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<CENTER><FONT face=Verdana, color=#006633 size=4 Verdana, Arial, Helvetica,
Sans-serif><B>From <A
href="http://trinityjournal.com/">http://trinityjournal.com/</A> 7/14/04</B></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER><FONT face=Verdana, color=#006633 size=4 Verdana, Arial, Helvetica,
Sans-serif><B>Appellate court supports Trinity River
restoration</B></FONT><BR></CENTER><FONT face=Times, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica,
Sans-serif><FONT color=#000000 size=2>
<P align=justify>The long-awaited appellate court decision on Trinity River
flows overturned most of a U.S. District Court judge's rulings that blocked a
river restoration plan.<BR><BR>A three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco found that the supplemental river report ordered by
Judge Oliver Wanger was unnecessary. A draft of that document, known as the
Trinity River Fishery Restoration Supplemental EIS/EIR, has already been
released for public comment.<BR><BR>Regarding the original river report that
studied the restoration plan, the panel disagreed with Judge Wanger on issues
such as the need he found for further study into mechanical alternatives rather
than increased river flows.<BR><BR>Trinity County Natural Resources Planner Tom
Stokely said that this decision means the river restoration plan, with its
increased flows, can proceed unless further appeals are pursued by opponents of
the plan.<BR><BR>On one side of the court battle were the Westlands Water
District of Fresno and King counties and the Northern California Power
Association. Appealing Judge Wanger's ruling was the Hoopa Valley
Tribe.<BR><BR>Trinity County, one of the agencies involved in preparing the
original and supplemental reports, has not yet certified either report. The
county was waiting to see what happened in federal court.<BR><BR>A decision has
not yet been made by the county as to whether the supplemental report is still
necessary, given the appellate court decision, Stokely said.
<BR><BR><BR><BR></FONT>
<HR color=#99ccff noShade SIZE=1>
<CENTER><FONT face=Verdana, color=#006633 size=4 Verdana, Arial, Helvetica,
Sans-serif><B>Supervisor Modine ill; return to board
uncertain</B></FONT><BR></CENTER><FONT face=Times, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica,
Sans-serif><FONT color=#000000 size=2>
<P align=justify>District 3 Supervisor Ralph Modine of Hayfork missed the last
board meeting due to health problems, and he told the Journal Tuesday that he is
unsure whether or not he will be back.<BR><BR>"I don't know," said Modine, 59.
"It all depends on whether we can deal with this." Modine said he has been
suffering stomach pain for months, and "I've sort of been gritting my teeth."
Recently, he said, the pain became unbearable -- and it's worse in stressful
situations.<BR><BR>Modine recently spent four days at Trinity Hospital for
tests, and on Monday he saw a specialist in Redding. Modine is home now, but he
said more testing has been recommended. <BR><BR>"Some of it might be stress
driven, but then there are other possibilities, so we're sort of weeding out all
the possibilities," Modine said. "Then we'll just go from there." <BR><BR>Modine
was uncertain whether he'll be able to resume his board duties, and said he's
upset that the board must function now with only four members.<BR><BR>Roger
Jaegel of Hayfork is slated to take Modine's seat as District 3 supervisor in
January.</P>
<P
align=justify>*******************************************************************************</P>
<P align=justify> </P>
<DIV><SPAN class=articleHeadline><STRONG><A
href="http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127~2896~2273857,00.html">http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127~2896~2273857,00.html</A></STRONG></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=articleHeadline><STRONG></STRONG></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=articleHeadline><STRONG>Trinity River people eager for
restoration</STRONG></SPAN> </DIV>
<P class=articleSpacer></P>
<P align=justify><SPAN class=articleByline>By <STRONG>John Driscoll </STRONG>The
Times-Standard</SPAN> </P>
<P class=articleSpacer></P>
<P>For Hupa Indian Merv George, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision
to clear the way for restoration of the Trinity River is a prayer answered.
<P>George, a former tribal councilman who has long been involved in the battle
over the river, said Tuesday's decision seems to reflect a change of heart in
those looking in on the river from the outside.
