Archive 67 - December 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

OREGON: New year brings new laws, H&N 12/31/07

Public lands photo fee plan goes way too far, H&N, posted to KBC 12/31/07

1905 Tule Lake

12/31/07: House debate of Rep. Blumenauer's Klamath Wildlife Refuge Amendment to fiscal year 2004 Interior Appropriations bill. Congressman Blumenauer wants to eradicate farmers from the Tulelake refuges or dictate what they grow, and the Congressmen in or near the district in question support the farmers. This is from July 17, 2003.

Blumenauer portrays the Klamath Basin as irrigating a desert, when in fact it was a vast lake, around 30' deep above our farms, most of which had no way to reach the Klamath River. The Klamath Project created water diversion INTO the Klamath River from off our farms. Blumenauer, enviros and green media need to visit sometime, as they continue to attempt to eradicate Klamath farmers and create a desert in our productive basin that supports 489 species of wildlife.

Sunday lesson from Jim Foley: What did Jesus say about Satan? 12/30/08

OREGON: Judge halts Oregon's same-sex partnerships; Challenge claimed petition signers' names improperly rejected by state, WorldNetDaily 12/29/07. "The new policy gives homosexual RDP inmates the special privilege of living together but denies it for heterosexual married inmates, just the opposite of what the policy is trying to achieve, and discriminates against heterosexuals based on their sexual orientation..."

12/29/07: Klamath Common Ground Mission: This group was originally begun with farmers and fishermen. Presently it consists of farmers, fishermen and tribes. One of the goals: "Advocate for a Long Lake conservation water storage project. The water to be dedicated to supply cold, clean water for down-stream main stem Klamath flows." (KBC NOTE: for the past several years, farmers have been advocating Long Lake storage to give them certainty in irrigation water. What's this?)
KCGA description 12/29/07
Klamath Fish Disease Funding Meeting 1/15/08
Improving Ecosystem Health to Reduce Disease in Klamath River Salmon, posted to KBC 12/29/07
Nichols K and K True. 2007. FY 2006 Investigational Report: Monitoring incidence and severity of Ceratomyxa shasta and Parvicapsula minibicornis infections in juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Klamath River, 2006. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service California-Nevada Fish Health Center, Anderson, CA.

Drought makes news when it affects cities, Baxter Black, H&N, posted to KBC 12/29/07. "In the spring of 2001 the federal government ruled that most all stored Klamath Lake irrigation water would be diverted to protect the endangered short-nosed sucker downriver. The devastation of the Oregon farming community of 50,000 was virtually ignored. It’s easy to be green when it isn’t personal."

Video of the Tulelake turkey shoot.

State water board drafts policy responding to new legislation for in-stream flows 12/29/2007 The Eureka Reporter

Words of Whitsett: Senator Whitsett regarding Klamath Settlement: "Does not pass the smell test." KFLS, posted to KBC 12/28/07. "We are being told that the binding confidentiality clause in the Klamath Basin Settlement Agreement precludes allowing the agreement to be seen and read by Basin citizens before its adoption by the parties. The parties participating in the settlement are apparently self-selected and represent groups and agencies with certain interests."

Check agreement before signing on, H&N letter to editor, posted 12/28/07

Klamath farmers face continuing water questions, AgAlert, CFBF posted 12/28/07

Many new laws impact farmers on January 1, AgAlert, CFBF posted 12/28/07

Northwest Mining Association (NWMA) Grassroots Power Site

Family Farm Alliance 2008 annual convention, 12/28/07

"I have a choice to keep silent and to allow the extremists to do what they are doing, or I have a choice to stand up and say 'this is wrong and I'm going to try and save my country,' and I have taken the 2nd choice." Benazir Bhutto, who was murdered today trying to give Pakistan hope of freedom. 12/27/07

12/19/07 - Letter to KBC about wolves from UK.
12/21/07 Response to Hannah from Paleontologist Gail Hildreth
12/21/07 - Response from retired EPA scientist Joseph Greene. Also sent by Joseph: Something for Hannah to read!
HERE for wolf page.
11/18/07 - Rerun of response by Jim Foley to letter by Debra
*12/28/07 - Response to Hannah from Laura Schneberger, www.wolfcrossing.org

Counterspin - Dam, straight! Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 12/27/07. "Many in the know say it will have negative consequences for the Klamath Basin."

OREGON - No development yet for the 'property rights' poster girl; new law disturbs face of Measure 37, Oregonian, posted to KBC 12/26/07

Klamath water report, H&N 12/26/07

Not everyone poised to OK ‘settlement’ of water issues, Conflicts likely to remain once proposal is public, H&N, posted to KBC 12/26/07

Gore's cult of global alarmism, Sacramento Bee 12/26/07

Economics..12/26/07

Merry Christmas!

Sunday prayer page by Jim Foley: what Jesus said about being a steward, posted 12/23/07.

