A local solution, Marty Holter H&N 1/31/04.

Lakes, River, Snow, H&N 1/28/04.   HERE for USGS flow gauges.    HERE for the 2003 operation plan. ELSEWHERE IN OREGON: According to USFWS, not even one bird or animal or fish has died or become ill from pesticides however we are under constant attack to retire farmland to help wildlife and fish. . Yet we read where Salem dumps sewage in river--millions of gallons. H&N 1/30/04. PRESS RELEASE: DOI; Secretary Norton Announces that President George W. Bush Intends to Nominate Sue Ellen Wooldridge as Solicitor, 1/30/04 Water Battle Pitting Farmers Against Feds Heads to U.S. Supreme Court, posted to KBC 1/31/04, Pacific Legal Foundation. For new ESA lawsuit and litigation page go HERE. PLF Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Reaffirm Landmark Wetlands Decision–Urges Action in Three Cases That Could Dramatically Change National Policy, Pacific Legal Foundation 1/26/04. PRESS RELEASE: Congressman Doolittle secures funds for local projects, 01/30/04.

Siskiyou ranchers prepare for auction, 1/31/04 Siskiyou Daily News."Klamath Falls, Ore. will be a busy place next weekend, as cattlemen and ranchers from Northern California and Southern Oregon make their way to the 44th annual bull and horse sale at the Klamath County Fairgrounds"

2 submitted op/ed articles regarding Oregon's economy/spending.
If 30 fails, try consolidating districts, H&N posted to KBC 1/30/04
People are not getting right set of choices, H&N posted to KBC 1/30/04

Weekly KWUA Update for 1/29/04
* President Bush Proposes $100 Million for 2005 in Klamath Basin
* President Bush's Klamath Working Group: Recently Completed Conservation Projects
* Senator Smith Introduces Endangered Species Act Peer Review Legislation
* Schwarzenegger Fills Key California Resources Positions
* Klamath County Commission Requests Drought Declaration for 2004

Public comment sought on Lost River Sub-Basin, 1/29/04 H&N.

Bush budget welcomed in Basin H&N 1/28/04.  "Dan Keppen, executive director of Klamath Water Users Association, said the water users are leery of the expansion of the water bank, in which the government pays irrigators not to use water, and funds set aside for land allocation;.'I just don't think there is very much support in the project for a long-term water bank,' he said. 'People just want to farm.' "

COB neighbors opposed, 1/29/04 Article by Lyn Brock.
KBC (jdk) COB comments: Parts that we have concern with are; this is one of the largest power plants in the world on one of the largest faults, about 99% of the neighbors oppose it, COB is a multimillion dollar, tax-exempt company, the roads and services like the fire department are not equipped to handle this magnitude of traffic or disaster, in the EPS report it states that forage animals may not eat the crops grown on the waste-water run-off fields, the aquifers are probably connected, and many local farmers have waited for years and are still waiting to be given permanent well pumping rights, yet COB has been given priority to the local peasants. See COB page for past articles and reports.

Lyn Brock testimony KBC photo

Lyn Brock's testimony to the Department of Energy regarding the COB plant in Bonanza,  posted to KBC 1/29/04.

Indian Sovereignty in Oregon, posted 1/28/04, pdf file, Association of Oregon Counties.

Letter to KBC from George Sexton of the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center 1/29/04 in response to KBC's comments. I am relocating the forest article from 1/27 so you will know about what he is commenting:
Some like forest plan, some don't, Medford Mail Tribune, 1/27/04. Derek Volkart, the Klamath-Siskiyou wildlands project said, "I'm hearing a lot about using herbicides and pretending wildfires destroy forests. I am disappointed." Derek, how many sacred owls and bambi's and old-growth trees did you find after the Biscuit Fire?  (KBC jdk)
 For info.about the 'endangered?' owl, read Range article by Tim Findley. pdf file, page 2 article 'Refuge'--KBC

Commissioners seek drought declaration H&N 1/28/04

PRESS RELEASE: President’s FY 2005 Budget Calls for Unprecedented Help for Klamath Basin,  USDA 1/27/04

Related articles: AP and Oregonian, 1/28/04

We at KBC withdrew the submitted charts showing 2003 river flows and comparisons because we were informed by the Klamath Bureau of Reclamation office that they were in error. Thank you Dave Sabo for bringing this to our attention, and our apologies for any inconvenience this has caused. KBC (jdk).

HERE for USGS flow gauges.   HERE for the 2003 operation plan.

