Upper Basin Water Users Attend Two Day Tour with Coastal Fishermen "Visiting farmers were provided with a better understanding of the difficulties local ports face with restrictions on harbor dredging, the competition fishermen face with local tribes who also depend on salmon, and the growing pains that coastal communities are facing as tourism and tribal casinos begin to overtake commercial fishing in the local economy." HERE for story by Dan Keppen, Klamath Water Users Executive Director 10/31/03

PRESS RELEASE: Walden Praises Senate Passage of Healthy Forest Measure: Calls for Speedy Resolution to House/Senate Differences, October 30, 2003

PRESS RELEASE: GAO Study: 58% of Eligible Forest Thinning Projects Appealed in 2001 and 2002, October 30, 2003

Transcript of dialogue at Sprague River Meeting of October 21, 2003, before half the audience walked out. Posted to KBC 10/30/03."This meeting included representatives from the Klamath Tribes, Klamath Water Users, and facilitator Becky Hyde, with invited public from the Upper Basin. The negotiations are supporting reduction of irrigation in the upper basin with Rangeland Trust buying water easements, and the National Forest surrounding the Upper Basin residents being given to the tribes again. The Upper Basin irrigators were promised a public meeting..." For some interaction on the discussion forum , there is a thread regarding the facilitator with her response.. HERE for link., see Oct 23rd thread.

TID wells water levels 10/30/03

Salvaged timber produces lumber, jobs, 10/30/03 H&N

No breads for COB plant, H&N 10/30/03.

Tulelake DMV office's last day could be Friday, H&N 10/29/03

Greens Turn California Black, Michael Reagan, 10/29/03

District presents annual awards, H&N 10/29/03 "Farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin continue to find ways to share their stored irrigation water to benefit wildlife and the environment, according to Martin Kerns, chairman of the Klamath Soil and Water Conservation District."

Gail Norton engaged the top science review team, the NRC,  to review the Klamath situation, which said that lake level and river flow management are wrong. Days after the NRC released its final report, Kitzhaber's chosen panel comes out with a report contraditing the federal report:
State report supports regulating lake levels, 10/29/03, H&N.
Scientists favor reserving water to protect Klamath Basin fish, 10/29/03 Oregonian

Liskey looks at closing the European market gap, 10/29/03 H&N.

Saving Suckers with a shock, 10/28/03 H&N.

County plays unofficial role in land negotiations, H&N 10/27/03

Report targets dams, H&N 10/26/03

Second amendment filed for Cob energy facility, 10/26/03 H&N

Tour brings farmers, fishermen together, 10/29/03

Terror targets: Power towers. Klamath Falls makes national news. World Net Daily, 10/29/03.

Beyond farmers vs fish The Oregonian 10/26/03

Klamath Tribe termination payments, 10/26/03 For more info on Tribe/Rangeland Trust/KWUA/Upper Basin, go to Negotiations. On the discussion forum there has been input regarding the Beatty meeting and it's facilitator.

Contaminant Discharge Permit for COB Energy Facility, LLC Written comments due: 5 p.m October 27, 2003

FWS designates critical habitat for threatened and endangered vernal pool species, 10/03

Weekly KWUA update for 10/24/03
* Project Irrigators Vindicated by NAS Final Report
* KWUA Overview of the NAS Report
* NAS Fish Die-Off Findings Clouded by Draft Report Leaked to Eureka Paper
* Project Irrigators Prepare to Head Downriver to Meet with Fishermen

Prayer request for JoAnn, Klamath Water Users Association.  See prayer page 10/25/03

Map of the 690,000 acres of National Forest that the tribes want. See NEGOTIATIONS page for related articles.

Budget cuts blamed for Tulelake DMV office closure, H&N 10/24/03"Because of the budget crisis, DMV regrettably no longer has the funds to afford that extra expense," he said. "Additionally, there are no banks, doctors, dentists, and the town lacks many other community services that might attract enough customers to keep the local DMV office open in a time of dwindling state funds." KBC: this is an absolutely false, causing one more hit to our community.  We have a bank, doctor, and many businesses, some depending on having a local DMV.

Many steps ahead before reservation possible, H&N 10/24/03.  250 people were invited to Beatty to attend a public meeting. Half walked out because they were herded into little groups, "treated like kindergarteners". Perhaps the spearheaders will at some point LISTEN to the public views. KBC

H&N Editorial on final NAS report, 10/23/03

Tulelake DMV office scheduled to close, H&N 10/23/03

Walden, Doolittle, Herger Request Resources Committee Hearing to Examine NRC Report on Klamath Water Shut-off, 10/23/03

California: Report on Fish Kill, NY Times, Oct 22, 2003.According to the NRC report "neither the flows nor temperatures that occurred during the fish kill were unprecedented, and the committee agreed that neither flow nor temperature conditions alone can explain the fish kill." So KBC would say that NYT twisted this a bit, or rather, left out a little.

Farmers fear new state rule would eliminate flood irrigation, 10/23/03

The following 2 USFWS coincidently-well-timed-leaked articles are 9-month-old drafts: Why aren't we surprised? kbc
Fish report fallout keeps on coming, H&N 10/23/03
Leaked FWS report links fish kill to low flows Greenwire reporter 10/23/03

Article on Klamath Tribes, by Brad Harper, previously for H&N, then reedited, and posted to KBC 10/25/03

Excerpts from Guide to the Tribes of the Pacific NW, posted 10/25/03

Klamath Water Foundation letter supporting Long Lake storage 10/24/03

Restoration focus needs to be habitat, 10/22/03 Siskiyou Daily News.

