tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4361990989642100421.post7426901235203906686..comments2024-03-12T10:09:34.656-07:00Comments on KlamBlog: Donnybrook in the offing – Klamath debate shifts to CongressFelice Pacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745833097325147423noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4361990989642100421.post-45008535999039436262009-07-27T10:40:49.499-07:002009-07-27T10:40:49.499-07:00Speaking for Oregon Wild, we'd be thrilled at ...Speaking for Oregon Wild, we'd be thrilled at the opportunity to address the Yurok Tribal Council and express our concerns about the continuing decline of spring chinook salmon in the Klamath Basin. We'd love to also discuss the deeply-flawed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA). <br /><br />We remain puzzled by the Yurok Tribe's support for the eviction of Oregon Wild (and also WaterWatch) from the original Klamath dam settlement talks. On the day when the Bush administration withdrew from the original, consensus-based Klamath talks in the spring of 2007, were we notified via an email from the Interior Department. A couple of hours later, we received a second email sent jointly by attorneys from the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) and the Yurok Tribe stating they were starting a new set of invitation-only talks. It was separately made clear to us that Oregon Wild and WaterWatch would not be invited due to our advocacy around wildlife refuges, wetlands and water for salmon, which was viewed as problematic for making a deal with Klamath agribusiness interests.<br /><br />I continue to believe that decision was not in the best interests of the Klamath Basin, its salmon, wildlife, or dam removal. Two years later we have a KBRA plan that costs $1 billion dollars, while making environmental conditions worse for wildlife, salmon, and clean water, no real dam removal plan, and an “Agreement in Principle” that seems to primarily serve to allow Pacificorp to continue operating its dams with no changes until at least 2020. It is an expensive, politically motivated mess that seems more geared to preserving the status quo in the basin than in actually recovering salmon and wildlife. <br /><br />This political quagmire makes an ESA listing for chinook in the Klamath absolutely vital. Without it, the political deal making will continue divert energy and attention away from actually restoring the fish, wetlands, and waters of the Klamath.Steve Pederyhttp://www.oregonwild.orgnoreply@blogger.com