The Hines Chronicles
The Hines Chronicles are based on a continuing series of emails by Jim Hines. Jim is a Conservation Chair for the SB-Ventura Chapter of the Sierra Club and is available as a speaker. If you wish to be placed on his email list, contact him at jhcasitas@gmail.com
The following are the most recent of the Hines Chronicles.
New Direction for Rim of the Valley Corridor Protection Act
Dec 4 2025 at 7:17 AM
Greetings Santa Monica Mountains Advocates:
It has now been 20+ years of struggle to get the Rim of the Valley Corridor Protection Act passed by congress and signed into law with no success. Things have changed a lot since the National Park Service report supporting the creation of ROTV including much land that has been lost due to residential and commercial development projects and wildlife migration routes have become more fragmented.
And now we're spiraling downward toward ROTV protection in the form of politics in Washington DC.
i am sure that all of you are aware that the President has ordered a DOJ criminal investigation of U.S. Senator Adam Schiff based on alleged mortgage fraud. Schiff has been our champion for ROTV since his days in the U.S. House of Representatives.
But if you ask anyone on the U.S. Senate leadership staff and they will tell you that anything that has to do with Senator Schiff is dead on arrival, on orders from the White House.
Plus the fact that ROTV is connected with the National Park Service managed Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) which the Office of the U.S, Secretary has a big bullseye on for being a nontraditional national park and a "woke" national park.
Schiff, when in the U.S. House was the floor manager for the two impeachment trials of President Trump, there is a big bullseye on Senator Schiff. I have no idea if the allegations against Schiff are true or not, But I know one thing, this has upended any forward movement on ROTV legislation connected with Senator Schiff.
So, let's find another sponsor in the U.S. Senate for ROTV Protection Act.
I am thinking of our greatest environmental hero in the Senate, Dick Durban (D-IL) who works across the aisle on many issues. I have gotten to know Senator Durban and his staff through my work on the Sierra Club Protect Wild Utah campaign, Durban was the senate sponsor of many of our bills to protect southern Utah federal lands and has an outstanding environmental record ( though he is retiring from the Senate next year).
So next week I will speak with his staff about this. We have to be proactive for we are getting no where over the past 20+ years. i know a lot of people don't want to rock the boat, but the Trump wave is rocking us to our core.
To create ROTV we have to change our way of thinking and how we carry out our campaign in these days of anti-federal lands and political revenge in our nation's Capital.
ATVs Coming to a National Forest Trail Near You
Dec 3 2025 at 7:43 AM
Greetings National Forests Advocates:
Ah, the peace and quiet enjoyed while hiking on a national forest road or trail within the Los Padres National Forest will soon be shattered as us hikers are joined by folks racing past us on their ATV's.
A new proposal being advanced by the executive staff in the U.S. Forest Service headquarters office will revoke any rules and regulations governing the use of ATVs on trails in America's national forest system....if its a trail or road then you can ride ATVs on it.....Ah, nothing like the peaceful nose of ATVs on your favorite national forest trail.
BTW: the Trump Administration is now implementing the Fix Our Forests Act, our friends in the Pisgah NF of North Carolina report that a massive timber logging operation has started...not need to wait until FOFA is the law just go ahead and log, log, log.
So off we go to the Office of the Associate Chief of the U.S. Forest Service with some concerns about all this.
Offshore Oil Lease Sales on Steroids
Dec 1 2025 at 7:08 AM
Greetings Marine and Coastal Advocates:
Since the unofficial announcement three weeks ago and then the official announcement on November 24th of new offshore California oil and gas lease sales, the meetings taking place since then have generated some interesting information:
** The U.S. Secretary of the Interior has suspended NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) for ALL offshore lease sales.
** The EDC has now stepped into the picture and is working with Interior to expand and expedite the approval process. EDC has way too much power over all drilling, logging and mining operations on federal lands and in federal waters. A local example here are discussions by EDC of a potential uranium mine on national forest lands in the Lake Casitas Watershed, part of a broader discussion of mining for critical minerals on federal lands in the west.
