Justice Flows Into a Parched California (Owens) Valley Los Angeles Begins to Return Water, Which It Diverted Nearly a Century Ago, Washington Post 12/20/06 (KBC Note: Envision Sister City Klamath Falls 3006.) Environmental Mike Prather stands in the Owens River, which contains water for the first time since 1913, when Los Angeles diverted the water into its aqueduct to serve its growing population. (By John Pomfret -- The Washington Post)

Unite To Fight! by Timothy Ravndal, President Montana Multiple Use Assoc 12/20/06 "We all need to look at each and every branch of local government to begin the process of returning our resource management and our rights back to the people."

Tribes sold land, H&N, posted 12/19/06

Commissioner recovers after heart attack Klamath County Commissioner Bill Brown is convalescing at home after suffering a heart attack Friday. Herald and News 12/19/06

Klamath River water flows, compiled by Lewie Baker 12/19/06. HERE for past lake levels and river flows.

PRESS RELEASE, Walden Names New Press Secretary for Washington, D.C. Office, Former House Resources Committee spokesman to assume media duties, 12/18/06

A 'quick reference guide' to new elements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that may impact domestic fisheries management, posted to KB C 12/18/06 

2/18/06 USGS Flow graphs on Klamath River. HERE for collection of graphs

Dam removal will devastate economy, SeattlePi, posted to KBC 12/18/06 "It claims removal could restore fish runs, save billions of dollars and that the clean, renewable power generated by the dams could be replaced by conservation and wind power." (KBC note: Substitute 'Snake River Dams' with 'Klamath River Dams.)

It's official: global warming is guff, Scotsman News, posted 12/18/06. "Cow flatulence has attracted the attention of ministers after emerging as an environmental menace to rival factory chimneys, Chelsea tractors and cheap air travel."

A look at the future...A Sustainable World by Henry Lamb, posted to KBC 12/18/06

90-day finding on a petition to list the tricolored blackbird as threatened or endangered, posted 12/18/06

Fishy definitions, compiled by Julie Smithson, 11/15/06. For anyone hoping to make sense of scientific reports or fishery data, this information is essential. Smithson defines terms like 'Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, Habitat Effectiveness Index (HEI), etc to help us understand technical reports. Thank you Julie.

In blue are the domains of KBC visitors so far this December, go HERE. For statistics go HERE.

Rivers Reborn; Removing dams and restoring rivers in California, Friends of the River. This agenda, spelled out in 1999, is now coming to fruition. Craig Tucker, spokesman for Friends of the River, currently is negotiator for the Karuk Tribe on FERC dam removal negotiations. They are negotiating with irrigators regarding power rates and Project agriculture, with PCFFA, and others, and made a film Solving the Klamath Crisis  supporting farming and dam removal. Friends of the River is part of the Klamath Coalition with:
American Rivers
Defenders of Wildlife
Earthjustice
Headwaters
Institute for Fisheries Resources
Klamath Basin Audubon Society
Klamath Forest Alliance
Northcoast Environmental Center
Oregon Natural Resources Council/ONRC
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations/PCFFA
Sierra Club-Oregon Chapter
Trout Unlimited
The Wilderness Society
Waterwatch of Oregon
World Wildlife Fund
The Klamath Coalition
Klamath Coalition contends that: the Klamath Project is bad and collapsed the ecosystem, Endangered Species are not a problem, denies that wetlands/standing water evaporate more water than irrigated agriculture uses, denies California Waterfowl Association's science that cropland provides 50% of the feed in the Klamath Basin Pacific Flyway to waterfowl. Their solutions: government land acquisition through willing seller and conservancies (over 100,000 acres of upper basin land have been taken by these means), flood ag land which would evaporate twice the water used by wetlands, introduce more endangered species, end leaseland farming, decommission forest roads. They claim Project irrigation caused the 2002 fish die-off in the Klamath River and more flows should go down the river.

Battle for the Klamath, 12/15/06 Friends of the River. 

New ocean index tool forecasts northwest salmon return, December 15, 2006, Columbia Basin Bulletin, Fish and Wildlife News. "NOAA Fisheries scientists said this week that ocean conditions this year are about average for juvenile salmon entering the Pacific Ocean and vastly improved over the poor conditions observed in 2005, which should be good for adult salmon returns to Pacific Northwest rivers over the next two years."

GAO Report on USDA Conservation Programs, Stakeholder Views on Participation and Coordination to Benefit Threatened and Endangered Species and Their Habitats By: Government Accountability Office  Dec 14, 2006

COB comment deadline 12/15  Here for COB page.

