Archive 49 - June 2006
also  see main archive page

Schwarzenegger backs $35 mil. relief package for Calif. fishermen, Mercury News 6/30/06. More on fishermen go HERE.

Interior and Yurok Tribe announce agreement to improve management of Klamath River Basin, posted to KBC 6/29/06.

Scott River TMDL Action Plan, Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5, 6/29/0

PRESS RELEASE: Walden statement on today's subcommittee hearing on implementation of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 6/29/06.

DeFazio and west coast members win assistance for salmon fishers, posted to KBC 6/29/06. 

BOR water data update 6/27/06

Klamath River water flows by Lewie Baker for 6/13 and 6/25/06

Aid for salmon trollers: $500,000 by Susan Chambers, Staff Writer TheWorldLink.com ,
 posted to KBC 6/29/06

The Supreme Court's Murky Wetlands Ruling, Family Farm Alliance, 06/26/06.

Oregon to provide $1 million to coastal fishermen, The Associated Press and The Daily Astorian
6/25/06.

Panel passes aid package for fishermen, Statesman Journal 6/23/06.

Kulongoski asks legislators to help out salmon trollers, Oregonian 6/22/06.

PRESS RELEASE: Subcommittee examines site security costs, transparency, 6/22/06

Site Security Oversite Hearing, Family Farm Alliance 6/22/06.

Oregon Suckers Seize 2,200-Acres Of Irrigated Klamath Farmland - Wacko Enviros Overjoyed, Oregon News Online, posted to KBC 6/22/06.

The owl and the first-grader went to DC, in a little dollar-green boat, Panel World Magazine, posted to KBC 6/22/06.

Oversight field hearing July 7th on "Electricity Costs and Salmon: Finding the Balance, 6/21/06
ESA Bill 4857 Summary, 6/21/06
ESA Transparency Bill 4857 6/21/06.
ESA Bill 4857: Give consumers the right to know how much the endangered species act is costing them, 6/21/06.

Greenhorn Grange hosts new coalition meeting; Meth dump from Crystal Palace killed 32,000 chinook in 2002, Rancher, posted to KBC 6/20/06. "Gold miners, farmers, businesses, timber, two factions of Shasta Indians, leaders of communities and local governments along with scientists voiced the need to join forces."

Grange stands as sentry – in the State of Jefferson, Land rights conference held, by Kathy Lehman President of PFUSA Grange, posted to KBC 6/20,06

Decisions on Scott and Shasta will set precedent, by Liz Bowen Rancher Editor, posted to KBC 6/20/06Irrigation water aids coho salmon -- D.A. Kirk Andrus visits with Scott Valley rancher.Rancher by Liz Bowen editor, posted to KBC 6/20/06 

PRESS RELEASE: NOAA status of stocks report shows progress, sustainability in America's fisheries, 6/20/06.

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Unlimited Federal Control of Wetlands--Ruling Reverses Decision in Michigan Landowner’s Case, Pacific Legal Foundation, posted to KBC 6/20/06

PRESS RELEASE: Senate passes Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization  Pombo, Frank, Young encourage House to move quickly on H.R. 5018, HCR 6/19/06

Tulelake Irrigation District well water levels from 2002-2006, 6/19/06
TID wells for waterbank June 12-16 report.

Rapanos VS U.S. 6/19/06 pdf.  Joe Raeder, the Family Farm Alliance’s DC rep, sent the following earlier this a.m.  "A divided Supreme Court ruled this morning that Clean Water Act protection of "waters of the United States" is limited to "permanent, standing or continuously flowing" water. The ruling limits protection for wetlands separated from "navigable waters" or their tributaries. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy cast the swing vote in the 5-4 ruling in the joint case, Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."
More on Rapanos v US HERE.

Fish screens to protect coho salmon in Scott River dedicated, Siskiyou Daily News 6/19/06.

Scott Valley accomplishments and needs, by Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5 6/16/06

***Irrigation water leaves Klamath Project cleaner, colder than it comes in, by Bob Gasser, guest columnist, 6/18/06
FOLLOWED BY:  Water in bad shape when it leaves Project - but can be improved by Felice Pace, employee of the Yurok Tribe

Timber companies get thanks from STEP Over $1 million in Chinook habitat available, Coos Bay World 6/17/06

Geese blamed for Lake Tahoe pollution, SF Gate, posted to KBC 6/17/06. "A 10-pound Canada goose can produce four pounds of nitrate- and phosphate-rich feces every day..." (KBC comment: In the Klamath Basin, more than 100,000 acres of ag land has been converted to wetlands for birds by government agency and Nature Conservancy acquisitions. This evaporates twice the amount of water used by ag land, and worsens the water quality.

