Archive 48 - May 2006
also  see main archive page

Senator Whitsett’s May Newsletter, 5/30/06 "The Facts About the Upper Klamath Basin: The frenzied propaganda and the news reports blaming the Upper Klamath Basin ignore certain facts..."

Prayer Page submitted by Rudy Hiley, The last days, prayers and sonnets

Fishermen not the only ones feeling a pinch without the salmon season, The World Link, posted to KBC 5/29/06. "... Klamath Basin farmers, too, are helping out. The Klamath Relief Fund, a fund started a few years ago to help farmers, has been reactivated - but this time to help fishermen.' These hard-working individuals have much in common with the farmers and ranchers of the Klamath Basin. It is clear that they would much rather work than receive financial assistance,'..."

California Farm Bureau Federation Friday Review, 5/29/06 This week's Friday Review contains information regarding SB 1059, the minimum wage, SB 1799, AB 2121, AB 2479 and AB 3011.

IDAHO: Conservation program launched -- Idaho, Capital Press 5/29/06. (This plan would take 100,000 acres out of productive farmland, grow native grass, and cost taxpayers $258 million dollars. Farmers could not farm this for 15 years, so by then their machinery would be inadequate, the children gone from farm country, and the agricultural infrastructure gone or greatly reduced. What happened to our country paying money to grow food for America while sending some to impoverished countries? KBC)

State becomes first to regulate fish farms, SF Gate, posted to KBC 5/29/06

Governor signs tough aquaculture bill, HMB Review, posted to KBC 5/29/06.

Klamath Lake Level, River Flows 5/26/06. Archives are HERE.

The Bureau of "Nature Conservancy,"  Joyce Morrison, posted to KBC 5/25/06. TNC owns much of the Upper Klamath Basin. HERE for details.

PLF Sues To Challenge ESA Listing of Central California Tiger Salamander--Land Use in the Central Valley and Northern California is at Issue, posted to KBC 5/25/06

Big Brother Wants to Know if You Own Animals, According to Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, posted to KBC 5/24/06 "The U.S. Department of Agriculture continues to press forward with a plan that will invade the privacy of every person who owns animals. Under its plan for the National Animal Identification System ("NAIS"), private citizens would have to register their homes with the government, provide detailed information on their animals, and report almost every move."
More articles on NAIS go HERE.

PRESS RELEASE: Listing of California Spotted Owl not warranted, 5/24/06

Klamath River and Tributary flows, provided by Lewie Baker 5/22/06

Here Nessie!Nessie the woodpecker, by Jim Beers "after three years there is no proof of the existence of a single ivory-billed woodpecker. Congress has appropriated millions of dollars." posted to KBC 5/22/06

Deep water storage remains the true answer, H&N 5/21/06.

Hikers, Loggers & Grazing Prices, by Rick Frost, Range Magazine 5/21/06

Predators Causing Big Losses to Livestock Farmers, Wisconsin Ag Connection, posted to KBC 5/21/06. "Cattle and calf losses from animal predators totaled 190,000 head. This represented 4.7 percent of the total losses from all causes and resulted in a loss of $92.7 million to cattle farmers and ranchers."

Tule Lake Migratory Bird Fest this Saturday, May 20. HERE for schedule of events.

MINING: Alameda judge will decide on Siskiyou problem -- New lawsuit claims state violated its own laws, 5/19/06

California Farm Bureau Friday Review, 5/19/06.

River gets financial boost $100,000 water grant goes to Sprague River, 5/19/06

Students study basin, by Pat Ratliff, Klamath Courier, posted to KBC 5/18,06. Colorado State students were given presentations by Christine Karas, Bureau of Reclamation, and Barb Hall, Klamath Bucket Brigade.

 Empowerment of a community, Pat Ratliff, Klamath Courier, posted to KBC 5/18/06. "The bucket has brought hope and new energy to people in need across the nation.  It has helped them stand up to those wronging them.  It has shown them they are not alone, and it has offered relief and support."

Current program not a long-term solution; Water bank program designed as stop-gap measure, H&N 5/18/06  HERE for history of the waterbank and related articles.

California Farm Bureau Friday Review, from May 12, 2006, discusses several eminent domain bills, an invasive weed bill, and an agricultural education bill.

Delegation carries urgent (immigration) messages to D.C., Farm Bureau 5/17/06

PRESS RELEASE: Bipartisan fisheries management bill passes Resources Committee, 5/17/06

House of Representatives Overwhelmingly Approves Bipartisan Forest Emergency Recovery & Research Act, Walden, Baird's common-sense land management legislation to help restore forest health, enhance research now heads to the Senate

Ruling Favors Rivers Over Power Dams, LA Times, posted 5/16/06 "...the (Supreme) court's decision affects an estimated 1,500 power dams in 45 states. They include scores of dams on the Sacramento, Klamath and San Joaquin rivers in California."

