A Klamath settlement that isn’t Op-ed from the Oregonian on the draft Klamath settlement proposal. Oregonian January 17, 2008 Don’t break out the champagne just yet to celebrate the sweeping settlement announced Tuesday for restoring Klamath River salmon runs. It’s not really a settlement. It’s more like a real estate agent declaring he’s got a great deal on a …
Klamath water deal reached
Klamath water deal reached LA Times article re: Tribes, farmers and others draw up a plan to remove dams and revive dwindling salmon populations. By Eric Bailey LA Times January 16, 2008 SACRAMENTO — After more than three years of negotiations, a collection of long-quarreling Klamath Basin farmers, fishermen and tribes announced a breakthrough agreement Tuesday that they said could …
Dam removal key to Klamath pact success
Dam removal key to Klamath pact success Article on the draft Klamath settlement proposal. By Mateusz Perkowski Capital Press January 16, 2008 A long-awaited agreement among farmers, fishermen, Indian tribes, conservationists and the federal government to manage water in the Klamath Basin and remove four hydroelectric dams received mixed reviews from the people it would affect. The plan, announced …
Deal afoot to alter Klamath for users
Deal afoot to alter Klamath for users Article in the Oregonian on the draft Klamath settlement proposal. By Peter Sleeth Oregonian January 16, 2008 A unique gathering of government agencies, Native Americans, farmers and fishermen Tuesday proposed removing four dams on the Klamath River, with a cornucopia of benefits running to river users ranging from $80 million to tribes …
Deal Would Remove Klamath River Dams
Deal Would Remove Klamath River Dams Associated Press article on the draft Klamath settlement proposal. By Jeff Barnard Associated Press January 16, 2008 GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – More than 300 miles of struggling salmon runs would be restored along the Klamath River as part of a landmark $1 billion proposal that represents the largest dam removal project in …
No Dam Deal In Klamath Settlement Talks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No Dam Deal In Klamath Settlement Talks Proposed Settlement Deal Lacks Guaranteed Dam Removal, Guaranteed Water For Fish PORTLAND, OREGON Jan 15, 2008 Portland, Ore—The Bush administration is expected to release today one piece of a “Klamath Dam Settlement Agreement,” the product of three years of secret negotiations over the future of PacifiCorp dams on the Klamath …
Groups offer plan for removing dams on Oregon’s Klamath River to help salmon population
Groups offer plan for removing dams on Oregon’s Klamath River to help salmon population Oregonian (AP) article regarding draft Klamath settlement proposal. By Jeff Barnard Oregonian January 15, 2008 GRANTS PASS — A deal calling for removal of four hydroelectric dams on Klamath River to restore struggling salmon runs has been forged among farmers, Native American tribes, fishermen, conservation …
Groups Want to Remove Dams for Salmon
Groups Want to Remove Dams for Salmon Associated Press article on the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. By Jeff Barnard Associated Press January 15, 2008 A deal calling for removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River to restore struggling salmon runs has been forged among farmers, Indian tribes, fishermen, conservation groups and government agencies …
Klamath groups offer plan for removing dams to help salmon
Klamath groups offer plan for removing dams to help salmon Associated Press article on the draft Klamath settlement proposal. Associated Press January 15, 2008 GRANTS PASS — A deal calling for removal of four hydroelectric dams on Klamath River to restore struggling salmon runs has been forged among farmers, Native American tribes, fishermen, conservation groups and government agencies battling …
Bringing closure to the Klamath conflict
Bringing closure to the Klamath conflict An Oregonian op-ed regarding Klamath Basin solutions by Jim McCarthy of Oregon Wild and Bob Hunter of WaterWatch. Oregonian December 21, 2007 The relicensing process for PacifiCorp’s Klamath River hydropower project presents a unique opportunity to remove its lower four dams and bring Klamath salmon back home to Oregon. Removing these dams would …
Negotiating the Klamath
Negotiating the Klamath Oregonian article about the ongoing Klamath settlement talks. By Peter Sleeth Oregonian December 09, 2007 KLAMATH FALLS — Water cleaves the West. If you doubt its razor edge, think of the Klamath River Basin where the water divides the people — fishermen from farmers, Native Americans from the dam owners, conservationists from one another. At one time, …
Fish benefit of a Klamath pact questioned
Fish benefit of a Klamath pact questioned Sacrmento Bee story about the ongoing Klamath settlement talks. By David Whitney Sacramento Bee December 09, 2007 As groups plan to vote on water deal, new studies say salmon may get shorted. WASHINGTON – Environmentalists, Indian tribes, fishermen and farmers have been meeting in private for months trying to come up with a …
Let science guide dam removal, professors say
Let science guide dam removal, professors say Article on professors Jeffrey Mount and Peter Moyle’s letter to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service about Klamath dams. By Peter Sleeth Oregonian December 09, 2007 Two leading scientists from the University of California are urging more studies of dam removal on the Klamath River before taking out any dams. In a …
Klamath Basin report sparks differing interpretations
Klamath Basin report sparks differing interpretations Article on the National Research Council’s report on the Klamath River. By Mateusz Perkowski Capital Press December 07, 2007 A new report from the National Research Council that calls for a more expansive scientific view of the Klamath River basin has been welcomed by irrigator and environmentalist groups alike, although they can’t seem …
FERC ignores salmon mandates, recommends keeping Klamath dams
FERC ignores salmon mandates, recommends keeping Klamath dams Associated Press article on FERC recommending to keep PacifiCorp’s four hydroelectric dams. By Jeff Barnard Associated Press November 16, 2007 GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – Federal licensing authorities Friday recommended keeping PacifiCorp’s four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, siding with the utility and ignoring calls from fisheries agencies to build …
Judge recommends higher electric rates for Klamath irrigators
Judge recommends higher electric rates for Klamath irrigators Associated Press article on the possibility of Klamath basin irrigators paying more than 0.6 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity. By Jeff Barnard Associated Press November 14, 2007 GRANTS PASS, Ore. — An administrative law judge has recommended that Klamath farmers’ request for continued cut-rate electricity to pump irrigation water be turned down …
Troubled Waters, Part III: The settlement talks — path to a solution or political fix?
