re in dire needs out in Blue Lake ? all the resorts are hurting. We”ve lost all of our winter business,” Narrrows Lodge Resort owner Art Cerini said.
The lawsuit claimed the DFG had failed to do an environmental impact report, and that stocking trout in the state”s water bodies threatened as many as 35 endangered species, according to committee chair Greg Giusti. The Indian Valley Reservoir and Lake Pillsbury were also initially included on the list of water bodies that could no longer be stocked with trout, but were recently removed.
Since the lawsuit doesn”t prohibit a private party from stocking the lake, Cerini decided to do it on his own. Lacking financial support from neighboring resorts on the lake, Cerini asked the committee for $5,400 he was short for the cost of the fish from a DFG-approved hatchery.
Cerini said he had a commitment of approximately $2,000 from the Clear Lake Advisory Committee, and Thursday night”s vote was to make up the difference.
Giusti said the DFG conducted a survey for the red-legged frog in Blue Lake recently and did not find the frog or suitable habitat for the frog. Another survey is planned for April.
“Even the DFG does not know what the next step is, because they haven”t done this before. They did put Blue Lakes on the highest priority list to get this survey done. What they”re unsure of is once they file this report, is that good enough to remove Blue Lake from the list or do they have to submit it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and does the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have some kind of process?” Giusti said.
Committee member Terry Knight said the process of removing Blue Lake from the list of no-stocking lakes involved either an agreement by the plaintiffs to do so or taking the case back to court.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