Klamath report calls for broader approach to saving fish. 10/21/03 U C Davis

PRESS RELEASE: Smith Calls on Klamath Task Force to Move Quickly on National Academies’ Recommendations, 10/22/03  “I believe this report provides us with an opportunity to move forward with actions that will actually recover salmon and suckers, without decimating the local economy,” wrote Smith.

Less pollution is more than Langell Valley wants, 10/22/03, H&N. "Within these standards, there are still people that could be affected," he said, adding that elderly people, small children or people with lung problems could be susceptible to higher pollution levels. "They're out there on the edge of the bell curve." Written comments on the DEQ permit must be submitted by 5 p.m. Monday to be considered by the department. A permit could be approved or denied in as little as two months. See COB page for more info.

Meeting about reservation turns testy, 10/22/03

PRESS RELEASE: Walden advocates for U.S. grain shipment to Iraq, 10/22/03

FROM KBC: We received this 'p.s.' last night from Linda Greg (of prayer page)." P. S. I stopped at the store on the way home: Eggs $2.39 a dozen, a local butcher said that Top Sirloin would be $13.00 a pound in a month. We get 40% of our beef from Canada and they are stopping imports because of the Mad Cow disease" We at KBC wonder why our DOI is constantly advocating downsizing agriculture in the Klamath Basin, and in America---crops in the Project (via water bank that does not seem to work) and cattle in the Upper Basin?

Klamath Basin overhaul is urged in report, Sacbee 10/22/03
Scientists offer Klamath Remedies, Oregonian 10/22/03
Study says irrigation did not kill salmon, Washington Post 10/22/03
Panel urges large scale approach to protect fish in the Klamath Basin LA Times  10/22/03
Study recommends massive effort to restore salmon, Times Standard 10/22/03
Its final - no basis for cut-off, 10/22/03

PRESS RELEASE: Congressman Walden: "NRC Report Confirms 2001 Klamath Water Shut-off Was Not Scientifically Justified; Outlines Roadmap for Recovery of Sucker Fish & Coho Salmon, Klamath Basin Agriculture"
      "National Research Council (NRC) finds that Upper Klamath Lake levels have no bearing on sucker fish mortality; report refutes blame to Klamath Project for 2002 fish kill"
Go HERE for entire final NAS report.

Klamath Water Users Respond to NAS Final Report, 10/21/03.

PRESS RELEASE: Report by National Academy of Science, 10/21/03

Interior Department Statement on National Research Council Report, 10/21/03
 

Public hearing set on Cob Energy Facility, H&N 10/20/03  "the plant would also emit high levels of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, which contribute to acid rain and decrease visibility in an area. The nitrogen oxide emissions would be nine times higher than state regulations normally allow."

Basin farmer still missing, H&N 10/20/03.  Also, see  $20,000 REWARD for Jerry McKeon

Greens plot strategy for basin, H&N 10/20/03. Green group would not allow Klamath Basin farmers or Siskiyou County supervisors attend their strategy meeting.

A deal's a deal, H&N posted to KBC 10/20/03. "In 1936, The Klamath Tribe began deliberating the sale of its reservation. Seventeen years later, 1,659 out of the 2,133 members, voted to sell their land. Today, their descendants want the land back. They are not offering to purchase the land. They want Congress to give it to them"

USFS cleans Jarbidge outhouse, posted to KBC 10/20/03.  The Jarbidge folks were here, standing beside the Klamath Basin farmers in 2001. We couldn't resist running this article.

Thank you, Congressman Walden, for coming to Merrill today. You give us hope. KBC "In this time of false science, dishonest bureaucrats, well-funded, tax-exempt groups with an agenda to end agriculture and our local economy, and government agencies that are diminishing agriculture in America, we are blessed with a special  bright spot in our lives. His name is Congressman Greg Walden, and he came to visit us today."  Go HERE for story 10/18/03.

Merrill Potato Festival

"Today was the annual Potato Festival, and it is indeed a celebration! This is the second year in a row, since 2001, that we have had a continuous supply of irrigation water to  produce a bountiful harvest.  We will never forget the year we did not--the tears, the dust, the pain, the auctions. And no potatoes." 10/18/03

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, Klamath Basin Restoration Conference at Ft. Jones, featuring Felice Pace, Bob Hunter, Glen Spain and more. HERE for details. Lets go find solutions!

TID well water levels. TID and private irrigators were told to pump, at their own expense, our groundwater, or the Project water would probably get shut off). 

(Family Farm) Alliance Continues to Solicit Projects for Report to Interior, 10/17/03.

Weekly KWUA update for October 17, 2003
* Klamath Tribes Host Tour of Forest Lands for Irrigators
* EPA Proposes Federal Water Quality Standards for Oregon
* Final National Academy of Sciences Klamath Report Due for Release Next Week
* KSWCD Recognizes Local Conservation Leaders at Annual Meeting
* Hearings Set on Klamath Headwaters Ag Water Quality Management Area
* Lost River Ag Water Quality Hearings Set for Early 2004

Agency Lake, adjacent to 94,000 acres of wetlands that have already been converted from ag lands.

NEGOTIATIONS

KBC photos  Klamath Basin, the  farmer's and rancher's paradise

Rangeland Trust, who buys water easements with federal money,  has asked a few irrigators to be at the table with them and the Klamath Tribes as the Tribes try to regain 690,000 acres of the Winema National forest.  DOI is working with the Tribes, and is also trying to find solutions for the irrigators.  ONRC and environmental groups want the government to buy or condemn  private land to give to the Tribes.      Irrigators want to keep caretaking the land that they have known for generations. They do not want their community and economy downsized. They want to continue to produce American food and jobs, and preserve a wholesome, productive environment for America's children and grandchildren. CLICK HERE for all available news regarding the negotiations.

