Klamath Basin water crisis archive 66 11

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

Archive 66 - November 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

Water law proposal alarms, Organization opposes bill that would redefine waters addressed, Capital Press 11/30/07. "If this passes, the federal government will have the authority to control all our water and activities affecting our water, thus pre-empting state and local government authority over land- and water-use decisions..."

Imported food supply leaves nation vulnerable, Capital Press 11/30/07

More than one to blame on ESA rulings reversal, Editorial Capital Press 11/30/07, followed by related article by Dan Keppen, Executive Director Family Farm Alliance

Bible lesson by Jim Foley 11/30/07 Lost and Found

KBC opinion of the FERC final Environmental Impact Statement supporting relicensing the Klamath Dams, 11/29/07. Revised.

Karuk Tribe and Environmentalists Play on People's Emotions, by Nita Still, Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 11/29/07. "The environmentalists, Craig Tucker, spokesman for the Karuk Tribe and Cultural Biologist, Ron Reed, are playing upon the emotions of people. Saying that if the dams are not removed "could mean 'destruction' of tribal cultures who have long subsisted on the various salmon species that once thrived in the river." (And still do.) ...'The Karok inhabited the banks of Klamath River from a few miles above Happy Camp in Siskiyou County down to Redcap Creek in Humboldt County and Salmon River up to the Forks of Salmon.' That is no where near the dams they want to get rid of."

Klamath Fishing Tales, Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 11/29/07. "Meanwhile, a San Francisco Chronicle article published last week and written by Jim Webb, described as an avid recreational fisherman from San Luis Obispo County, shows that some within even the ultra-liberal SF media are pro dam."

Wetlands (HR 2421) Bill Gives Corps Control Over Your Property, Deadline: please write by Dec. 6th!

Family Farm Alliance monthly newsletter, 11/07

USGS Examines Importance of Water Budgets in Addressing Water Availability Concerns, USGS 11/19/07

Medford Newspaper sues to get names of gun owners, 11/13/07 Oregon Firearms Federation. "The Mail Tribune...believes that one of the ways to promote its anti-gun agenda is to intimidate gun owners by demanding that the Sheriff turn over the names of license holders."

CHP helps pull the carpet out from under Schwarzenegger in the north state; CHP protected network of politically driven narcotics dealers. Pioneer Press by John Martinez 11/19/07. "Refusal to protect citizens against malicious actions of their own officer by allowing repeated threats by third parties directed against complainants at the behest of sworn personnel, misusing federally funded tribal programs by denying and/or threatening to deny services to Native American citizen complainants and their families, allowing sensitive drug informant information to be given to area drug dealers and other forms of abuse of authority are the backbone of the conspiracy to harm private citizens. " For help for tribal citizens experiencing threats and corruption in leadership, go HERE.

Sunday Bible lesson by Jim Foley, 11/18/07

Letter to the KBC editor from Debra regarding managing wolves killing livestock and pets, 11/16/07, FOLLOWED BY RESPONSE by Jim Foley, property rights advocate 11/17/07

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Final Environmental Impact Statement for Relicensing of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project No. 2082-027 Issued: November 16, 2007

FERC ignores salmon mandates, recommends keeping Klamath dams, Capital Press 11/16/07. "The final environmental impact statement from the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chose trapping and hauling fish around the dams rather than building expensive fish ladders and reducing power production to help salmon...The dams produce enough power for 70,000 households." (KBC Note: The objective? writer chose to include quotes from: Glen Spain, attorney for Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen, who stands to profit from any decision but his lawsuits are many against Klamath Irrigators and PacifiCorp; activist Craig Tucker, formerly affiliated with national dam-removal group Friends of the River, presently spokesman for Karuk Tribe, which just sued the Klamath miners, and involved in Riverkeeper, a dam-removal group and spinoff also from Klamath Forest Alliance which is anti-loggers and anti-farmers; and McCarthy of Oregon Wild, who consistently advocates against Klamath Irrigators and supports reducing farmland, logging and mining.) See DAM PAGE.

Salmon: slow start, strong finish, Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 11/15/07

Letter to the editor of KBC by Rob Found, Alberta, posted 11/15/07. HERE for Wolf Page.