<P>"When we pray to the creator, we pray for balance," George said. "We put a
lot of stock in the creator to fix these kinds of things."
<P>The 9th Circuit's decision will put water behind the work of restoration.
Some elements of the plan have been flowing along despite Central Valley
irrigators' suit. The district court ruling that was overturned by the
three-judge panel didn't block those projects.
<P>But some efforts will be helped along with more water, the central theme of
the ruling.
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<P>The plan splits the water between the Trinity River -- which will receive 48
percent of the water -- and Central Valley irrigators, like Westlands Water
District, which led the suit to block the restoration.
<P>The dams on the Trinity River that have diverted water south since the early
1960s not only block spawning grounds for salmon and steelhead, but have changed
the shape of the river below them.
<P>Gently tapered banks that provided spawning and rearing areas became steeper
and unusable by fish. The channel changed from a V-shape to a U-shape as
sediment built up along the banks.
<P>Heavy equipment will be used to help coerce the river back into something
resembling its former shape. That effort -- which will take several years --
needs to be done with help from bigger flows, said Trinity County Senior Planner
Tom Stokely.
<P>Other projects are needed to make way for the water. This summer, four
bridges over the Trinity are being replaced and raised, necessary to put down
heavy flows called for in very wet years.
<P>That would allow big flows -- except that there has been little progress in
removing the old bridges and other structures that stand in the way.
<P>Spawning gravel will also be added to the river as it was last year, though
more gravel additions have yet to be permitted, Stokely said.
<P>Stokely said he'll be relieved to see some genuine movement on the project
now that the suit has been quashed.
<P>"To finally have that burden off our shoulders will really allow us to
implement the program," Stokely said.
<P>Hoopa Valley Tribal Fisheries Director Mike Orcutt said staffing the effort
and drawing regulatory agencies together to smooth permitting for the
restoration work will be key. He said that with the water issue decided, all
parties hold an interest in making sure it's used in the best way possible.
<P>"Let's engage on the constructive part of things -- hopefully collectively,"
Orcutt said. </P>
<P>************************************************</P>
<P>Note: Some of this article you may have seen, but I never saw this
version. It's much longer. Sorry for the formatting.</P>
<P>TS</P>
<P>Indians Take Fight Against Klamath Dams to Scotland, By Eric Bailey
<BR> Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2004
<BR><BR> ORLEANS, Calif. - A
delegation from some of California's poorest
<BR> Indian tribes leaves for Scotland
today to urge a multinational <BR>
company to modify six dams that tribal biologists say have
<BR> contributed to a 90% decline in
salmon on the Klamath River. <BR><BR>
Along with environmentalists and North Coast commercial fishermen,
<BR> the 18 tribal representatives
plan to dramatize their concerns at<BR>the
<BR> July 23 annual general
stockholders meeting of ScottishPower. A<BR>U.S.
<BR> subsidiary of that company owns
and operates the Klamath River dams
<BR> that have cut off the fish - on
which the tribes have depended for
<BR> generations - from their upriver
spawning grounds. <BR><BR> The dams,
tribal leaders contend, have kept migratory fish out of<BR>350
<BR> miles of upriver habitat while
producing oxygen-robbing algae and
<BR> unnaturally raising and lowering
the river to the detriment of the <BR>
fish. <BR><BR> The tribes, which filed
a $1-billion lawsuit against ScottishPower
<BR> this spring asking for
compensation, hope to use the trip to<BR>publicly
<BR> pressure a firm that bills itself
as environmentally responsible.
