FUTALEUFÚ RIVERKEEPER® NEWSLETTER

ISSUE NO. 2 DECEMBER 2013

Wild & Scenic Film Festival American Canoe Association in Chile UCLA School of Management RFK Jr. Interview in Patagon Journal Our Supporters

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In this Issue

American Canoe Association in Chile…………… 2

UCLA launches new project on Futaleufú…………. 3

New documentary accepted into Wild & Scenic…... 3

In the News (RFK Jr. and more) …..………………. 4

Legal Developments ………………….……………… 5

Where We’ve Been ……...……………………...…… 6

Community Updates ………………..….……………. 7

Our Supporters………………………………………. 8

Photography:

Stephanie Haig

Alex Seguel

Sebastián Alvarez

Londie Garcia Padelsky

Santiago Office: Futaleufú Office: Av. Suecia 750 Calle Bernardo Depto 1504 O’Higgins No. 352 Santiago, Chile Futaleufú, Chile www.futaleufuriverkeeper.org Email: info@futaleufuriverkeeper.org US: 914-35-RIVER (914-357-4837) Chile: 065-562-RIO (065-562-746) Fax: 555-555-5555

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Our mission is to protect the Futaleufú watershed

and its communities from activities that will deplete their environment and harm their health, culture

and livelihoods. Our actions are centered around vigilant monitoring, targeted litigation, and community engagement. We are the first

Waterkeeper organization in Patagonia. Join the fight by becoming a supporter today!

Top: Riverkeeper María José Ortiz with a special visitor from Klamath Riverkeeper, Erica Kate Terence,

Futaleufú, December 2013. Bottom: Riverkeeper staff during a meeting outside

FRK’s Santiago office, August 2013.

Click here to follow us on Facebook

© Stephanie Haig

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FUTALEUFÚ RIVERKEEPER® Dec. 2013

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Top L & R: ExChile’s Chris Spelius with a pool session. Right: an early morning start at ACA’s first South American

conference, October, 2013.

American Canoe Association in Chile

In October, Futaleufu Riverkeeper was invited to

participate in ACA’s first South American Conference, held

at Universidad Andres Bello in the coastal city of Viña del

Mar. Students, professors and tourism operators from

Chile and Argentina participated in the conference. The

weekend event was organized by Universal Kayak, a

Chilean-owned kayak manufacturer that also offers guide

training in Santiago.

Presenters included FRK’s International Director Patrick J.

Lynch, as well as supporter Chris Spelius, of Expediciones

Chile, and Wade Blackwood, ACA’s Executive Director.

Presenters talked about the health, economic and

conservation benefits of encouraging more paddlesports in

Chile.

Highlights of the conference included kayak training by

Chris Spelius and Stand-Up Paddle (SUP) certification by

Dave Burden from ACA. Dave served for many years as

the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper and is currently aiding

ACA’s expansion through his new role as International

Paddlesports Ambassador.

We look forward to working with ACA and local

partners to get more Chileans out on the country’s

rivers. The Futaleufú may be one of the most

treasured waterways, but others—like the Maipo and

the Trancura—are strategically important for

connecting more people to the outdoors. These rivers

are much closer to main population centers like

Santiago and Temuco, and are critical for promoting

recreational activities that keep kids healthy and teach

them to become future stewards of the environment.

FRK is looking for Santiago-based and international

organizations like ACA who want to promote

paddlesports as one way to contribute to saving

Patagonia’s rivers. If you want to learn more or get

involved, contact our international director at

plynch@futaleufuriverkeeper.org.

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© Sebastián Alvarez www.tecnoaustral.com

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A global perspective on Patagonia In September FRK signed on UCLA Anderson School of

Management to conduct research on socio-

environmental conflicts around the world. The team is

contacting academics and NGOs to assess strategies

for communities to protect their natural resources. This

month a team travelled to Chile to interview stakeholders

and conduct a survey of residents in the watershed.

