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Siskiyou supervisor pleased with delay (of dam
talks)
Siskiyou County Supervisor Jim Cook, who represents a district that includes Butte Valley and the Tule - lake Basin, said he was pleased to hear that next week’s update on talks that could lead to removal of four Klamath River dams was postponed.
He and other Siskiyou County supervisors voted earlier this year to oppose the proposed agreement because it requires removal of the dams.
Cook recently returned from a three-day trip to Washington, D.C., where he and Siskiyou County supervisor Michael Kobseff and Klamath County commissioner Bill Brown visited agency officials and legislators to voice opposition to removing the dams and “try to find out what’s going on” involving the talks.
Cook and Kobseff represented Siskiyou County, but Brown went as an individual commissioner.
“He made it real clear he was representing his own opinion,” Cook said of Brown.
Push for removal
Based on the trip, Cook said he believes the Department of the Interior and the Bush administration are pushing dam removal.
“They, in my opinion, and this is only my opinion, are forcing Pacific Power to get rid of the dams,” he said.
Cook said he was told that Interior officials want to have a dam removal agreement in place by Oct. 1.
Pacific Power spokesman Toby Freeman , in responding to Cook’s comments, said, “We’re not being forced into anything. We are going to work cooperatively with interested parties.”
He said the company would make decisions that benefit its customers.