Failure of California Endangered Species Act Compliance from Department of Water Resources Behind Director Leaving Troubled Department of Fish and Game?

“I want to make it clear the support from the Governor and Secretary of Resources has been exceptional and it is critical that each of you commit to the changes we have undertaken and follow thru with the initiatives we have started. Remember those changes were developed internally and while endorsement came from me as your Director, they will serve the people, wildlife, and employees of DFG thru future generations. So do not slow down, do not let my departure be the excuse for inertia, do not wait for someone else to carry the torch, expecting the path will all of a sudden be less arduous,” he continued.

He said that he would complete the reorganization and selection of staff; review DFG initiatives to insure adequate resources and focus are brought to bear to produce lasting change.

“I will work diligently to provide a transition document so that my successor has an appreciation of the incredible public service DFG provides and the incredible people that make it possible,” he added.

At press time, there was no announcement of a replacement for his position. His successor will have to be appointed by the Governor. Broddrick was hired in his latest position after leaving the DFG and going to work for Ducks Unlimited as the conservation director for three years.

Staff I have spoken to praised him as a director. “He was the rare director who came up through the ranks,” said Steve Martarano, DFG spokesman. “He was highly respected by the staff. If would be hard to find anybody who had something bad to say about him. He was a true Fish and Gamer – and people are not happy about the fact that he’s leaving. What made him unique among directors was his Fish and Game background.”

Representatives of fishing and conservation organizations, although they came in conflict with him on a number of issues, including Marine Protected Areas and the spending of Bay Delta Stamp and Striped Bass Committee funds, were also sad to see him go.

“I talked to him at the Recreational Fishing Alliance Dinner in May and it was clear that Broddrick was under a lot of strain,” said John Beuttler, conservation director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, “so in a way his resignation was not a surprise. My perspective is that we lost one of the best directors that DFG ever had. The problem is that the Governor didn’t let him do his job of directing.”

It was very clear, in spite of Broddrick’s words praising the Governor and his staff in his memo to staff, that he was under a tremendous amount of pressure by the Governor to not comply with Oakland Superior Judge Frank Roesch’s order requiring DWR to obtain an incidental take permit for killing endangered species in the state’s export pumps in the South Delta.

During a hearing of the State Senate Natural Resources Committee on March 28, Senator Mike Machado and other Senators grilled a clearly uncomfortable Broddrick about his failure to get the take permit.

"The reality is you didn't take the step to try to enforce the law,” said Machado.

“Correct," Broddrick answered him.

Beuttler noted that the Governor slashed $ 20 million from Broddrick’s proposed budget, sending the Department into “permanent fiscal crisis.” In spite of the budget shortfall, Broddrick managed to find money to cover the bases by his utilization of a great deal of know-how, resulting in fiscal recovery in 2006-2007.

More recently, the Director issued a letter to DWR in “no uncertain terms” that the Department should stop export pumping to prevent the killing of additional Delta smelt in the state pumps. ‘“It’s important to recognize that he took the stand that the pumps were a problem when the Department of Water Resources was saying that toxics, not export pumping, were killing Delta smelt,” said Beuttler.

“I think that the administration’s lack of support for him demonstrates the failure of the administration to take advantage of the leadership of one of the most qualified directors in DFG history,” concluded Beuttler.

I agree with Beuttler. Governor Schwarzenegger, under control of the corporate interests that funded his campaign, repeatedly put Broddrick in uncomfortable positions where he was forced into an untenable position between his responsibility for protecting the resource and following the orders of the Governor and his staff. I believe that Broddrick probably would have stayed with the DFG if the Governor had provided more support – and hadn’t continually interfered politically with science-based fish and wildlife decisions.

At the same time, I wish that Broddrick had made more of a public stand in opposition to the Governor’s refusal to comply with a court order over protecting Delta smelt. I find it hard to believe Broddrick’s statement that “support from the Governor and Secretary of Resources has been exceptional” when the Governor and Secretary of Resources put him in such a compromised position in regard to the Delta smelt crisis.

I also find it curious that Broddrick has gone from his position of DFG Director to work for a private water agency. Doesn’t that appear to be a conflict of interest? More and more, political appointees in the federal and state governments are jumping back and forth between being protectors of the public trust and lobbyists for special interests often at odds with protecting fish and wildlife.

The constantly revolving door between government service and employment by special interests is something that has led to very bad decisions by the state and federal governments that have resulted in dramatic fishery declines on the Bay-Delta Estuary, the Klamath Basin and other fisheries. When the fox is guarding the hen house, does anybody really wonder why the chickens are disappearing?

Dan Bacher is an editor of The Fish Sniffer , described as "The #1 Newspaper in the World Dedicated Entirely to Fishermen"