Proposed power plant near Bonanza should create concerns about air quality, 10/03. 

PRESS RELEASE: Federal Agencies Failure to Comply with Executive Order Has Cost Taxpayers over $1 Billion, 10/16/03, attorney Roger Marzulla

Report on endangered fish due to be released (by the NRC committee), H&N 10/15/03.  " 'But the final report expected this month won't change anything for the 2004 irrigation season', Sabo said. 'To change how the project is managed, the Bureau would need to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.' "

Tribes not seeking water-land swap, H&N 10/15/03. "Carl "Bud" Ullman, attorney for the Tribes, said the Indians have two objectives: gaining water rights in order to restore fish populations, and regaining about 690,000 acres of former reservation land now in public ownership."

Salmon return in big numbers, Statesman Journal 10/14/03. "Those were the highest daily counts in 65 years of record-keeping.(This is near Bonneville Dam, they have the highest run in recorded history, but still say they need to 'recover'. ? KBC)

Westlands to pitch water deal, The Fresno Bee, posted to KBC 10/15/03.  Klamath Basin is tied to Westlands by our mutual Klamath River...The Trinity goes into the Klamath--we share the mutual attack by Tribes and environmental groups targeting agriculture.

A governor who hears call of wild, SF Chronicle posted to KBC 10/15/03. For the Klamath Basin, these views or Arnold give us hope for a tomorrow. "For Nichols and Hight, who brought a Sierra Club agenda to the Department of Fish and Game, it should be "Hasta la vista, baby." When Schwarzenegger goes through department budgets line by line, and discovers money diverted from fishing licenses to pay for pet projects, like studying harbor seal mating in Elkhorn Slough, he might say, "Knock, knock -- you're fired."

Perception vs Truth, Part 1, Illinois Leader, posted on KBC 10/15/03. This is the clearest article we have seen on explaining how my farm and your farm are directly effected by U.N. mandates and our proper rights are being taken."There is no conspiracy theory - there is no paranoia - it is just reading the information that is readily available to know what to expect next that could destroy the security of your family and your home. It is not perception."

Please keep Bill Kennedy in your prayers..see prayer page. 10/13/03

Keep private lands out of reservation issue, 10/13/03, H&N

ONRC plans rejected by tribal leader, H&N 10/12/03

Letter to KBC from Sprague River residents regarding ONRC proposal, 10/11/03. "We planned everything in our lives to get to live here....We are angered by the proposal of the Oregon Natural Resources Council to take private lands and return them to the Klamath Tribes.....This will not work.....Citizens and land owners are rallying to fight to the end."

Klamath plan meets opposition. 'Conservation groups say a proposed land transfer threatens old growth and wilderness' The Oregonian 10/10/03

Weekly KWUA update for October 10, 2003
* ONRC Proposes to Return Private Lands to Klamath Tribes
* Interior Official Meets With Water Users to Outline Modeling Parameters
* Arkansas Water Leaders Tour Upper Klamath Basin
* Central Oregon Renewable Energy Forum Scheduled
* KWUA Submits Comments to CDFG on Modified Klamath "Fish Kill" Report

Basin landowners bash ONRC plan, 10/10/03 H&N. "(Ed Bartell) said many landowners above the Basin are uneasy about the possibility of losing their land or their water rights as a result of a negotiation process they haven't been privy to. "..." 'With all these proposals, no one seems to be discussing community,' he said."

Press Release: What's at stake:  putting water talks in perspective 10/9/03 by Idaho Congressman Butch Otter. So much of what Otter is saying can be put into perspective in our own back yard.

Interior floats offer of 'reliable' water for reduced Klamath Project deliveries, Tri-County Courier 10/8/03.'Offer includes return of 672,000 acres to the Tribes'.

Talks continue over land, water swap, H&N 10/9/03. "Bill Bettenberg, director of the Interior Department's office of policy analysis, said he was in the Basin to give updates on negotiations with the Klamath Tribes and run through scenarios of different water management options for the Klamath Reclamation Project."
     "Bettenberg said he wants to keep the different sides of the water issue posted because they all need to be involved for a workable solution."
     You have closed-door 'negotiations' and meetings, then you tell us you are keeping the different sides of the water issue posted???  The public has been excluded once again, and certainly not been 'posted'. KBC

ONRC announces its ideas for tribal lands, H&N 10/9/03. "The proposal calls for the government to purchase lands or, when necessary, use eminent domain to acquire private lands within the boundary of the reservation as it existed in 1954, when the Klamath Tribes were terminated."
ONRC Proposes Equitable Alternative to proposed Klamath Land-for-Water Deal; Conservationists oppose White House-driven billion-dollar National Forest transfer, 10/09/03

Conservationists' Letter on proposed transfer of National Forest Lands to The Klamath Tribes, posted to KBC 10/09/03. Letter from  'Environmental' groups to Senator Wyden., D Oregon.'As members of the conservation community, we write to you to express our opposition to the Bush administration's proposed plan to transfer over 1,000 square miles of Winema-Fremont National Forest land to The Klamath Tribes.'

Taxpayers being sold out, H&N 10/8/03  "....Bill Garrard ... sponsored a bill allowing the Cob to pay no taxes - zero - if the Klamath County commissioners (two out of three) would extend the enterprise zone to Peoples Energy location near Bonanza. ...(between $4 million and $4.5 million a year in taxes...)

Water quality meetings planned, H&N 10/8/03. Check out proposed restrictions and write letters!

