Recently, several press releases have been in the news
concerning the “Settlement Group” set up to find a mutually acceptable
alternative for the Federal Energy Regulatory Process concerning conditions for the
re-licensing of the Klamath River Dams. http://www.pacificorp.com/File/File17752.pdf One
joint release from the Yurok tribe and Klamath Water Users states that its purpose is to
develop “a proposal to restore the Klamath
River fisheries, meet agricultural needs,
protect water quality and sustain the ecology and economies of the Klamath Basin.”
This is a very broad claim. It should be made clear that this pertains ONLY to the intent
of finding acceptable conditions for the re-licensing of Klamath River dams. It is not intended to be a forum to solve the
problems of the Klamath system and totally ignores most of the non-tribal mid-Klamath
interests.
The release further claims
that the Settlement Group is “A diverse group of Klamath River basin stakeholders, including Indian tribes, farmers, and
conservation groups, and state and federal agencies.” Let’s make it perfectly
clear that there is not one representative of the landowner group around the lakes that
are most directly affected by discussions of the dams. There are also no timber, mining or
mid-Klamath agricultural representatives on the group. The talks do not even touch on
mid-Klamath interests, economies, issues or needs. They have had no direct voice in this
group as their operations are not largely affected by the dams. This is not their forum.
A hearing on the
Klamath called "Crisis of Confidence: The Political Influence of the Bush
Administration on Agency Science and Decision-Making." has been scheduled for the
House Committee on Natural Resources July 31 in Washington D.C.
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/ News reports indicate that it is to investigate
Vice-President Cheney’s role in: (1) influencing agency decisions on water management
following the Bucket Brigade closures on Klamath Project irrigation operations; and (2)
the fish die off that occurred in the lower Klamath during the following year. It is not
unexpected that dam removal and other agendas may be raised.
Let us hope that Congress does not follow this rabbit trail down a
polarizing partisan black hole or craft legislation to “cure the Klamath” that
ignores mid-Klamath issues and needs. The fish spawn here. The fish rear here. Regulations
to protect fish have heavily impacted Scott and Shasta agriculture, forestry, mining and
the economies of the region. Forest health has declined due to regulations and public
lands surrounding river communities are perennially ablaze.
The problems of the Klamath will never be solved by bringing together
both ends of the river against the middle or by ignoring the mid-Klamath as if it were an
afterthought represented by other stakeholders. Sufficient technical and financial
resources need to be made available to mid-Klamath agriculture to advance its
long-standing work on cooperative habitat restoration. Research
on the impact of disease on Klamath River fish and how to eliminate disease causing
parasites needs to be completed and appropriate actions taken. Suffocating regulations
need to be eased on forest management. A stable and dependable stream of raw product must
flow to feed the local forest product industry and economy. Public investments need to be
made in establishing bioenergy and value added products from small diameter trees
harvested for fuel reduction. The continuous attack on the suction dredge and mining
industry needs to cease and decisions need to be based empirically on real science and not
politically on prejudice.
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