Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.

Archive 59 - April 2007
also see main archive page

Around 1900, Link River, between Upper Klamath Lake and Lake Ewauna, occasionally went dry before the Klamath Project was built. There was no hydropower, no hatcheries, occasionally no fish (fish need water), no artificially-raised river flows or lake levels. HERE for more

Tulelake Marine injured in Iraq, H&N 4/29/07

Cousins of threatened owls may be thinned out; Plan calls for shooting spotted owl's cousin, H&N, posted 4/30/07

Land-use dilemma (Measure 37) may go to voters, H&N posted to KBC 4/30/07

To KBC: Is it legal to fish for mullet? and if so when is the best time? Albert
Albert: I don't think it's legal. They're "endangered", even though there are 10's of thousands more than they thought there were when they were listed as endangered. KBC

From Katherine Lehman regarding Monday's HB2564 water meters. Call your legislators now! 4/27/07

COME TO JOSEPH. Oregon Freedom Symposium, with Jim Beers, by Jim Beers 4/28/07. KBC will be there!

* SB20 Pesticide bill Ap10

We have 2 weeks to get testimony regarding Oregon ag burning ban, HB3000, to Farm Bureau for the committee. Go HERE for details. 4/9/07

* SB20 Pesticide bill April 10, OREGON - "it would shut down most pesticide applications across the state (the activist’s intended goal)" Call your legislator!
If you are going to Salem tomorrow April 10, read HERE. SB20 HERE.

Klamath Indians asking (Buffett) to take down PacifiCorp dams, by Clea Benson - Sacramento Bee Capitol Bureau April 27, 2007. HERE for Dam Page. Do you want the Klamath dams removed? Tell Warren Buffett by writing or calling:
Berkshire Hathaway
Attn: Warren Buffett
1440 Kiewit Plaza
Omaha , NE 68131
402-346-1400

California Farm Bureau Friday Review APRIL 27, 2007

Klamath River flows 4/27/07, Research by Lewie Baker

Senate votes ratifies Yurok compact, 4/19/2007 Eureka Reporter. “It will allow the tribe to operate 99 gaming devices in two locations.”

4/27/07 Write or call tonight or early tomorrow, Friday morning April 27th, HJ31 Stop Wilderness

Group wants Buffett to remove dams, World Herald, posted 4/27/07. (KBC NOTE: The article shows dead fish to promote dam removal. In 2002, the tribes demanded a surge of hot water down the Klamath River against advice of scientists who said this would be lethal to the salmon. Trinity River fish died when they reached the lethal water, and the enviros and Indians blamed farmers for "low flows". These same pictures are being used to promote Klamath Dam removal, blaming dams for dead fish, and assuming that dam removal will fix water quality with millions of tons of sediment being released into the river.)

Thank you for the coverage from the cross hairs of the western water debate; (Climate Change Adds Twist to Debate Over Dams), letter to NY Times by William Kennedy, Klamath Falls Farmer 4/27/07

(Klamath) Groups closer to water settlement, April 25, 2007 Herald and News

Climate Change Adds Twist to Debate Over (Klamath) Dams, New York Times, posted to KBC 4/25/07. HERE for dam page. (KBC NOTE: Thanks to the Klamath Project and it's storage, paid for by Klamath irrigators, free regulated water FROM the Klamath Project has allowed cheap power for PacifiCorps customers in the NW for decades--it was in exchange for affordable power rates to the irrigators. PacifiCorp is increasing the cost to Klamath irrigators 2500% in the next couple years, saying our water does not benefit them. We were previously partners in providing food and power). More HERE.

Lawmakers propose sweeping Western wilderness area, Billings Gazette, posted to KBC 4/25/07. "Two East Coast lawmakers introduced a bill Friday with 73 co-sponsors that would designate as wilderness 23 million public acres in five Northern Rocky Mountain states, including Montana and Wyoming...It would give the government's strongest protections to areas of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Oregon." Followed by Bill would ban development on 23 million acres across the Northern Rockies: "...750,000 (acres) in eastern Oregon..."

