Remind Gov Brown to dump commissioner Rogers

[PAL]

Insufferable Fish and Game Commissioner Richard Rogers, of the sneering challenge: "Bring it!" is still taking up space. Let's remind him and the governor that we haven't forgotten.

The game's still on. With the MLPA in court next week, let's remind the governor what we're looking for:

Ask Governor Brown to Remove Richard Rogers
from the California Fish and Game Commission
Rogers' voting record shows he is no friend to California's sportfishing community or the state's economy


Background
At a time when California faces record unemployment levels, Governor Brown can take one simple action to remove a major impediment to the state's economy – remove Richard Rogers from the Fish and Game Commission.

Even though his term expired on January 15, 2011, Rogers continues to sit on the Commission because the Governor has yet to appoint a replacement. Since his 2005 appointment, Rogers has been one of the most vocal supporters of the anti-job and anti-fishing­ Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. We urge Governor Brown to take action and name a new commissioner to take Rogers' seat.

The MLPA is a controversial program that threatens sportfishing in California, and the businesses and 20,000 jobs that depend on it, by unnecessarily closing large areas of the ocean to recreational fishing. The MLPA is costing California jobs and harming communities and businesses, while ignoring the real problems affecting California's coastal waters, such as coastal development, habitat loss and pollution.

On December 15, 2010, Rogers was one of three commissioners who voted in favor of a wide-ranging array of marine protected areas, essentially no-fishing zones, along the southern California coast. Other MLPA regulations – which Rogers also supported – are already in place and have cost jobs and fishing opportunity in California's Central and North Central Coast regions. Because of the flawed nature of the MLPA process, these regulations are currently being challenged in the courts.

The Partnership for Sustainable Oceans believes that Governor Brown should replace Rogers with a commissioner who understands his or her responsibility to conserve California's natural resources, understands the role of anglers in conservation and takes into account the impact of regulations on California's citizens, its economy and jobs for working families.

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