<BR><BR> Members of the Karuk, Yurok,
Hoopa and Klamath tribes plan to dig a
<BR> fire pit near the corporation's
Edinburgh headquarters, smoke<BR>Klamath
<BR> salmon over the embers and share
it with stockholders. <BR><BR> "We're
going to take this fight right to the boardroom, right to<BR>the
<BR> corporate headquarters, right to
their shareholders," said Leaf <BR>
Hillman, vice chairman of the Karuk Tribe of California. "We will<BR>go
<BR> to the ends of the earth for the
fish." <BR><BR> The tribes and their
allies have lobbied PacifiCorp for two years<BR>to
<BR> do something about the dams -
install fish ladders so salmon can
<BR> crest the smaller of the dams,
and perhaps even demolish the<BR>biggest
<BR> of the six, the 173-foot-tall
Iron Gate Dam. <BR><BR> But officials
at Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp, ScottishPower's
<BR> U.S. subsidiary, say that
removing any of the dams could backfire,
<BR> because they help improve
downstream water quality by letting<BR>upriver
<BR> particulates and farm pollution
settle in the reservoirs behind the
<BR> structures. The company warns
that fish moving upstream of the dams
<BR> could face hazardous water
conditions. <BR><BR> "The challenge of
the Klamath River is: There really isn't one
<BR> silver-bullet solution," said Jon
Coney, a PacifiCorp spokesman.<BR>"The
<BR> tribes and their allies are free
to go to Scotland. Our senior <BR>
management is paying close attention. But the negotiations are here
<BR> in the U.S."
<BR><BR> The trip to Scotland
coincides with a renewal of tensions between<BR>the
<BR> alliance of Indians, commercial
fishermen and environmentalists,<BR>and
<BR> a common adversary: upstream
farmers in the Klamath Basin, a <BR>
200,000-acre swath of farmland straddling the Oregon-California
<BR> border that is irrigated with
water diverted from the Klamath.
<BR><BR> A congressional hearing on
issues related to the Endangered Species
<BR> Act is planned today in Klamath
Falls, Ore., center of a 2001 water
<BR> crisis that outraged farmers and
prompted the Bush administration<BR>to
<BR> intervene on their behalf.
Irrigation water had been shut off for
<BR> months by federal regulators
intent on helping endangered<BR>suckerfish
<BR> in Upper Klamath Lake and coho
salmon in the river. <BR><BR>
Meanwhile, drought conditions and low flows continue to take a toll
<BR> on what was once the West Coast's
third most productive <BR>
salmon-bearing river. This spring, a parasite killed more than half
<BR> the river's juvenile salmon,
stirring fear of a repeat of a die-off
<BR> three years ago that left 33,000
adult salmon carcasses littering<BR>the
<BR> banks.
<BR><BR> Though biologists continue to
wrangle over how to address the<BR>river's
<BR> ills, there is consensus that the
fish decline springs from<BR>numerous
<BR> factors, including the dams, low
flows, warmer water, irrigation <BR>
diversions, pollution, silt from logged hillsides, natural<BR>predators
<BR> and a century of unfettered
commercial fishing.> <BR><BR> The
series of dams dividing the lower and upper river have come<BR>under
<BR> scrutiny lately because
PacifiCorp must apply to the federal
<BR> government for a new operating
license by 2006. If nothing is done<BR>to
<BR> aid the fish, the tribes say,
they will try to persuade the <BR>
government to block the license renewal.
<BR><BR> "This is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to fix this problem,"<BR>said
<BR> Craig Tucker of Friends of the
River, which is helping fund the<BR>trip
<BR> to Scotland. "The troubles caused
by the dams need to be told." <BR><BR>
The dams were erected over more than 50 years that ended with the
<BR> completion of Iron Gate in 1962.
Their sole purpose is to provide <BR>
power -and not much of that. The 151 megawatts they generate
<BR> represent less than 2% of the
electricity produced by PacifiCorp.<BR>But
<BR> the firm considers it an
important part of its power arsenal,
<BR> providing energy during hot
summer afternoons as air conditioners
<BR> click on.
<BR><BR> The California Energy
Commission, however, contends that loss of<BR>the
<BR> dam's electricity would not
significantly undermine the region's
<BR> power supply. The state Water
Resources Control Board recommends a
<BR> study of dam removal, as does a
California Fish and Game Commission
<BR> team studying salmon recovery
strategies. <BR><BR> To tribes like
the Karuk, the dams are a prime culprit in the<BR>decline
<BR> of the fish.
<BR><BR> Along the river's
boulder-strewn banks in California's far north,<BR>the
<BR> Karuk have long clung to the ways
of their forebears. Herded into <BR>
military encampments during the Gold Rush, most escaped to return<BR>to
<BR> their homelands.