SB986: "the gov picks the "conservationists, hunters and fishermen" as an emergency it takes effect July 1, 2007, if anyone quits, the governor immediately appoints someone he wants to fill that vacancy, the task force makes all its own rules"

Marine reserves sought
Governor proposes 25,000 square miles off Oregon Coast for marine sanctuaries
Herald and News 4/22/07. "The governor added he had proposed making 25,000 square miles off the Oregon Coast part of the national marine sanctuary system because he is committed to protecting Oregon waters as an ‘‘interconnected ecosystem,’’ and wants the council to keep that goal in mind as it develops a proposal. The proposal would have allowed commercial and recreational fishing, but not oil and gas drilling. "

Kulongoski

Opening Statement's From Today's Joint Oversight Hearing On Renewable Energy Opportunities & Issues On The Outer Continental Shelf, Steve Hanson, Director of Communications, House Committee on Resources 4/24/07. "increased natural gas prices have cost the American consumer $65 billion more per year for electricity than they paid in 2000. We also learned that because of higher natural gas prices, we've lost three million manufacturing jobs (that's 18 percent of manufacturing jobs) since 2000."

Klamath cleanup, Triplicate, posted to KBC 4/25/07. "I want my family to see what impact the garbage and everything has to our reservation and how important it is to clean up..." "...staff would later bring them to the transfer station, sort the garbage from recyclables in a collection that in past years has totaled about 160 cubic yards."

* Send ag burning testimony until April 23.

*BLM mining regulations comments due 4/24/07

Basin water problem serious, demands timely solution, letter to H&N by Cal Hunt, 4/22/07. " The recent showing of the film produced by the Karuk Indians that is used by the Klamath River Inter Tribal Fish and Water Commission has one purpose: Prevent the relicensing of the Klamath River dams in the hopes that salmon populations will be improved. The plight of our farming community, which depends on adequate water for irrigation, was not solved or benefited by the film’s information. Pacific Corp. claims the dams supply power for 70,000 homes. No answer was given to the question of reliable source of power supply if the dams are removed."

Letter to KBC, Karuk Tribe and environmental group regarding Klamath dam removal, from Houston, Texas April 22, 2007 "The fact that there is less erosion in rivers downstream from dams, means that there is less fine dust which could seed the skies. The rain god becomes infertile so-to-speak."

Opinion: Save the planet -- save the hydro dams, Redding Searchlight 4/22/07 "PacificCorp's hydro turbines produce 359 gigawatt-hours of carbon-free electricity each year. Yeah, that's insignificant -- it's only three-fourths of Siskiyou County's total yearly electrical consumption. From a global-warming perspective, that replacement power from the gas-fired power plants will produce 220,000 tons per year of new carbon dioxide emissions. Insignificant? Those new emissions equal all automotive-related carbon emissions by everyone in Siskiyou and Del Norte counties combined."

New land-use plan under review: Measure 37, 4/22/07

Unveiling Upper Klamath Lake sucker dilemna, by Dan Keppen, 4/20/07

Hoopa request for appeal denied, Times-Standard 4/22/07

Bureau of Reclamation water data update, posted to KBC 4/21/07

California Farm Bureau Friday Review, APRIL 20, 2007. "Today's Friday Review contains updates on several bills that cover issues ranging from The Williamson Act, Metal Theft, additional fees and Air Quality Regulations."

OREGON WATER METERING public hearing tomorrow Friday April 20. Write or call!

Lawsuit Challenges Salmon Protection, by Jeff Barnard 4/18/07 Forbes

Green power is not green, Letter to KBC by Dale Hellewell 4/20/07. "Hydro projects have turned millions of acres of waste land all over the US into productive, wild life rich environments. Remove the dams and you kill the birds and wildlife they protect."

Capitalizing on sustainable development - making gold out of green, News with Views 4/19/07. (KBC Note: This is a long read, but comprehensive on the big picture, where Klamath, LA: where America headed and how.)

Tulelake Irrigation District well water levels, 4/18/07

Federal government defends decision not to list Oregon coho, 4/16/2007, by Tim Fought, The Oregonian

Klamath River interests to take dam concerns to Warren Buffett, Times Standard 4/18/07. "Everybody seems to want to take out the dams except Pacificorp,” Pellegrini said.(KBC NOTE: No, not "everybody" wants the dams out. Go to Dam Page.)

* Pesticide Class Ap 18

07. "...an estimated 300,000 California sea lions inhabit the Pacific...

A sea lion catches an endangered chinook salmon migrating up the Columbia River just below the spillway at Bonneville Dam in Oregon.

Imported Food Rarely Inspected, Washington Post, posted to KBC 4/18/07. "Just 1.3 percent of imported ... foods are inspected...Last month alone, FDA detained nearly 850 shipments of grains, fish, vegetables, nuts, spice, oils and other imported foods for issues ranging from filth to unsafe food coloring to contamination with pesticides to salmonella."

