ARCHIVE 30 - NOVEMBER 2004
also  see main archive page

 Study: Coastal coho sustainable, Capital Press 11/29/04. "In 1990, fewer than 20,000 wild coho returned for spawning in the 19 largest Coast Range basins. More than 240,000 returned in 2002, the peak of a resurgence credited to favorable ocean conditions, limited fishing in lean years and watershed restoration projects by the hundreds."

How about a different approach to water storage? Herald and News guest editorial 11/29/04

Greetings from  Coppock Bay, Tulelake Nov 27

Fish vs Farmers, Salmon Trout Steelhead Magazine November 2004 issue.  This wins the Klamath Basin's top fiction writing award of the decade (with Audubon close behind) Publisher Nick Amato of Salmon Trout Steelheader magazine is requesting that people who wish to respond to the article by Don Roberts email him at nick@amatobooks,com Article slamming Klamath Basin ag draws sharp criticism, posted to KBC Klamath Courier 11/27/04. Response by Barb Hall, Klamath Bucket Brigade Response by Steve Cheyne

Thanksgiving thoughts by KBC

Thanksgiving may be the official day of thanks---letter to KBC from Julie Smithson.  See Prayer Page

ODFW gives salmon donation to Oregon Food Bank, 11/24/04 "This year, as in several of the past years, many more fish returned than were necessary to produce the next generation of hatchery fish, according to agency officials. About 13 percent of Oregon households reported occasional hunger between 2001 and 2003, the eighth highest rate in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture." {with a huge run of salmon, and since the 'environmental' laws have broken or burned out the loggers and farmers, creating in Oregon the highest unemployment in America, it is nice to hear that the abundance of fish will give starving men, women and children one serving at Thanksgiving time. KBC}

Managers, farmers attempt to balance wildlife and harvests at Tule Lake refuge, The Oregonian 11/24/04

Gobble Warming, Thanksgiving article sent to KBC by Rudy Hiley, Tulelake, 11/24/04

TID well water report 11/24/04. For past TID reports go HERE.

The Big Picture. Video of the Klamath River  This is a short video from our science page.

PRESS RELEASE: Walden Helps Secure Federal Investments for Klamath Area Projects and Organizations, 11/22/04 “I am proud to have worked with Senators Smith and Wyden throughout the appropriations process to ensure that Oregonians receive the support they deserve,” continued Walden.....All of these investments are a step forward for the Klamath region..."
Followed by H&N article Smith, Wyden secure funding for Basin projects

Spiritual Defiance by Rudy Hiley---see Prayer Page 11/22/04.  
Also, please pray for Niilo Hyytinen, former Tulelake resident...see prayer page.

Diamond Lake fish face eradication, The Oregonian posted to KBC 11/22/04. (Many old timers in the Klamath Basin remember the suckers being poisoned and heaps of dead fish being hauled away. It stunk and it is unforgettable for the elderly. But the government agencies do not remember this...not a trace is in the records. Just an insignificant population with vivid memories. And the suckers were not exterminated. They returned. In fact there are tens of thousands more than Fish and Wildlife thought when they listed them as endangered. Well, now let's poison the entire Diamond Lake of useless fish and hope they do not become endangered...KBC)

Letter by Julie Smithson to the Forest Service regarding introducing and protecting wolves in Oregon. Like regarding our irrigation water in the Klamath Basin in 2001, pay attention! This nightmare will come to your town if you do not stop it. Oregon Cattlemen Association has asked Julie to distribute this information widely. this photo is of a lamb. Posted to KBC 11/22/04

Subject:  Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan Rulemaking Process, comments due 2/10/05

FW Program spending shows $136 million average for 2003, 2004 cb bulletin 11/19/04

BPA FY2004 FINANCIALS: INCOME $3.2 BILLION, EARNINGS $66 MILLION, 11/19/04

Klamath Bucket Brigade update 11/19/04

Siskiyou pot bust in Merced, Pioneer Press Liz Bowen 11/19/04. "The Mexican Mafia are a well-organized crime group," said Sheriff Riggings and no one would have dreamed that they would be growing a 2,000-plant plantation just three miles outside of this mountain town."

Klamath Water Users weekly update for November 18, 2004
* Pacific Legal Foundation Takes on Critical Habitat, Coho Listing Issues
* Veneman - First Woman Ag Secretary - Steps Down, With Thanks from President
* Portland High School Students Share Perspectives on Recent Visit to Basin
* Excerpts from Letters Sent to KWUA by Reynolds High School Students

PRESS RELEASE: Committee on Resources, Forest Service Chief Upholds Final Plan for the Sierra Nevada Forests 11/18/04 "In Arizona the Rodeo fire torched over 100,000 acres of habitat for the endangered Mexican spotted owl, in Oregon the Biscuit fire decimated over 80,000 acres of endangered Northern spotted owl habitat, and in Colorado the Hayman fire pushed 8 endangered species even closer to disappearance due to habitat loss."