Our executive team was also invited to present to UCLA

Anderson in Santiago. Speaking to an audience of 50

professional MBA students, Executive Director Robert

Currie presented on Chile’s energy challenges and how

nonprofits like ours are working to change how the

country approaches sustainable growth.

Special thanks to the Austral Group, which connects

non-profit organizations with universities around the

world looking to bring students down to Chile.

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Award-winning film on tour with Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Fighting for the Futaleufú is a short documentary that

encapsulates the spirit of the river. In just 16 minutes it lets

the viewer leave with questions about river conservation,

energy policy, and how we approach life. We are very

proud of the team who worked so hard to make this film a

reality over the last two years.

This award-winning film was recently selected to go on

tour with the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, which has been

called “the Sundance of environmental films.” Up to 150

locations will be screening the festival over the coming

year. We are working directly with festival organizers in

California to do outreach on the tour.

Confirmed screenings:

Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Nevada City, CA Jan 11-12

Princeton Environmental Film Festival, Jan 30-Feb 8

Please check our Facebook page for more updates, or contact us if there’s a local NGO, college or company that may want to host!

Right: Fighting for the Futaleufú, with FRK’s scientific adviser Dr. Bill Horvath. Left: UCLA MBA student Howard Kim compiling a survey of residents while on horseback.

Click to view trailer (Vimeo)

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FUTALEUFÚ RIVERKEEPER®

Check out more recent press below, and subscribe to our Facebook page for contact updates!

Spanish-language articles [click to view] El Dinamo

Chile Sustentable FlyShop News

ABOVE: Graphic showing the proposed HidroAysen transmission line, and the most likely connecting line for the Futaleufú dams (in blue). Fighting Endesa’s plan means doing three things:

In the news

“My hope is that the Futaleufú and the other rivers in Aysen will not be destroyed, that they will be saved. These are the landscapes that define the Chilean character, are part of Chile’s patrimony, and roots of Chilean culture and democracy. It’s the same way that America is rooted in Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, the Adirondacks and the Rocky Mountains; these are the landscapes that define us. That’s why we have to be careful of how we dispose of them.” -Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaking to Patagon

Journal

[Read our press release here (PDF), or subscribe to Patagon Journal]

Click above to read article photo: Hardie Truesdale

Dec. 2013

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© Stephanie Haig

Saving the Futaleufú, by Jimmy Langman and Nancy Moore, Patagon Journal

The Sound and the Fury, by Shaun Tolson, Robb Report

Rapids Response, by George Black, NRDC’s OnEarth magazine

How Paddlers can save the Futaleufú, by Patrick J. Lynch, ThePaddler.uk

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FUTALEUFÚ RIVERKEEPER®

Legal updates

Continued support from the Vance Center for International Justice has allowed our team to move forward on an exciting new project in Chile. Vance set us up with respected law firm, FerradaNehme, for pro bono support. The firm is looking at the feasibility of establishing a National Park or similar status for the Futaleufú watershed.

This would be an important step toward permanent protection for the Futaleufú watershed. While parks and nature sanctuaries enjoy a certain degree of protection under the law, their greatest feature is signaling to the world that Chile officially recognizes the area’s unique ecological importance. A later decision by the government to permit mining activities would be met with fierce public opposition.

ZOIT Documents Submitted!

Since July, Riverkeeper staff has held a series of meetings with government officials regarding our application to expand the Futaleufú watershed into a Zone of Touristic Interest (ZOIT). With the help of local partners including Mr. Ervin Redlich, we are excited this phase of the project is being finalized. Next steps will be designing a Management Plan, which will issue formal recommendations on how infrastructure and other projects in the watershed should incorporate potential impacts to conservation.

Collaboration with Law Schools

Since July, staff have held meetings with environmental law professors at two of Chile’s top law schools, Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago and Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia. Both schools have strong programs in environmental law as we look to expand our legal program in the coming year. While there are no law schools in the Futaleufú watershed, we are looking out for students from the area who are studying environmental law for internship possibilities.