** the potential for deep seabed mining will be looked at alongside of the oil lease sales, mainly around Santa Rosa Island in or next to Channel Islands National Park.
There are sooooo many meetings being held regularly in DC offices which deal with so much of our federal lands and waters on the Central Coast of California, I only wish we could have a fulltime advocate to hunker down in DC and follow all that is being planned and approved for our region. I do a "hit and miss" process but that is not the most effective way to deal with all of these threats.
Ventura county is by far the biggest target along the central coast region with ten major projects alone in the Ventura County portion of the Los Padres NF and 6 projects offshore of Ventura County....as well as projects on BLM lands in the county and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands here locally.
So, let's all keep on providing input to the oil and gas leasing process in two ways
1) through Ai bot controlled process:
Regulations.gov........click on Comment on left side of page.
2) directly to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior: the Secretary is the leasing authority.
Contact Interior | U.S. Department of the Interior
Interior staff say many people are commenting directly to the Secretary....YOUR voice matters so keep it up.
What a Year.......But Much to be Grateful For
Nov 26 2025 at 7:27 AM
Greetings Activists:
What a year this has been ... but I am grateful for so much, good health, more than I need materially, gardens in full bloom year round, was successful in my new hobby of growing hellebores and auricula primroses and my greenhouse is full with goodness and beauty and the support from people like YOU, who have inspired me so much.
You made me laugh, you made me cry, we rallied, held meetings and lobbied and we worked ourselves to death in our efforts against a massive machine which seeks to destroy all that is wild in America.
I met a number of amazing people like YOU, I spoke to countless meetings of organizations and groups, lobbied and met with federal agencies which never existed before January 2025 and talked to some of the most dangerous people in America whose sole purpose in life is to carry out plans to destroy federal lands, waters and wildlife.
While we still have much work to do, let us all take this holiday weekend to appreciate each other and our struggles, marvel at the world of nature and sow seeds, plant bulbs and plant flowering shrubs to create beautiful gardens to guide all of us on a path or hope, renewal, recharging and reconnection.
ACTION ALERT: Public Comment Now Open on Presidents Massive Ocean Destruction Oil and Gas Leasing Plan off California
Nov 24 2025 at 7:08 AM
Greetings Marine and Coastal Advocates:
This morning the White House released the California offshore oil leasing plan and YOU can make public comments now. This has been in the planning for months now and the insider joke at the Interior Dept is that the President wants to see a major oil spill off of coastal California which would destroy one of the biggest factors in California's economy, coastal tourism and related coastal recreation. This is about political revenge as much as it is about oil and gas.
The official public comment period for the upcoming planned offshore oil and gas lease sales off of central and southern California opened this morning. Here is the official Ai bot controlled comment portal, the public has until January 23, 2026 to provide comments:
Federal Register :: Notice of Availability of the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program: 1st Analysis and Proposal MAA104000
Click on the public comments button on the left side of the screen and follow the public comments instructions. The Ai bot is making public comments on this issue a challenge.
There are six lease sales scheduled off central and southern California starting in 2027 and continuing until 2030.
If you are concerned about California's coast, Channel Islands National Park, Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, whales and other marine mammals, air quality, coastal recreation and the ocean ecosystems off our shore, please make comments.
In addition to playing the game the Trump Administration wants us to, many of us have and will be making direct comments to the Office of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior who is the official leasing agency. Since we started this campaign several weeks ago, Interior staffers tell me people on a regular basis have been commenting to the Secretary on this issue.
Contact Interior | U.S. Department of the Interior
Also in the works are "adjustments" to Channel Islands National Park and the dismantling of the two national marine sanctuaries offshore, all are in the way of the upcoming lease sales. Several Trump Administration officials have visited the Santa Barbara Channel area recently. This is the biggest battle we have faced recently to save our marine life and ocean ecosystems.
Administration Officially Announces Start of Plan to Lease Oil and Gas Off of Central and Southern California
Nov 20 2025 at 12:03 PM
Greetings Coastal Activists:
It's official, the Trump Administration has just announced the formal plan to hold 6 offshore oil and gas leases off of central and southern California starting in Spring 2027.
