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

Archive 60 - May 2007
also  see main archive page

Around 1900, Link River, between Upper Klamath Lake and Lake Ewauna, occasionally went dry before the Klamath Project was built. There was no hydropower, no hatcheries, occasionally no fish (fish need water), no artificially-raised river flows or lake levels.  HERE for more

Fish threatened with extinction shuts Delta water pumps, Sacramento Bee 5/31/07. "State water officials Thursday morning stopped exporting water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect the threatened Delta smelt, a tiny native fish that appears to be on the brink of extinction... The Delta supplies 23 million Californians with a portion of their drinking water, as well as to 5 million acres of farmland."

*Commodity commissions applications due 5/11/07

BOR Managing for Excellence May 30-31

Water Data Update, posted May 31, 2007, Bureau of Reclamation

Bill Honoring Les Schwab is Drafted, Senator Whitsett, posted 5/31/07

OREGON: Democrats steal your giftcards VIDEO. 5/31/07

Judge rules against California Delta water system, posted May 31, 2007

Interior secretary scraps proposed changes to endangered species law, posted to KBC 5/31/07

 Local fishing leader, 58, dies, The World Link, posted 5/31/07


Scott Boley with fishermen and farmers at October Potato Festival  in Merrill.

Fisherman Scott Boley, right
KBC photos
Oregon coastal fisherman Scott Boley from Gold Beach passed away May 28. He and Klamath Basin farmer Dick Carleton brought their communities together in guiding tours, and bringing facts and science into finding Klamath Basin solutions and dispelling myths. Farmers and fishermen alike have lost a true friend.

Hidden costs of corn-based ethanol, diverting corn from food to fuel could create unprecedented turmoil, CSMonitor, posted 5/28/07 "With current technology, almost all of this biofuel would have to come from corn because there is no feasible alternative. However, achieving the 15 percent goal would require the entire current US corn crop, which represents a whopping 40 percent of the world's corn supply." More on ethanol, go HERE.

Walden continues push for long-term county payments extension, posted to KBC 5/28/07

Letter from Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong to the California Assembly regarding suction dredge mining, Assembly Bill 1032, posted to KBC 5/28/07. (Although there is considerable public perception that suction dredge mining has a substantial deleterious impact on various species, such as salmon, scientific studies do not generally support this view...)

From FERC, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to Mr Bodnar, followed by letter from Mr. Bodnar to FERC regarding Klamath Dam relicensing, posted to KBC 5/28/07. ("Have the tribes considered that they overfish their area? It is well known that they use illegal nets to harvest excessive amounts of fish. I learned this from the locals who told me about the need to drop bales of hay into the river so that they would become so heavy enough with water to take out the illegal Indian nets.") 

(California) Tribal casino oversight push hits legislative, legal hurdles; Governor's bid to boost audits rejected by Senate panel amid doubts about state's authority, Sacramento Bee 5/27/07

California Farm Bureau Federation Friday Review May 25, 2007
*SB 180-UFW Sponsored Legislation (ACTION ALERT)
*Williamson Act Subvention Funds-State Budget
*SB 719-San Joaquin Valley Air Quality Management District
*SB 240-Air Surcharge
*AB 1223-Agricultural Electricity Customers
*AB 1428-Incentives, Manure-Fueled Facilities
*SB 463-Biogas Digesters, Agreements

VIDEO: In a rare moment of emotion on the Senate Floor, Senator Jackie Winters exposes her “broken heart” over what Democrats have done to the legislative process by turning their back on Oregon voters.  On a strictly party line basis Democrats are fast tracking a bill that guts Measure 37 as approved by voters.  Watch here.
For more on Democrats disregarding voters wishes, go
HERE on Page 3, Land Use Reform Law Gutted.

Tulelake Irrigation District well water levels, 5/24/07

Salmon aid intact in war-funding bill, by David Whitney - Sacramento Bee May 24, 2007. (KBC Note: In fall 2002 Klamath irrigators wrote letters to keep the feds from releasing HOT water down the Klamath River that would be toxic to the fish, but tribes insisted and feds complied, and the Trinity River fish died when they hit the Klamath. The National Academy of Science said "low flows" were not to blame, but the Tribes, enviros, agencies and media continue to repeat the myth until it is widely accepted. And last yr, as we understand it from some Oregon salmon trollers, it was not lack of salmon, but lack of "wild-spawned Klamath fall Chinook", that caused management to shut down the Pacific Coast fisheries. In the end, only 5% of the 2006 ocean catch proved to be Klamath fish.)

