Dear Editor, By Shirley J. Fisher, Klamath River native, Siskiyou Daily News 3/1/10

This letter was sent to Oregon Governor Kulongoski:

DO NOT REMOVE THE DAMS! Who are you to flush us, the residents of the Klamath River who live below the dams, down the river? Flood Control is vital to life to us and fish. Dams control water. Have you been here, to our homes, businesses all along the 200 miles of river? None of you who are behind this travesty have talked to us, the citizens here. The tribes’ propaganda is deplorable. We are angry and no one listens! You sanction spending billions of dollars to take out the dams and make us pay for it ... is this the American way? You and our Governor Schwarzenegger signed an agreement to work against us. You, the tribes and money. How can you condone displacing thousands of people and our homes, businesses and farms? Yes, we do have all the above ... we are citizens of the Klamath River below the dams. This is not about the fish. It is about taking our life’s work away from us. If it was about the fish, there is a quick answer to that ... stop the tribes’ netting in the lower Klamath River. Why don’t you start there? Can you even imagine the trash that will come down from behind the dams? The river will flood our lands every few years as the storms come. Where will we get electricity? Who will repair our bridges and roads that wash out with every flood? This has happened every flood in the past. Assessed valuation of our properties will fall and with that the counties’ revenue from our taxes. Have any of you considered any of this? We now have clean electricity and flood control. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That is common sense tried and true. We are angry that we are not being heard because we do not have the millions of dollars to fight back. We feel like a fish thrown out of water: abandoned, wasted and unheard. The most reasonable solution to the fish question is to install fish ladders. That would not cost what you people are spending already on paperwork. And yes, I have written our governor.