Oregon Farm Bureau election results posted, Capital Press 12/15/06. "Tracey Liskey was elected to a second term as first vice president of the Oregon Farm Bureau during elections at the House of Delegates annual meeting on Dec....'he's always pushed Oregon Farm Bureau ideas. I've actually seen him argue Oregon Farm Bureau policy when I know on his own farm if it went through and he would win that argument, it would cause him troubles on his own farm. That's how dedicated he is in that respect.'"

Farm Bureau supports FairTax, with provisions, Stipulations include income-tax reduction; exemptions for food, farm equipment, feed, Capital Press 12/15/06. "Bob Flowers, president of the Klamath-Lake County Farm Bureaus, said he saw holes in the proposed tax, and he wanted people to take more time to look at it."

New Potatoes, New Markets, H&N 12/14/06

Trinity River hatchery (fish) trapping summary: "Attached is an excel spreadsheet containing trapping information for two mainstem weirs (both out for the season) and Trinity River Hatchery (through Nov. 25).  The hatchery will be conducting spawning activities
into the spring for steelhead.  Chinook and coho salmon runs to the hatchery will continue into early January. Wade Sinnen, Associate Biologist, Trinity River Project, CA Dept. of Fish and Game, posted 12/14/06

Calamity in Klamath, The American Enterprise, October-November 2002 issue. "Paul Christy flew fighter planes in World War II, enlisting within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He earned a Silver Star and a Purple Heart, and is extremely proud to have served his country. But today, when he talks about how he and his neighbors have been treated, tears come to his eyes. "Sixty years ago, I was behind Rommel's lines in North Africa. Today, I'm still fighting, although this time, it's against my own government." (KBC Note: Christy has since died, however he shared his story in the documentary 'Homesteading in a Promised Land') Thank you Rudy for sharing this past article on KBC's discussion forum.

A Tribute to our Flag, by Elvis.

Senate Fails to Pass Eminent Domain Reform, EcoPowerhouse posted 12/14/06

Governor pushes for more water storage, CA Farm Bureau, 12/13/06. Here for storage page

A film made by the Karuks with Klamath Water Users is being shown in a dam removal film, 'Solving the Klamath Crisis' is airing on MCTV in Ashland. For KBC report on the film go HERE. And HERE for dam page. 12/13/06

TURNABOUT: Norm Semanko...Idahoans are united, against breaching dams "These groups openly admit they use legal tactics to get activist federal judges to threaten to take the state's crucial irrigation water for flow augmentation, a threat they can use as leverage to force irrigators to support dam breaching."   

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act Passes Congress, NOAA 12/12/06. HERE for Fisherman Page.

(Klamath) Winter Refuge, H&N, posted to KBC 12/12/06

Poll: Americans hold high regard for farmers, Capital Press 12/8/06

All - from Jason Larrabee, aide for Congressman Doolittle, 2/8/06

A Reasonable Speculation, by Chris Mayer, posted December 7, 2006, "This year's report showed (power) demand growing 3 times as fast as capacity additions."

Response by Klamath Basin irrigator Bill Kennedy, who is a Klamath Water User Association director. He is responding to 'Local consensus: All four Klamath dams should go', by Terry Dillman Of the Newport News-Times, posted to KBC 12/8/06

The preliminary 2006 coho returns for selected areas and facilities, 12/7/06

Klamath Basin's sister city, Owen's Valley 2006: Water, hope flow into valley LA makes amends for 1913 aqueduct, Boston.com  December 6, 2006. "The farmers and ranchers who were ruined by the Los Angeles Aqueduct are long gone, and there is little hope the water will ever turn all of the scrubby, rocky landscape green again."

National Animal Identification Marches On, Liberty Arc 12/6/06 "...USDA's goal of "full participation by 2009" - in other words, the registration of every single person who owns even one head of livestock and the identification of hundreds of millions of animals."

Agents, landowners killing more wolves, Billings Gazette, posted 12/6/06. "So far this year, wolves in the three states have killed 170 cows, 344 sheep, eight dogs, a horse, a mule and two llamas, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The kills - greater for sheep and cattle than any other year - are almost certainly higher than the numbers show because confirming wolf kills can be difficult." (KBC NOTE: wolf introduction is being planned for Oregon). See WOLF Page

Sea lions become targets on Columbia River, OCRegister, posted 12/6/06 "Such is the case with more than 100 California sea lions that reportedly kill about 3,000 spring Chinook salmon and steelhead annually at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River"

* Finalize CIP Dec 6-7, POSTPONED

EPA issues new pesticide rule, Family Farm Alliance 12/5/06  

Power plant risk to water, air, H&N 12/4/06, by Nancy Roeder.(KBC note: Government agencies, tribes and enviros intend to take the 4 green clean hydropower dams out of the Klamath River serving 70,000 customers. Tribes and enviros and the 9th Circuit Court shut down green, clean geothermal Medicine Lake wells, which have already been drilled. However they support building a huge power plant near Bonanza, superseding water rights of farmers and ranchers, causing pollution, using more groundwater, and getting exempt from full taxes. Huh?)
Giving thanks for protectors of sacred places, Indian Country Today, posted to KBC 12/5/06.  ''Our elders and leaders who have fought all their lives to protect Saht Tit Lah [Medicine Lake] and for such victories are looking down on us with great pride. We thank them for giving us direction, wisdom and strength in carrying out the work they left for us continue.''  HERE for Medicine Lake page.

