Terre Logsdon – Record-Bee staff
LAKEPORT ? This week, the Board of Supervisors took action to help the Pacific Salmon.
In an unusual move ? because it doesn?t directly affect Lake County ? the board voted on Tuesday to request that Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez expedite a disaster declaration for the 2006 Pacific Salmon season and requested the Departments of Commerce, Interior and Agriculture take immediate steps to adopt a restoration plan for the Klamath River Basin.
Congressman Mike Thompson requested that the board consider adopting the resolution because the Klamath River has experienced extremely low salmon runs for the past three years, causing economic hardships to the area.
Since 2001, the water in the Klamath River has been in controversy ? with farmers, fisheries, tribes and governments at odds with one another over what to do to protect the fish, the farms and the dams that generate electricity.
The Klamath Project ? a reclamation project in the Klamath River Basin that began in 1905 ? is used to irrigate approximately 225,000 acres of former rangeland transforming it into productive farmland.
In 2001, the National Academy of Sciences released an interim report, ?Endangered and Threatened Fishes in the Klamath River Basin: Causes of Decline and Strategies for Recovery,? which brought the Klamath Project to the forefront.
The Klamath Project was the subject of international coverage in 2001 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited regulations in the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which protect coho salmon and sucker fish in the river, and virtually shut down the water delivery system for almost the entire growing season to local farmers. That action resulted in millions of dollars in damages to the Klamath Basin economy.
Congressman Richard Pombo (R-Tracy), chairman of the House Resources Committee and vice chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said in a 2004 press release that, ?The water shut-off in the Klamath Basin is a dramatic example of how, after 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has failed the species it was designed to recover.?
Pombo added, ?Unintended consequences have devastated communities. We must find a sound and balanced approach, one that conserves species while caring for our local communities as well.?
The water has not been shut off again, and agriculture in the Klamath Basin has rebounded. But the salmon have not.
On April 24, Bay Area members of Congress unveiled disaster assistance legislation for West Coast salmon fishing communities that will be impacted by this year?s slashed salmon season. The legislation also ensures funding for the Klamath salmon?s recovery and restoration.
?The Bush Administration?s gross mismanagement of the Klamath River has led to this year?s and last year?s shortened salmon season,? said Thompson (D-St. Helena), the bill?s author. ?Yet, the administration isn?t offering any assistance to the affected fishing communities nor do they have a plan to restore the salmon. That is why we will be introducing legislation that would offer $81 million in federal assistance. It will also contain measures to revive the Klamath salmon and hold this administration accountable to ensure they cannot manipulate the river for political gain ever again.?
In 2002, the federal government diverted water on the Klamath River which resulted in a record fish kill that claimed 80,000 adult salmon the next fall.
Experts have directly attributed the adult fish kill and a parasitic infection affecting spring juveniles, according to Thompson, resulting from poor federal management of the river, as being responsible for the low salmon returns estimated for this year.
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who is co-sponsoring the legislation, said, ?Here in California and Oregon, we must all work together ? fishermen, tribes, scientists, farmers, and political leaders at the local, state and federal level.?
Board Chair Anthony Farrington brought the resolution to the board at Thompson?s request, saying that he felt the board should sign the resolution to show a ?spirit of cooperation for the whole North Coast,? and that he trusted the request from Thompson was in the best interest of those involved.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown was restrained, saying that he didn?t have enough information on the issue and it didn?t directly affect Lake County ? so he abstained from the vote.
?I just spoke with County Counsel,? said District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith, ?I own a building that I rent to farmers in the Klamath Basin,? so he didn?t vote due to a conflict of interest.
?In every case that I?ve seen,? said District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey, ?where?s there?s an issue in his [Thompson?s] district, he?s gone out of his way to weigh all sides.?
Robey added, ?I have no problems trusting him.?
Gary Lewis, Robey and Farrington voted for the ordinance, with Brown and Smith abstaining.
Contact Terre Logsdon at tlogsdon@record-bee.com.