New Conservation Strategies

This month the board met with attorney Roberto Peralta to examine new strategies for private land conservation in the Futaleufú watershed. Mr. Peralta is highly regarded in Chile for developing the first conservation easement, modeled after the U.S. land trust model.

Pro Bono Thanks

A special thank you to Trish Rogers, Vice-Chair at Moye White LLP, for her continued pro bono support. Among other projects, Trish is assisting FRK to develop an outreach plan for the 2014 Wild & Scenic Film Festival.

Issue # 2

Dec. 2013

Left: a still from Fighting for the

Futaleufú, showing at the Wild & Scenic Film

Festival. photo by Stephanie Haig

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Where We’ve Been

We’ve been busy! Forming strategic partnerships is a key aspect of our work, while we continue to establish Futaleufu Riverkeeper as Patagonia’s First Waterkeeper program. Over the last six months our staff took advantage of several travel opportunities to hold meetings with NGOs, activists, academics and donors. In the United States Atlanta, GA | Sacramento, CA | San Joaquin, CA | New York, NY | Greenwich, CT | New Haven, CT | Boston, MA In Argentina Bariloche | Esquel | Lago Puelo | El Bolsón In Chile Viña del Mar | Santiago | Puerto Montt | Valdivia | Futaleufú | Chaiten Organizations There are a number of organizations doing amazing work out there. Below are some of the groups our staff met with since July: WWF – Chile | Waterkeeper Alliance | Mass Audubon Society | CERES, Boston | Geoaustral | Parque Pumalin | Universidad Diego Portales School of Law | Universidad Austral de Chile | Universidad Andres Bello School of Ecotourism | Lago Puelo National Park | NO! a la Mina – Esquel | Asociación Ecologista Piuke |Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Sciences | Institute for Political Ecology, Santiago | Tuolumne River Trust, CA | SERNATUR | Chilean Subsecretary of Tourism, Ministry of the Interior | Turismo Antuhuya Do you have ideas for partnerships, corporate

sponsors or foundations that have programs focused

on international environmental conservation and

advocacy? Email us or call to let us know what you’ve

got in mind. info@futaleufuriverkeeper.org (914) 357-4837

Above; view of Parque Pumalin’s southern entrance from the newly established park ranger office, October 2013; Below, map showing FRK outreach visits in Chile and Argentina.

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Community in Photos

This past winter was Riverkeeper María José’s first living in the town of Futaleufú. Originally from Santiago, María José has made Futaleufú her home over the past year, in our “casa-oficina”, a cozy cabin with a brand new fireplace installed with the help of our friends at Patagonia Elements.

Check out our albums of what Patagonia is like in the winter and spring below.

Grassroots efforts in Futaleufú

In response to an article published in Patagon Journal’s July issue, a group of concerned residents have formed a new grassroots campaign to oppose mining exploration in the watershed. The campaign, NO! A la Mina (NO to the Mines), was inspired by previous efforts in Esquel, Argentina, where the community launched an anti-mining campaign back in 2003 to place a moratorium on mining projects. Although the moratorium expired this year and attempts to reinstall it have so far failed, the original NO a la Mina campaign is still active and continuing to expose mining projects and build up public opposition.

We are excited about the developments and have been working to generate maps, documents and provide other support for the campaigns.

These projects can only be successful with your help! Please make a pledge today to support our community programs. We need to have the right people on the ground to investigate local complaints and make sure officials are doing their jobs to defend the public’s rights to a clean and healthy environment.

Above: María José Ortiz and the Patagonia Sin Represas Snowman at the Riverkeeper office.

Below: photo by Alex Seguel, Two condors perched above the Futaleufu watershed in early spring. CLICK on images to view albums.

Right: A horse drinking from the northern branch of the Espolón River, one of the most visited tributaries in the watershed. Photo by Ervin Redlich.