Turning off the flow, Modesto Bee 4/17/07. "Millions of Californians would lose at least a portion of their water supply and 750,000 acres of productive Central Valley farmland would dry up if the state cannot satisfy an Alameda County judge...Water flowing down the aqueduct has transformed California's once dry and barren interior into an agribusiness powerhouse that pumps an estimated $300 billion into the state's economy." More ESA Today go HERE.

Klamath River flows, and tributaries, research by Lewie Baker 4/17/07

Summary of decisions at the April 2007 Pacific Fishery management council meeting, posted 4/18/07, Oregon Dept of Fish and Wildlife.

Ranking Member Henry E. Brown, Jr.'s Statement From Today's Hearing On Impacts Of A Climate Change On Wildlife & Oceans, "...as recently as 30 years ago, the scientific consensus was that we were entering a new ice age and that a drop of only one degree Celsius would result in world famine. The January 31, 1977, cover of Time magazine was entitled "The Big Freeze". The scientists were wrong in 1977, they were wrong about last year's summer hurricane season and they may well be wrong about the so-called catastrophic effects of the current warming trend. Having just experienced the coldest Easter Sunday in Charleston in over 50 years, a few of my constituents would have enjoyed a little global warming." Steve Hanson, Committee on Resources 4/17/07

"I'm Tired" by Joe Repya, Lieutenant Colonel, U. S. Army 101st Airborne Division, followed by an interview, posted 4/18/07 "I'm tired that so many ignore the bravery of the Iraqi people to go to the voting booth and freely elect a Constitution and soon a permanent Parliament. I'm tired of the so called 'Elite Left' that prolongs this war by giving aid and comfort to our enemy, just as they did during the Vietnam War."

Ethanol boom puts pressure on farm conservation programs, CQ Green Sheets, April 16, 2007

Amendment HB2295 to allow a wolf to be taken without a permit before it bites into the flesh of livestock, Cattlemens posted 4/15/07 WRITE BEFORE WEDNESDAY!

Several Calif. Dems Benefiting From Tribal Cash, KPIX TV, posted 4/16/06

Solving the water crisis, it's a somewhat crazy concept - But, you know what? It could work to address all the water problems, by Lance Waldren, Pioneer Press, posted 4/16/07

Activists attack Iron Gate hatchery, Lawsuit filed by Klamath Riverkeepers, Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 4/16/07

Beating up enviros, the Director of Member Services for the Assembly Republican Caucus knows water, Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 4/16/07 "They tell us that the only way the fish are going to survive is to tear down the dams, deprive people of power and basically ruin the river for a good decade, and depreciate real estate values for a lifetime."

Because We Live Here, By Lance Waldren Pioneer Press, posted April 16, 2007. "Groups such as Klamath Forest Alliance and now the off shoot group of theirs called the Klamath Riverkeepers are the real culprits. These groups are the ultimate hypocrites - and, yes, I looked up the definition."

OTHER PLACES: Court's ruling on salmon plan threatens dams _ as well as common sense The fact is that nobody knows for certain how to fully restore the salmon runs. Any plan will involve trial and error, which means it is prudent to consider the impact the plan will have on society. Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Editorial , posted to KBC April 16, 2007

China's Food Exports Spark Fears; Dog, Cat Deaths Show Safety Woes Are Global Issue, Hartford Courant posted 4/14/07. (KBC Note: more than 100,000 acres of ag land has been converted to wetlands in the Klamath Basin. This is 100,000 acres of production that we now must import from foreign countries.)

Oral arguments set Monday on Oregon coho ESA listing case, posted April 14, 2007 Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Bulletin

Acoustic tag study compares wild/hatchery migration habits, posted to April 14, 2007 Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Bulletin

Water obligations will be met, Reclamation expects to make full deliveries to irrigators, H&N posted to KBC 4/14/07

California Farm Bureau Friday Review, 4/13/07. Today's Friday Review contains the following bills; SB 773, SB 311, SB 974, AB 744, AB 541, AB 1021, SB 486, SB 180, AB 771, SB 200,1 and 2, AB 1634, SB 63, AB 1100

Venezuela's Chavez Slams Bush Ethanol Plan, Planet Ark April 13, 2007. "To produce the ethanol necessary to substitute the gasoline consumed only the US, it would be necessary to cultivate nearly all the arable land on this continent," he said."