Talks bad for Basin, Off-Project group: Water pact will have negative result, H&N 12/22/07. "Members of a stakeholder group representing agriculture say the Klamath River settlement agreement, due to be released any day, will have negative consequences for the Klamath Basin...They fear policies will be fast tracked before the public has a chance to understand the effects." (KBC NOTE: The Upper Basin has already been forced to take more than 100,000 acres of ag land out of production to be controlled by The Nature Conservancy, US Fish and Wildlife, and other government agencies. This has destroyed the cattle industry and multiplied the use of water (wetlands evaporate 2ce the water as occasionally-irrigated ag lands). What more compromising must they do before they cease to exist altogether?? Do the other settlement stakeholders care?)

KBC Editor's note: In a democracy, when water and property rights are involved, the people have a voice. In the Klamath Basin, a group of 26 enviro groups, tribes, 2 farm groups, attorneys, are deciding what their opinion is of what is best for you and me...water, power, hydro dams, land. Will you have a vote? a voice? What will you lose or gain? Why will the agreement be signed by those claiming to represent you when you aren't allowed to know what is in it? 400 pages. Is this the kind of freedom you and your parents and grandparents fought for? This response I received when asking an irrigation district if I will have a vote: "Do you think these farmers would be informed enough to make an educated decision?"  Are we so stupid that those looking after us must dictate our destiny in secret?? Good timing for many secret meetings, during the celebration of the birth of our Christ when most farm families are out of town or taking time with family. Is this the turning point in time when we relinquish, by our silence, our freedom to chose, to vote, to have a voice in our destiny, to live in a democracy? 

OREGON - Counties plan for (timber) funding loss, H&N 12/22/07. (KBC NOTE: yes, Oregon democrats have curtailed timber and much resource use with wildland designations and environmental laws, and now they demand federal compensation for the communities they have decimated.)

Counting Birds, Annual Christmas count finds more than 100 different species, followed by Winter Wings, H&N 12/22/07

Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US, Agence France-Presse, posted to KBC 12/22/07(KBC NOTE: This could happen to you, whether you live within or near a reservation or tribal trust land.) Go HERE to read about Elaine Willman's book 'Going to Pieces, The Dismantling of the United States of America.)

Who pays the price for dam removal? Oregonian 12/20/07, by Pat Reiten, president of Pacific Power.

Congressman Greg Walden's Oregon Newsletter, 12/20/07

Dam removal draws concern, PacifiCorp officials say it is too early to consider that change to the river, H&N 12/19/07. (KBC COMMENT: Karuk spokesman Craig Tucker, formerly activist in Friends of the River, a national group whose focus is dam removal,  presently is in Riverkeeper, a subgroup of Klamath Forest Alliance instrumental in shutting down numerous timber communities --- the spotted owl. Tucker is a key player in Klamath settlement talks of removing 4 hydropower dams on the Klamath River which provide power for 70,000 households annually. The Klamath Project makes possible free, regulated water for hydropower). HERE for dam page.

PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Releases Final Report on Federal Fish Hatcheries in the Columbia Gorge, 11/19/07, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Klamath Basin water report 12/18/07, H&N by the Bureau of Reclamation

Investment options sought for Yurok Tribe settlement funds, Triplicate 12/18/07. For more Indian news go HERE.

 Small Scale Gold Suction Dredging and the Environment, Power Point Presentation by retired EPA scientist Joseph Greene, 12/8/07. COMMENTS DUE by Dec. 18 - PLEASE WRITE!  The same folks targeting Klamath Dams and other resource users are trying to eliminate our mining industry. Joseph Green biography. For CDFG information go HERE

What Jesus said about heaven and the hereafter, by Jim Foley, posted 12/17/07. This is a belated Sunday prayer lesson.

Wheat prices climb to record above $10 per bushel on depleted supply, Capital Press 12/17/07

Waldo Mining District comments on suction dredge mining EIR to Cal Fish and Game, Dec 17, 2007

Oregon Farm Bureau losing members over Measure 49, H&N 12/17/07. HERE for past articles on Measure 49

Family Farm Alliance December Newsletter, 12/17/07

The Basin’s water future, followed by Stakeholders represent a variety of interests. H&N 12/16/07. Basin's water history, H&N 12/16/07

Ninth Circuit gets appeal of Oregon coho ESA-listing case, CBBulletin 12/14/07.

Judge blasts latest federal salmon recovery plan, The Columbian, posted 12/12/07

Timber funds getting attention, Four-year extension is part of energy bill, H&N, posted to KBC 12/12/07.

Rule blocked on logging, burning in national forests, H&N, posted to KBC 12/12/07

Cash Starved Forest Service Spends $600,000 to Buy Tasers, Devices Remain in Boxes Because Rangers Lack Training, Common Dreams News Center, posted to KBC 12/9/07. "Amnesty International released a study estimating that 290 civilians have died from police use of Tasers since 2001."

Yuroks to reap $15,500 each from settlement; The windfall stems from the tribe's share of money from logging 50 years ago, plus interest, Sacramento Bee 12/8/07. "The money was to be divided equally, but only if each tribe agreed not to sue the federal government...The Hoopa tribe signed a waiver in 1991 and collected $34 million. But the Yuroks filed a lawsuit..."