Stand-replacement fire: PNW forest conditions pose biggest threat to spotted owls, other species, Columbia Basin Bulletin 7/27/12

Senator Doug LaMalfa, Calif. 4th District, and Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, 2nd District, letter to Calif. PUC objecting to power surcharge to destroy Klamath River hydropower dams even when Klamath Agreement does not have public or congressional support, posted to KBC 7/24/12. 
End PacifiCorp Rate Increase to Destroy Klamath Dams: Congressman McClintock letter to California PUC 7/17/12. "...regarding PacifiCorp's application to accelerate the collection of the $13.76 million Klamath surcharge authorized by the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement. I object to this request to impose another rate increase on PacifiCorp's California customers based upon the unlikelihood that Congress will ever pass the KHSA into law...As chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee I can tell you that sentiment in the House is very much opposed to destroying four hydroelectric dams capable of producing 155 MW of reliable hydroelectricity and the concomitant destruction of the Iron Gate fish hatchery that produces 5 million salmon smolts each year...."

Siskiyou County letter of concern to Bureau of Reclamation Don Reck regarding Draft EA flow augmentation from Trinity River  7/24/12. "We dread the prospect of another catastrophic fish kill coming at the hand of deliberate project operations."

All Witnesses Agree: Litigation, Red Tape Fuel Megafires that Damage Forests, Communities, & Species, U.S. House of Representatives, Natural Resources Committee, Chairman Doc Hastings 7/24/12.

Siskiyou Under Seige, Parts 1, 2 and 3: Coho Recovery Plan, Black Bear Commune, and Cast of Characters, series posted to KBC 6/24/12. Mark Baird reporting for KSYC 103.9 FM radio in Yreka, CA. Baird discusses Black Bear Commune, Karuk Tribe, Klamath Riverkeeper, lawsuits, and connects them all, with names.

Draft IWRS / Integrated Water Resource Strategy 6/22/12
IWRS Executive Summary 6/22/12
     "The Oregon Water Resources Commission is scheduled to adopted the Integrated Water Resources Strategy at their August 2 meeting. The meeting is being held at the Water Resources Dept Conference Room 124 725 Summer St NE in Salem. The discussion is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm.
     Water for Life does not support adoption of the Strategy. It is our position that it is not a strategy but an opinion piece and policy statement. The link to the complete document is below. You are encouraged to attend the meeting and let the Commission know your thoughts on the document."
     Helen Moore, Executive Director (503) 375-6003

Siskiyou Food Summit Part 1 of 2, by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong 7/24/1
Climate Change and CA Misguided and Expensive Regulations (Including ICLEI) Part 2 of 2, by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong, posted to KBC 7/23/12.

Short film on Agenda 21 and ICLEI, some goals and agendas for the California diet and farming, posted 7/22/12. HERE for Agenda 21 Page

Senator Doug Whitsett: 2012 Tax Initiative Petitions, posted to KBC 7/21/12. "If Congress and the President fail to take action, this unprecedented expansion in federal taxes will equal nearly $1,600 for every man, woman and child in the United States...these tax increases will be levied on America’s middle class, working families and the owners of the small businesses that create nearly three out of every four new jobs"

Tribes protest state decision on Klamath dams and want owner to comply with Clean Water Act, Sac Bee, 7/20/12

Court allows water contracts to stand, Capital Press 7/18/12. "A federal appeals court has refused to nullify water supply contracts between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and irrigators in California." HERE for court decision. Some of those suing the irrigators are the same groups, "stakeholders," supporting the KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.

KS Wild incites fear once again, PieNPolitics, posted to KBC 7/18/12.

Smashing salmon season expected, starting today, Sacramento Bee, posted to KBC 7/18/12. "Is there any debate still about what caused the population decline? Among federal and state fishery managers, there's a consensus that it was ocean conditions – very poor ocean conditions – that did not produce enough food for adult salmon."
* Following is how the federal government regulated many commercial fishermen out of business by blaming them for low salmon runs, even in the Sacramento.
Farmers and fishermen have Klamath solutions; Feds continue to regulate and decimate both industries, KBC News 10/29/06. "A fisherman said there are more fish in the ocean now yet the government is regulating one run of salmon on the Klamath. Sacramento had the largest run in history but the feds would not allow the fishermen to fish it because they might catch a Klamath Chinook that was not spawned in a hatchery because of a low estimated run."
The Klamath Farmers / Fishermen Coalition existed before PCFFA/Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen, ecoterrorists and the tribes, hijacked the fisherman/farmer coalition demanding dam removal, downsizing agriculture, and expanding tribal land and tribal fishing in the KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.

* Letter from Mark Baird, owner of KSYC Radio, to John Bowman, Siskiyou Daily News, criticizing Bowman's "Riverkeepers" agenda in the Sheriff Jon Lopey article, 7/17/12. KBC Editor: Siskiyou Sheriff Lopey is a Christian, an American citizen, and a sheriff who believes in his oath of upholding the United States Constitution. HERE is KBC News' Craig Tucker / Riverkeeper Page
* Letter from Norman R. Malmberg, Captain, US Navy (Ret.) to John Bowman (editor)and Mr. Dowse, (publisher) Siskiyou Daily News, asking Bowman to apologize to Sheriff Lopey for Bowman's slanderous article about Lopey, 7/17/12.
* Letter from Liz Bowen, editor of PieNPolitics, to Siskiyou Daily News editor John Bowman and publisher Rod Dowse criticizing Bowman's Huffington Post slander in his Jon Lopey article, posted to KBC 7/16/12.   