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© Alex Seguel © Ervin Redlich

www.turismoantuhuya.cl

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Our Supporters

Futaleufu Riverkeeper has welcomed several new supporters since the last newsletter. A big end of year Thank You to everyone who has chosen to support this effort over the last year and a half. Your contributions are making the difference in the fight to establish permanent protections for the Futaleufu watershed and its communities.

[Note: If you don’t see your name listed and you know you donated, please let us know so that our fiscal sponsors at Waterkeeper Alliance can adjust your gift.] Announcing the 2012-2013 FRK Supporters

Major Donors Class V+ ($500-999) Creature Craft ($5,000 or more) David Bailey Halle Family Foundation Anonymous Emily Katz Margaret Kavookjian Trevor Norwitz William & Jeri Koltun Donald Foster Peter & Kathleen Metcalf Peter Gertler Scott McKay Tom Goss Class IV Members (cont’d) Cornelia & Michael Bessie Foundation John Markley Joshua Ebrahemi Earth River Expeditions (In Kind) William McKeen Brian Feltovich Patagonia, Inc. Robin Miller Rachel Garfield Weeden Foundation Milton Roges Stephen Gaull Alessandro Giammei ($2,000-$4,999) Class V Members ($250-500) Don Gregory Chad Belinsky Rebecca Griswold David Bonderman Robert Bixby Michael Halbert Lawrence Friedman & Michele Hertz Robert Katz Mitchell Kirsch Ann Voll Quentin and Marissa Kuhrau Connie Lafleur Michael Wehrle Anthony Marini Janet Leventhal Powell Foundation Audrey Morris Carlyle McCoy Moye White LLP (In Kind) George Nuckols Christine Mistler Turner Foundation John Renner Ellis Pretlow OARS Whitewater Rafting Milton Roges John Roberts Patricia Rogers ($1,000-$1,999) Class IV Members ($<250) Cristian Soto Justin Bloom Eric Stetzler Robert Martin Dan Braning G Patricia Stewart Elliott McCoy Phil Cogdill David Stewart Lyle McCoy Kathleen Conway Dennis Thompson Kevin Crowe Timathea Workman August Fundraising push: Thank you to Robin Miller, Phil Cogdill, Janet Leventhal, Michael Halbert, Trish Rogers, Rachel Garfield, Cristian Soto, and George Nuckols for signing up during our August fundraising campaign! The campaign was a big success, bringing in nearly $1,000 for our programs in Chile.

And a continued thanks to everyone who has been advising our staff and board as the organization continues to meet new challenges. Special mention goes out to Eric Stetzler, Kathleen Metcalf, Robert Bixby, Bob Martin, George Black, Jimmy Langman, Heather George, Theresa Duncan, Keeva Young-Wright, Ippolita DiPaola, John Van der Stricht, and Chris Spelius.

And of course, thank you to our dedicated Board of Directors: Scott McKay, Eric Hertz and the rest! Feliz Año Nuevo!

To view our local supporters in Chile click here or visit us at www.futaleufuriverkeeper.org/supporters

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© Stephanie Haig

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FUTALEUFÚ RIVERKEEPER® Issue # 2

June, 2013

Want to help? Please join or renew your gift today!

We are a small organization but our goals are ambitious: 1) Save the Futaleufú from being dammed

2) Organize local communities to protect their homes 3) Create a winning model for the protection of

Patagonia’s wild and scenic places. To give today, please visit our fiscal sponsor’s website and select Futaleufú Riverkeeper. Go to www.waterkeeper.org and select “Donate”

THANK YOU!

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Show your support for the Futaleufú Riverkeeper by donating today!

To donate online, click here. To mail a gift, please print out this page and send along with your gift. Checks should be made out to the Waterkeeper Alliance, our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor. I would like to donate the following amount to support the Futaleufú Riverkeeper:

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*Interested in joining our Major Donors Program? Let us know how we can reach you below. I want to stay informed of what the Futaleufú Riverkeeper is doing to protect the watershed Please contact me by:

Email: ________________________________ Phone: ( ________ ) _____________________ ________________________________ Address: ________________________________