Brucker-Monkey Pot Raid, A ton of pot hauled out of Salmon River, Pioneer Press posted to KBC 12/3/06, (KBC note: Petey Brucker and Felice Pace, both from the East Coast, came to Siskiyou County and formed the Klamath Forest Alliance. KFA was instrumental in shutting down most of the timber harvest (and local economies) in Siskiyou County, keeping people out of the forest. He counts the salmon, the count that was instrumental in shutting down the coastal fishery this summer. He is Program Director of the Salmon River Restoration Council, Sawyers Bar, CA, and instrumental in films and efforts to remove the Klamath River dams. KFA bought www.klamathbasincrisis.COM and .NET, diverting lost KBC viewers to their anti-farm website. It was his daughter Allegra who was arrested for growing 2000# of pot in his neighborhood.)

The people v. FERC; Eureka hearing-goers tell agency to drop the dams, North Coast Journal, posted to KBC 12/3/06. (KBC Note: Somehow we overlooked this article. The man, Dennis Mayo, claiming to represent Klamath Irrigators does not represent the people of the Klamath Basin. The vast majority of residents here do not support dam removal.)

Eminent Domain: Information about Its Uses and Effect on Property Owners and Communities Is Limited. GAO-07-28, Posted to KBC 12/3/06.

SHIBBOLETHS by Jim Beers 12/1/06, "Until we accept the simple and straightforward notion that we can have and indeed do have TOO MANY of this and that species, we and our children will remain hostage to these environmental and animal rights social activists and their radical agendas." HERE for Wolf & Predator Page.

Public hearing set for Thursday regarding displaced fishers grants, Newport News Times, posted to KBC 12/03/06

Salmon money in limbo, TheWorldlink.com, December 2, 2006  

Klamath dams study broke law, agency says; Relicensing - NOAA Fisheries says an energy panel should have looked at removing all 4 dams, posted to KBC 12/3/06, The Oregonian.(Response to article by KBC reader: "NOAA should look at their own data.  It was their graph that showed that the steelhead returns to Irongate fish hatchery increased roughly 2% per year for 24-years.  This changed only when ocean conditions changed in 1985-1987.")

* New plan adds fish ladders, H&N posted 12/3/06
* Removing 4 Klamath River dams may save money, report finds, LA Times, posted 12/3/06
* PRESS RELEASE - Karuk and Yurok Tribes: California study says Warren Buffet can save millions of dollars and restore Klamath Salmon,  posted to KBC 12/03/06. "Yurok Chairman Howard McConnell, 'From our perspective, PacifiCorp’s dams are weapons of genocide. Indians depend on salmon for their physical and spiritual health. Salmon are the cornerstone of our cultural identity...' "
{From the November Klamath Watershed Conference:
* Yurok Troy Fletcher, "The dams are coming out! We're going to do our damnest to get those dams out!"
* Karuk Leif Hillman, " I'm willing to fight! And when these dams come out, I'm still willing to fight I'm fighting for the salmon...we can't allow dam huggers to stand in the way. If tribes and Klamath Water Users and off project irrigators can sit in the dame room days at a time, that tells me there is hope."
* Dave Hillemeier, Yurok Fisheries Manager: "Don't wait on science for implementing solutions."}

Pulling Klamath dams cheaper than leaving them in, Times Standard, posted 12/3/06, "Humboldt County Supervisor Jill Geist, who has been a part of the settlement talks, said the report is crucial to leveraging a settlement. Money that could be used toward decommissioning of the dams was approved as part of a bond measure passed by California voters last month."

Klamath Water Users Association letter to the Senate re: Salmon Commercial Fishery Failure Emergency Funding, 12/1/06 Letter to House Appropriations Committee

 Stakeholders ask for Klamath talk delay, Dams subject of closed-door talks, Capital Press 12/1/06 "Three dams in far Northern California plus the J.C. Boyle Power Plant just north of the stateline in Oregon are subject of the closed-door talks. There's a regulating dam above Boyle and two small powerplants near Klamath Falls that PacifiCorp wants to drop from a renewed license."