Brown reappoints Jim Kellogg to Fish and Game Commission

James Kellogg, 68, of Discovery Bay, has been reappointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the California Fish and Game Commission, where he has served since 2002 after being appointed by then Governor Gray Davis.

Kellogg has been an international representative for the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry since 1992, according to a news release from the Governor's Office.

Fishing groups reacted positively to his appointment. "Jim has exercised a steady hand in implementing good Fish and Game policies for the state for the past 10 years," said Dick Pool, president of Water for Fish. "We look forward to his continued leadership."

“It’s been great news that he’s been reappointed, “ said Jim Martin, West Coast Regional Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA). “He has always been a good friend of fishermen and his long experience as a Commissioner will provide continuity for decision making and institutional memory.”

Kellogg was instrumental in convincing the Fish and Game Commission in February to reject the Department of Fish and Game's controversial proposed changes to striped bass regulations that anglers said amounted to a “striped bass eradication proposal.”

Kellogg made the motion to reject the proposal after speaking passionately about his eyewitness experience with the results of export pumping when he worked from 1966 to 1969 on installing the first pumping station on the South Delta for the State Water Project.

Kellogg noted that the striped bass and listed Central Valley chinook salmon and Delta smelt had coexisted for 130 years. He also declared that striped bass are a "native species" in California, since they have been here for so long.

"Nobody's got an answer on how this is done, or who declares it, so I'm going to declare the striped bass a native species of the state of California," he said, in his last act as the Commission President.

Kellogg has also acquired a reputation for being a voice of reason, common sense and environmental and economic justice regarding the implementation of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create “marine protected areas” on the California coast. He has consistently spoken up for working people, fishermen and Tribal communities in hearings and meetings regarding the adoption of marine protected areas.

On April 11, Kellogg and the other Commissioners will meet in Eureka to discuss proposed changes to marine protected areas for the MLPA North Coast Study Region and receive public comment on the draft environmental document for the North Coast marine protected areas. For more information, go to: http://www.fgc.ca.gov/meetings/2012/041112agd.pdf.

According to the Commission website, "Jim has devoted his entire adult life to helping people and doing whatever possible to provide the best working environment and conditions that the particular times would bear for the people he represents. He has been recognized many times over for his leadership abilities and has gained the respect and admiration of everyone who has had the opportunity to interface with him."

"He is a strong supporter of education and heavily promotes union apprenticeship and journeyman training programs and has been rewarded for those efforts by having two schools in Northern California named after him. He is the founder of the California Native American Apprenticeship Initiative," the website stated.

Besides serving as Fish and Game Commissioner, Kellogg served as commissioner for the California Transportation Commission from 1999 to 2002.

This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Kellogg is a Democrat.