Troubled Waters, Part III: The settlement talks — path to a solution or political fix? By H. Bruce Miller Source Weekly October 11, 2007 Drive around the back roads near Klamath Falls and you’ll still come across a few hand-lettered signs left over from the spring of 2002, when federal officials shut off irrigation water to help threatened salmon …
Troubled Waters, Part II: Klamath farmers see themselves in the crosshairs
Troubled Waters, Part II: Klamath farmers see themselves in the crosshairs By H. Bruce Miller Source Weekly October 03, 2007 KLAMATH FALLS – A strange-looking monument stands in front of City Hall on the main street of this Southern Oregon farming center. It’s a giant silver-painted bucket, standing at least 10 feet high. The big bucket commemorates “the Bucket …
Water Wars
Water Wars Street Roots article about Klamath Basin water issues. By Matthew Deschaine Street Roots, Street News Servic August 20, 2007 WaterWatch’s John DeVoe works to keep the public interest in conserving Oregon’s public water (Photograph by Street Roots) For more than a decade, the Klamath River Basin has been the central front in Oregon’s highly politicized water wars. …
Drifting on the Klamath
Drifting on the Klamath Eugene Register-Guard editorial responding to Senator Gordon Smith’s opinion of the state of Klamath Basin. Eugene Register-Guard August 14, 2007 The problem with Sen. Gordon Smith’s defense of the Bush administration’s 2002 decision to divert Klamath Lake water for irrigation isn’t that the Oregon Republican is wobbly on the facts. It’s that he’s willing to …
Discord threatens Klamath River water talks
Discord threatens Klamath River water talks Article in the Sacramento Bee on Klamath River water talks. By David Whitney Sacramento Bee August 12, 2007 WASHINGTON — When the House Natural Resources Committee met in July to discuss whether Vice President Dick Cheney had improperly interfered in the battle over Klamath River water, Republicans complained that the hearing could derail …
Senator’s comments on salmon criticized
Senator’s comments on salmon criticized Article in the Eugene Register-Guard on Senator Gordon Smith’s comments on the Klamath River salmon kill in 2002. By David Steves Eugene Register-Guard August 11, 2007 SALEM – Sen. Gordon Smith’s explanation this week of how the 2002 diversion of Klamath Lake water for irrigation related to a massive salmon die-off has fish advocates …
Investigators not told about Cheney contact, official says
Investigators not told about Cheney contact, official says By Mathew Daly, AP Examiner July 31, 2007 WASHINGTON -The Interior Department’s inspector general did not find political interference by Vice President Dick Cheney on a key environmental policy in part because investigators were not looking for it, an Interior official said Tuesday.A 2004 report by the inspector general found no …
Drain the Klamath of its ugly politics
Drain the Klamath of its ugly politics Oregonian article by Steve Pedery, Conservation Director of Oregon Wild, on the politics behind the Klamath Basin. By Steve Pedery Oregonian July 06, 2007 Americans expect our government to make decisions about the survival of fish and wildlife based on science. But in the drought-plagued Klamath Basin, science has long taken a …
Dems: Investigate Cheney for role in salmon die-off
Dems: Investigate Cheney for role in salmon die-off By Mathew Daly, AP Seattle Times June 28, 2007 WASHINGTON — West Coast Democrats called for a hearing Wednesday into the role Vice President Dick Cheney may have played in the 2002 die-off of about 70,000 salmon near the California-Oregon border. An article in The Washington Post on Wednesday said Cheney …
Fields of conflict in the Klamath
Fields of conflict in the Klamath Activists say farmers are poised to solidify their presence in the basin’s federal wildlife refuges. By Eric Bailey Los Angeles Times May 07, 2007 TULE LAKE, CALIF. — Under the rolling cloud-scape of the Klamath Basin, a curious rite of spring is underway. Migratory birds are flocking to the basin’s necklace of federal …
States join forces for Klamath solutions
States join forces for Klamath solutions Eureka Reporter October 14, 2006 California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced Thursday that they are directing their respective state agencies to organize a Klamath River Summit to be held before the year ends. The summit is aimed to resolve a multitude of complex issues related to the health of …
A river runs through them
A river runs through them By Winston Ross Eugene Register-Guard October 02, 2006 Everyone agrees: Fix the Klamath; no one agrees on how to do it The story of the Klamath River takes place in two very different settings. One is at the base of Sheepy Ridge in the Oregon-California border town of Tule Lake, in the upper Klamath Basin. …
Judge gives Klamath fish ladders a boost