Latest Mexican Wolf Update, News and Views, posted 11/15/07

Student's death confirmed as continent's first fatal wolf attack, CanWest News Service, posted to KBC 11/15/07. "SASKATOON -- A coroner's inquest has found that Ontario student Kenton Carnegie was killed by a pack of wolves in northern Saskatchewan two years ago, making it the first documented case of fatal wolf attack in the wild in North America."

(Klamath) Water talks getting close, Commissioner: Not everyone will be happy, but deal will provide benefits, H&N, posted to KBC 11/15/07, "A Klamath River watershed settlement could be released to the public by the end of the month, participants say... There will be a short time period during which the public can comment." (KBC Note: It will have taken 26 environmental groups, gov't agencies, a few farmers, all the Klamath River tribes, including all their attorneys, a couple years to agree on a settlement. It will include your water rights, taking out 4 Klamath River dams, river flows, land idling, leaseland farming, land retirement, wetlands--assuming all the press releases we've read are correct. Negotiations have been secret. Now we are being told we may be allowed a short time, right before Christmas, to comment. No vote was mentioned.)

Comments about Global Warming by John Coleman, Founder of The Weather Channel, TV Meteorologist KUSI-TV, San Diego, posted to KBC 11/15/07: "It is the greatest scam in history."

Congressman Greg Walden's newsletter, posted 11/15/07

The Great Salmon Hoax, review of James Buchal's book by Michael R. Fox PhD, posted 11/15/07, followed by introduction: "Once above Bonneville Dam, the first of the eight dams in their path, the salmon entered the Zone 6 tribal fishery, and ran a gauntlet of gillnets. Hundreds were captured, and sold off the back of pickup trucks in Cascade Locks and other towns along the Columbia for two dollars a pound. The tribes even had an 800 number for potential customers to call."

What If Columbia and Snake River Dams Were Helping Salmon? by James Buchal, EcoLogic Powerhouse, posted 11/15/07

Advocates ask ratepayers to fight relicensing of 4 Klamath dams, Oregonian 11/14/07, followed by Rally for PacifiCorp customer support. (KBC NOTE: What is not mentioned is that the expense of building fish ladders is a one-time expense, and the loss of power to 70,000s annually home is an annual loss. In this article, dams are blamed for low fish runs. In lawsuits by the Karuks against the miners, they blame the miners. And in courts and films by the Indians and environmentalists, Klamath farmers are blamed. ?) For more, see DAM PAGE.

Comments to KBC regarding Klamath Dam removal and Trinity diversions: "Hello, In everything that I've read, I've never seen one word on the subject of Trinity River water, which should go into the lower Klamath River, having been diverted in the 1960s to form Whiskeytown Lake which waters the Sacramento Valley. Maybe restoring some of that water to the Klamath would help without doing something as drastic and irreversible as removing the dams." Montague, CA

Hillman Family Woes by Barry R. Clausen, posted to KBC 11/13/07. "During a routine patrol, Officer Van Baren of the Siskiyou County Sheriff Department noticed a well marked Karuk Tribal vehicle parked on Sawyers Bar Road at Mile Post 3...The charges are, possession of a controlled substance, possession of narcotic substance and possession of concentrated cannabis. Mitchell and Hillman are both Tribal employees with the Department of Natural Resources in Orleans." More tribal news go HERE.

Trollers want disaster declared, The World Link, Coos Bay Oregon November 10, 2007

County missing Klamath talks, Triplicate, posted to KBC 11/13/07

Sunday Prayer Lesson: What does Jesus say about the New Birth? by Jim Foley, from Hamburg on the Klamath River 11/11/07

Bigger story to tell about Klamath levees, by Karl Scronce for Capital Press 11/9/07

Bird hunters flock to Klamath Basin; Farms offer critical food source for migrating waterfowl, Capital Press 11/9/07. "...the Klamath farmers are crucial to waterfowl. If farms are healthy, the waterfowl can serve people up and down the Pacific Flyway.

said Dr. Robert McLandress, President of California Waterfowl Association

Governor stresses need to store water (in E. Oregon), Oregonian 11/9/07. (KBC NOTE: we could use the Governor's support to develop cold water storage in the Klamath Basin in Long Lake. At times more water goes into the ocean, in winter seasons when the fish don't need floods, than the Klamath Project uses in an entire season. But, as long as there is a 'problem,' the government and tribes have excuses to take our land and our water rights, blow up dikes, ...)