National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
The public comment period for upcoming plans will officially begin on November 24, 2025.
Los Padres Forest Uranium Mine Update....Changes in Schedules
Nov 20 2025 at 7:05 AM
Greetings Activists:
Many of you have asked me how the November 18th site visit of a potential Los Padre Forest uranium mine site went....answer, because of stormy weather at the peak on November 18th, the helicopter site visit was conducted on November 19th when the weather was much milder at the peak.
There will be another mine site visit in the early part of December.
Also the scheduled congressional staff briefing originally scheduled for today has been rescheduled for tomorrow.
Things are moving quickly in the five Trump Administration executive offices which deal with opening up America's federal lands and waters to drilling, mining and logging....lots of proposals being worked on here locally, we are currently working on 10 in Los Padres National Forest alone, 6 around Channel Islands National Park and 3 on our local national wildlife refuge lands.
It is important that we all work our contacts in these five offices even during the upcoming holiday season, for the Administration works 24/7 year-round on their plans for total destruction of YOUR public lands and waters.
Administration to Officially Remove Protections for Threatened Wildlife Species
Nov 19 2025 at 3:38 PM
The Trump Administration will officially announce the cutting of protections of various wildlife species currently listed as "threatened": species.
The Administration filed the required paperwork on the afternoon of November 19, 2025 and an official public announcement will be made on November 21, 2025.
It is hard to get an exact count of the number of threatened fish, mammals. marine mammals, birds and plants on the list as the list is scattered over various federal agencies, but it appears to be around 40,000 species. NOTE: in southern California where I live there are approximately 200 threatened species.
Rolling back these protections will be a major blow to many, many wildlife species across our nation.
Our wildlife teams will take a multi action response once the official announcement, providing public comment (though Interior Ai bots will control the process), providing our individual comments to the three federal employees who are in charge of this action, in person meetings with the three (or their staff's) and raising public awareness through social media and various news media outlets.
This battle will be the last stand for many species on the threatened list.
California Gray Wolf Campaign Update
Nov 19 2025 at 7:18 AM
Greetings Wildlife Activists:
During our regular meeting with the State of California Gray Wolf Task Force with the staff of CA Dept of Fish and Wildlife my Sierra Club California Wildlife Team came away both excited on the progress gray wolves have made in California and saddened about the future for gray wolves in California.
Wolves are literally under attack cross the west and California is no different. While the state of California protects wolves under the state endangered species act, the federal government does not and most of the wolves in California live in national forests. (federal lands).
Recently the state authorized the killing of 4 gray wolves as part of the state's program to attempt to stop wolves which prey on cattle.....this saddened us greatly and has caused many to abandon our trust in the Governor who has always said we should not kill wolves.
We and many others throughout California have expressed our outrage to the Governor's office.
Later this year, the state of California will start the public process to update the California Gray Wolf Management Plan....this is in response by the cattle grazing industry.....we are assured that there will be public input allowed in the update to the existing plan.
At the federal level, the Trump Administration's war on wolves across the west is in full swing. The appointment by the President of three wolf haters to run the federal government office which makes decisions on gray wolves and other wildlife have all been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In early December I have a meeting with the Chief of Staff to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director.
In August a federal judge ruled in a lawsuit in which I am one of the many plaintiffs, that the federal government has to develop an endangered species protection plan to protect gray wolves in the west...last week the Trump Administration in blatant defiance said they will NOT develop the court ordered plan.
Over in congress, there are approximately 6 different pieces of legislation moving their way through the House to forbid the federal government from protecting wolves including on federal lands in California.
So, both at the state level and national level we are gearing up for major challenges to the very existence of protecting gray wolves across the west.
How Local National Park Area Got on "Woke" Hit List
Nov 18 2025 at 7:17 AM
Because of a national park service posting on a South Carolina national park site, the staff of the Office of U.S. Secretary of the Interior discovered that Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) has gone "woke". And a price needs to be paid by SMMNRA according to the Dept of the Interior MAWA Team (Make America White Again).
Ballard Mountain, the site of the first black homestead in the Santa Monica Mtns.
Ballard Family - Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)
You may view Ballard Mountain just across the Ventura County line on Kanan Road.