PRESS RELEASE, DOI: President Calls for $21 Million to Help Western Communities Avoid Water Supply Crises;  Secretary Norton Unveils Water 2025 Budget Proposal, 1/27/04.  "Norton:"Recent crises in the Klamath and Middle Rio Grande River Basins--where American Indians, farmers, urban residents and fish and wildlife have been affected by water shortages-vividly demonstrate the consequences of failing to strategically address the problem of competing demands for a finite water supply."

Disproved opinions driving assaults on Basin irrigation, H&N  by Dr. Doug Whitsett. We are re-running this recent article. It seems appropriate today, 1/28.

Bush seeks more bucks for Basin, 1/27/04, H&N.

PRESS RELEASE: Walden Applauds President's Budget Request for Klamath Basin Investments, 1/27/04

Smith seeks species act changes, 1/27/04 H&N. Walden said in a press release, "As we saw in the Klamath Basin, a scientifically unjustified decision not only brought widespread economic harm to an entire community, but also had the potential to harm the fish species on whose behalf the water-shut off was made." Smith press release.  Walden press release. Steve Pedery of Water Watch said: "...peer review would take too long in most situations"

Economic update by Dick Carleton, Merrill rancher 1/27/04.

Feds won't fight judge's ruling on suckers  H&N, posted to KBC 1/26/04.  "...the decision means the service will have to re-examine whether the suckers should be protected, or else come up with solid reasons why it rejected a petition to have the suckers taken off the endangered list."  Thank you James Buchal for your perseverance!! But with no endangered fish, how would the government control us and our water? KBC (jdk)

 "He (Marzulla) is pressing similar claims on behalf of irrigation districts in the Klamath Basin in Oregon and Northern California, where the federal Bureau of Reclamation shut down water deliveries three years ago to maintain lake levels for two endangered species of sucker fish."

Coho Recovery, CA Dept. of Fish and Game response to comments, submitted by Barb Hall, Klamath Bucket Brigade. Go HERE

1/26/04 -  NOAA Fisheries has released for public review its "Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (FPEIS) for Pacific Salmon Fisheries Management off the Coasts of Southeast Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and in the Columbia River Basin."  Comments must be submitted in writing by Feb. 17, 2004. Go HERE for more info.

Story sound familiar? H&N 1/26/04

Great Commentary, H&N viewpoints 1/26/04. "Could NOAA's initials stand for "No American Agriculture?"

Today at Malin's Way Station over 200 people gathered for a speghetti benefit dinner for Tulelake's Mary Macken. She is suffering from a rare form of cancer but lacks insurance and does not qualify for public assistance.      Donations to Macken fund can be made to Sterling Savings Bank, PO Box 428, Merrill, OR 97633, or at any Sterling bank branch.  More info: Kay Neumeyer (541) 723-2021.  (Last year Mackens had an auction to save the farm, another victim of the ESA and BIA/DOI financed false science.) 1/25/04

photo by JoAnn Tourette

River residents, 'No Low Flow" 1/23/04 Democrat Press; "Sonoma County Water Agency officials made their case at a Guerneville workshop Thursday for dramatically reducing summertime flows on the Russian River to protect three species of imperiled fish." This article is perplexing to the Klamath Basin farmer......

Coho plan examined at Fort Jones Meeting on January 27th, siskiyoudailynews 1/25/04

Views differ on power plant, 1/23/04 H&N.

Fish problems other places:
Final EIS for Pacific salmon fisheries management released, 1/23/04 cbbulletin. com.
Hoopa Tribe blasts Westlands Trinity plan, The Times-Standard, 1/22/04

Weekly KWUA update for 1/23/04:
* TID Wins Prestigious Water Award at Reno Conference
* Klamath Project a Hot Topic at Mid-Pacific Region Water Users Conference
* Tribe-KBRT-Irrigator Meetings Continue: Focus on Water Balance

N0 to Tribe's land acquisition and Root group, KBC (jdk) notes from video at Fort Klamath, Basin Alliance meeting. "As I left the meeting, the line kept running through my head, 'ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.'  1/20/04

Crowd in Fort Klamath of over 100 worried U.S. citizens

Activists file Klamath Marsh Refuge suit, 1/21/04. "Environmental groups filed suit Tuesday seeking more scrutiny of activities such as logging, haying and livestock grazing on the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge."

Reservation foes mobilize, 1/21/04 H&N.

Public hearings on COB plant set, H&N 1/20/04.  Isn't it amazing that the COB folks want to put a tax-exempt, multimillion dollar facility in the midst of our scenic, serene farmland, yet the price of power for basin irrigators is scheduled to be astronomical by the year 2006, where the farmers will not be able to afford to run their water-efficient wheellines to irrigate? Considering that the LOCAL community, which doesn't seem to count, is being forced to sacrifice their property values and environmentally-pure habitats, the COB have not even offered the locals a moderate power rate to compensate for their disruption of rural life and imposition on our resources! KBC (jdk)

PRESS RELEASE: Energy is critical to the State of our Union, 1/20/04, Committee on Resources. 

