Wallowa, Oregon

http://www.stopthewatergrab.org

In Northeastern Oregon is a small farm community, and irrigators own the dam. The dam needs repair, so Senate Bill 108-250 is proposed to fix the dam with federal funds.  A catch? :"any facility constructed using federal funds authorized by this Act located at the Wallowa Lake Dam for trapping and transportation of migratory adult salmon may be owned and operated only by the Nez Perce Tribe."

Letter to KBC from Gary: "Wallowa County presently is suffering from narrow economic opportunities. Closing our forest access would all but kill ranching, tourist revenues and keep new people away from establishing permanent residencies." (KBC was in Wallowa County this spring. The State is private property owners to sell their land to them. The State is promising to fix their private dam and will give control of it and the irrigation water deliveries to an out-of-state Nez Pierce Tribe. Most of their forest is designated wilderness already. The feds, tribes, state and enviros want it all; they already have most of it)

Letters regarding the "war" in Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, The Observer 8/9/07. (the writer's son Travis, fighting for freedom in Iraq, wonders why he is there and not fighting the war in Wallowa)

State purchases Chief Joseph’s gravesite Long-disputed: Eastern Oregon land will become a large public park, H&N, posted 8/6/07. (KBC Comment: KBC was invited to share Klamath water and land-grab experiences this spring with the fine farmers from Joseph. On a tour of this property, Steve Krieger showed us his land, how the intended development would not even be in sight of the grave, and showed the buffer that the state previously demanded from him. He was harassed and threatened with condemnation of the land until he was forced to sell. There are no indications of cultural sites. By the way, the state owns the entire other side of the lake as an enormous park; the state wanted it all. The Nez Pierce Tribe did not live in that area.) Go HERE for Chief Joseph's Prayer.

House passes Walden's water bill, posted 7/25/07. (KBC NOTE: In the Wallowa bill, federal funds to fix this private dam would entail giving all control of the dam to the Umatilla Tribe from Idaho who never lived at Wallowa Lake. Many community farmers were against this bill. When they realized the consequences of this bill they had KBC go to their spring symposium to inform them what lies in store with tribal control. We'll keep you posted.)

Water War in the Making at Wallowa Dam? 6/29/04. Among the Bill's most significant features: - locking up valley irrigation water and placing it under outside control; - disrupting the valley ecosystem with water transfers and pipelines; and - facilitating the (re)introduction of endangered species of salmon. Senate Bill 108-250 :"any facility constructed using federal funds authorized by this Act located at the Wallawa Lake Dam for trapping and transportation of migratory adult salmon may be owned and operated only by the Nez Perce Tribe." "Wayne Wolfe: 'You know down in Klamath Falls, the water was shut off, by government agencies. So, why would they want to get them up here? I don't know.' "