lamalfa neilsen press release cdfg 021111

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

PRESS RELEASE 2/11/11

Nielsen & LaMalfa Demand Fish and Game Department stop harassing property owners/water users

(Sacramento) - Assemblyman Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) and Senator Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) have asked the Department of Fish & Game (DFG) to respond to allegations of government officials harassing water users in Northern California.

In a joint letter to Fish & Game Director John McCamman, Nielsen and LaMalfa seek a response to constituent concerns that, "DFG personnel are contacting water users and advising them that if they refuse to sign their Incidental Take Permits (ITP) permits, then they will not only have their water shut-off, but also may face criminal prosecution." Both Nielsen and LaMalfa express concern that, "This does not appear to us to be an acceptable method of working with the private landowners (they) represent, and may in fact be illegal under state law."

"The actions reported to me by constituents and elected officials in the area are unacceptable," said Senator LaMalfa. "These are honorable, long-time, families and farmers that are being abused by the whims of a bureaucracy that neither understands nor cares about what they do. I won't stand for this persecution and will fight them in every possible way."

"I am greatly disturbed by the responses I am receiving from my constituents in Siskiyou County," stated Assemblyman Nielsen. "No government agency has the right to threaten the people it is sworn to serve. I urge Director McCamman to meet with us immediately, so that we can resolve this issue, and allow landowners throughout Northern California to use their water without fear of prosecution."