Salmon legislation may bring some relief, Ukiah Daily 6/16/06
6/16/06 Letter from environmental groups to Congress regarding disaster relief for coastal fishermen, and money to "fix" Klamath's problems, which according to this letter are caused by dams and Klamath irrigators.KBC
Klamath Water Users Response to Thompson Bill 4/21/06

"We Won! Today (June 16^th), Alameda Superior Court Judge Sabraw issued a http://www.goldgold.com/legal/2nd001.pdf written Order denying Motions from both the Karuk Tribe and Department of Fish & Game (DFG) to enter a Judgment affirming the Stipulated Agreement which would have shortened or eliminated important suction dredge seasons in Siskiyou County, California!...Together, we have won another very important victory!  This was not only about mining.  It was about whether or not a State agency has the power to bypass the public process by going into private agreement with radical environmental interests.  They don't!"

Today's California Farm Bureau Friday Review contains SB 1535, SB 419, SB 1224 and AB 3011. 6/16/06

Dam removal makes economic sense, by Craig Tucker, Karuk Tribe, H&N 6/16/06.
(KBC Comments follow Tucker's column "...Perhaps a few irrigators are involved in this Klamath dam-removal negotiation, however the community as a whole is not privy to these negotiations so there is no community support for these deals...")

Research:  Adult Salmon Survival 98 Percent Dam to Dam, cbbulletin.com 6/16/06. "This is good news if we are only losing 1 or 2 percent of the fish migrating upstream."
Klamath Water Users Response to Thompson Bill 4/21/06

NOAA Developing Tools to Match Ocean Conditions, Fish Runs, 6/16/06

Newport - Lincoln County will help pay moorage for fishermen hurt by reduced season, Oregonian, posted to KBC 6/16/06

Scott Valley accomplishments and needs, by Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5 6/16/06

Tribes Look Far Afield For Casino Sites; Bills in Congress could block the trend and rewrite gaming rules, Sacramento Bee, posted to KBC 6/16/06

OK - compare the costs, by Dan Keppen, Executive Director Family Farm Alliance, Klamath Falls. (this is a response to the ONRC opinion on Long Lake storage) 6/15/06, FOLLOWED BY: column by ONRC's Steve Pedery about Long Lake June 11. More on Long Lake Storage go HERE

PRESS RELEASE: Wyden gets disaster declaration for salmon fishermen into Magnuson-Stevens, Senator removes "hold" on the major fisheries bill, 6/15/05
PCFFA Memo on Klamath/DC Trip  6/12/06 from Zeke Grader to California fishing interests.

Tribute to Nevada Rancher Wayne Hage by SD Secretary of Agriculture George Williams, 6/15/06

PRESS RELEASE: Walden statement on Journal of Forestry Report showing forest service's strong litigation success rate, posted to KBC 6/15/06, Study finds judges have ruled in favor of Forest Service in nearly three-quarters of lawsuits filed against them

Gas line would cross farms, H&N 6/15/06.

State court backs coho protection rules, Times Standard 6/14/06

A boatload of misery, With the season cut by 80 percent, the fishing industry is struggling to stay above water, The Register-Guard, June 11, 2006 (Oregon Troller view of the 2006 Season as it begins). More on government-inflicted fisheries disaster HERE

Bureau of Reclamation Water Data Update – June 14, 2006

Commentary: Forestry may hold key to spotted owl's existence, CFBF 6/14/06.

ACTION ALERT: Game Wardens are in Trouble – you can help, Endangered Species and Homeland Security are not protected  Klamath Courier, posted to KBC 6/13/06 WRITE OR EMAIL BY JUNE 15TH!

Pacific Fisheries Management Council (which recommended curtailing the Coastal salmon fishing) requests $25 million for 2007, 6/13/06 pdf file.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Fisheries Task Force stirs up health concerns. Are your tax dollars well-spent? Klamath Courier  Reporter  Oct 26, 2005

Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq, Fox News 6/13/06.   (From the fields of Klamath Basin, our sons, daughters, moms, dads, friends and relatives serving our country in foreign lands. President Bush sends word home on our accomplishments. KBC)

Bureau to stabilize lake levels, H&N 6/13/06. HERE for more on waterbank.