Klamath science-informed process needs improvement, by Dr. Paul R. Houser, Guest writer, Herald and News 7/15/12. Klamath Dam whistleblower Houser responds to USGS KBRA lead scientist Dennis Lynch: "In April 2011, I was hired as the Bureau of Reclamation’s science adviser and scientific integrity officer. After I questioned the accuracy of science reporting and summary documents related to the Klamath Secretarial Decision, I faced systematic reprisal and my job as the Bureau of Reclamation’s science advisor was terminated...."

Blazing Fires Show Importance of Effective Forest Management, Congressman Wally Herger 7/16/12. "The Forest Service is spending over a billion dollars each year fighting fires. In an era of trillion dollar federal deficits, scarce taxpayer dollars could be better used if we addressed the unhealthy conditions in our national forests to help prevent catastrophic fires in the first place."

Sheriff Lopey of Siskiyou County, by Fred Kelly Grant 7/13/12. "Jon Lopey, sheriff of Siskiyou County, Calif, knows what it means to be a sheriff. He represents the old school of sheriffs---those who served as leader of the people's interests and rights."

Water Pulse Presentation, 2012 Salmon fish kill on the drawing boards, August 4 at Greenhorn Grange, posted 7/13/12.
Klamath Water Users updates written before the 2002 Klamath River fish die-off warning that more warm water may harm fish, along with National Research Council comments.
KBC Fish Die-Off page
Hanky Panky harms Klamath River watershed, 5/4/12 by Dr. John Menke, posted to KBC 7/12/12. Link includes Note from Dr. John Menke: "The Federal government is about to cause another big fish kill as they did in 2002, all to destroy four perfectly fine hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in northern California and southern Oregon. Certainly you recall the shut-off of the water for farmers in the Upper Klamath Basin in 2001 which ended farming for 1,200 farm families..."

Courts consider decisions in two water-use cases, Ag Alert, CFBF 7/11/12. "In challenging the new DFG interpretation, the Siskiyou County Farm Bureau said it could disrupt how water rights are administered in California and threaten farmers' ability to provide water to their crops...It ignores the priority of water rights. The regulation would declare all use of water for frost protection to be unreasonable...The state water board estimates the regulation would cost a 160-acre vineyard up to $352,000 in initial capital costs and $36,200 in annual expenses."

House passes legislation to repeal ObamaCare, California U.S. Congressman Wally Herger 7/11/12.
Here is our Health and Food page

7 Elected Sheriffs will meet in Del Norte County July 14, Support Rural America 7/10/12. "Sheriff Wilson cites expanded bans on hunting and fishing as threats to his citizens’ rights. Federal agencies are also reducing and prohibiting the use of “public” lands. Then, over-regulation attacking water and property rights continues to affect livelihoods."

Water for the refuges: Spring diversions to the refuge are helping to attract wildlife, posted to KBC H&N, posted to KBC 7/10/12. KBC EDITOR: As we understand it, the refuges have lowest water priority. Historically this farmland was not without water; it was a huge navigable lake. So when our government allows our farms to have their deeded water, all the runoff goes into the refuges, then into the Klamath river. We pump our water out of the basin, diverting it uphill through a man-made tunnel into refuges then into the Klamath River, all at Klamath Project irrigators' expense, where it historically could not be diverted. Our NMFS biological opinion presently does not allow the lake to fill. When it reaches a certain level the BO mandates the water to go down the river, or in the case this year, directly from the lake into the refuges. This has created a shortage for the farmers, so money is being paid to farmers to fallow land, pump groundwater, or irrigate like crazy early so at certain dates they use no more water and get paid for not irrigating later in the year. When water goes directly to refuges that runoff does not go to the farms. Last winter, since our power rate has increased more than 2000%, farmers could not afford to pump the water as much as before, and normally Fish and Wildlife is not willing to pay for this water, from a historic close basin, to be pumped to benefit fish and wildlife. HERE for Klamath Basin Refuge Page and related articles.

Psalm 131 sent from Frank Tallerico for 7/8/12: Simple Trust in the Lord - 1. LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, nor with things profound for me. 2. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3. Oh Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever.

California Farm Bureau Federation governmental and legislative update 7/6/12. Status of bills: demanding farmers to provide cool water every 10' and shade every 200', demanding overtime for farm workers after 8 hours, ending hunting certain predators with dogs, 68.5 billion high wspeed rail bill, power rates, discrimination protection, expansion of states' medical and family leave, ...

Tulelake Irrigation District well water report, and well water levels 7/6/12

PG&E seeks more than $2 billion rate increase, Mercury News, posted to KBC 7/6/12

July 4th: God Bless The USA!

Proverbs 2:7-9, sent from Frank Tallerico: 7. He stores up wisdom for the upright, He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; 8. He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of the saints. 9. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.

KWAPA public meeting agenda 7/5/12

Unemployment rate remains unchanged, Klamath County rate for May of 11.4 percent unaffected by the addition of 590 jobs, H&N, posted to KBC 7/1/12.

Pipeline questions and answers. Developers say pipeline will produce economic windfalls, H&N, posted to KBC 7/1/12. "Approximately 1,800 workers would work on the construction, and the pipeline would generate $11 million in state taxes, 100 jobs operating the pipeline, with another 404 indirect jobs and 182 created elsewhere because of the pipe, he said. ...The pipeline would produce an additional estimated $687,500 in Klamath County property taxes..."