Warren Buffett Hates Salmon, Native Americans, DealBreaker, 5/24/07. (KBC Note: The article above, Salmon aid intact in war-funding bill,  blames Klamath irrigators for fish dying in fall 2002, and so did the Tribes and enviros and Cal Fish and Game blame us. Of course they blamed Bush too, until, 2 yrs ago, they became aware that FERC Klamath Hydro dam license was about to expire. Now they blame Buffett's because fish died in 2002 since he bought the hydro dams. Does anyone think accusing Buffet of 'genocide' and snubbing "Holocaust survivors." is a bit extreme in trying to materialize the dam-removal agenda?)

Group opposes wind farm in Columbia River Gorge, H&N 5/25/07. (KBC Note: Groups oppose Hydro dams, nuclear power, wind farms, and near the Klamath Basin geothermal at Medicine Lake where the wells are already drilled.)

Support our troops.

Yurok tribe gets funding for project, Triplicate 5/23/07

PRESS RELEASE: Reps. Don Young & Stevan Pearce's Statements From Today's Hearing On Democratic Bill To Reduce U.S. Energy Security & Raise The Cost Of Gasoline & Electricity, 5/23/07, House Committee on Resources.

Alaska says 'NO' to U.N. designations, Ecologic Powerhouse, 5/23/07

Bureau of Reclamation information on 2007 funding for the Klamath River Watershed Restoration Program. HERE for grant details. 5/23/07

Reps want government with Clean Water Act want to control ALL waters, forwarded by Family Farm Alliance 5/23/07
Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 Will Trump State Authority, NWRA, 5/23/07.
Rapanos VS U.S. 6/19/06 pdf.  Joe Raeder, the Family Farm Alliance’s DC rep, sent the following earlier this a.m.  "A divided Supreme Court ruled this morning that Clean Water Act protection of "waters of the United States" is limited to "permanent, standing or continuously flowing" water. The ruling limits protection for wetlands separated from "navigable waters" or their tributaries. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy cast the swing vote in the 5-4 ruling in the joint case, Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."
Rapanos v. United States: Background, Blog, and Briefs  Pacific Legal Foundation 5/17/06
 
May 22 marks the 100th anniversary of the first water delivery on the Klamath Project. The federal government awarded the first construction contract in 1905 for the Project and water started flowing two years later.
Humboldt Tour of the Klamath Project, question for Bureau of Reclamation Cecil Leslie:
QUESTION: If you had to do it all over again, knowing what you know now, what would you do?
Lesley: I’d do exactly the same thing...I think that we have done a good job in this basin. Agriculture uses less water then the basin used before. The water that’s being delivered down stream is more then was in the downstream system previous to the Project.

Bureau of Reclamation water data update, posted 5/22/07

(California) Eminent domain plan aired, Legislator seeks to limit governmental powers to seize homes; foes call it window dressing, Sacramento Bee 5/22/07

Letter to Congressman Rick J. Rahall, II, Chairman House Natural Resources Committee regarding HR 1975, Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, by Elaine Willman, National Chair CERA. "It is demeaning and debilitating for urban Congressmen to assume that Western State governments are inadequate or inferior to the task of environmental stewardship on behalf of the American public. Vast areas in 42 counties within 5 rural States should not be subject to this egregious Act that alleges that such lands can only be best controlled and maintained by Indian tribes and federal agencies." 5/14/07

Responsibility by Jim Beers, posted to KBC 5/22/07. Beers is a  retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow. "What about the US Fish and Wildlife Service theft of $60 Million from funds destined for state hunting and fishing programs to fund things like introducing wolves into Yellowstone and opening an endangered species office (to cater to radicals) in California - each of which Congress had refused to fund?"

Have your dogs, kittens, calves, lambs, horses, children been eaten by wolves that the government placed in your backyard? If so go to www.wolfcrossing.org They invite you to submit information regarding your experiences with wolves, and they could use some wolf bloggers from your part of the country. 5/22/07. HERE for our wolf page.

FWS News Release: Fish and Wildlife Service Director Announces $8.9 Million In Grants to Tribes to Help Conserve Fish and Wildlife. Nearly $1.6 million will go to Tribes in the Pacific Northwest, posted 5/22/07

Here for the great global warming swindle, video. posted to KBC 5/22/05.