There is a small marker next to the road.
The NPS does not currently own Ballard Mtn but has designated Ballard Mountain as a top land acquisition priority of the 160 acre site......a project that only congress can fund.
In addition to its rich history, the Ballard Mtn site is critical to the completion of the Simi-to-the Sea trail project by the NPS as well as for wildlife corridor protection and natural resource protection.
Some of us who work on SMMNRA issues will be approaching members of congress to get the House to approve the use of funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to purchase Ballard Mtn, this will surely be opposed by the Trump Administration.
A simple 4 sentence posting on the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park website about Ballard Mtn has angered those who work on the President's MAWA initiative (Make America White Again).in the U.S. Dept of the Interior.
We cannot allow international visitors to the LA area in 2028 for the olympic games to see such a negative story which portrays white America in a negative light.
Racism is alive and well in the Trump Administration.....MAWA rules over America's national park sites.
New BLM Leadership Threatens Public Lands in Central Coast Region
Nov 17 2025 at 7:15 AM
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the largest public lands manager in the United States and President Trump's nominee to lead the BLM has pledged to weaken BLM protections for YOUR national conservation lands and has pledged to the President that he will revoke the BLM public lands conservation rule and work to dismantle the BLM.
Meet Steve Pearce former congressman from New Mexico and one of the staunchest anti public lands advocates during his time in congress....this fits well with the President's agenda for your public lands.
The recently Ai bot controlled public comment period for the revoking of the BLM public lands conservation rule has stopped accepting public comments., but this does not prevent you from making your concerns known to the Acting BLM Director......by using Ai bots, the Administration limits public comments on issues.
But, while Peace is currently "advising" the acting BLM Director, Pearce has to officially be confirmed by the U.S. Senate which could happen any day now.(the Senate gives little notice of its vote schedule on issues and confirmations, sometimes only 2 or 3 hours notice).
Here in the central coast region of California where I live the BLM is a major player regarding YOUR public lands, BLM issues all oil and gas drilling leases for all federal lands, manages the Carrizo Plain National Monument (which the Secretary of Interior has pledged to shrink in size to appease the oil industry which has operating wells on monument lands) BLM also manages lands next to the Hopper Mtn National Wildlife Refuge and issues all of the permits for oil drilling operations there and BLM manages several land parcels in the hils above the City of Ventura (outside of the Ventura Hillsides Preserve) and also BLM lands are in the Lake Casitas Watershed. BLM also manages several coastal properties here locally. All this is managed out of the BLM's Bakersfield Field Office. All of us who live in the central coast area have to travel to Bakersfield to meet with BLM staff on issues here in our area. It was actually easier for me to meet with the Acting BLM Chief of Staff when I am in DC. You notice that everyone in the senior BLM leadership is "acting"...you bet they are acting, acting to destroy protection of YOUR BLM Conservation Lands.
As a BLM advisor, Pearce has already worked with a friendly congress to revoke 3 BLM Land Conservation Plans and on November 18th congress will vote to revoke three more. This is the first time congress has ever interfered in BLM conservation plans.
Since the U.S. Senate could vote any day now on Pearce's nomination and if you want to take action....I suggest that you should contact ALL members of the U.S. Senate (both republican and democratic) especially the 8 democrats who have been working with the Trump Adsmsintraiton and ask them to oppose Pearce's nomination....He needs 60 votes in the U.S. Senate to be confirmed.
The oil and mining industry as well as anti federal lands organizations are big backers of Pearce and are currently lobbying Senate members for his confirmation.
Now is not the time to abandon America's BLM managed national conservation lands.
The Target: Los Padres National Forest....My Latest Report
Nov 14 2025 at 7:24 AM
Greetings Friends and Neighbors of the Los Padres National Forest:
As the year winds down and the holiday season approaches I will curtail my travels to DC to focus on enjoying my autumn gardens and the holiday season. It has been quite a year and our beloved Los Padres National Forest has been front and center in our region for the destruction of federal lands.
