[env-trinity] Blockade Disrupts Klamath Watershed Salvage Logging

[Dan Bacher]

Photo courtesy of Stop Westside Coalition.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/5/2/1522459/-Early-Morning-Blockade-Disrupts-Klamath-Salvage-Logging

Blockade Disrupts Klamath Watershed Salvage Logging

by Dan Bacher

In the early morning hours before daybreak on May 2 in the fire- 
impacted conifer forest near Seiad Valley in the Klamath River  
watershed, 27 people  including Tribal youth, river advocates and  
forest activists blocked the road leading to the Klamath National  
Forest’s Westside salvage logging project.


Demonstrators held banners that read ‘Karuk Land: Karuk Plan,’ recited  
call and response chants, and testified to the timber sales’ impact on  
ailing salmon populations. Work was delayed for approximately four  
hours, according to a news release from the river advocates.

The protesters said the Westside Salvage Logging Project would clear  
cut more than 5,700 acres on steep slopes above Klamath River  
tributaries and along 320 miles of roads within Klamath National  
Forest. Post-fire logging and hauling began in late April, before  
legal claims brought forth by a lawsuit led by the Karuk Tribe could  
be considered in court.

“The Forest Service should follow the Karuk Plan on Karuk Land.  
Traditional knowledge of fire helps everything stay in balance because  
it’s all intertwined,” said Dania Rose Colegrove of the Klamath  
Justice Coalition. “When you destroy the forests, you destroy the  
rivers.”

The protesters said the Westside plan, unlike the Karuk Alternative,  
calls for clear cut logging on steep slopes right above several of the  
Klamath River’s most important salmon-bearing streams, at a time when  
returning salmon numbers are reaching record lows.

Members of local Tribal youth councils who participated in the protest  
see Westside salvage logging as a threat to their future.

“Today I showed up and stood up for what is right for future  
generations,” said Lacey Jackson, a 16-year old Hoopa Tribal Youth  
Council member.  “My cultural and traditional livelihood is being  
threatened, and the way they are going about this logging is a big  
part of that. I will continue to stand up for me, my people and future  
generations.”

River advocates say the Forest Service plan to clear-cut thousands of  
acres above the Klamath River disregards the reasonable Karuk  
Alternative and hurts at-risk salmon and river communities. They  
believe a  healthy Klamath River requires sensible forest restoration  
that addresses the needs of both fish and people, like that laid out  
in the Karuk plan.

Federal and state fisheries agency scientists estimate that there are  
only approximately 142,200 Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon in  
the ocean this year, based on the returns of two-year-old salmon,  
called “jacks” and “jills.” The salmon from the Klamath and Sacramento  
River make up the majority of salmon taken in California’s ocean and  
inland fisheries.

The low numbers of Klamath and Trinity River fish expected to return  
to the river and tributaries this year will result in more restricted  
seasons for both the recreational and commercial fisheries on the  
ocean and recreational and Tribal fisheries on the rivers this season.

During a meeting on Klamath dam removal in Sacramento in March, Thomas  
Wilson, a member of the Yurok Tribal Council and owner of Spey-Gee  
Point Guide Service, described the dire situation that the salmon  
fishery is in this year.

“This season will be devastating for fishermen and people on the  
river.  Usually we get around 12,000 fish for subsistence on the river  
and what’s left goes to the commercial fishery. This year our entire  
Tribal quota is only about 5900 fish,” he explained.

“The people are praying that the science predicting the low numbers is  
wrong. If we don’t protect the fish now, it will hurt us down the  
road. As Yuroks and natives, we are conservationists. We want make  
sure enough to keep seed for the all of the resources for future  
generations,” Wilson said.

The last thing that the watershed needs, at a time when the fishery is  
in crisis, is a Forest Service-approved clear cutting plan that  
further threatens salmon and steelhead habitat.

For information about the lawsuit by the Karuk Tribe and  
conservationists challenging the U.S. Forest Service and the Klamath  
National Forest’s Westside plan, go to: www.indybay.org/...

HD video and photos available for use at:

Youtube: youtu.be/...

Photos: goo.gl/...

Please credit photo and video to Stop Westside Coalition

A wider campaign is building and everyone's support is needed. More  
information about the Karuk Tribe's Alternative can be found here: www.karuk.us 
…

CONTACT: Kerul Dyer, kerul.dyer, 415-866-0005
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