<BR><BR> Today, many in the tribe of
3,400 live in poverty. The Karuk don't
<BR> have a casino and control only a
fraction of their ancestral <BR>
territory - an area that was almost as large as Rhode Island. About
<BR> 65% are unemployed, and many
Karuk are still without electricity<BR>and
<BR> phones.
<BR><BR> What they have are the fish:
salmon and steelhead, eel-like Pacific
<BR> lamprey and hulking green
sturgeon. With dip nets in hand like<BR>their
<BR> ancestors, tribal fishermen still
work the Klamath's frothy pools <BR>
when the salmon start running. As with neighboring tribes, the
<BR> Karuk's culture, ceremonial life
and subsidence revolve around the <BR>
fish. <BR><BR> Once, more than 1
million salmon returned to spawn every year. But
<BR> now the migrating salmon have
dwindled by 90%, according to tribal
<BR> biologists. The spring run of
Chinook salmon has all but<BR>disappeared.
<BR> The sturgeon are teetering on the
brink and stocks of lamprey, once <BR>
so plentiful and prized for their nutritious meat, have plummeted.
<BR><BR> "Back in the day, we had 70
miles of river and more than 100<BR>village
<BR> sites, each with its own spot to
fish," said Ron Reed, the Karuk's <BR>
cultural biologist. "Today we're left with a handful of fishermen<BR>at
<BR> Ishi Pishi."
<BR><BR> Ishi Pishi Falls - a steep
section of Klamath rapids near Orleans -
<BR> is among the Karuks' most sacred
places. It lies in the shadow of a
<BR> sheered-off mountain, dubbed
Sugarloaf by white people but known as
<BR> Auich to the Karuk, who believe
it is where the first people came <BR>
from. <BR><BR> As salmon pause in calm
pools below the falls before making another
<BR> mad rush up the whitewater,
tribal fishermen like Reed capture them
<BR> with nets lashed to narrow oak
poles bent into oval hoops. After<BR>the
<BR> fish are dragged into the
shallows, another tribe member clubs them
<BR> with a wooden mallet.
<BR><BR> Walking to the edge of the
rapids one day recently, Reed pointed to<BR>a
<BR> cuff of smooth midstream rock, a
clear sheet of water cascading <BR>
around the top. To him it is a signpost. If there is water boiling
<BR> across that rock, he said, there
will be fish in the hole behind<BR>it.
<BR><BR> "There's a lot of technique
and understanding to this," said Reed,
<BR> his hair drawn up in a ponytail.
"But there's very few fish<BR>anymore."
<BR><BR> PacifiCorp spent more than
$10 million on environmental and <BR>
engineering studies during the process of drafting its
<BR> license-renewal application.>
<BR><BR> Spokesman Coney said the
problem was that the Klamath was a river
<BR> upside down. The water of most
tributaries is cleanest at its<BR>source,
<BR> but loads up with particulates
and pollution as it runs to the <BR>
river's mouth. The Klamath, in contrast, is dirtier in its upper
<BR> reaches because of volcanic
sediments and pollution from uses such<BR>as
<BR> cattle ranching and farming.
<BR><BR> Studies by the firm indicate
that the dams, about halfway down the
<BR> run to the ocean, act as settling
ponds, producing cleaner water<BR>for
<BR> the last half of the journey,
Coney said. <BR><BR> The dam operator
has found allies in Klamath Basin farmers.
<BR><BR> Dan Keppen, executive
director of the Klamath Water Users Assn.,<BR>said
<BR> razing the dams might prove "a
terrible experiment" that would<BR>sully
<BR> water quality in the lower river.
Sending fish around the dams and <BR>
into the compromised water upstream could amount to a death<BR>sentence,
<BR> he said.
<BR><BR> "What we're seeing is a
classic example of oversimplification and a
<BR> whole lot of myth-making by the
tribes and their allies," Keppen <BR>
said. "I'm very skeptical that taking out those dams is going to<BR>help
<BR> the way those protesters going to
Scotland are saying."
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