Snowy Plover Comments by Oregon Coos County Commissioner John Griffith 11/8/07

COMMENT PERIOD: Habitat Conservation Plan for Western Snowy Plover and Related Environmental Impact Statement Released for Comment Plan Covers Recreation and Management on 32 Miles of Oregon’s 230 Miles of Beach, posted to KBC 11/8/07

Oregon's Rep Richardson on Measures 49 and 50, 11/8/07. "The Governor and the Democrats in the Oregon Legislature carefully crafted and funded a measure to repeal Measure 37 and perpetuate Oregon’s locked-up land-use system. They were successful. Congratulations to crafty politicians are in order, and so are condolences for lovers of liberty and fair government practices."

CROPS: Oregon seizures of marijuana double in 2007, H&N, posted to KBC 11/8/07. Scroll toward bottom of CROP page for N California pot crops in forests shut down to logging by and for the growers.

Florida hurricane victims may not rebuild because of endangered mice that don't live there, Pacific Legal Foundation 11/8/07

Without Private Property Rights, Other Rights Don’t Mean Much, posted 11/6/07, North Star Writer's Group.

Tulelake Irrigation District well water levels 11/6/07

Scott River Groundwater Study by Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5, posted to KBC 11/6/07

At peak of salmon spawning season, numbers of fish dwindling, Mercury News 11/5/07 (KBC NOTE: when fish decline in California it's blamed on the weather. When fish occasionally decline on the Klamath, it's blamed on farmers, miners, dams, and fishermen, and never ocean conditions or weather.)

Mismanagement and Lack of Oversight Threatening Future Salmon Fisheries, by fisherman Mike Aughney, posted to KBC 11/6/07. "There is one group that is getting far more than their allotted share and this is dooming other user groups to possible future closures. Yurok tribal gill-netters on the lower Klamath have likely far exceeded their annual quota... there is literally zero oversight from state or federal fishery management agencies..."

Go here for > Klamath River 2002 fish kill power point, presented by Joseph C Greene, Research Biologist.

OREGON: MEASURE 50 OP-ED, by Senator Doug Whitsett. "The concept to help poor families pay for health insurance for their kids is an admirable goal; however, Measure 50 is not the solution because it is unsustainable, regressive, unfair, and disingenuous."

CEC urges rate hike to remove Klamath dams, not fisheries upgrade, Water Power magazine 11/5/07. (KBC NOTE: yes, this makes sense...raise power rates to eliminate power for 70,000 homes annually. Go to DAM page for more)

A blow for fish, Group breaches Klamath levees, turns farmland back into wetlands, Mateusz Perkowski, posted to KBC 11/4/07 Capital Press. "more water will be needed to fill the lake, so the extra storage capacity won't do much good without strong snow packs and stream flow...Filling the lake to meet the minimum requirement established by the 2002 U.S. Fish and Wildlife biological opinion would also be more difficult..."

Task Force recommends lethal removal of California sea lions, CB Bulletin, posted to KBC 11/4/07

Service Seeks Public Comment on New Conservation Program for Threatened and Endangered Species, FWS, posted to KBC 11/4/07

Salmon plan implementation could increase federal spending $1 billion over 10 years, CB Bulletin, posted to KBC 11/4/07. For more ESA $ go HERE.

Feds get more time for new listing decision for Oregon coho, CB Bulletin, posted 11/4/07

TPZ protest draws crowd, Eureka Reporter, posted to KBC 11/4/07

Prayer lesson contributed by Jim Foley, Hamburg on the Klamath River, posted 11/3/07. HERE for Prayer Page.

NAIS - National Animal Identification System, Farm Bill update - CALL YOUR SENATORS!! 11/1/07 HERE for more NAIS info.

A song to us all written and sung by Iraq troops, received 11/2/07

Indian Tribalism in the United States, by Calvin L. Hunt, M.D., Klamath Falls: a review of Elaine Willman's book Going to Pieces, The Dismantling of the United States of America, posted to KBC November 1, 2007. HERE for more information on Willman's book.

Comments regarding creating more Nature Conservancy wetlands on USA Today website, posted 11/1/07

Preliminary 2007 coho hatchery escapements and dam counts, 11/1/07.

(Columbia/Snake River) Fish to survive dam plan, agency says, by Jeff Barnard, Seattle Times Nov 1, 2007