Salmon 'River Origin' ocean tracking program expands, CB Bulletin, posted to KBC 5/21/07. (KBC NOTE: Coastal commercial fishing was mostly shut down last year so fishermen would not catch Klamath River fish. The DNA tests found that only 5% of the West Coast catch was Klamath River fish.)

Northwest grid feels the heat, Oregonian, posted to KBC 5/21/07. "Power traders at Portland General Electric's downtown headquarters punched their speed dials, calling other utility companies in search of electricity. Nothing. All they heard at the other end was the same anxious plea: We don't have any to spare; do you?...The wind turbines that have sprouted across the West were little help. The high-pressure system making the region a sauna brought wind to a halt." (KBC Note: According to Klamath River Tribes, PCFFA, enviros, gov't agencies, now is a good time to take out hydropower dams...?)

Reclamation seeks Klamath River watershed restoration projects, posted to KBC 5/21/07

FWS News Release: Fish and Wildlife Provides Nearly $19.9 Million in the Pacific Region Through Two Grant Programs, posted to KBC 5/20/07. "Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne today awarded more than $75 million in grants through two grant programs; the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund and the Private Stewardship Grants Program." (for easements and land acquisitions)

* From Dan Keppen, Family Farm Alliance Executive Director, on ESA Implementation Hearing, 'Science or Politics?', posted to KBC 5/21/07
* ESA testimony of
Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary of Interior.
* HERE for ESA page.

Local fisherman targets dams in loss of salmon; Hudson joins lawsuit to remove two dams along the Klamath River, The Daily Review, posted to KBC 5/18/07. "One of the best-known problems facing Coho salmon on the Klamath involves the six dams that pinch the river's flow..."
HOWEVER: Two peer-reviewed Fish and Wildlife Service reports state otherwise for salmon decline: Go HERE for 8 reasons and audio/video.,
including biography of fisheries scientist David Vogel.
1. Over fishing
2. Logging
3. The Trinity River Diversion , which is a transbasin diversion from Klamath Basin to  central valley in California
4. Irrigation Diversions in the lower Klamath Basin tributaries, not the mainstem but the tributaries
5. The 1964 Flood
6. The 1976 - 77 drought which was a 50 year/100 year drought, back-to-back
7. Sea Lion predation
8. Brown Trout predation

*Tulelake Migratory Bird Festival FWS May 19

PRESS RELEASE: Oregon House More pain at the pump: House Democrats seek gas tax hike; HB 2653 automatically raises the gas tax every five years, Oregon House, posted 5/18/07.

Today's CFBF Friday Review contains the following bills, 5/18/07:
Williamson Act Subvention funding elimination (ACTION ALERT)
SB 180-Secret Ballot circumvention (ACTION ALERT)
SB 200,201,202-Leafy Greens legislation
AB 1634-California Healthy Pets Act
AB 1100 and SB 63-Mandatory Labeling/Cloned Animals
SB 974-Ports/Environmental Mitigation Fee

Pombo bows out of politics, Tracy Press 5/18/07.

Bureau of Reclamation public meeting, Managing for Excellence, May 30-31

OREGON: More pain at the pump; house democrats seek gas tax hike, HB 2653.  "Oregon already ranks among the top third of states with the highest gas taxes.  During the 2007 session, Democrats have also proposed a 44 percent increase in vehicle registration fees." 5/17/07

ESA hearing and comments due May 18

The fate of Oregon water measurement bill by Senator Whitsett's office, May 17, 2007. "When the bill was "pushed" through the committee originally, the sponsor said there would be no financial impact, in order to get it to a vote. Suddenly when it became apparent the bill would not pass in its amended form, the Democrat leadership and the bill's sponsor kept the bill alive by sending it to Ways and Means.  If it had been voted on as scheduled it would be dead for this session."

Family farms at risk, Dan Keppen comes to Scott Valley to bring message about farms and ranch issues, Pioneer Press, posted 5/17/07

Because We Live Here, The human cost of feel good environmentalism, by Lance Waldren Pioneer Press, May 16, 2007  

Whitsett call for dedicated funding SB798, delivers over 100 new state troopers, no new taxes, 5/16/07

**Comments should be limited to the effects of suction dredge mining on water quality. Comments received by 12 p.m. on June 22, 2007 will be given full consideration. See miners page.for more mining news.