Bush ready to reshape federal forests, Oregonian 11/18/04. "Cutting mature forests is not the reason these species are still at risk," West said. "Science doesn't support the assumption that the spotted owl and marbled murrelet are dependent on large tracts of untouched old growth."

US Fish and Wildlife Service Northern Spotted Owl Still Threatened Despite Progress in Addressing Habitat Needs, 11/18/04 "uncharacteristic wildfires appear to be removing habitat at an increasing rate."

Nose dive Oregon's tough on birds, Audubon report says, The Oregonian posted to KBC 11/18/04
Here for tour with water users, Audubon and Fish and Wildlife Service.

California's mammoth farm sector ponders life after Veneman, SacBee 11/17/04

Timber industry expects no change for northern spotted owl, Seattle Times 11/17/04 . "Let's do what we need to do to protect the species based on the true risk, not some flawed notion they are solely dependent on old growth." "Wildfires have wiped out large areas of spotted-owl habitat." {FOR THE THOUSANDS OF TIMBER WORKERS, MILLS AND TOWNS THAT WERE DECIMATED IN THE GUISE OF 'SPOTTED OWL PROTECTION', WHAT THIS ARTICLE ESSENTIALLY SAYS IS, REGARDLESS OF WIPING OUT YOUR JOBS, FORESTS TO WILDFIRE, COMMUNITIES, SCHOOLS, AND ECONOMY, OWLS STILL ARE DECLINING. WILDFIRES HAVE WIPED THEM OUT. WE DESTROYED YOUR LIVES, THE OWLS AND THE FORESTS FOR NO SCIENTIFIC REASON!!!}

PLF Launches Sweeping Lawsuit Challenging Critical Habitat for 48 Species in California, posted to KBC 11/17/04
Common sense goal for ESA regs, Capital Press posted to KBC 11/17/04

Democrats, Greens Aim to Overturn Bush Forest Plan, enn.com 11/17/04

Amending the Endangered Species Act by Jim Beers posted to KBC 11/17/04

(Klamath) Bull Trout, by Rudy Hiley, Tulelake 11/16/04.

Landowners should be involved with ESA, Farm Bureau posted to KBC 11/16/04 " More than 1,200 species of animals, bugs and plants are on the endangered or threatened list...only 16 recovered."

Californians, Hug a Miner Today, Ray Hayes CA Assemblyman 11/16/04.  "Anything around you that contains metal, plastic or rubber comes directly from mining and oil drilling operations somewhere in the world.  Anything that is wood, paper or food was either logged or harvested.  Almost everything we have comes from mining, drilling, logging and farming, and yet these industries are increasingly under attack from the NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) people, regulators, and environmentalists.

A bucket of love  Community sees what Ben DuVal couldn't, by Kehn Gibson Klamath Courier posted to KBC 11/16/04 NEWELL - Standing in the fading light outside his family's homestead, Ben DuVal pauses for a moment, leaning against the crutches that have become a part of his life.    "You know, I have a silver bucket in there," he says, nodding towards the house. "It's from the town of Malin, and it's filled with cards, letters, checks, what ever the townsfolk thought I would need. 'Bucket of love' is painted on the outside."

Ben DuVal loads hay with his new squeeze, photo by Pat Ratliff

PRESS RELEASE: Doolittle Reelected to House GOP Leadership Will Remain Conference Secretary for 109^th Congress, 11/16/04

Comments to Forest Service re: roadless areas 11/15/04

GOP plans to revise species protections, oregonlive.com posted to KBC 11/14/04
Concern grows for roadless rule, Roseburg News-Review, posted to KBC 11/14/04
Interior Dept. weighs oil, species protection, MSNBC posted to KBC 11/14/04

Sunday's scripture, see Prayer Page.

endangered suckers in a vial

Suckers hang around restored wetland , Former cow pasture near Modoc Point now sucker habitat H&N posted to KBC 11/12/04 Commentary by KBC. "To this date, the Chiloquin Dam remains blocks 95% of sucker habitat and there is no count of how many suckers there were, are, or should be. Our government continues to take our land in the guise of sucker habitat and 'storage' which we can't use because it gets branded for 'endangered sucker habitat'.

Gratitude, by Mike Connelly 11/12/04.  "The city people talked about the insanity of their daily lives, and the desperate flailing of individuals and communities that have no memory at all of what it means to be truly, deeply connected to the land."

Klamath Water Users Weekly Update for 11/12/04--go HERE.
* Yuroks Cry "Contempt" Against Reclamation in Fish Die-Off Proceedings
* PCFFA Drawing Attention to Lower Klamath River Salmon Numbers
* Environmentalists Showing Signs of Post-Election Activism
* Klamath Irrigation District Completes Infrastructure Improvements in 2004

Help Stop Wallowa Land Grab--YOU CAN HELP 11/12/04 "The Klamath Basin farmers came to the basin at the request of the government.  It was a giant reclamation project.  Who stood up for the farmers and the local community when they were threatened with losing their water?  Not the government.  The fish activists, tribal leaders and environmental groups have joined together to use the Endangered Species Act to try to drive the farmers out, forcing them to lose everything they have in the process."

Coho comments on relisting due 11/12.

