August 11, 2010
Adrian Garcia,
Project Manager
SunZia Southwest Transmission Project
Mickey Siegel
Project Director
SunZia Southwest Transmission Project
Dear Mr. Garcia and Mr. Siegel:
The attached PDF document is the electronic version of the physical document that you received on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 in San Manuel, Arizona from Cascabel Working Group representatives. We will also be sending a copy of this letter and the PDF DEIS document to the recipient list below. Some of them will receive hard copies as well.
Thank you again for your invitation to contribute to the Draft EIS.
*
On January 13, 2010, the Cascabel Working Group (CWG) hosted a meeting with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), their consultant, Environmental Planning Group (EPG), and a wide range of nongovernmental organizations and concerned citizens. The meeting’s purpose was to review proposed SunZia Southwest Transmission Project routes through the San Pedro River Valley (SPRV). At the close of that meeting Adrian Garcia, BLM Project Manager, and Mickey Siegel, Project Director for the BLM’s consultant, EPG, invited CWG to submit contributions to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the San Pedro routes. Attached is the complete report of those findings.
The CWG report documents the unique attributes of the lower San Pedro River Valley, the only extensive, unfragmented and intact landscape in the desert Southwest that also contains a major free-flowing river. The report discusses the importance of landscape connectivity and the negative environmental impacts of fragmentation. As per NEPA guidelines, it details the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts of transmission lines and their service roads on SPRV birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, plants and waters.
Our findings conclude that any fair and reasonable application of NEPA statutes would determine SunZia routes passing through the San Pedro River Valley (SPRV) to be objectionable on environmental grounds. We appreciate your taking the time to review this document.
Sincerely,
Pearl Mast and Chet Phillips
Cascabel Working Group – Co-chairs
Cc:
Paul Trenter
Project Manager
Linwood Smith
Wildlife Biologist
Tom Wray
SunZia Project Manager
Gary Crane
SunZia Environmental Manager
Mark Etherton
Project Engineer
Martin Bailey
Real Property Manager
Lori Schleier
Land Planning and Entitlements
Cindy Bailey
CURRENT CASCABEL WORKING GROUP DEIS RECIPIENT LIST
GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES
Ken Salazar
Secretary of the Interior
Bob Abbey
Director BLM
Jim Kenna
Director,
Arizona BLM
Michael A. Taylor
Deputy State Director of Resources
Arizona BLM
Brian Bellew
Field Office Manager - Tucson
Arizona BLM
Linda Hughes
Resource Advisor - Tucson
Arizona BLM
Scott Cooke
Field Office Manager - Safford
Arizona BLM
Jeff Conn
Wildlife Biologist - Safford
Arizona BLM
Jesse Juen
NM Associate State Director
BLM
Elena Gonzalez
Director
Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution
U.S. Department of the Interior
Gerald F. (Fred) Pease Jr.
Liaison
Department of Defense/ Department of the Interior
Tom Darin
Transmission Planning and Siting Specialist
U.S. Department of Energy
Kathleen Binder
Director
Office of Conflict Prevention and Resolution
U.S. Department of Energy
Diana Durazo
Staff Assistant to Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry
Kerry Baldwin
Natural Resources Division Manager
Pima County
C.H. Huckelberry
Pima County Administrator
Mike Ortega
Cochise County Administrator
Julia Fonseca
Environmental Planning Manager
Pima County Office of Conservation Science & Environmental Policy
Carol Lynn Erwin
Area Manager
Bureau of Reclamation
Bruce Ellis
Chief of Environmental Resource Management Division
Bureau of Reclamation
Diane Laush
Wildlife Biologist
Bureau of Reclamation – Phoenix Area Office
Steve Spangle
Field Supervisor
Arizona Ecological Services Field Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
David Modeer
General Manager
Central Arizona Water Conservation District
Richard Miles
Director
Dispute Resolution Service
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Larry Voyles
Director – Arizona Game and Fish
Jack Husted
Commissioner
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ruth Valencia
Senior Environmental Scientist
Salt River Project
or
Rafael Payan
Director
Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation
Charles Kent
Chairman – Redington NRCD
Bill Dunn
Chairman – Winkelman NRCD
Stefanie Smallhouse
Executive Director – Arizona NRCDs
POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES
Raul Grijalva
Chairman – Congressional Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests & Public Lands
Ron Barber
District Director
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
8th District, Arizona
Jennifer Burns
Arizona House of Representatives
District 25
Manny Alvarez
Arizona Senate
District 25
David Stevens
Arizona House of Representatives
District 25
Pat Fleming
Arizona House of Representatives
Richard Searle
Cochise County Board of Supervisors
Maria Baier
Arizona State Land Commissioner
Jim Adams
Director of Real Estate
Arizona State Land Department
Stephen Williams
Director of Natural Resources
Arizona State Land Department
Madeleine West
Program Manager: Wildlife and Energy
Western Governors' Association
CONSERVATION NGOs
Patrick Graham
Director – Arizona TNC
Tom Collazo
TNC Assistant State Director – Conservation Programs
Dale Turner
Conservation Planner
TNC Tucson Conservation Center
Ken Wiley
Director of Stewardship
TNC Tucson Conservation Center
Dave Harris
Director
TNC Tucson Conservation Center
Alex Daue
Renewable Energy Coordinator
The Wilderness Society
Laura Sanchez
Attorney – Air & Energy Program
Natural Resources Defense Council
Helen O’Shea
Policy Associate
Natural Resources Defense Council
John Sheperd
Senior Advisor
Sonoran Institute
Randy Serraglio
Center for Biological Diversity
Andy Laurenzi
Field Representative
Center for Desert Archaeology
William Doelle
President & CEO
Center for Desert Archaeology
Paul Green
Executive Director
Tucson Audubon Society
Scott Wilbor
Conservation Biologist
Arizona Important Bird Areas Program
Tucson Audubon Society
David Hodges
Sky Island Alliance
Rob Smith
Sierra Club
Carolyn Campbell
Executive Director
Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection
Matt Skroch
Executive Director
Arizona Wilderness Coalition
Matt Clark
Southwest Representative
Defenders of Wildlife
Christina McVie
Tucson Audubon Society/ Desert Watch