National Cattlemen's Beef Association - Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns (regarding biofueul mandates), along with note from Congressman Walden's office, posted to KBC 5/17/07 "Senate Bill Seeks to Increase RFS for Feedgrain-Based Ethanol: NCBA is working to halt movement of S. 987, the Biofuels for Energy Security and Transportation Act of 2007, until Congress can fully understand the consequences this bill could have on cattle producers." HERE for ethanol and biofuel page.

Economist sees strength for California agriculture, Capital Press, posted 5/17/07

Urgent from Senator Whitsett: Email reps on today's HB2564, well meters, followed by: Officials vote to charge property owners to draw groundwater. May 16, Please contact these legislators TODAY (Wednesday) and ask them to vote against HB 2564.Here is the list of legislators (Oregon House members that may be open to voting against the bill). We need to have people contact them on HB  2564, which should be on the third reading calendar tomorrow (ie: up for the vote): Jeff Barker, Terry Beyer, Debbie Boone, Brian Clem, Jean Cowan, Betty Komp, Tobias Read, Arnie Roblan, Brad Witt, Donna Nelson

Grassroots Group Launches National Campaign Against Congressional Effort to Repeal Energy Law, 5/16/07

Trout Fishermen!!! Judge orders environmental review of state trout program, San Francisco Chronicle, posted to KBC May 16, 2007

The Planned demolition to NE Oregon: visit to NE Oregon, by Jim Beers, 5/15/07. Beers, left, is hearing the stories of Steve Krieger and Dale Potter, Joseph OR. KBC was there. Krieger showed us the land that the state is forcing him to sell with threat of condemnation. Wallowa County water and land are being taken by the feds, State of Oregon & Idaho tribes.

Whitsett Votes for Stricter (Oregon) Driver’s License Requirements, 5/15/07

Going out of business! Really, truly, seriously! The Oregonian, posted to KBC 5/15/07 "If Senate Bill 684 becomes law, stores would be required to buy a state permit to hold a going-out-of-business sale, which would be limited to 90 days."

Never too old to learn - Indians, by Jim Beers, retired FWS, posted to KBC 5/14/07. "Indian land claims and aggressiveness toward off-reservation communities are increasingly coincidental with Federal programs to close down public lands to public uses like hunting and fishing and grazing and logging and recreation and access and the management of renewable natural resources and the elimination of revenues from the public lands..."

Oregon Wild is PacifiCorp’s best Ally in Klamath Dam Fight!, by Karuk Spokesman Craig Tucker regarding Oregon Wild and FERC negotiations, Indy Bay 5/11/07. HERE for KBC questions

Tulelake Basin soil cranks out heat; Horseradish farmers operate certified organic operation, Capital Press 5/11/07

Long Lake water storage considered, H&N 5/11/07
11/3/06 Klamath County Commissioner John Elliott responds to Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's (PCFFA) comments on Long Lake storage.

California Farm Bureau Federation Friday Review 5/11/07. Today's Friday Review contains the following bills: SB 634 - Williamson Act, SRA Fees, AB 1338 - California Coastal Protection Act, AB 564 - Gestation and Farrowing Stalls, AB 493 - Clean Vehicle Incentive Program

Comments by Rudy Hiley to the ESA Hearing Oversight – “Endangered Species Act Implementation:  Science or Politics?”posted 5/11/07. Comments due May 18--see calendar above.

Tulelake Irrigation District well water level report 5/11/07

Tribes take Klamath dams woes to Buffett HQ, followed by On the home front: Secretive settlement talks and a surprise lawsuit, Northcoast Journal, posted 5/11/07. KBC notes, facts & information

Pacific Power would get more land, posted to KBC 5/11/07 "It seems crazy that they think that sedimentation issue would be solved by washing it down the river. It seems like that would just ruin the river down the river," Mallory said. Copco Lake is the largest private property bordered lake ever to face removal.

Project Independence too important to be cut by Legislature, by Sunny Lemming, H&N Viewpoints 5/11/07 "Sen. Doug Whitsett reported that the Democrats in Salem are proposing cutting all funds for Oregon Project Independence...This is a program allowing seniors to remain in their homes and receive care instead of being shipped to a nursing home." More OREGON go HERE

Grazing Rights on Public Land, a college report by University of Nevada student Stephanie Souza, posted to KBC 5/11/07

Judge keeps (Idaho) water flowing, Idaho Statesman, posted to KBC 5/11/07

KBC just returned from Joseph, Oregon, where we presented Klamath Basin issues. We joined retired FWS employee and author Jim Beers, author Elaine Willman 'Going to Pieces; the dismantling of the United States of America, Aubryn Curtiss, Montana State Senator, and Dan Johnson, North Central Idaho Judicial Alliance in defense of members and citizens from expanding Nez Perce Tribal claims. Wallowa farmers and ranchers are trying to endure tribal expansion, conservancies, and government land-grabs including threats of condemnation for some if they don't sell. We will be bringing you more news of their dilemma.

