The Medicine Lake Highlands encompass one of those remote high places where the bald eagle, fisher, coyote and fox are still in their natural habitat, and where human intrusions are mostly unnoticeable.

You can stand on one of the mountains that form the rim of the Caldera and view a sea of blue-green forested hills, lava flows, the shining gem of Medicine Lake, and nothing else, all the way to Mount Shasta.

Located on the next volcano over from Mount Shasta, some 30 crow miles away. The Highlands comprise the largest shield volcano in the U.S. This mysterious, geologically unique area is threatened with industrial-scale geothermal development, which our research has revealed to be neither clean nor green nor renewable.

The aquifer underlying the Medicine Lake Highlands is the source of the largest fresh water spring system in California, feeding the Fall River, Pit River and Sacramento. We must protect these pure water sources, the fountainhead of life!

Since 1996, together with Native American allies, we've been in the forefront of an intensive struggle to protect this superlative landscape, and have filed the only lawsuit in the matter.

LAWSUIT COURT DATE SET FOR SEPTEMBER 10TH

U.S. District Court in Sacramento is the venue for the court hearing on our lawsuit challenging the approval of the Fourmile Hill geothermal project in the Medicine Lake Highlands.

On September 10th at 9 a.m., Judge David Levi will hear both sides of the arguments on nine points of law, and hopefully will grant the relief we are seeking: invalidation of the geothermal Save Medicine Lake Highlands leases that were illegally awarded and renewed, and reversal of the record of decision.

The Fourmile Hill project was approved in May 2000, and following lengthy appeals, Deborah Sivas of Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund filed the lawsuit in June 2002 on behalf of the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center, Pit River Tribe, and Native Coalition for Medicine Lake Highlands Defense. The lawsuit alleges violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and Federal Trust Responsibility to Indian Tribes by the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, and Calpine Corporation.

TELEPHONE FLAT LAWSUIT IN PREPARATION

Meanwhile, we've been researching legal issues on the Telephone Flat geothermal project, and expect Earthjustice to file our coalition lawsuit on the Telephone Flat geothermal project sometime in September. In November 2002, under the new administration, BLM and the Forest Service reversed their original decision on the Telephone Flat project, denied in May 2000 because of its adverse environmental and cultural impacts in a recognized recreational and cultural area. The reversal followed a $100 million "takings" lawsuit by Calpine. We filed an admin-istrative appeal of the reversal in February 2003, which was subsequently denied by the agencies.

If we do not prevail in these two court cases, we plan to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court.

UPCOMING WATER PERMIT HEARING

Another high area of our concern is the water permit for these projects under consideration by the Regional Water Board. Water issues are right at the top of reasons to oppose these projects, which pose high risks to the largest fresh water spring system in California, feeding the Fall, Pit and Sacramento Rivers. We produced a two-inch-thick document to comment on the draft permit. The public hearing will be in the fall, at a date still to be determined.

CALIFORNIA ENERGY POLICY

CEC SUBSIDIES - In the State of California arena, we have also been challenging the rate-payer-funded subsidies of nearly $50 million conditionally awarded to Calpine Corporation by the California Energy Commission (CEC). We are weighing in heavily to demonstrate to the CEC that Calpine has not met the conditions under which the awards were granted and extended in 2002, and that CEC is justified in canceling the subsidies. At present writing, CEC has not completed its review, which may result in a public hearing in the next month or two.

THE RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD is a California bill requiring renewable energy to provide 20% of the state's power by the year 2017. The California Energy Commission must report to the legislature on how the state will meet this objective. The current draft proposal has Siskiyou County targeted to provide about 1000 megawatts from geothermal power, presumably from the Medicine Lake Highlands. At current permitted power plant levels this would result in 180 tons per year of the toxic hydrogen sulfide gas going into our airshed! The proposal also calls for over 500 megawatts from biomass. We support non-smokestack forms of renewable energy-like home generated solar and wind power. Needless to say, we are also busy in other arenas, working to influence this siting process and to protect our pure air and water resources in Siskiyou County.

BACKGROUND

Despite the Medicine Lake Highlands' widely recognized significance and sensitive environment, Calpine Corporation has received government approval for two 50-megawatt geothermal power plants that threaten to transform this area into an industrial zone.

Each development would cover up to eight square miles with power plant facilities. Both projects combined would result in an initial 40 wells, million-gallon toxic sump pools at each well pad, steam plumes, new roads, two transmission line corridors, cutting a 1000-foot-wide swath through the forests for over 37 miles, and two 10-story high cooling towers spewing emissions laced with heavy metals and toxic gases.

Calpine owns 66 square miles of leases in the Highlands and has publicly announced plans to develop capacity for up to1000 megawatts, ten times the two currently-proposed power plants!

NATIVE AMERICAN TRADITIONAL CULTURAL DISTRICT

With this campaign, as with our SAVE MOUNT SHASTA project, we have built a strong coalition with the Native American Tribes of our region and beyond. Together we were instrumen-tal in obtaining a 1999 designation by the National Register of Historic Places for the Medicine Lake Caldera as a Traditional Cultural District covering 32 square miles. A supplemental ethnographic study is currently underway to study a larger area, with the result that the Traditional Cultural District may end up encompassing more of the Highlands. The Ecology Center has been providing a portion of the infrastructure for Native American participation.

The Tribes are currently working on a Cultural Management Plan for the Medicine Lake Highlands, in cooperation with the US Forest Service. The purpose of the plan is to define the values that will protect traditional cultural uses of the Highlands and identify management prescriptions to carry the protections out. The Tribes are also negotiating a Participating Agreement for collaborative management and restoration projects in the Highlands.

An extensive Native Coalition is forming in support of protection for the Medicine Lake Highlands. It includes the prestigious National Congress of American Indians, Indigenous Environmental Network, Seventh Generation, and International Indian Treaty Council.