PRESS RELEASE Congressman Walden's speech from Iraq, 10/8/03.  Check out section on 'Our children in Iraq'.

The tragedy of the 2001 water shut-off, the uncertainty of seasonal irrigation water even on wet springs like 2003 when we were temporarily shut off, and also the projected 'downsize' of 1/4 of the Klamath Project with the Department of the Interior's 'water bank', are all devastating our local economy. Greg Williams of Northwest Farm Credit Services tells Basin's current financial impacts from 2001, by Dan Keppen, Executive Director of KWUA. This is in our new 'economics' section to the left.10/8/03

Eastside irrigators want a white white winter, H&N 10/7/03.

Oregon Revised Statute, ORS 468B,  by Dr. Doug Whitsett, 10/07/03.  This law will be a tragedy for American farmers.

Letter from Dan Keppen, KWUA Executive Director, to California Dept of Fish and Game.

Document by fish-scientist David Vogel, directed to the Fish and Game's statements on the 2002 fish die-off. 
posted to KBC 10/7/03

KBC photos of Staunton Farms onion harvest.

October 7, 2003 Sorting onions on the bulker is hard, dusty work, but at least it is employment.  After 2001, and the threats of curtailed water in 2003,  farmers, employees, and the community appreciate,  much more, our bountiful harvest. No one feels the relief more than the children....Mom and Dad can again be proud and self-sufficient, and laugh again.  The community and local economy was damaged, but it is recovering.

Klamath County Cattlemen's Association letter to Klamath County Commissioners regarding negotiations with tribes, farmers and Rangeland Trust:
     "KBRT has been orchestrating select, limited, negotiations to facilitate a long-term water buyout of large acreages of pastureland for the benefit of KBRT.
       As the executive committee of the Klamath County Cattlemen’s Association: 'We are opposed to rampant, inequitable, reductions in irrigated acreages, including irrigated pasturelands, in the Klamath Basin.' " HERE FOR LETTER   posted to KBC 10/6/03

Tribes set to release forest plan, posted to KBC Oct 6, 2003. "The Tribes now hope to gain ownership of about 660,000 acres of former reservation land now owned by the U.S. Forest Service"

Accord builds in Klamath Basin, The Oregonian 10/4/03, by Michael Milstein.
     "The talks come as the Bush administration continues weighing a return to the tribes of roughly 690,000 acres of former reservation land that is now national forest."
     "Now they seek to resolve the region's divisive water battle through a historic accord that could return to tribes ancestral lands the size of Rhode Island while downsizing farms at least in dry years."
     " 'You're never going to get a comprehensive settlement through secret talks," said Roger Nicholson, a ranch owner in the upper basin who said he has not been invited to participate."
(These talks initiated by Jim Root of Rangeland trust, the tribes, and DOI officials have not been public to KBC and 99% of our community. 3 project irrigators and 2 KWUA people have attended.)

World Champion Pilot Tulelake pilot wins during Reno Air Races The son of a Tulelake WWII veteran homesteader Paul Macy, Nick began racing at the Reno Air Races in 1986. He succeeds his parents in the family business, Macy's Flying Service. HERE for story. by Diana Wunderle, Tri-County Courier posted to KBC Oct 3, 2003

photo by Pat Ratliff/Klamath Media

Nature Conservancy digging to regain wetland from reclaimed farmland, H&N 10/2/02.  Since over 92,000 acres of ag lands have been converted to wetlands, our water quality is much worse, and flows have diminished.  Read Upper Klamath Basin tour details explaining where has all the water gone?  Go HERE for more on The Nature Conservancy.

PRESS RELEASE, Oct. 2, 2003. Walden Testimony on Future of White City Dom.  Oregon wants to close our veteran domicillary in White City, but Congressman Walden stands up for veterans.

Please continue to pray for Nancy and her husband, as he is very ill.  See prayer page. 10/2/03 KBC

Onion Crop is in H&N 10/1/03. Tulelake onion growers hope this year to at least duplicate last year's $5.9 million onion crop. Or, do even better.      Last year's onions were grown on 2,184 acres of land within the Tulelake Irrigation District. This year's cultivation is 2,075 acres, said Ron Fensler, district water master.      "And this is one of the few places in California where you can get fall onions."      In 2001, with no Klamath Project water, growers had to mostly rely on well water. Onion growers planted onion seed on 779 acres and grossed about $1.6 million.

PRESS RELEASE: Walden Statement on Senate Healthy Forests Proposal October 1, 2003.,  "Every day that passes and Congress doesn’t act is a day that America’s forests grow more disease ridden, bug infested and fire prone. I’m optimistic that we can find common ground with the Senate when given the chance to meet in conference."

Dam fills valid purpose, 9/30/03. Why is the Chiloquin Dam  which, according to USFWS, blocks 95% of endangered sucker habitat, not being dealt with? KBC

Water users richly deserve recognition, H&N 9/30/03

BUSH ADMINSTRATION  RECOVERS THE SALMON  Elsewhere in the news: salmon are thriving and take limits are increasing.  Since Democrat reps Thompson and Blumenauer say last year's Trinity River fish "deaths were a 'direct result of a failed Klamath water policy by the Bush Administration,"  it would stand to reason the the Bush administration has recovered the salmon!
Coho limit increases to three, Statesman Journal .
Wild coho comeback may allow harvest in two lakes, Mail Tribune

submitted photo

California Assemblyman Doug Malfia (l)  introduced Arnold Schwarzenegger (r) at a Redding gathering this weekend.  250 guests were anticipated, however thousands showed up. Endorsed by California Farm Bureau, and the board of Western Growers, "Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced a platform to revitalize California's economy and he has made it clear to us, the farmers of the state, that agriculture is fundamental to rebuilding a strong California economy." HERE for earlier story.