Reps. Young & Sali's Statements from Today's Hearing, "ESA Implementation: Science or Politics", posted 5/10/07.

Chefs lobby D.C. to save wild salmon, LA Times, posted to KBC 5/10/07

ESA Hearing and comments due May 18, 5/9/07 Oregonians for Food an Shelter

EPA proposes soil fumigant risk mitigation options; May 22 public meeting in Richland, WA, from Oregonians for Food and Shelter 5/9/07. Written comments are due by July 2, 2007.

Fields of conflict in the Klamath, LA Times, posted 5/9/07. KWUA rebuttal to environmental myths by Dan Keppen, past director Klamath Water Users,  California Waterfowl Association spokesman Bill Gaines, and Tulelake Refuge manager Ron Cole, delivered in 2004. HERE for KBC refuge page.  HERE for KWUA refuge page.

Senator Whitsett Newsletter, posted May 9, 2007. WELCOME TO OREGON
* "300 Dorchester delegates from all parts of Oregon debated the issue of whether our troops should be withdrawn from the war in Iraq. They voted by an 8 to 1 majority against troop withdrawal. Eight to one against what was essentially this resolution."
*  Domestic Partnerships Signed Into Law
*  Land Use Reform Law Gutted/Measure 37
Water Measurement Bill Passes Out of Committee

In Oregon suit, greens take new poke at public-lands grazing, KGW.com posted to KBC 5/9/07 "Ranchers argue that they're using land that can't produce crops and grazing doesn't cause the damage that environmentalists allege. Public lands are an integral part of many Western livestock operations, with ranchers combining privately held land with tracts they lease from the government.

Buffett says regulators, not PacifiCorp, will decide dams' future, Oregonian, 5/5/07.

Bureau of Reclamation water data update, posted to KBC 5/02/07 

Ground-Water Hydrology of the Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon and California, Prepared in cooperation with the Oregon Water Resources Department, 5/3/07.

Suit says PacifiCorp dams lead to algae, Oregonian, 5/3/07. "...removal would eliminate a source of renewable low-cost power."

Libraries certainly are the "back bone" of a community, by Rosalyn Rhinehart, 5/2/07, Medford, Oregon. "Over 55% of all acres, land, in Oregon is owned by the Federal Government when in 1937 millions upon millions of acres of forest were "reclaimed" and taken off of the Oregon Tax rolls; hence the bank went dry. In compensation, The Supreme Court dedicated sustainable yields of harvesting timber in PERPETUITY to bring money to BOTH the Federal Government and the 18 Oregon Counties involved"

HERE for Dam Page
California Tribes and Fishermen Come to Omaha on Quest to Save Salmon, Indy Bay, Karuk, Yurok, Friends of the River, and Klamath River Keeper (Klamath Forest Alliance) posted 5/2/07, followed by Tribes take protest on road, Triplicate
Klamath River settlement is nearly ready, The Oregonian, posted 5/1/07
Progress in talks on Klamath Dams welcome news, H&N 4/29/07. "The settlement process on the dams is in that vein and participants undoubtedly recognize that everyone will be better off if more lengthy legal challenges along with the costs and ill will can be avoided."  (KBC NOTE: Avoid "legal challenges"? An interesting concept! Last month Riverwatchers and Karuk tribe sued PacifiCorp. PCFFA, Yuroks and Hoopas along with the other environmental groups filed against irrigators in the power rate case, Yurok employee Felice Pace presently has lawsuits against Scott Valley and Klamath irrigators on water quality, PCFFA and Yuroks and other groups sued irrigators saying they did not have a right to water we stored for irrigation in 2001 which, on our deeds, says "water appurtenant to that land" and signed by the President of the United States, ....NOW that tribes and PCFFA and enviros succeeded in winning the power rate case against irrigators to downsize ag, now they say, ok, you get an affordable power rate if the dams come out. Was that a handy bargaining tool? And we can have some dependable water after they sued us so we would not get water? )

Home Contact

 

              Page Updated: Thursday May 07, 2009 09:14 AM  Pacific


             Copyright © klamathbasincrisis.org, 2007, All Rights Reserved