January 20, 2009 VIA U.S. CERTIFIED MAIL and FAX Bob Bartholomew, Assistant State Conservationist, Programs USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Idaho EQIP Program – Boise State Office 9173 West Barnes Drive, Suite C Boise, Idaho 83709 Re: FOIA Request – Idaho EQIP Program – Water Diversions – Changes in Points of Diversion for Energy Savings Dear Mr. Bartholomew: This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended, made on behalf of Western Watersheds Project (“WWP”). Pursuant to the FOIA, please send WWP copies of the following records: 1. All applications, responses to applicants, inventory reports, monitoring reports, trip reports, end-of-year reports, tour notes, memoranda, emails, notes, letters and other correspondence, phone records, monitoring, and other documentation regarding the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (“EQIP”) in Idaho in its use for modifying existing water diversions and conveyances for the period January 1, 1999 to Present. a. Please include the locations, the year of the project, the amount of USDA funding of individual projects that fit these criteria; b. Please include maps showing the locations, land ownership, and nearby streams for individual projects that fit these criteria. 2. All reports, memoranda, emails, notes, letters and other correspondence, phone records, monitoring, and other documentation regarding Idaho EQIP in its use for Special Projects for Energy Conservation and Species of Concern for the period January 1, 1999 to Present. 3. All records of EQIP funds and technical assistance being expended on projects involving public lands, other than those covered in Items #1 and 2 (above) for the period January 1, 1999 to Present. Scope WWP does not seek documents, which it has already received. If you have questions as to the scope of this request, please contact the undersigned. If you believe any portion of this request is exempt from disclosure under FOIA please provide a brief description of each withheld document (or portion of document) and the legal basis for the withholding. Timing Under the FOIA, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (“NRCS”) must make a determination on WWP’s request within 20 working days. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)(i). A determination consists of a statement whether agency will comply with request, the reasons therefore, and informs the requester of the right to appeal an adverse decision. Format If any of these documents are available in electronic format, WWP is willing to accept them in that format. Fees WWP requests a waiver of any search and copy costs related to the above request. WWP is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and conserving the public lands and natural resources of watersheds in the American West. WWP has over 2000 members, including many members who live in Idaho. WWP is active in seeking to protect and improve riparian areas, water quality, fisheries, wildlife, and other natural resources and ecological values of Western watersheds, including within Idaho public lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. To do so, WWP actively participates in agency decision-making concerning public lands throughout the West, particularly with respect to management of livestock grazing and related water diversions. One of the core aspects of WWP’s mission is to educate the public about the natural wonders of the West, and about land, resource and wildlife decisions made by government, private, and other entities that affect the natural environment and wildlife. WWP is effective at increasing public awareness of environmental matters, such as protection of watersheds from impacts of livestock grazing, through public education and outreach, participation in administrative processes, litigation and other enforcement of federal environmental laws. As explained below, WWP meets the criteria for a fee waiver under FOIA. The requested records concern government activities regarding water diversions and use of USDA funds such as from the EQIP program and its technical expertise for projects that move Points-Of-Diversion upstream under the premise of saving energy by taking advantage of gravity flow water use. The information requested will help WWP and the public understand what effect water diversions are having on watersheds in Idaho, and whether the Natural Resources Conservation Service has complied with all statutory and regulatory requirements. The public has a great interest in preserving natural resources, and thus a great interest in determining whether federal agencies are making management decisions that protect these resources. The public also has an interest in knowing whether federal agencies are complying with all required standards and laws and properly managing public lands to avoid degradation and damage. WWP will use the requested information to contribute to the public’s understanding of public funding of the modifications of water diversions and conveyances and their impacts on watersheds in Idaho by analyzing the information and presenting it to the public. WWP has staff members who are familiar with agency practices and who have scientific backgrounds providing expertise in water rights, range, and wildlife management. These staff have the expertise and capability to assess, analyze, and summarize the requested management and scientific documents and then use that information to inform the public about the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s funding practices, technical assistance, and conditions of watersheds on public and private lands. WWP has the ability to disseminate this information to the public both orally and in written form through reports, news articles, and presentations. WWP uses the media to spread information to the public, with news articles appearing in papers across the West, as well as radio features, discussing WWP’s work and grazing issues with which WWP is involved. WWP has over 400 media contacts throughout the nation to ensure media attention for its work. In addition to the media, WWP participates in and helps host conferences at the local, regional, and national levels, where it disseminates information about its work and reveals results of its studies and projects to scientists, lawyers, conservationists, and other interested public who attend these conferences. It participates in educational outreach such as presentations to high school students, issues written reports on grazing and related water diversion impacts that it disseminates at conferences or other meetings across the West, and it distributes a newsletter four times a year that discusses its current work. Finally, it also disseminates information through its website and email notices. The website contains press articles, updates on WWP’s current work, information about government activities and management decisions, as well as research reports and scientific articles. Many of the reports and articles that WWP distributes at conferences, on its website, and in its newsletter are based on information obtained through FOIA requests. As one of the few organizations specifically dedicated to the preservation and protection of the lands and waters on public lands from the impacts of livestock grazing and related water use, WWP is a critically important hub of information for both its members and the general public who have an interest in the health and management of our public lands. The disclosure of the requested documents to WWP will significantly contribute to public understanding of government activities because these documents are not readily available to the public without such a request. These are not the type of documents the agency routinely publicizes or otherwise broadly disseminates to the public on a normal basis. Thus, a FOIA request is required to obtain the documents. In addition, WWP will use its skills and expertise to analyze these documents, which are often complex and difficult to understand without special training or experience, to assess the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s funding and management decisions, its compliance with standards and other requirements, and the effects of water use and related grazing on endangered, threatened, candidate species and Species of Concern in the affected watersheds. It is the product of this analysis that will significantly contribute to the public’s understanding of whether the Natural Resources Conservation Service is properly managing its funds and programs and is assisting the BLM and Forest Service’s management of public trust lands and resources in a manner consistent with federal statutes, regulations, plans, and policies. WWP’s sole interest in requesting these documents is to further its mission of protecting watersheds in the Interior West, and to educate its members and the general public to enable and empower them to advocate for this protection. WWP is a non-profit, public interest organization and has no commercial or profit interest in this information. Please send the documents to WWP; PO Box 1322; Salmon, Idaho 83467. If you have any questions about this request, please feel free to contact me. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Larry Zuckerman Central Idaho Director Western Watersheds Project larry@westernwatersheds.org (208) 756-8000 (208) 756-8008 FAX XC: Jon Marvel, Executive Director, WWP, Hailey Laird Lucas, Advocates For The West, Boise WWP FOIA Request ? January 20, 2009 - 1 -