Economics

The tragedy of the 2001 water shut-off devastated our community. The uncertainty of  irrigation water deliveries from our storage that we paid for, even on wet springs like 2003 when we were threatened with a shut off, and also the projected 'downsize' of 1/4 of the Klamath Project with the Bureau of Reclamation's 'water bank', are all devastating our local economy.

Top 10 taxpayers in Klamath County, H&N, posted 7/19/07. In 2006 "(PacifiCorp) paid $1,380,564.49 in taxes for its property in the county."

The Klamath Basin Water Crisis, by Klamath County Assessor Reg LeQuieu April 2002, posted and submitted to KBC 8/4/04.

Rich farmers? by Larry Gabriel, posted to KBC 4/24/06 "The small operations (85% of farms) get only about 20% of commodity payments."

Local economy hit by greens, Pioneer Press 6/24/04. 'Greens want to stop the Biscuit fire salvage timber harvest and used a smaller sale to their advantage stopping it in mid-June.'

Nibble on the Biscuit, 4/7/04 The Oregonian editorial."The Southern Oregon towns that surround the Biscuit are struggling with Oregon's highest jobless rates. They badly need the work, and the wood, that would come from salvage. "  "Meanwhile, insects are chomping away at the dead trees."

Number of students continues to drop Are coho salmon and spotted owl the same?, posted to KBC 3/29/04, Pioneer Press.

Don't forget agriculture in looking at Big Picture, Oregonian 2/17/04, editorial by Katy Coba, Oregon Dept. of Ag,  "By volume, agriculture and food products are Oregon's largest export. By value, they rank second only to electronics at nearly $2 billion a year. A majority of the Port of Portland's total tonnage of exports -- about 60 percent -- is agriculture."

Farmers, ranchers honored this week, H&N 3/25/04. Department of Agriculture: "Farmers and ranchers manage 17.5 million acres of private property in Oregon, contributing substantially to wildlife habitat. As much as 70 percent of wildlife spends part of its life on private agricultural lands." "Agriculture is responsible for more than $8 billion in economic activity when all directly related goods and activities are factored. That equates to roughly 9 percent of Oregon's gross state product."

A Lenders Point of View, Greg Williams, Klamath Branch Manager – Northwest Farm Credit Services AgLife Magazine January 2004 issue. "I can tell you that we are here today due to Federal financial assistance to help mitigate losses from the 2001 water shutoff. Without the assistance many farmers would have ended up in liquidation, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Should that have happened, the social, ecological, and economic consequences would have been catastrophic. Should it happen again, the results will be catastrophic. The value of land, specialized facilities, and other buildings will plunge to dry land values. Most growers "dodged the bullet" with financial assistance. However, agribusinesses and some farmers still sustained large losses, even with the financial assistance. I know because I saw the financial records."

Economic update by Dick Carleton, Merrill rancher 1/27/04, AgLifeNW Magazine, April issue, Klamath Basin Update

 

Speech by Dick Carleton, Merrill farmer, telling how the ESA-gone-bad is impacting his family.  "I am a 3rd generation farmer in the Klamath Project. I earned a Master’s Degree with a major in math and a minor in science. My, 81 year old mother still lives on the farm in Merrill that has been in our family since 1909. She is also solely dependent on that farm for her livelihood. She was hoping my grandson, the 5th generation, would be able to farm that land.    I would now like to take a couple minutes of your time to explain, from a farmer’s viewpoint, what the effect of no water (in 2001) has actually been." Posted to KBC 1/7/04

Dick and Margie Carleton, Merrill 2003