SB-20 Hearing and news coverage-Oregon Pesticides, Oregonians for Food and Shelter, posted 4/12/07. "It was interesting that the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee only scheduled ONE HOUR for the hearing. After Senator Walker and two proponents of the bill took over half of the available time, only about 10 more folks got to give an abbreviated version of their testimony...Opponents of the bill packed the hearing room and far out numbered the supporters, easily by a 5 to 1 ratio."
SB-20 OFS Testimony posted 4/12/07

Coho seasons get bump this year, Statesman Journal, posted 4/12/07

Klamath River Water Flows, research by Lewie Baker 4/10/07

A city hooked on salmon, San Francisco Chronicle, posted to KBC 4/10/07. Go fish: The sportfishing season for wild chinook opened yesterday -- Bay Area anglers optimistic this year's catch will be better than in 2006. "Because the Klamath runs were fairly strong this year, commercial fishermen will enjoy more liberal quotas."

Limited salmon season worries fishers, The Daily Astorian, posted 4/10/07. "The decision to protect endangered runs of chinook salmon returning to the Columbia River and its tributaries means fewer of the river's fish will be caught." (KBC Note: Last summer, with a projected low chinook run on the Klamath, the feds practically shut down the West Coast fishery so Coastal Commercial fishermen wouldn't catch wild-spawned fall chinook. As it turned out, only 5% of all the fish caught were Klamath River fish.)

Coalition Says Court Ruling Sets Stage For Regional Salmon Recovery Solution, Coalition for Idaho Water, posted 4/10/07

Marcie Foley passed away last week after a battle with cancer. She designed websites and was instrumental in defending the rights of miners.

She helped all who knew her and shared her faith in God with all who came into her life. Go HERE for Tribute to Marcie by her friends.

PRESS RELEASE Reclamation : Klamath Project 2007 Operations Plan Released; Supplies Expected to Meet all Responsibilities, 4/9/07. "Reclamation has developed access to supplemental water of up to 100,000 acre-feet, if it is required, to meet Project needs...the WSES water comprises off-stream storage, land idling, and ground-water pumping."

Ninth Circuit upholds Redden's rejection of FCRPS 2004 Biop, April 09, 2007 Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Bulletin

OREGON - Lack of timber money closes Jackson County libraries, H&N posted to KBC 4/8/07. (KBC NOTE: Has it occurred to Oregonians that when they protest timber harvest, even of aging rotting dead trees, and create more "wilderness" where they aren't allowed to harvest even burnt or dead trees, there is no income from timber? The federal government may not be able to subsidize Oregon forever when they eliminate resource users from the economy.) More on Oregon go HERE

OREGON - Grass seed farmers defend field burning practice, H&N, posted 4/8/07. "The bill would end a practice used for generations of grass seed farmers in Oregon to clear out weeds, pests and prepare their fields for the next planting....Seed industry officials said that field burning only accounts for 2 percent of particulate emissions in the Willamette Valley during the summer field burning season."

Hatching new ideas, H&N 4/8/07

Major overhaul of ESA proposed, Capital Press, posted to KBC 4/8/07

Federal fisheries managers prescribe final 2007 salmon quotas, Eureka Reporter, posted 4/7/07. "...3-year-old salmon from the Klamath River are at a near-record high, which was a tenfold increase of what was expected." (KBC NOTE: According to tribes, gov't agencies, and enviros, the Klamath Irrigators and Klamath dams are killing the fish and pushing them to extinction. 2007 "a near-record high"??)

Clouds, by Jim Beers posted to KBC 4/7/07. "I don't hunt"; "I think 'they' should outlaw cock fights"; "I don't think 'they' should be 'allowed' to - hunt, trap, wear fur, log, graze, fish, manage wildlife, mine, drill, explore, etc., etc. - either on their own property or 'public' land"; "I don't own a gun nor should anyone else"; "We should get rid of the Electoral College and states' rights so that the Federal government can fulfill all our own fantasies of the way others should live"; "Private property is an outmoded concept"

* Mining Seminar Ap 7

Action Alert by Oregonians for Food and Shelter, 4/6/07. "(SB-20) would shut down most pesticide applications across the state (the activist’s intended goal)."

Here are some tips for writing an effective letter (or phone calling, or e-mailing), Oregon Women for Agriculture 4/6/07

Salmon seasons set for Oregon, California, Washington coasts, Seattle Post Intelligencer 4/6/07

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Robert Johnson clarifies comments he made in a recent New York Times article, by Family Farm Alliance Executive Director Dan Keppen, followed by article: 'All is not well on the western water front', 4/6/07.

Fidel Castro: U.S. Biofuel Plan 'Genocidal,' Newsmax, posted 4/6/07

4/6/07: Prayer request for Laura and her daughter Kristie. Laura is instrumental in building a wolf website to inform us of what's ahead with wolf introduction. Kristie was kicked in the head by a horse. See PRAYER PAGE

Tribes and Klamath Water Users Association featured in: Solving the Klamath Crisis: Keeping Farms
and Fish Alive. Indians and farmers talked, commented, asked questions. Here For Story.