This is just a reminder of the historical flows...the Link River used to go dry.  Unless all of the basin waters were full, no water returned down the Klamath River.  Then we get this asinine article Renewed action called for on Klamath River, H&N 9/28/03.   "Representatives Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., in a news release, claimed the September 2002 deaths of 30,000 adult salmon in the Lower Klamath River were due to high water temperatures and low water flows. Both said the deaths were a "direct result of a failed Klamath water policy by the Bush Administration."

Think about it: Fish scientists say the hot water was lethal to the Trinity River fish, 200 miles away from the Klamath Project. Historically...look at the picture, that is the historic flow. So, the 'solution' in progress is to downsize (waterbank) the project irrigators to put more hot water into the river.  Add this to Dr. Hardy taking the historic flows from the wettest years in recorded history after water was rerouted.  Is anyone out there listening?      According to these 2 urban democrats, "They said the mismanagement has caused the loss of more than 4,000 family wage jobs and resulted in a total salmon industry loss of about $80 million a year." So with record runs of salmon these past 2 years, the salmon take limit increased and they can't manage to sell all they have, how can they blame Project irrigators for that? KBC

GOP leaders hail deal on logging, thinning - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA  ``First of all I'm pleased with the progress,'' said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., a co-sponsor of the House bill. ``I think this is an important step forward on a critical issue to the West.''

Herald and News Letter to the Editor: Barnes Neighbor says 'Don't buy Barnes Ranch', 9/29/03, "To store that amount of water on 2,821 acres would require a dike around the property perimeter 25 feet in height. Considering the way peat ground subs (percolates water), raising a 2,818-acre lake is likely to create seepage and inundation of the adjacent ranches, one of which I own."

Here's to a double dose of good news, H&N 9/29/03 "Basin irrigators and the Klamath Tribes are taking tentative steps to find common ground."

For farms, a compromise of pragmatic genius, The Seattle Times, 9/28/03.Legalized illegals.  KBC would like to hear some farmers' comments on this one...use our discussion forum.  thanks

Compensating Basin irrigators, H&N posted to KBC  2/29/03

Pump efficiency testing program gives information to area farmers, H&N, posted to KBC 9/29/0

Klamath Project Irrigators lead Klamath Tribes and Upper Basin Irrigators through the Project.  The guests saw federal and local projects, heard about local solutions being ignored with  unintended consequences, and saw other local solutions being successfully implemented.  They listened.......and they learned. Everyone spoke from their hearts. The mood was 'hope'/ Go HERE for tour, questions, successes, solutions, and quotes.  Story and photos by KBC, 9/26/03

Chris Moudry, area businessman, told about the community and media efforts in 2001. There are 10.5 million acres in the Klamath watershed, yet they took all the water from our 200,000 acres....

Weekly KWUA Update for Sept 26, 2003

Construction traffic dangerous, costly. Cob plant should be built in an area already zoned for heavy industry The author Diana Giordano is a farmer and 25-year resident of the Langell Valley, H&N, posted to KBC 9/27/03

PRESS RELEASE:: September 24, 2003 from Conference Secretary Press Office Doolittle Secures Millions For Upper Klamath Basin

Tribes, Irrigators seek success, 9/26/03, H&N.

"Service & Sacrifice: Klamath Basin Life Through Two World Wars," is the theme of the newly released 2003 Shaw Historical Library Journal., H&N 9/26/03

The three following articles ran in the Sept 24th  "Agriculture" section of the Klamath Falls Herald & News. They provide a good summary of the proactive efforts undertaken by local irrigators:
Compensating Basin Irrigators, Putting a water system to the test, and Conservation Meetings planned Oct. 8th.

House OKs $25 million for Upper Basin water projects, supported by Congressman Doolittle, H&N 9/26/03....

Bureau makes final lake level: Below average, H&N 9/25/03

PRESS RELEASE: 2004 FUNDING OPINION for BOR, 9/24/03

Although the 2002 Klamath River salmon run was a record high, 2003's salmon run is estimated 'above average'. It's acknowledged that loads of warm water was not healthy for the fish in 2002. With 2002 fish run well above average in spite of the die-off, irrigators cannot figure out why there were claims of a devastated economy by Yuroks.  H&N 9/24/03.

Water groups, tribes seek better way, 9/23/03, H&N.  KBC has not heard how the talks with KWUA, the Klamath tribes, and Jim Root of Rangeland Trust are proceeding...hopefully more info will be available after Thursday's tour.
 

Fish and wildlife, and forest service biologists, and 'environmentalists', claim that wildfires help environment, and leaving trees to rot is good habitat, --much better than, heaven forbid, LOGGING! H&N 9/23/03. 

Greens argue against cutting burned timber, H&N 9/23/03.  The same groups advocating to downsize or eliminate farming in the Klamath Basin are the same groups who are destroying the coastal fishing industry, and are keeping litigation active until the burned/charred timber is not salvageable.  Again, welcome to Oregon,  the highest unemployment rate in the United States.  Is Oregon the only place in the world that does not realize that timber is a renewable resource?  That fish do not need higher-than-historic flows? That owning and caretaking property, raising a flag, and going to church does not make someone a rich right-wing radical?