Judge gives Klamath fish ladders a boost By John Driscoll Times-Standard September 29, 2006 A federal judge has laid the framework for federal agencies to demand that Klamath River dam owner PacifiCorp install fish ladders through its hydroelectric project. U.S. Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge Parlen McKenna decided Wednesday that salmon could spawn in areas between the dams, and …
Dam ruling supports fish on Klamath
Dam ruling supports fish on Klamath By Matt Weiser Sacramento Bee September 29, 2006 A federal judge ruled Wednesday there is ample evidence that salmon will benefit from improved access to the Klamath River, a decision that some believe may ultimately lead to removal of dams on the river. The ruling came in an administrative hearing process over the relicensing …
Studies: Dam Removal From River Doable
Studies: Dam Removal From River Doable By Jeff Barnard Associated Press September 28, 2006 GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Removing four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River to help struggling salmon runs there would not be as expensive as feared, studies for a state agency show. Indian tribes, salmon fishermen and conservation groups have been pressing Portland-based utility PacifiCorp to …
Timidity will ruin Klamath moment
Timidity will ruin Klamath moment Daily Astorian September 28, 2006 “Take the easy way out” ought to be adopted as the official motto for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other federal agencies that operate at the political intersection between dams and salmon. Dealing earlier this week with dams on the Klamath River, federal energy regulators said that pulling …
Utility will keep fighting against fish ladders over Klamath dams
Utility will keep fighting against fish ladders over Klamath dams By Jeff Barnard Associated Press September 28, 2006 GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — PacifiCorp said Thursday it will continue to seek approval for its proposal to truck salmon around four dams on the Klamath River as part of a new operating license after losing a challenge of the science …
Now save the Klamath
Now save the Klamath Eugene Register-Guard August 11, 2006 U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez finally did what he should have done months ago – declare an economic disaster for the West Coast salmon fishing industry that has been dead in the water since the federal government imposed sharp fishing restrictions earlier this year. Now, Congress and the White House must …
At last, an opening for Klamath salmon
At last, an opening for Klamath salmon Oregonian August 06, 2006 PacifiCorp says it may be willing to remove its dams, but the states must help the utility and its ratepayers Everyone who depends on the Klamath River, from farmers to fishermen, is parsing PacifiCorp’s recent statement that it’s open to removal of its Klamath dams “as long as our …
Tribes Call for Removal of Dams That Block Journey of Salmon
Tribes Call for Removal of Dams That Block Journey of Salmon By William Yardley New York Times August 02, 2006 SEATTLE, Aug. 2 — Indian tribes along the Klamath River rallied in Portland on Wednesday for the removal of four hydroelectric dams that block salmon from spawning in their historic habitat upriver, and they said they intended to pressure the …
California regulators vote to raise electric rates for Klamath farms
California regulators vote to raise electric rates for Klamath farms By Terrence Chea Associated Press April 14, 2006 SAN FRANCISCO – State utility regulators voted to phase out electricity subsidies for California farmers along the Klamath River, a move fishermen and environmentalists hope will help save struggling salmon. The five-member Public Utility Commission voted unanimously Thursday to raise electricity …
Decisions give hope for river’s fish, future
Decisions give hope for river’s fish, future By Blaine Harden Seattle Times April 02, 2006 Big rivers in the West are reliable sources of bad news. Dammed for electricity and drained for irrigation, they have pushed salmon into extinction, fishermen into bankruptcy and Indians into despair.This dismal pattern, though, may be ending on the Klamath, long one of the nation’s …
Court Says River Plan Cheats Salmon
Court Says River Plan Cheats Salmon By Dean E. Murphy New York Times November 19, 2005 In a setback for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court in San Francisco rejected a federal plan to distribute water to farmers from the troubled Klamath River region in Oregon and California, ruling that more water must remain in the river for …
Water board gets earful on pumping
Water board gets earful on pumping By Dylan Darling Capital Press November 04, 2005 KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Farmers and federal officials can’t expect pumping well water to be a long-term solution for the surface water crunch in the Klamath Basin, Oregon water officials said at a workshop here last week. But state permits for pumping in the parched …