The latest from Jim McCarthy in response to article regarding the broken dike and flood in Klamath Lake. McCarthy is from ONRC, Oregon Natural Resources Coalition environmental group, who takes every opportunity to advocate taking farmland and ranches out of production to create more wetlands, evaporating 2ce as much water as irrigated ag land. More than 100,000 acres ag land in Upper Klamath have been converted to government-acquired or Nature Conservancy wetlands. KBC 6/13/06.

FOR THE SCIENTISTS: FWS 2006 Klamath River Pathogen Monitoring report, 6/13/06, Word Document "As a component of Klamath River fish health assessment the California-Nevada Fish Health Center is examining juvenile Klamath River Chinook and Coho Salmon to monitor the incidence of Ceratomyxa shasta and Parvicapsula minibicornis infection."

IDAHO: Close encounter raises concerns about wolves, by Scott Richards - For the Idaho Press-Tribune, posted to KBC 6/13/06.

Canadian scientists predict poor salmon runs, Toronto Globe, posted to KBC 6/13/06. (The National Academy of science, and other objective scientists such as Canadians, understand the reasons for salmon decline, especially ocean conditions. On the Klamath River, with agendas to decimate the farming and commercial fisheries, environmentalists, attorneys and government agencies are bent on blaming lake levels and river flows, disregarding peer reviewed science. Thus, the Klamath Crisis, 'waterbank to increase river flows, agenda to remove dams, and blame towards fishermen, farmers and miners. KBC)

Klamath Lake levels and river flows from June 5, 2006

TID well water levels, 6/12/06. "District wells will be pumping at a rate of approximately 100cfs starting today and tomorrow.  "This is per request from the Bureau of Reclamation for the 2006 water bank," Earl Danosky, TID manager.

Dam removal, by Joseph C Greene, Research Biologist, Greene Environmental Services, posted to KBC 6/12/06, Power Point
Joseph Green biography

Forest Service Auctions Burned Timber, Kulongoski seeks court order to block the harvest, Washington Post, posted to KBC 6/12/06. "A timber company paid $300,052 for the right to log 261 acres of standing dead timber that was burned in a 2002 fire in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest...The blaze burned through roughly 500,000 acres in the rugged Klamath Mountains of southwestern Oregon."

Klamath River 2002 fish kill power point, presented by Joseph C. Greene, Research Biologist, presented May 23, 2006 at Yreka Grange, Power Point Presentation

Forest Service Head Says Biscuit Salvage Sale Will Happen, OPB, posted to KBC 6/10/06. "Mark Rey: "So this is a case where a good faith negotiation failed. The plaintiffs thought they could prevail in stopping virtually all harvesting in both the roadless and most of the roaded areas and that's not what the courts decided."
(FOLLOWED BY: Environmental Groups Sue To Stop Biscuit Salvage Sale)

Canadian ocean report observes impacts to marine web, fish, June 9, 2006.

FYI: MEMORANDUM SUBJECT: Gay and Lesbian Pride Month 2006
FROM: Karen D. Higginbotham, Director Office of Civil Rights
TO:   All EPA Employees

June 9, 2006 Klamath Water Users Update
Klamath Support for FishermenFarmers/Fishermen Pursue Alliance
H&N Editorial – Farmers and Fishermen
KWUA Continues Settlement Dialogue
FERC Grants Renewable Energy Credit to PacifiCorp
Biodiesel Workshop in Idaho
Dike on Upper Klamath Lake Fails (Geary Dike)
NW EPA Chief to Work for Kempthorne
Wild Rogue Chinook Off-Limits on Rogue
Quote

Are Shastas looking for gold in a casino?, Liz Bowen, Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 6/10/06

Farm Bill meeting June 10,2006

'Save the Klamath Salmon' and 'Un-Dam the Klamath' were seen on government vehicle at FERC meeting." license plate number G62/3905B.

HR 355 Would Convert National Forest Lands Into National Park Lands, 6/8/06, American Land Rights Association. HERE for more bill, laws and court decisions.

Poor salmon runs feared due to warming Pacific, The Globe and Mail 6/8/06. "The seventh annual State of the Pacific Ocean report, which was compiled by more than 30 scientists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, predicts poor salmon runs this summer and fall because of poor ocean conditions dating back three years."
* ("Isn't it interesting that this honest scientific reporting on conditions effecting salmon growth and survival has to come from scientists residing OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES!" Joe)
* (On the Klamath, agenda-driven NOAA Fisheries, Tribes, Pacific Management Council, PCFFA and enviros blame the Klamath Project for poor PROJECTED runs on the Klamath. KBC)

DFO report: Warming seas hard on salmon, Sandra McCulloch, Times Colonist June 08, 2006

Dike fails near Geary Canal Bridge, Parts of Highway 140 closed "As of late Wednesday, flood waters were threatening to overtake a portion of Highway 140." H&N 6/8/06 Here for Klamath River FLOOD PAGE.