Trio pushes for measure to limit Cob funding, 11/12/04 H&N.

Lake level river flows  posted H&N 11/12/04

Trinity River restoration will flow on, H&N 11/10/04

Klamath farmers cheer Bush win, H&N posted to KBC 11/10/04

Agenda of Portland University in Klamath Falls this week, November 10th.  Evidently we, the public, were not invited. Some of the chosen speakers are Andy Kerr and Jeannie Anderson regarding willing sellers, Klamath tribe and Bud Uhlman attorney, government agencies, irrigators and their attorneys, power companies. Go HERE for agenda and HERE for some participants.

Appeals court won't reconsider Trinity decision, Times-Standard 11/10/04.  (The Trinity River fish that died in 2002 from a disease that indians are blaming Trinity farmers for killing,  are the same fish that they continue to blame on Klamath Project irrigation 200 miles away. Since the construction of the Klamath Project, the river has 30% higher flows -- KBC)

Tulelake Irrigation District well report 11/10/04

PRESS RELEASE: Walden to Visit Klamath, Lake Counties on November 13, 11/10/04

Local growers opening door to the Far East, Cooperative effort starts to pay off for Klamath Basin agriculture, by Kehn Gibson, Klamath Courier Editor, posted to KBC 11/8/04

Screens accomplish at least one big goal, H&N 11/8/04. Regarding the $16 million dollar fish screen: "We still don't know - and we don't know that anyone does - whether construction of fish screens to keep suckers from going into the irrigation canal significantly improves the long-term survival of the suckers because nobody seems to have a firm handle on just how many suckers there are."

State Panel OK's COB, H&N posted to KBC 11/8/04. "We've been sure for a long time that this is the decision the state wanted (the Siting Council) to make, regardless of the evidence," she said."

Wyden Helpful, letter to the editor of H&N by Dan Keppen, Executive Director Klamath Water Users, posted to KBC 11/8/04

Forbidden Flame in the snow, by KBC 11/5/04. Our government agents at work!

Klamath Water Users Association weekly update for November 5, 2004
 * Recap of 2004 Election - Water Leaders Win at Local, State and National Level
-    U.S. President, Senate and House
-    California Legislature
-    Oregon Senate and House
-    County Seats
-    Impressive Local Voter Turnout
* Key Highlights of 2004 National Election
* Bush Wins....It's the End of the World, as We Know It (According to NRDC, Defenders of Wildlife)
* "The Refuge Looks Great!" - Cal-Ore Chairman Assesses Wetlands Conditions
* Cal-Ore Wetlands & Waterfowl Council Thanks the Farmers on Klamath Refuges
* You May be Eligible for Benefits Under the 2001-02 Crop Disaster Program
* Kandra Constructed Wetlands Water Quality Project Moves Forward

Uncommon Sense, High Paid Migrant Professionals Are The Norm! by Scott Johnson, editor AgLifeNW September Issue.

NOTE FROM KBC: It's been raining and snowing intermittently in the Klamath Basin for 2 weeks.  Hundreds of acres of potatoes, onions and horseradish are still in the ground, too muddy to harvest. Please pray for your American farmers. Thank you. 11/4/04

Siting council hears long arguments on Cob plant, H&N 11/04/04.

Modoc Farm Bureau dinner meeting Saturday November 6.

Vote sending Whitsett, Garrard off to Salem, H&N 11/4/04.
Klamath votes go to Republican candidates, H&N posted to KBC 11/4/04.

Lake Levels River Flows 11/4/04, H&N.

"Scorched-earth policy" continues, by Liz Bowen, Pioneer Press posted to KBC 11/4/04

Compensation for landowners OK'd, statesmanjournal.com posted to KBC 11/4/04

Cob hearing Nov 3rd and 4th.

Congratulations President Bush! and Thank You!

COB Energy Facility:  Hearing and final action on the application for site certificate November 3rd. Please Come!

Refuge managers, farmers, find common interest, Herald and News 11/1/04, submitted by KBC. "Remember, this biological opinion was created from the agenda-driven Hardy studies. Dr. Thomas Hardy of Utah State University was hired by the Department of Justice and Bureau of Indian Affairs to go against the farmers in the water adjudication litigation."

Saving fish, H&N 11/1/04, "It appears that that's (6 million dollar fish screen) doing its job and keeping the suckers out," he said. {according to testimony at the Klamath Congressional hearing, there are 10's of thousands of suckers and if they had counted them in the first place they never would have been listed...KBC}

Paper examines temperature shift from Klamath dam removal, Times-Standard 11/1/04. 
Klamath Water Users perspective on functions of Klamath River dams, and consequences of dam removal, Klamath Water Users website.

11/1/04 Coming very soon: Transcribed Project tour of the Klamath Project hosted by the Bureau of Reclamation for Humboldt University President and guests. This tour was conducted September 11, 2003 for the purpose of showing Humboldt University President and guests the Klamath Project. Bureau of Reclamation, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Klamath Water Users gave presentations. Farmers guided parts of the tour. There were many questions and answers throughout the day.