United States Animal Identification Plan - "Protecting American Animal Agriculture" posted to KBC 1/21/04 submitten by Julie Smithson. Do you want every bunny and pig and puppy registered with your government? Respond by 1/31/04. 

Valley farmers win in court over water loss, posted to KBC 1/21/04, Sacbee. "it's the federal government that got the water, that got the use of the water," said Roger Marzulla, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who represented the farmers"

The State of the Union Address
President George W. Bush
January 20, 2004

Mr President, I would like to respond, 1/20/04 by KBC. "Mr President, we still raise our flags.  We still pray.  We still have hope.  Actually, I think most of us believe that if you really knew what was happening here in the Klamath  Basin, the land grabs and agricultural downsize regarding our water, we believe that you would not allow this to happen.  We do want to believe in you, but your agencies and bureaucrats are making it very very difficult."

Water group taking baby steps toward solution, H&N 1/20/04. Jim Root, KBRT, Dan Keppen, KWUA and Becky Hyde, Upper Basin, give their take on land/water talks.

Steve Kandra, H&N 1/20/04, Hypocrisy takes over.

Ford, sugar daddy of the greens, 1/19/04 frontpagemag.com. This article itemizes some of Ford Foundation's donations and also donations going to many environmental groups.

Disproved opinions driving assaults on Basin irrigation, H&N 1/19/04 by Dr. Doug Whitsett. "U.S. District Judge Sandra Armstrong has ruled that the National Academy of Sciences reports discrediting the Hardy reports now represent the best available science on Klamath River minimum flows. Only when these discredited biological opinions are discarded and replaced by verifiable science-based opinions can we hope to stabilize our agriculture-based economy."

ESA DEMANDING MILLIONS, OR POWER PLANT SHUTDOWN. PacifiCorp to close plants on Link River, H&N posted to KBC 1/19/04. "In September, the Oregon Natural Resources Council filed a 60-day notice that it would sue the utility company if it didn't put fish screens on the diversions or shut down the facilities."
"Freeman said each powerhouse diversion pulls in about as much water as the A Canal, thus the cost of screening each would be about the same, for a total of $30 million."

Bureau looks wider for water bank accounts, H&N posted to KBC 1/19/04

Feds buying more water for Klamath salmon, AP 1/17/04. If the NAS report had said that the stored Klamath irrigation had caused fish to die, then there would have been reconsultation in an instant to try to shut down Klamath irrigation. However the NAS report said that the Klamath Project water shutoff in 2001 was unjustified, and artificially-elevated lake levels and flows do not help fish. So what is the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) doing? Reconsultation? No way. They are taking 75,000 acre feet of our aquifer and our stored Project water to send down to the ocean, exceeding historic, before-project flows.  Do we have a choice? Yes, the BOR said our choice is to have the Klamath Project shut down. Locals call it 'blackmail'. Glen Spain of PCFFA thinks buying farmland, dewatering our land which was a 20 - 40 foot deep lake with over 430 species of wildlife, is a solution. KBC (jdk)

Environmentalists win timber battle (on Rogue) theworldlink.com,  posted to KBC 1/18/04

Sunday January 18, 2004. A letter from Ben and Erika DuVal. Ben, a young, third-generation Tulelake rancher, was recently married, and soon after in December he was in an auto accident in which he lost his leg and his back was broken. For the true meaning of 'faith', 'community' and 'thankfulness', read their letter on the PRAYER PAGE.  KBC (jdk)

The nation's forest chief warns of three threats to our forests, The Idaho Statesman 1/17/04. "The timber harvest on national forest lands has dropped from about 11.5 billion board feet in 1989 to about 2 billion board feet today, enough to built 133,000 homes. The agency has eliminated 10,000 miles of road since 2001 and built only 900 miles of new roads."

IRS to audit The Nature Conservancy from inside, Washington Post 1/17/04. The Nature Conservancy is one of the largest land owners in the Upper Klamath (UK) Basin, and are at the table with the tribes, KBRT, the DOI and the irrigators. HERE for UK land acquisitions and evaporation rates.

PRESS RELEASE: Reclamation announces its 2004 Klamath Basin Pilot water bank program. 1/16/04 "The Bureau of Reclamation is soliciting bids for the 2004 Pilot Water Bank. The Water Bank’s purpose is to comply with the 2002 NOAA Fisheries Biological Opinion on Klamath Project Operations. In 2004, the Biological Opinion calls for a water bank of 75,000 acre-feet."

