High-Cost Rail - Part 109 Welcome aboard PETA?

The headline in today's SM County Times reads "High-speed Rail Construction:  Contractor destroys possible den of kit fox".  I would link to the story if I could find it on the hot mess the Mercury News and the County Times call a website, but even the search bar has disappeared.  It's shocking for a Silicon Valley newspaper to not be able to put together a competent site, but at least they are still reporting the news in print.  Here is the essence of the story

Workers building the rail line's first 29-mile stretch of track inexplicably collapsed and bulldozed over a likely kit fox den discovered last summer near an equipment yard in Fresno without consulting Fish and Wildlife officials, state rail official confirmed Tuesday.

And my favorite part

While the violation wasn't serious enough to halt the project, the California High-Speed Rail Authority and its contractors may face fine for failing to follow the rules.....

The file photo of the kit fox in the article is really cute and they have dwindled from 10,000 to 3,000 in the state over the last decade.  So I have a question.  Back in 2002 this happened to the BART extension to SFO

The endangered San Francisco garter snake, usually a harmless creature, has struck again, stalling construction on the BART extension to San Francisco International Airport for a second time.

State wildlife officials ordered work in an area across Highway 101 from SFO halted Thursday afternoon after a worker found a dead snake at the entrance to a work-site access road and turned it over to a biological monitor.

The discovery of a squashed garter snake in the same marshy area west of the airport in spring 2000 caused BART to stop construction on the airport extension for 18 days and ended up costing the transit district $1.07 million in construction delays.

So are cute little kit foxes just "chopped liver" and will PETA be spattering fake blood on Jerry Brown and Dan Richard anytime soon? 

Comments

[pat giorni]

---Ain't it ironic that a sly fox in the hen house may save the farm.

[hillsider]

CEQA, Endangered Species Act, Interstate commerce laws, EPA rules, these only apply to the little guys. If you are one of the big guys you can do what you want.

[Leadership via Bulldozer]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Ricky Graham with the High Speed Racket, I mean the High Speed Fail, I mean the High Speed Rail will be providing an "Update" to the Burlingame Rotary Club on February 23rd at 12:15pm at the Burlingame Hilton.

Yes, bulldozing the will of The People of California and bulldozing the laws seems to be an appropriate image for The State of California's current government leadership and culture.

When will the residents that don't vote learn? When will the residents that DO vote learn?

Ask a friend who's a member, if you'd like to join us for lunch, get the update and perhaps poise a few questions.

[Jennifer]

California High-Speed Rail Authority behind schedule in buying needed land- February 13, 2015, 05:00 AM By Juliet Williams The Associated

...Stan Felipe, a third-generation farmer in Kings County, south of Fresno, is among those in talks with rail officials about the 10 to 15 acres the state has offered to buy from the 200-acre farm where he grows pistachios, corn and cotton. He said the high-speed rail plans call for a 30-foot vehicle overpass that will slice across his land, cutting off water and access to half his farm.

After receiving what he believes is a below-value appraisal and hundreds of pages of paperwork, the 65-year-old and his wife, Beverly, hired an attorney. Felipe declined to discuss how much he has been offered or how much he is seeking.

“This is how we live, this is what we do to survive, but it’s a mess,” Felipe said. “It’s scary, real scary.”

The public works board is expected to approve the 31 parcels for condemnation Friday. They include many along the former state Highway 99 in Fresno, including empty warehouses, farmland and a former restaurant.

Friday’s action is a preliminary step. The rail authority will continue working with owners to reach settlements, as it has with 23 of the 104 previously approved parcels, Alley said.

The rail agency is required to follow state law for property condemnations, the same process used to acquire land for other major infrastructure projects such as highways. It provides up to $5,000 per parcel for property owners to get their own appraisals.

But some opponents say the rush to acquire land is leading the rail authority to bypass its own rules with “flash appraisals” that do not include talking to landowners. They argue that such conversations are essential for rural properties that may involve complicated land- and water-use agreements and the potential for lost income.

“You are not just buying real estate,” Frank Oliveira, a Kings County resident and member of the group Citizens for High-Speed Rail Accountability, told the rail board this week. “You need to also compensate people for damaging or destroying their businesses.”

[Joe]

Thank you, Jennifer. You will recall our trip to Hanford when we heard in great detail the problems like this

"He said the high-speed rail plans call for a 30-foot vehicle overpass that will slice across his land, cutting off water and access to half his farm."

The starched shirts sitting in Moonbeam's outer offices don't know squat about farming or ranching and don't care.

[agrarian values]

Indeed, it's the factory workers vs the farmers.

I prefer farmer culture.

[Bruce Dickinson]

Fellas, as you know Bruce Dickinson believes that Joe and Russ run a dynamite site, and while I am happy to contribute my opinions and perspectives, every once in a while I stumble upon a treasure-trove of information by experts on other subjects. Many of you don't know this but my secretary, Julie, in addition to transcribing many of my correspondences, emails, and even posts on the BV, actually complies a lot of the news articles that hit her RSS feeds, "Tweets" or what my "guys" send to her (thanks Jules, you're the best). Well my "deal guy" came across this interesting compilation about everything HSR, including points, counterpoints, arguments, opinions about the project from nearly every angle. Bruce Dickinson believes this may be a great resource for those out there keeping up the good fight, with a shot out to Russ Cohen, who in addition to correcting spelling mistakes, was one of the the early founders of the HSR Boondoggle website, as some have mentioned earlier. I'll award myself a good solid 10 Cowbells rings for this one, Joe, if I may. In fact, Joe, to get greater attention, if I were you, I would actually start a new "High Cost Rail Part 110 - Facts, Opinions, Cowbells & Train Whistles" article with some of the content linked.

Anyway, here it is and explore the space!:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/dan-richard-on-high-speed-rail/386621/?utm_source=SFFB