Bureau of Reclamation Water Data Update – May 16, 2006 "Snow Pack Basin-wide percent of Average: 138%, UKL April – September 30th Stream Flow Forecast: 820,000 acre-feet @ 50% exceedance, Klamath River Flow Forecast: 793,000 acre-feet @ 70% exceedance. (However, regardless of the huge surplus of water, Klamath irrigators must send 100,000 acre feet of irrigation water down the river because the biological opinion demands it in the form of a Bureau of Reclamation mandatory 'water bank'. KBC)

PRESS RELEASE: House of Representatives to Consider Bipartisan Forest Emergency Recovery & Research Act Tomorrow AM. House Rules Committee approves legislation for Floor debate as more groups express their strong support for H.R. 4200. 5/16/06 Congressmen Greg Walden
H.R. 4200 Fact vs Fiction, pdf file.
Congressman Walden's website at www.walden.house.gov includes extensive information, editorials, and organizational support for this bill. 

**Coastal Fishery Crisis - Stop finger-pointing on the Klamath Basin, The Oregonian, 5/16/06, by Greg Addington, Executive Director of Klamath Water Users Association, and Dan Keppen, Executive Director Family Farm Alliance. "...one has to remember that there is only so much water that can be squeezed from an area that is just 2 percent of the watershed and uses only 3 percent to 4 percent of Klamath River flows in an average year."

If you are a landowner in Klamath Irrigation District (KID), VOTE in the election at the KID office May 16th to decide whether KID will explore forming a Public Utility District (PUD) for electrical power for District irrigators.  Election hours are 7 A.M. to 8 P.M.  (Barb Hall, KBB)

Fish and Wildlife plans to raise Klamath suckers, The Oregonian 5/16/2006 

"Attached is a letter from 55 House Members to Lynn Scarlett asking DOI to promulgate new ESA regulations to conform with recent court decisions, provide a greater role for states in listing decisions, expand the use of partnerships and other voluntary conservation methods, streamline the Sec. 7 process, clarify vague, contentious terms, and provide for a more transparent scientific review process, " pdf file. Dan Keppen, Family Farm Alliance Executive Director. Posted to KBC 5/16/06

PRESS RELEASE:  New EPA Collaborative Partnership with Farmers in Growing Economy, Cleaning Up the Environment, posted to KBC 5/08/2006.

Civic Proud, by Pat Ratliff, Klamath Courier, posted to KBC 5/11/06 "The fishermen are in a horrible, desperate position.  They were hoping to get some immediate money as relief, but have since found out that won't be happening.  Many are nearly broke from last year's shortened season... They (the government) have no concept of urgent or immediate.  If they were trying to put the fishermen completely out of business forever, they couldn't do a better job of it."

Feds pay bounty for fish that prey on salmon, Herald and News 5/11/06 (however the feds refuse to allow fishermen to discourage non-native Baja California sea lions from eating salmon at the mouth of the Klamath River.)

Endangered Species Day Highlights Need for Reform; Current Act Threatens Both Property Owners and Wildlife, US Newswire, posted to KBC 5/11/06. "Since its inception, the ESA has produced little results in spite of its hefty price tag. Landowners and taxpayers have spent the equivalent of $3.5 billion annually in ESA-related activities and fewer than 6 percent of the 1,800-plus species listed as endangered or threatened through the ESA have been removed from the list. Most of those delisted were removed only because they were already extinct or were wrongly listed in the first place."

The Mark of the Cross, Prayer Page, submitted by Rudy Hiley, 5/11/06

Klamath, Coos representatives meet, by Pat Ratliff, Klamath Courier 5/11/06 "Coos County Commissioner John Griffith and Klamath County Commissioner Bill Brown arranged the meeting, which was also attended by Senators Joanne Verger, Coos Bay and Doug Whitsett, Klamath Falls as well as Representatives Wayne Krieger, Gold Beach, and Arnie Roblan, Coos Bay and Nikki Whitty, Coos County Commissioner. Around 80 people attended the four hour meeting."
Commissioner Brown told the crowd, "We want to do any thing we can to help you over here."

Politics, agendas cloud SF fisherman’s rally, "We’re going to kick some ass" – Zeke Grader, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen, by Pat Ratliff, Klamath Courier, posted to KBC 5/10/06

Scott and Shasta water issues will affect all of California, Farm Bureau alerts members - statewide, Liz Bowen, Pioneer Press 5/10/06

Senator Whitsett in Coos Bay with fishermen and farmers, Letter by Senator Doug Whitsett, Oregon District 28, to KBC and Klamath Courier May 8, 2006. "During the nearly five hours of presentations and discussions, not a single fisherman voiced blame that conditions in the Upper Klamath Basin caused the salmon fishery closure.

