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Sacramento Superior Court Rules in favor of recreational anglers, and confirms MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force and Science Advisory Team are state agencies, forcing access to critical information

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A California Superior Court issued a ruling on Friday confirming that the Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) and Master Plan Team or Science Advisory Team are state agencies and therefore compelled by California’s Public Records Act to share information with representatives of angling/conservation organizations working to protect recreational ocean access. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of Robert C. Fletcher, former president of the Sportfishing Association of California, a member organization in the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans.

“This is a very significant ruling to the many recreational angling groups and individuals across California who have invested so much time and energy in the MLPA process,” said Fletcher. “This ruling validates our long-held position that the groups implementing the MLPA and making decisions that result in closures of large areas of the Pacific Ocean to recreational activities cannot carry on as if they were not agencies of the state. Like any other state agency, these groups are responsible to the public and must do their work in an open and transparent way that the public can learn about through laws like the Public Records Act,” added Fletcher.

The ruling is considered an important first step for recreational anglers who have been banned from fishing in large portions of the ocean off the California coast. For additional information, visit keepamericafishing.org

It is time for the fall foliage display of color to begin. California foliage starts around mid-to-late October in the higher elevations such as Mammoth Lakes, and you can also see the change at lower elevations into early November most seasons.

John Poimiroo, expert on fall foliage in California, says that you can track the foliage display from the cold mountain tops, and watch the color changes on the trees as the temps drop. Moving down the mountains as the colder weather begins to reach the lower elevations, you can see nature’s hand at work with demarcations. The changes usually begin right around now (early October) in Mammoth and the High Sierras.

For those seeking the feel of a chill, Southern California survived its first autumn heat spell. It wasn’t just the record-breaking 113 degree temps that had L.A. in fits. It was the humidity that followed. At the launch of Queen Mary’s “Dark Harbor” Halloween attraction in Long Beach, the sky literally broke loose with thunder, lightening, and a rain burst.

October is traditionally the time in which residents cross their fingers and hope for no lightening storms that can cause uncontrollable wildfires in the fall.  So far so good as the lightening caused only a few small fires around the California that were extinguished.

Now to plan for Halloween–you are in for a treat. There are more mazes, corn fields, hayride haunts, haunted houses, and theme park scares than ever before. It is a year in which the veil becomes thinner and spirits can be seen better. If you haven’t checked your calendar, get busy making plans for Halloween now. It is happening–and it’s going fast!