     As you are reading the following articles, keep in mind the 2 photos above. Keep in mind that the NAS report said that the elevated lake levels and river flows do not help fish, and that the 2001 water shut-off was not justified. As you read the Bureau of Reclamation's water bank, putting our community into a bidding war to sell our aquifer and dry up our fields, and KBRT's solution of destroying our cattle industry and drying up more pasture, look again at these historic photos. And again. The truth does not change. KBC (jdk)
     www.usbr.gov/mp/kbao That is the Bureau of Reclamation's plan to reduce our use of our stored irrigation water by 75,000 acre feet regardless of water year type, and regardless of the science by the NAS committee. Rather than offer a set price for our water, we have the privilege of partaking in a bidding war, seeing who will give them the lowest price for our lifeblood. KBC (jdk).

Weekly KWUA Update for 1/16/04
* Reclamation and Irrigators Prepare for 2004 Irrigation Season
* Claims Court Determines 5th Amendment Compensation Due to ESA
* Reclamation Announces 2004 Klamath Basin Pilot Water Bank Program
* KWUA and California Water Reps to Speak to Yale School of Forestry

Klamath County Cattleman's Association letter to the Klamath  County Commissioners regarding the KBRT water acquisition "The executive Committee of the Klamath County Cattlemen’s Association is opposed to the deliberate actions of the KBRT that threaten to dissolve our industry."

A search for solutions, H&N 1/16/04. About the members of Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust:
"Thomas' cabin near Klamath Agency looks out on the pasture land where a couple of thousand head of cattle spend the summer."
"'If there is an opportunity, we go for it," Root says.'
"'They basically want to dry up the Wood River Valley,' Bartell says. He says the two are water marketers who want to buy farmers and ranchers out of their water."
 For more about Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust (KBRT), go to KBRT column on TALKS PAGE.
In another Herald and News article not yet online, "Root said this year the program could encompass 20,000 - 30,000 acres and cattle herds will be reduced by about 70 percent."

A new source of pollution, H&N 1/16/04 regarding the COB energy plant near Bonanza.

Last chance hearing for COB plant, by Gail Hildreth H&N, posted to KBC 1/16/04.

A Lenders Point of View  Greg Williams, Klamath Branch Manager – Northwest Farm Credit Services AgLife NW Magazine January 2004 issue. Here link to AgLifeNW Magazine. 

Friday morning special, 1/16/04. Lyle Ahrens interviews KBC on KFLS-AM radio 1450 at 7:20 and 8:20 A.M.  For you distant friends, go to www.klamathradio.com for streaming audio

Expert doubts Biscuit timber will be logged, The Oregonian 1/15/04. "The Forest Service's draft plan proposes logging 518 million board feet, one of the largest federal cuts ever. It would come off 29,000 acres, about 6 percent of the area within the fire boundaries. Conservationists argue Sessions and the Bush administration have prodded the Forest Service to log too much. Cutting and replanting will create artificial landscapes ill-suited for wildlife and more flammable than a diverse natural forest, they say." KBC (jdk) has one question: Why do you suppose Oregon has the highest unemployment rate in the United States?

PRESS RELEASE: Secretary Norton Appoints Jason Peltier Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, 1/14/04.

Interior Secretary, new approach to land management, AgWeb posted to KBC 1/14/04. (We irrigators do not really like the approach of using flawed science of  Dr Hardy, hired by the BIA and DOI, contracted by the DOJ, to create biological opinions to favor the tribes in the guise of ESA, to force a water bank which takes this year 75,000 acre feet of our stored irrigation water or aquifer, regardless of water year types, to send to the ocean.  It is 'voluntary' like last year, if we do not give up our water,  the Klamath Project is will be shut down.  The National Academy of Science said that high lake levels and river flows do not help the fish. There is no reconsultation before us. No, we do not like this mandatory voluntary 'water bank' downsize of irrigated agriculture, or taking our water. AND there is no fish count to tell how many there were, are, or should be. KBC/jdk)

Whose water is it?, Ag Web, posted to KBC 1/14/04. "The battle between fish and farmer continues. “That year, farmers knew before they planted a crop there would be no water,” says Dan Keppen, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA). “In 2003, water was promised, so they planted accordingly. In mid-June, they were notified water would be turned off for a week at the end of the month.”

Going once going twice sold, 1/14/04, H&N.

Congressmen request hearing on forest safety, 1/13/04, H&N. Go to LOGGERS AND OUR FORESTS page to read about bills by our common-sense congressmen, and ecoterrorist groups trying to devastate our forests and communities.