In fact, these fishermen blamed the fishery mismanagement by state and federal agencies that have resulted in a perfect federal regulatory storm. They compared their current plight to the unjustified 2001shut off of irrigation water to the 1400 farm families in the Klamath Project. They said that the alleged poor salmon runs are a government contrived regulatory crisis." "These professional fishermen stated unanimously that environmental activist Glen Spain’s Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen Association neither represents them or their interests nor the interest of any other fishermen that they know." More fishermen and farmer facts, go HERE.

Anger as Sammy the seal is shot, News and Star 5/8/06 "Their order came as they grew increasingly concerned that the seal’s appetite would affect already sparse spring salmon stocks on the water way....Fisheries bosses, however, said the decision to kill the seal was taken on “special conservation grounds” and to reduce his predatory presence as they attempt to conserve spring salmon stocks." (KBC comment: On the Klamath, hundreds of sea lions feast on salmon at the mouth of the river, depleting stocks and economies with our government's blessing)

Feds to fishermen: No funds, The World Link, posted to KBC 5/8/06

Don't put onus on Project for saving salmon, Herald and News editorial 5/7/06

Klamath Lake levels and river flows, H&N, posted to KBC 5/6/06.

(Klamath) Tribes apply for second casino, H&N 5/6/06

Farmers, fishermen discover common ground on Klamath, Coos Bay World, posted Thursday, May 5, 2006  “I've been lobbied by so many environmental groups to blame the farmers,” (fisherman) Ward said, “but we don't want to get into that divide-and-conquer thing.”

California Farm Bureau Friday Review, 5/5/06 Ballots, bills and propositions

Letter to President George Bush from Family Farm Alliance, 5/5/06. "The Family Farm Alliance (Alliance) respectfully requests that the United States provide assistance via a federal disaster declaration to aid the west coast ocean salmon fishing industry that has been severely restricted this year."

Pacific Coast - NOAA Accepts Council's Salmon Recommendations; Management Measures Set for 2006 Season, NOAA fishletter, posted to KBC 5/5/06

Miners confront EPA with petition, posted 5/5/06 "We respectfully believe that the statements made along with the whole context of the web page itself are ambiguous, confusing, highly misleading, and untrue."
Response by EPA

(Senator) Smith Presses Interior Secretary Nominee on Forest Plan, Pledges to fight for County Payments Until Counties See Return of Timber Revenue, “These communities have suffered devastating losses to their livelihood, to their survival,” Smith told Kempthorne.  “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for the recovery of the spotted owl and yet sixteen years later we still don’t have a recovery plan for the spotted owl."

TID well reports 5/5/06

Weather cooperating with planting, H&N 5/5/06

Landowner's Coalition Demands Repeal of ESA, Magic City News, posted to KBC 5/5/06 "Rather than a solution to helping endangered species, the ESA has become a very powerful tool, used by radical environmentalists who want to stop literally any use of certain lands for any purpose," said Dan Byfield, president of the American Land Foundation of Taylor, Texas. "The entire community of Klamath Falls, Oregon was literally chocked to death as its water supply was shut off to protect a sucker fish that isn't endangered."  

Need prayers--see prayer page, 5/1/06

Hatchery salmon case heard in federal court, by William McCall 5/2/06

Salmon fishing along the Oregon and California coasts restricted, Bakersfieldonline.us, posted to KBC 5/2/06

PRESS RELEASE: Resources Committee takes up reauthorization of landmark fisheries management law (Magnuson Stevens Act), 5/2/06. Response by Schwarzenegger.

Spring run of chinook could be worst ever, Seattle Times, posted 5/1/06, "They looked at ... fisheries and the take of an expanding sea lion population. The report concluded that none of those factors could have been responsible for the shortfall and affirmed the most important influence probably was a change in ocean conditions...And sport and commercial fisheries that opened earlier this spring resulted in decent catches of fish." (commentary by KBC: This article is interesting. On the Klamath, with a PREDICTED shortfall of non-endangered fall-run non-wild fish spawning outside the hatcheries, NOAA Fisheries, the Pacific Coast Management Council and tribes and environmentalists SHUT DOWN harvest, did not consider predation, did not consider ocean conditions, and chose to target Klamath Irrigators with 3% of the water use (which is mostly returned to the river) 200 miles from the ocean, and the 100 year old dams which have seen record salmon runs in the past few years.)

Bucket stands for freedom, posted to KBC 5/1/06. 

NEWS RELEASE: Coalition for Idaho Water, Court Order Language Raises Concern For Idaho Water Sovereignty 5/28/06. "Endangered species actions resulted in the devastating Klamath Basin debacle of 2001.  In that situation, water was taken away from irrigators to support endangered species actions.  The result was a financial disaster for family farms in the Klamath Basin.  Coalition officials say they are concerned a similar situation now could be looming on the horizon for Idaho If the Upper Snake projects become part of the equation,  then Idaho will have lost control of its own water.  That means the state’s irrigation supplies are at genuine risk of being drained to try to meet downstream river flow targets that scientists have already said are impossible to meet,'  said Norm Semanko,  a Coalition spokesman".