By visiting and getting to know the players who make all of the decisions regarding the Los Padres NF from their DC offices, I have been enlightened on the dangers the current Presidential Administration poses to all of our federal lands, waters and wildlife. I will keep in touch with them through regular video calls.
Never has it been more prevalent than right now here where I live, for remember the Ventura county portion of the Los Padres NF and the offshore Channel Islands NP are number three on the list by the Trump Administration of targeted federal lands and waters.
Here is my latest update on the many issues facing the Los Padres NF based solely upon my personal interactions with various staff in the 5 executive offices which are charged with making decisions regarding national forests (and other public lands) across America
** the big one, a potential uranium mine in Lake Casitas Watershed and smaller chrome mine in Tule Creek watershed...uranium mine site visit is the week of November 17th, then video conference meeting, this proposal is being advanced by the President's EDC....the EDC seems quite enamored with the Casitas Watershed area and I have been able to relate personal stories to them from growing up on our ranch two miles south of the proposed uranium mine site.
** Forest Service reorganization: the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture is implementing a sweeping plan which would basically destroy the U.S. Forest Service...when I visit their DC headquarters office each time there are less and less employees there. The plan to fully dismantle the U.S. Forest Service should be complete by Spring 2026 according to the Secretary's office. The only positive thing for me is that the office in DC I visit the most for national forest issues is the Office of Associate Chief of the U.S. Forest Service and it will stay in DC.
** logging...the Forest Service and/or their contractor is tagging Jeffery Pines for logging in the Pine Mtn region...the logging industry written bill (Fix Our Forest Logging Act) is just days away from becoming law. The Office of Associate Chief of the U.S. Forest Service is shepherding this legislation along and they have been successful in getting both democratic and republican support in the House and Senate now onto the President. The President has rescinded the requirement that the public have a right to comment on logging projects on federal lands.
** the Administration is working with congress on a plan to weaken or even revoke the National Wilderness Preservation Act (there are 10 federal wilderness areas in the Los Padres NF).....our own Los Padres NF wilderness bill (Central Coast Heritage Protection Act) does not have a "chance in hell" of moving forward according to a staffer at the House Committee on Natural Resources which is controlled at this time by anti federal land protection advocates. Had some interesting conversations with some of them including an anti-federal lands militia group member.
** Sespe Condor Sanctuary Oil Fields roads repaving and widening project. this gets talked about at the President's Council on Environmental Quality.....again I have been able to relate some personal stories of backpacking through the Sespe Wilderness and how wild and beautiful the land is.
** oil and gas drilling: related to above, more wells, moving oil pipelines etc. are planned right in the middle of Condor habitat.
** critical minerals: recent visit from U.S.G.S. for survey on critical minerals in Los Padres NF, this coupled with designations of critical minerals by the President allows critical mineral mining to be a top priority on all federal lands. plus the recent agreement signed by the Secretary of Interiors and Emir of the United Arab Emirates regarding critical mineral mining is the perfect storm of actions to destroy federal lands across the west including lands within the Los Padres NF.
** roadless rule has been revoked by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, final paperwork to be completed by Spring 2026. Secretary continues to meet with and/or attend events by national forest land abuser groups....the public is left out. Forest Service is starting to approve road construction in current roadless areas in several national forests in the Rocky Mtn region.
** cattle grazing to increase on LPNF lands: There are currently hundreds of thousands of acres of grazing allotments scattered across the LPNF and according to Ag Dept staff who are implementing the President's recent order to lower beef prices by increase cattle grazing on federal lands, folks at the Forest Service executive staff level are looking at opening up the 3000 acres of grasslands on federal lands in the Lake Casitas Watershed to cattle grazing....My ancestors and family grazed cattle on these lands from the 1840s till 2005, including lands which are now underwater of Lake Casitas.
There are 5 executive offices all controlled by the President which make all of the decisions and policy on the Los Padres NF ( and all federal lands and waters), these offices though publicly accessible see little or no public engagement, no media coverage of their destructive work and no oversight from congress....they all have a free hand to destroy all that is wild in America.
We have a lot of work ahead of us to attempt to stop all that I have mentioned....just too bad all of these decisions are made in offices 3000 miles away.