Taking out dams would hurt Siskiyou County, posted to KBC June 7, 2006 by Marcia H. Armstrong,  Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5. Here for NO DAM Page.

Wildlife blamed for bacteria growth, Roseburg News Review, posted to KBC 6/7/06. (In the Klamath Basin, one of the guises for buying more than 100,000 acres of ag land from 'willing sellers' by The Nature Conservancy and government agencies is 'water quality." Agencies and enviros blame agriculture and replace it with wetlands which use 2ce as much water as agriculture and worsen water quality. KBC)

Bureau of Reclamation Water Data Update 6/7/06.

(California) Governor to provide loan guarantees to salmon fishermen, Mercury News, posted to KBC 6/7/06

Timber Salmon plan gets federal go-ahead, Seattle Times, posted to KBC 6/7/06

Wyden blocks major fisheries legislation, Wyden News Release 6/6/06

The "Collaboration for the Recovery of Endangered Species Act":  An Analysis of the Senate Proposal to Reform the Endangered Species Act, National Center for public policy research 6/6/06

6/6/06: The House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing to focus on Northwest agriculture on Saturday, June 10, 2006 at 10:00 am in Yakima, Washington to discuss the Farm Bill.

California Farm Bureau Friday Review of bills, posted 6/6/06 "SB 1640 (Kuehl) would establish a statewide requirement for monitoring and reporting groundwater levels in groundwater basins. If local governments, special districts, or voluntary cooperatives do not carry out the monitoring, then the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will conduct the monitoring, and charge local well owners for the costs."

Klamath Congress planning meeting 6/7/06.   HERE for more on Chadwick (where the stakeholders group and focus areas were formed). Some of the Chadwick focus groups are dam removal, water allocation, and forming a Klamath Congress.

House passes $93.6 billion ag appropriations bill, posted to KBC 6/6/06

Wayne Hage, harassed by the government and driven from his land, died today June 5, 2006. He fought the good fight for you, and for me. Thank you for your prayers. Photo Wayne and Helen Hage, 1999

Trees offered from Biscuit fire, Herald and News 6/5/06. "The U.S. Forest Service on Friday proposed a salvage timber sale in a roadless area hit by the 2002 Biscuit fire. Much timber was damaged in the fire, the nation's largest wildfire of the year, and is considered in deteriorating shape. Timber industry executives have said 2006 is likely the last year any of it could be harvested profitably."

Ridin' Point, by Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5, posted to KBC 6/5/06
Siskiyou Water Quality
Supervisors Forest Workshop
Suction Dredge Mining, Williamson Act, Meth, and Water Quality

Farmers, fishermen find common ground, H&N editorial 6/5/06

Klamath River flows and tributaries, submitted by Lewie Baker, posted to KBC 6/5/06

 Kulongoski tells trollers he's working on aide, Oregonian, posted to KBC 6/5/06

Fishermen decimated by government, Klamath farmers help, enviros blame, and Kulongoski offers welfare list, 6/2/06 for KBC.  Coos County Commissioner John Griffith and a group of coastal fishermen met with Klamath Basin farmers and community members.

Farmers fishermen pursue alliance H&N 6/2/06.

SOSS challenges state board, Pioneer Press by Liz Bowen, posted to KBC 6/2/06.

Oregon Counties Depend On Agriculture-29 Counties See Increase In Ag Sales, Oregon Dept of Ag, posted to KBC 6/2/06

Wanna have some fun?  Let's kick a fisherman when he's down, Pat Ratliff, Klamath Courier, posted to KBC 6/2/06.

Silent Springs, by Rudy Hiley, June 1, 2006. "It really struck me when we got out of the car at my folk’s place; the mill sounds were all but gone...No, there hadn’t been a plague, or a title wave, or a war, it wasn’t a holiday, there were no celebrity visitors in town; the simple fact was that a vital industry had been flattened by a bird; a Spotted Owl...regardless of whether or not the bird was really endangered..."

Bureau of Reclamation Water Data Update, posted to KBC 6/1/06 Snow Pack Basin-wide percent of Average: 167%

Tulelake Irrigation District well water levels 6/1/06

Species on endangered list challenged, USA Today, posted to KBC 6/1/06. More at ESA TODAY