Town hall turns to tribes, posted to KBC 1/12/04 H&N.

Lake missed minimum level, H&N 1/12/04. 

Don't be too quick to write off Long Lake's value, H&N 1/12/04

New Floor for A Canal tunnel, H&N 1/12/04.

PRESS RELEASE: Walden to Serve as Keynote Speaker at Lake County Chamber's 58^th Annual Banquet, 1/12/04.

Feds offer $7.1 Million for private conservation, 1/12/04

SUNDAY, JANUARY 11 2004.  Thank you Barb for sending the Tribute to the Armed Forces. What a great way to begin this week, Sunday January 11, 2004! Without our military there would be no freedom. Yet without us on the home front praying for them and also protecting those freedoms, there will be no freedom.  We must not let them down. It just seems so confusing that the same government that fights for freedom in foreign countries is trying to take away irrigation rights from the veterans who settled this basin and saved Our Country. There are dozens of government agencies who visit KBC...if you can explain this contradiction to us in the Klamath Basin, email us at kbc@klamathbasincrisis.org  . We feel you are betraying the same freedoms that our fathers and now our children are fighting for. The veterans here are praying to be protected from this injustice by our own government. KBC (jdk)

PLEASE PRAY for Bill Ransom, Chairman of the Klamath Bucket Brigade board of trustees, and his wife Kris. See PRAYER PAGE

Despite snow showers, lake level is low, H&N 1/9/04. Did you know that, although we have 1'- 2' of snow in the basin, and there is talk of flooding, the basin is demanded to 'water bank" 75,000 AF (acre feet) of their stored irrigation water? Mandatory. In spite of the water year type, this is the U.S. government's way of downsizing the Klamath Project, whether by pumping out our aquifer, or demanding land idling like last year when we had a wet spring. (KBC-jdk)
DEED

People's energy hopes to put the COB plant near Bonanza at the dismay of many local residents. The following article magnifies their horror at the proposition: "CUB Seeks $110 Million Refund For Peoples Gas Customers, Says Company Overcharged Consumers During Record Price Spike." posted to KBC 1/9/04
COB energy Facility Draft Proposed Order, from the Oregon Dept. of Energy posted to KBC 1/9/03 Also is a note by Lyn Brock, Bonanza regarding the Order.

Venancio Hernandez family, 2001

KBC is reconnecting a few thousand lost links on our website. You will be seeing many reruns from our archives; they still pertain to Klamath Irrigators today. This process will take some weeks, but a vast amount of info within KBC will revive. Check out ARCHIVE I. It is now hopefully relinked for spring 2001. PERSONAL STORIES is a must read....it will bring tears to every one of us who lived it and are still suffering from it.

Weekly KWUA Update for 1/9/04
* Circuit Court Vacates Earlier Decision in Silvery Minnow Case
* Upper Klamath Basin Science Workshop to be Held In K Falls
* NRC Final Report Assesses Scientific Support for ESA-Related Actions
* Fifth Annual Klamath Watershed Conference Set for February 24-26.

Of Cattle and Trout, "We have been blessed by and large with happy lives," says Gerda Hyde. H&N by Larry Turner 1/8/04.

Return to Eden, The man behind the Wildlands Project defends his plans, by Tim Findley, Range Magazine fall 2003 edition. posted to KBC 12/06/04.  This is happening in Modoc, Siskiyou, and Klamath Counties.  We are on their map. This effects more than our irrigation water...this means 'byebye' humans, and it is not just somewhere else. KBC

Set up for another train wreck? Tri-County Courier posted to KBC 1/3/03.  "Earl Danosky, head of the Tulelake Irrigation Dist4rict, put it bluntly, 'Right now, they are managing (the Project) for a train wreck. Klamath Basin irrigators have been asking the Bureau and the NMFS to reconsult in the biological opinion for nearly three months, yet have been denied.'  "

Initial state review of Cob plant delayed, H&N, posted to KBC 1/3/04. For more on COB plant go HERE.

Update on Ben DuVal, local rancher who was in an automobile accident, 1/3/04, by Mary Cheyne, his mother-in-law.

Local ranchers dismayed by report of mad cow disease discovery on Washington farm, H&N posted to KBC 1/3/04.

Klamath Lake Levels as of 12/24/03, H&N posted to KBC 1/3/04

Winter rips into Oregon, H&N 1/2/04

Why even talk about it, H&N posted to KBC 1/3/04

KWUA year-end review REVISED and written by Dan Keppen, KWUA Executive Director. 1/2/04.  The previous 2003 review released yesterday was a draft released by Keppen in error.