70,000 FISH DEAD!  40,000 yearling fall chinook and 30,000 yearling summer steelhead dead, but "it's not catastrophic".  Is there one sane person out there that can tell us Klamath Basin farmers that targeting the Klamath Basin last year was not agenda driven? ...when last year's die-off of 30,000 Trinity fish was used for demonstrations against Basin farmers 200 miles away, for bills to downsize the Klamath Project.  Last year was a record run of salmon yet the Yuroks said their community was devastated.  Commissioner Keyes encouraged (mandated) downsizing the Klamath Project through a water bank. The left press told the world that Klamath Basin farmers killed the fish and devastated the Yuroks (while real fishermen supported the basin farmers...see  Fishermen's Corner.).

FISH KILL!!! 40,000 Fish Dead. USGS and Mary Nichols didn't blame Klamath Irrigators.  Yuroks not devastated!  No dead fish on the capital steps! H&N 9/22/03.

U.S Forest Service won't let volunteers to their $10,000 job to protect river from outhouse leakage, AP,  posted to KBC 9/23/03. The Jarbridge folks, "volunteers", came here in 2001 to support the Klamath Basin farmers. Their issues are in a different place, but with the same government agencies to contend with.

Commercial fishermen support Klamath Farmers, "Boley himself contradicts the image that the Pacific commercial fishing industry is lined up solidly against Klamath Basin agriculture. He says the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which has been active in lawsuits challenging the management of the Klamath River, doesn't represent him or other Oregon-based fishermen." H&N 9/21/03 For more on fishermen's support of Klamath Basin farmers, go to Fishermen's Corner.

Prayer request by Julie, and Harvest Prayer by Gorden...see Prayer Page.  9/22/03

Tribes, water users plan to host tours, H&N 9/22/03 "Thursday's tour of the Klamath Project will start at the recently constructed $14 million A Canal headgates and fish screen, and move through the Project as the water flows. Tour participants will observe the effects of idled land, pumped groundwater, and the relationship between farming and refuge waterfowl".

Klamath Tribes and Klamath Water Users look for common ground, from KWUA weekly update 9/19/03. "Individual irrigators and association representatives have been meeting with the tribal leaders to assess if we can find common ground while we learn more about the problems that have divided us,” said KWUA Executive Director Dan Keppen.
“We have been talking about the possibility that all of us may be better off trying to encourage a settlement that would do more for all of us than what we can expect from continued legal conflict,” said Jeff Mitchell of the Klamath Tribes. 

Letter to Commissioner John Elliott from The Klamath Tribes, posted to KBC 9/22/03 regarding Long Lake storage proposal.
 

"Wearing many hats seems quite the norm anymore,"  as submitted on our Discussion Forum by Buster Keester, regarding Rich McIntyre, 9/22/03. This was written to explain possible KBC confusion on identifying McIntyre  ("lodge owner", " American Land Conservancy Consultant"  and "Coordinator", "Water Watch Board of Directors Vice President", etc.   (also Hatfield Upper Klamath Basin Working Group member)

KBC regrets and retracts and apologizes for our mistake regarding the Barnes Ranch article (5 articles below this). Mr. McIntyre is not a 'real estate agent or broker', as we mistakenly wrote. He is a "consultant' (the KBC reporter did not know that there was a difference).
The following EMAIL says it's from RICH MCINTYRE

From KBC to our readers: We at KBC do our best to get accurate information to you.  We use audio and direct quotes as much as possible so there will be no mistakes in our reporting.  We get input from Congressional offices, BLM, BOR, OSU, KWUA, Klamath County Commissioners,  colleges,  farmers, scientists, ranchers and fishermen, and make corrections whenever a mistake is brought to our attention.  We are  farmers doing our best to share the truth and the science to the best of our abilities.  We had no previous experience in journalism, webmastering, and real-estate terminology.. Please contact us when you see errors..we will correct them.

Using private firm's peer-review worthwhile, H&N 8/18/03 "Give the Bush administration credit for following up on the experience it gained during the 2001 water crisis in the Klamath Basin. Irrigation water to the Klamath Reclamation Project was held back then to provide for fish in a decision that was later determined to have insufficient scientific merit."
The Oregonian blasts Bush administration for requiring scientific peer review, 9/20/03.  (This is an excellent example of an ecoterrorist newspaper advocating NO peer review to attain an agenda,  regardless of the science, and regardless of the ecosystem that its agenda decimates.   It speaks for itself...KBC)

Weekly KWUA update for Sept 19, 2003

Rich McIntyre, "consultant, not a real estate agent or broker", with American Land Conservancy, speaks about obtaining the Barnes Ranch for 'storage'.   Go HERE for story, and audio of McIntyre's comments regarding how much water, money, and water quality we are dealing with. Included are Klamath County Commissioner Elliott's comments on McIntyre and his proposal, and our  Congressmen's concerns and questions. Barnes Ranch is a shallow, warm-water lake, requiring diking, and flooding neighboring properties.  With LONG LAKE studies for cold deep water storage in progress, ALC is urgently  pushing for the $9.1 deal in spite of its absurd and questionable assets. For McIntyre's scathing letter against Klamath Water Users and their director, who are trying to preserve farms, ranches and the Klamath Basin economy, go HERE.

kbc photo

9/18/03 This is the actual letter response from Commissioner Keyes to Congressmen Doolittle, Herger, and Walden, trying to explain why farmers got shut off because spring was wetter than they estimated. Again, (KBC addressed this before), the questions Mr. Keyes did not answer is, why is the operation plan based on non-peer-reviewed reports that were taken from the highest water years in Klamath Basin history.  If the NAS committee was enlisted for 'best available science', and their draft report criticized lake level/river flows/single-species management, why is the non-peer reviewed, flawed  Hardy report, accepted as science ? And why is  a 'water bank' being promoted to downsize the Klamath Project if the 'best available science' does not substantiate it?  Idling farmland is decreasing our return flows to the refuges and the Klamath River. 

