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<H1 class=mainHead><FONT size=3><FONT size=3><A
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/03/12/state1943EST7241.DTL">http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/03/12/state1943EST7241.DTL</A></FONT></FONT></H1>
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<TD vAlign=top align=left width=294><SPAN class=text3lgb>Bush political
aide Rove didn't influence Klamath policy, inspector general says
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<P><!-- START WRITER CREDIT--><SPAN class=text1sm>MATTHEW DALY, Associated
Press Writer </SPAN><!-- END WRITER CREDIT--></P></TD>
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<TD class=text2sm vAlign=top align=left width=314><!-- START DATE --><SPAN
id=red>Friday, March 12, 2004</SPAN><BR><!-- END DATE --><!-- START SOURCE LOGO --><A
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<P>(03-12) 16:43 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
<P>The Interior Department's inspector general has found no basis for a
claim by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry that White House
political advisers interfered in developing water policy in the Northwest.
<P>Specifically, the inspector general said President Bush's top political
adviser, Karl Rove, was not involved in a 2002 decision to divert water
from the Klamath River in Oregon to irrigate farms.
<P>While Rove mentioned the Klamath in passing during a briefing with
senior Interior officials, "we found nothing to tie Karl Rove's comments
... to the Klamath decision-making process," Inspector General Earl
Devaney said in a March 1 letter to Kerry.
<P>A major fish kill and other problems in the drought-starved region have
"fueled the flames of suspicion and distrust," Devaney wrote in the
letter, which was released Friday by the Interior Department.
<P>"However, we conclude that the (Interior) Department conducted itself
in keeping with the administrative process, that the science and
information utilized supported the department's decisions, and that no
political pressure was perceived by any of the key participants," the
letter said.
<P>The White House called the report a vindication of its approach to
water management in the Klamath, a contentious issue that has spurred
litigation and hard feelings among farmers, environmentalists, commercial
fishermen, Indian tribes and others.
<P>"While there is always going to be political sniping in this world, it
doesn't change the fact that the Department of Interior bases its
decisions on the best available science and will continue to do so," White
House spokesman Ken Lisaius said Friday.
<P>In a statement from his Senate office, Kerry said he accepts the
inspector general's findings but still questions why a political operative
was briefing senior Interior officials about complex resource issues.
<P>"There are too many examples in this administration of politics
trumping science not to be concerned," the statement said.
<P>Kerry sought the inquiry last year, following a report in the Wall
Street Journal that Rove had briefed top managers at the Interior
Department in January 2002 about the Klamath and other Western issues.
<P>Rove's briefing followed a trip by President Bush and Rove to Oregon,
where Republican leaders had stressed the need to support their
agricultural base by increasing water flow to nearby farms. Rove's
briefing signaled that the White House shared that desire, the newspaper
reported.
<P>Three months after the meeting, administration officials increased the
water supply to more than 200,000 acres of farmland in California and
Oregon -- a decision that was bitterly opposed by environmentalists,
commercial fishermen and others.
<P>In September 2002, nearly 33,000 chinook salmon died in the Klamath
River in northern California. The California Department of Fish and Game
laid much of the blame on low water flows controlled by the federal
government, saying it created conditions that allowed a fatal gill-rot
disease to spread through the fish.
<P>A report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said low river flows
played a role, but said other factors, including a large return of fish,
also contributed to the fish kill, the worst in decades.
<P>Susan Holmes, a spokeswoman for Earthjustice, an environmental group
that advised Kerry on the Klamath inquiry, said it was "unimaginable" that
politics did not play a role in the decisions surrounding the Klamath
Basin.
<P>"There are three Bush administration whistle-blowers and 33,000 dead
fish that speak for themselves," Holmes said.
<P>But Dan Keppen, executive director of the Klamath Water Users
Association, said the report "really reaffirms that this is a matter of
biological science, not political science."
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<H1 class=mainHead><FONT size=3><FONT size=3><A
href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/03/14/us_clears_bush_adviser_over_water_management/">http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/03/14/us_clears_bush_adviser_over_water_management/</A></FONT></H1></FONT>
<H1 class=mainHead> </H1>
<H1 class=mainHead>US clears Bush adviser over water management</H1>
<P class=byline>By Matthew Daly, Associated Press, 3/14/2004</P>
<P>WASHINGTON -- The Interior Department's inspector general has found no basis
for an assertion by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry that White
House political advisers interfered in Northwest water policy.</P>
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<P>The inspector general said President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove,
was not involved in a 2002 decision to divert water from the Klamath River in
Oregon to irrigate farms.</P>
<P>While Rove mentioned the Klamath in passing during a briefing with senior
Interior officials, "we found nothing to tie Karl Rove's comments . . . to the
Klamath decision-making process," Inspector General Earl Devaney said in a
letter to Kerry, the Massachusetts senator.</P>
<P>A major fish kill and other problems in the drought-plagued region have
"fueled the flames of suspicion and distrust," Devaney wrote in the letter dated
March 1 and released Friday by the Interior Department.</P>
<P>"However, we conclude that the [Interior] Department conducted itself in
keeping with the administrative process, that the science and information
utilized supported the department's decisions, and that no political pressure
was perceived by any of the key participants," Devaney's letter said.</P>
<P>The White House called the report a vindication of its approach to water
management in the Klamath, a contentious issue that has spurred litigation and
hard feelings. In a statement, Kerry said he accepts the inspector general's
findings but still questions why a political operative was briefing senior
Interior officials about complex resource issues.Kerry sought the inquiry last
year, following a report in The Wall Street Journal that Rove had briefed top
managers at the Interior Department in January 2002 about the Klamath and other
Western issues. Rove's briefing followed a trip by President Bush and Rove to
Oregon, where Republican leaders had stressed the need to support their
agricultural base by increasing water flow to nearby farms.</P>
<P>Three months after the meeting, administration officials increased the water
supply to more than 200,000 acres of farmland in California and Oregon.</P>
<P>In September 2002, nearly 33,000 chinook salmon died in the Klamath River in
northern California. The California Department of Fish and Game laid much of the
blame on low water flows controlled by the federal government.</P>
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