I am writing this just after
returning from a week-long trip to Washington, D.C. (Not paid for by local taxpayers, by
the way.) I had not been to D.C. since my youth, so it was an exciting experience to see
all the impressive monuments and government buildings. I was invited to attend by a
delegation of county, city and regional water agency representatives to talk about the
Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF.)
The Fund was first created by Congress in 2000. Typically, it has
been funded at $90 million a year, with about $13 million going to California and the
remainder to the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. These funds are then
granted as a “match” with other funds to support restoration projects in California
for threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. The Klamath system has received
slightly more than $2 million of PCSRF grants. Of that $342,000 has gone to Siskiyou (Scott
Valley) RCD projects and $545,000 to Shasta RCD projects. This is a good program for
Siskiyou for delivery of projects on the ground.
Last year, the total allocation was cut to about $67.5 million, with
only $6.5 million going to California. This year, the President’s budget has the
program funded at the same level as last year. We were there as a group to try and “talk
up” a return to the $90 million funding level, with at least $13 million to California.
This was a tough sell, in a tight budget year. Coalition members represented Siskiyou, Sonoma,
Mendocino, Monterey and Santa Barbara. Several were on the state ranking committee for
projects.
Basically, we went from one huge squat office building to another,
all.located on Capitol Hill. Sometimes we walked through connecting tunnels, sometimes we
took cabs several blocks away. The entrance ways were enormous with marble floors, walls
and columns. Many had large statues and impressive architectural detail. The Congressional
Offices had heavy wooden doors with national and state flags standing sentry outside the
doors. Typically, groups stand outside in the hall, often speaking with staffers. None of
the buildings are high rises as nothing can sit higher than the statue on the very top of
the Capitol dome. The only modern one was the Hart building where our Senators are
located. This had a tall modern metal sculpture of mountains and clouds rising out of its
center courtyard.
I did get to walk past the Capitol several times and gaze past
statues of men on horseback down the mall to the Washington Monument. I took one taxi ride
where I could see past the Washington Monument to the reflecting pool and the Lincoln Monument
in the distance rushing by. I also got a chance to drive past the Smithsonian and
wonderful museums, but never had the time to actually go in. Someday I hope to go back and
actually get a chance to see it all.
One of our delegation had lobbyists
in D.C., who had arranged all
the visits. First stop was Congressman Mike Thompson from the coast. He represented many
on the delegation. In addition to the PCSRF, we spoke about the crash of fall Chinook in
the Klamath system and the sun-setting of the Klamath Act that funds the Klamath River
Fisheries Restoration Task Force – a federal advisory committee I sit on. Next, we
visited the Governor’s offices in D.C., where we discussed the need to get the
California Delegation “in one boat” behind PCSRF and getting California a fair
share. We visited with Jim Lecky, Director of the Office of Protected Resources, NOAA
Fisheries. Jim worked with Siskiyou County years ago with the hearings over the proposed
300 foot coho critical habitat. He remembered me and we talked a lot about problems on the
Klamath system.
The highlight of my trip was the visit to Wally Herger’s office.
He was warm and friendly and listened attentively to all the speakers. However, we all
knew that the Administration had cut the program down and that this would be a difficult
year. I was surprised and pleased when, later, Herger’s staff tracked me down on the
visiting schedule and invited me back. His office was very gracious. We worked together on
RCD project funding needs and how we could work more emphasis on funding those into the
Klamath Act, should it be extended or reauthorized. It was a very productive meeting. I
will be working with both Mr. Herger’s staff and Mr. Thompson’s staff to see if
we can “fix” some of the issues.
We also visited with staffers at Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer’s
offices. It was interesting to listen to some of the wheeling and dealing that goes on
behind the scenes in order to get greater support for a bill, leverage for specific
funding or how coalitions are built between parties and the House and Senate.
I hope that I will be invited back in the future and get the
opportunity to develop deeper relationships with our representatives and their staffs to
help the people in Siskiyou County. |