Humboldt County asks PacifiCorp to consider Klamath dam removal, H&N 9/18/03.  ONRC sues PacifiCorp, if anyone wants to see what that tax-exempt nonprofit organization does with it's donations. Board wants Klamath dam removals considered, Eureka Times Standard 9/18/03

PRESS RELEASE: Congressman Greg Walden is trying to keep open the domiciliary which provides services for our Klamath Basin farmers, most of whom are veterans,  "Shutting this facility down would have a devastating effect on the veterans of our region who depend on it for care, in addition to the more than 400 local residents who are employed at the SORCC." 9/18/03

Tulelake Irrigation District was told this summer to pump their emergency wells or have the Klamath Project shut down again. They have been forced to donate 16751.74 AF of groundwater (SEE CHARTS) .with no compensation, no representation by irrigators, no contract. The DOI forced us into downsizing the Klamath Project (called water bank) by 17,000 acres idled land and 50,000 AF additional ground water.  There was taken tens of thousands of AF water from our storage, ABOVE the 2003 operation plan requirement.
DOWNSIZING THE PROJECT VIA WATERBANK IS BREAKING OUR ECONOMY! Our businesses are hurting! Our project is 95% efficient....idled land means less return flows.  LISTEN to the caretakers of the land!

Nature group killing off wildlife, letter by Gary to TusconCitizen.  Response by KBC.

Letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton from CA Congressmen John Doolittle and Wally Herger, and OR Congressman Greg Walden. This outlines initiatives that, if implemented, could lead to the delisting of  the sucker fish, provide deep, cold water storage, and lead to the use of sound science in better understanding fish die-off and other Klamath issues. posted to kbc 9/17/03.

Folks wonder why the Oregon economy is destroyed, fires rage, Oregon unemployment is highest in the USA. Read on for details: Andy Kerr, 'Don't try to improve grazing, abolish it', outlines how he and the environmental groups will litigate to break the ranchers.

" Better grazing is also boring to work on. Abolition is much more interesting."

"We must make it more expensive for elite welfare ranchers. On forests west of the Cascades, the timber industry used to expend X amount of effort for Y amount of timber. Today, while they still aren't run off the public forests within the range of the Northern spotted owl, they do have to spend 10 times the effort for maybe one-tenth of the timber."

Kerr tells how the ONRC are using the ESA to end timber, and tells which species they plan to use to reach their goals.
Grazing: A property right? Ranchers believe so, but the federal BLM says it’s just a lease, The Mail Tribune posted to KBC 9/16/03 Study to decide fate of grazing - September 14, 2003
Kerr spells out how the ESA will be used to decimate the Klamath Community by downsizing the Klamath Project.

	Dr. Ken Rykbost, on tour bus, explains that  the water contributed by the Klamath Project to the Klamath watershed is 3.4%.
Humboldt University president, government agents and project irrigators tour the Klamath Project September 11, 2003, story and photos by KBC... HERE for story. "BOR Mike Green and Bob Davis stated that very few pesticides allowed on the lease lands, and there have been no negative impacts from the Klamath Project to fish, waterfowl or wildlife."

Lawmakers slam Endangered Species Act, World Net Daily, 9/16/03

Rare summer hailstorm damages acres of crops, H&N 9/14,03.

Environmental groups shut down burnt-timber salvage, H&N 9/15/03. The Winter Oregon fire burned 34,000 acres. This project "would have included salvage of about 9 million board feet of dead timber over about 1,900 acres, and replanting of an estimated 1,200 acres of trees within the burn." WAKE UP AMERICA!  DON'T  YOU SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING? For more KBC news on destruction of our forests, go HERE

Too few answers given to questions about Klamath Basin fish issues, H&N WWII veteran Jim Leard, OP ED, 9/15/03."From history and old photographs I understand that what is known as Upper Klamath Lake was mostly a marsh with a stream flowing through it. Why have the fish suddenly undergone a genetic change that requires them to have a very high level of water?"

DOI PRESS RELEASE: Interior Secretary Gale Norton advocates Healthy Forest Plan Implementation, ".Last year, wildfires burned about 7 million acres of land and cost the federal government approximately $1.7 billion to put them out. Also, last year over 800 homes and other structures burned and, tragically, 23 firefighters lost their lives." posted to KBC 9/15/03

President Bush came to Oregon to save our forests, economy and wildlife, and the ecoterrorists blame him  for starting forest fires!  Black Copters over Oregon: "President Bush visits rural Oregon to tout his forest plan. Suddenly, huge fires burn. Now a small town is consumed by conspiracy theories,"  posted to kbc 9/15/03 We at KBC thank you, Mr President, for your efforts to save the West from these group's destruction. Due to their efforts, Oregon is the highest unemployment rate in our nation.
 

Klamath Tribes support study of Long Lake water storage. Letter of support to Klamath County Commissioner John Elliott, posted 9/15/03. For more articles on Long Lake and Barnes, go HERE.

USFWS proposed ESA revisions, posted 9/15/03

Bureau head John Keyes, tries to explain why Project water was briefly cut off this summer after a wet spring, 9/12/03. The question Mr. Keyes did not answer is, why is the operation plan based on non-peer-reviewed reports that were taken from the highest water years in Klamath Basin history.  If the NAS committee was enlisted for 'best available science', and their draft report criticized lake level/river flows/single-species management, why is the non-peer reviewed, flawed  Hardy report, accepted as science ? And why is  a 'water bank' being promoted to downsize the Klamath Project if the 'best available science' does not substantiate it.  Idling farmland is decreasing our return flows to the refuges and the Klamath River. 

