Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
Our Klamath Basin
Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
|
This is a response to your
editorial dated March 20, 2006, “Where are the
Klamath Salmon?” by W.D. Kennedy, Klamath Basin farmer, for the San Francisco Chronicle I provide prime habitat for over 400 species of wildlife in Klamath County. My land is a private wildlife refuge that depends upon stored water from the Klamath River. I enjoy fishing and I depend upon commercial fishermen to provide me with a safe salmon fillet once in a while. The producers in the upper basin of the Klamath River have been working for several decades to enhance wildlife habitat from Crater Lake to Pokegama. Over the past twenty years close to half a billion dollars of private money has been spent on water conservation and water quality enhancements. While the Chronicle claims that the sky is falling; we are out collaborating with tribal nations and fisheries based communities to get beyond blame. You are stuck in the past with myth and superstition. Compare fish returns on the Klamath to those on free flowing rivers like the Eel, the Smith or the Mad RIver. Consider the impact that California sea lions, Krill count at out-migration and other ocean conditions have on salmon return numbers. It is easy to polarize a complex issue like the west coast fisheries. Place blame on my “delusional” family. Your story is juicy if you leave out the details. Our direction is proactive and progressive. Let me polarize this issue as you do. We are right. You are wrong. Move past blame. What we focus on grows. |
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