HB 3000 banning agriculture burning will have a hearing in House Health Care Committee on Friday, April 6^th at 3:00 PM in Hearing Room E, 4/6/07. HB3000

A Cooperative Conservation Approach To Policy Development, Presidents Task Force, 4/6/07. Conservation easements

What happened with the Klamath Basin Irrigation Project? And could the same happen to you? Montana AgriNews, posted 4/4/07

Klamath River water flows, researched by Lewie Baker, 4/4/07

(Congressman Walden) visit puts focus on energy, H&N 4/4/07. "

Klamath River parties hold meeting of the minds, The Daily Triplicate, posted to KBC 4/4/07. ""We need to continue to foster that relationship," Fletcher said, adding that radical environmental groups, government intervention and court cases have failed. "It is too easy to sit back and go, ‘It's your fault.'" (KBC NOTE: The Yuroks recently, along with the 'radical environmental groups' and PCFFA, joined together to petition against the Klamath Irrigators getting a affordable power rate in exchange for free regulated water supplied by the Klamath Project to create power with the Klamath hydro dams. Yurok employee Felice Pace has lawsuits against Klamath Project irrigators and Siskiyou irrigators. Somehow, all at once, we are forming an alliance with them? Please fill us in someone)

TV show misses many real Klamath River issues, H&N 4/4/07. "Even reports from the first explorers said that water quality in late summer on the Link River was poor, at best. I’ve heard it said that it was so bad the horses wouldn’t drink it. That may or may not be true, but such a very large body of water that is as shallow as Upper Klamath and Agency lakes could never be crystal clear. If that isn’t enough to cloud the issue, there were 15 million waterfowl feeding and defecating in the water. Today, the number of birds is less, but still a significant contributor to algae growth."

CEO with a spine, by Bob Murray, NY Sun 4/3/07, on global warming.

This year's windy forecast calls for a lot of salmon, San Fransisco Chronicle, posted 4/3/07. (500,000 salmon Sacramento River, 515,000 from Klamath River; last year's record 1.7 million year-class of three-year-old salmon for the Bay Area coast had a terrible return due to poor feed and ocean conditions...conditions were terrible all the way up to Alaska last year. (KBC Note: tribes and enviros and gov't agencies are saying Klamath salmon are going extinct coastal fishing was shut down because of Klamath dams and Klamath project operations. Please read this article)

Oregon, Washington Fishermen Brace for Low Returns, Poor Salmon Season on Columbia, PRNewswire, posted 4/3/07 "...Failed federal policies keep leading to fisheries disasters along the entire West Coast, causing widespread economic hardship and social problems. Shortened seasons have already cost fishing families a lot. We need to develop real salmon solutions that don't put the full burden of recovery on the backs of fishing families."

California Farm Bureau Friday Review contains the following bills: AB 186:Central Valley Rural Crime Prevention Program AB 844:Metal Theft SB 200-202: Leafy Greens AB 735: Immigration Reform, posted to KBC 4/3/07

ESA: Too Broke to Fix?, New West, posted 4/3/07 Problems with ESA:
No real guidelines for listing or delisting.
No way of tracking costs, needs transparency
No way to mitigate negative impact to other species
Inadequate planning and follow up
Costs of restorations being imposed on individuals and states targeted for listing a species

Voices Join Whitsett Calling for State Police Dedicated Funding, Senator Ted Ferrioli, Senate Republican leader, Capital Update, posted April 3, 2007

Prayer Request: Please pray for Jim Foley. His wife Marcie passed away Thursday. Jim sent these verses regarding Marcie: "Mt. 25:21 Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Re 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Marcie helped us at KBC with online technical advice, and was very instrumental in supporting the mining community. 4/1/07

NOT JUST LIBRARIES!!! Timber harvest safety net payments end June 2007, by Rosalyn Rhinehart 4/1/07, Medford, Oregon. "In preparation: all libraries will close April 5th; County work force will be reduced from 700 to 350; deep cuts to the sheriff will impact the ability to fight crime. District Attorneys will have no budget to prosecute crime, and juvenile justice systems will be closed. Public health services cut in half and county roads will not be maintained. The County fairgrounds will be close."

A loss of federal timber receipts is leading to budget trouble, 4/1/07 Herald and News (KBC note: It is interesting that the Oregon Governor Wyden, who is trying to get federal funds to offset loss from lack of timber harvest, has been instrumental in curtailing timber harvest, even in burned and rotting areas)