Lawmakers list actions wanted to protect fish, H&N 9/11/03

Weekly KWUA Update for Sept 11, 2003
* Herger, Doolittle, & Walden Weigh in on Klamath Initiatives
* Lower Klamath River Flow Study Discussed by Water Panel
* Initial Hardy Report - Basis for 2001 Klamath River Flows - "Fatally Flawed"
* Water Users Support Study of Long Lake Offstream Storage Project
* Senator Gordon Smith's Tragic Loss
 

Please pray for Oregon Senator Gordon Smith and his family. Ask your prayer groups to pray for them too.  See prayer page

Sucker petition to get a second look, H&N 9/9/03. "'If the Bush Administration were friends of the farmers they could turn around and do the status review and have the delisting done in nine months,' he said."

Scientist: Flow targets could doom reclamation project, H&N 9/9/03

Klamath Hardy flows using 'Worst available science' exposed by Western scientist. 9/9/03   KBC NEWS REPORT.  Last night, the Klamath County Commissioners hosted a public forum.  Dr. Ken Rykbost gave a power point presentation entitled Klamath Watershed in Perspective: A review of historical hydrology of major features of the Klamath River watershed and evaluation of Hardy Iron Gate flow requirements.

Ron Hathaway and Rodney Todd photo by Pat Ratliff

Water option proposed, Siskiyou Daily News, posted Sept 8, 2003.  Klamath County Commissioner Elliott said, "It would help agriculture because the water would provide cool water with a stable flow for the river leaving water allocations intact for agriculture. No stream or tributary is associated with the Long Lake Valley so the project should not have a negative environmental impact to the Klamath River watershed." For more information on Long Lake, go HERE

The Oregonian can't have it both ways. They are the first to say that salmon die-offs and occasional low runs are due to Klamath Irrigators, low river flows, loggers, miners, and humans in general.  However riparian efforts, in their esteem, are essential, but the record high salmon runs are due to ocean conditions (otherwise they would have to give the Bush administration recognition for recovery of the species, which are flourishing). Also, If a hatchery salmon is not a real salmon, a test-tube baby is not a real baby. Here for the Oregonian spin on the recent huge salmon runs, 9/8/03.

TID well update. 16,236.25 have been extorted from our aquifer to water our crops since we had a wet spring, and the BOR sent 30,000 more acre feet of water down the river above and beyond the obligation to the 2003 project plan.  This is in addition to DOI's mandatory downsizing (water bank),  and to the irrigators who have pumped their private wells, with no reimbursement, to keep the rest of the project irrigated. 9/7/03 And according to Earl Donosky, manager of TID, "All wells are shut down.  We have no plans to start pumping at this time."

News from the Front #73:  A Ray of Hope for the Klamath Farmers, Seot 5, 2003, James Buchal. "Vogel testified that the 1988 listings were based on a “selective” and “distorted” review of the available data, and that 'It is now evident that either:  (1) the estimates of the sucker populations in the 1980s were in error and did not, in fact, demonstrate a precipitous decline (i.e., the populations were much larger than assumed), or (2) the estimates of the sucker populations in the 1980s and the suckers have demonstrated an enormous boom since the listing and no longer exhibit 'endangered' status.' "

Court Overturns Denial of Sucker Delisting Petition!

Federal Court says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service erred in rejecting petition to remove Klamath suckers from the endangered species list, attorney James Buchal, 9/4/03. From KBC, we want to say, thank you James, Walt, Merle, Charles, John, Tiffany, Dale, and Dave Vogel.  You stood up and fought the federal government agency, and you won!  Sept 4, 2003.

Lillebo photo by Kehn Gibson

Pombo and Walden, photo by Kehn Gibson

Pombo and Walden question ONCR's Tim Lillebo in field hearing, as fire bombers fly by, The Tri-County Courier, 9/4/03

Famous Western photographers Larry Turner and Amy Hartell, have showing at Ross Ragland Theatre, 9/4/03, The Tri-County Courier.
 

According to USFWS studies, the Chiloquin Dam blocks over 90% of endangered sucker fish habitat, yet the ONRC will sue Pacificorps for lack of fish screens, H&N 9/4/03 (by the way, the DOI has not funded counting the fish...perhaps they would find that they are not even endangered, so they could not so totally control us anymore.

Klamath Bucket Brigade (subweb of KBC)  has added the following  four information/links to their "You Need to Know"  Information   page:
*  History of Klamath County irrigation, the Klamath Project, and other important events leading to the 2001 Water Allocation Decision
*  USDI - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE RECOVERY PLAN FOR LOST RIVER AND SHORTNOSE SUCKERS (1993)
*  Klamath Irrigation Project Sucker Salvage and Langell Valley Fish Survey Report - 1999
*  Klamath Irrigation Project Sucker Salvage and Langell Valley Fish Survey Report - 2000
 

Klamath Lake-level graph, 9/4/03, H&N. News article:  Lake remains well above required level.

Growers expecting respectable yields this year, H&N 9/3/03
 

10 reasons I oppose the COB energy plant, by former Klamath County Commissioner Roger Hamilton, Bonanza. "I have served the past twenty years as a Klamath county commissioner, an Oregon public utility commissioner, and as Governor Kitzhaber’s energy advisor. I have seen a lot of energy schemes come and go, some worthy of public support, others so foolish they have spared their investors by dying early on the vine. But this one surpasses them all in its technological clumsiness and callous indifference to the local folks who will bear the brunt of its impacts every day of their lives.", H&N 9/1/03