<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2004/09/10/news/community_news/cit5.txt">http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2004/09/10/news/community_news/cit5.txt</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD noWrap align=middle colSpan=2><SPAN class=date>Friday, September 10,
2004</SPAN></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=heading noWrap><SPAN class=heading>Archives</SPAN></TD></TR>
<TR align=middle>
<TD background=/art/blue.gif><IMG height=1
src="http://www.heraldandnews.com/art/blue.gif" width=1></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD> </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<P>
<P><SPAN class=headlinedetail>Judge puts fish death trial on ice
Thursday</SPAN></P><SPAN class=bylinedetail></SPAN>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>Published September 10, 2004</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>Tribes, government debate blame for massive
fish die-off</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>By DYLAN DARLING</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>The courtroom debate about what caused 34,000
salmon to die on the Klamath River in Fall 2002 was delayed again
Thursday.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>A trial pitting the Yurok Tribes against the
federal government and the Klamath Water Users Association, set to start
on Sept. 20 in Oakland's District Court, was postponed, said Judge Saundra
B. Armstrong's court clerk.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>No new trial date has been set because motions
to dismiss the case, submitted by both the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and
the water users, will be considered in a hearing on Oct. 26, said Lisa
Clark, court clerk. Depending on what Armstrong decides, a new trial date
could be set or the case could be thrown out of court.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>At the heart of the potential trial is
determining whether the Bureau's Klamath Project contributed to the
die-off of salmon on the lower Klamath River in 2002. The Bureau and the
water users have moved to have the case dismissed because they say the
court doesn't have proper jurisdiction and because the plaintiffs, who
have a reservation on the river, are asking for relief that doesn't match
any damages.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>"They are asking for a future specific
requirement that the government gives them more water, even though this is
trying to redress something that happened in 2002," said Andrew Lloyd, an
attorney which is representing the water users in the case.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>The Yuroks have said they want more water to
flow down the river from the Klamath Project to prevent another fish kill
caused by infection and disease like that seen in September
2002.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>Federal officials routinely don't comment on
pending litigation.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>The potential trial is an off-shoot of an
overarching case that was set for the courtroom in Spring 2003. In that
case, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and other
downstream interests, along with they Yurok Tribe, sued the federal
government to release more water down the Klamath River from Iron Gate
Dam.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>The water users entered the case as interveners
on the side of the defendants.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>The trial for the original case was canceled
the day it was set to begin in May 2003 and Armstrong said she would come
out with a written decision, except for the issue of what caused the death
of the salmon. For that, she said, a trial was needed.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>In her written decision made in July 2003,
Armstrong said the Bureau needed to tweak two parts of its biological
opinion, or guiding document for the management for the river, to bring
the Project into compliance with the Endangered Species Act.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail>She didn't give a time frame on when the
changes needed to be made. The Bureau has made one of them and is still
working on the other.</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
class=storydetail>****************************************************************</SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.times-standard.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,127%7E2896%7E2395428,00.html">http://www.times-standard.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,127%7E2896%7E2395428,00.html</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storydetail><FONT face=Arial size=2><BR> </P>
<P><B class=articleHeadline><STRONG>Fishermen want salmon plan
now</STRONG> </B><BR><SPAN class=articleByline><B>By <STRONG>John Driscoll
</STRONG>The Times-Standard </B></SPAN><BR>
<P><SPAN class=articleBody><B>Saturday, September 11, 2004</B> -
<P>Fishermen and fishing businesses repeated their call to the federal
government this week to begin preparing for a possible closure or
restriction of salmon fishing next year due to past disease outbreaks on
the Klamath River.
<P>This fall's salmon run on the Klamath could be among the lowest on
record. Since opportunities to fish for salmon up and down the West Coast
are affected by the weak Klamath stocks, fish managers could be forced to
close or clamp down on fishing to protect the salmon.
<P>In the spring of 2002, as many as 200,000 juvenile salmon perished from
diseases while they were migrating. Biologists won't know how much damage
that did until the 2- and 3-year-old fish born that year return this fall,
but the implications are grave.
<P>Fish managers will determine in March how many -- if any -- salmon can
be taken and still leave enough spawners to perpetuate the stocks.
<P>Eureka commercial salmon fisherman Dave Bitts said commercial fishermen
are trying to reduce their take of 4-year-old salmon by imposing a 28-inch
limit and reducing the number of fish they take this year.
<P>"Otherwise, there's not a whole lot we can do," Bitts said.
<P>But the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and others
are calling for the federal government to take responsibility for the fish
kill. They want the Bush administration to develop either a disaster
relief program or a means to allow fishermen to target more abundant
stocks in 2005.
<P>The federation wrote to the Bush administration in July asking it to
begin planning for a possible fishery meltdown. To date there has been no
reply.
<P>It also wrote to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, asking the
council to plan for the worst.
<P>The council divvies up fish among commercial fishermen, tribes and
sport fishermen each year.
<P>"Planning for alternative fishing scenarios or designing a disaster
relief program for the impacted fisheries takes time, and waiting until
next March until addressing the matter would be highly irresponsible,"
wrote the federation's Zeke Grader.
<P>Bitts said the problem is especially galling because most other West
Coast rivers are producing well. On the Klamath, juvenile fish have been
dying in recent years and the September 2002 fish kill claimed up to
68,000 salmon in an otherwise abundant run.
<P>Bitts said he hopes a solution can be found that will allow fishing.
<P>"I'd much rather fish the ocean than fish the mailbox," Bitts said.
<P>*********************************************************************************
<P><A
href="http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~2397083,00.html">http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~2397083,00.html</A>
<P>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD>
<P class=paragraphSpacer></P><SPAN class=articleDate>Article Last
Updated: Sunday, September 12, 2004 - 4:08:28 AM PST </SPAN>
<P class=paragraphSpacer></P></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=articleHorizontalRule><IMG height=1
src="http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/images/dpo/3pix.gif"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=articleBody align=left>
<P class=paragraphSpacer></P><SPAN class=articleHeadline>Bay-Delta
bill runs into small snag in the U.S. Senate </SPAN>
<P class=articleSpacer></P><SPAN class=articleByline>By Erica
Werner, Associated Press</SPAN>
<P class=articleSpacer></P>WASHINGTON -- Key California lawmakers
said Friday they're optimistic about getting a Senate vote soon on a
final version of a landmark bill authorizing the California Federal
Bay-Delta Program.
<P>A $389 million CalFed bill passed the House in July, but Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said at least one major provision
couldn't make it through the Senate, and she's been working since
then to resolve the problem.
<P>Overall, the legislation, in the works for a decade, would
authorize numerous water projects to restore the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and ensure water supplies for millions of people.
<P>The provision that's problematic would allow the secretary of the
interior to approve select water projects without congressional
signoff. Congress would be given 120 days to say no but would not be
asked to say yes. Feinstein said senators of both parties would balk
at that. <!-- cdaFreeFormDetailByName.strSQL = FreeForm_GetTextBySectionIDPaperID @Name = 'ArticleAd', @PaperID = '87', @SectionID = '11268', @ArticleID = '2397083', @Filter = 'Section', @LiveFilter = '1', @DateTimeContext = '9/14/2004 9:00:05 AM' --><!-- ArticleAd BEGIN: --><BR>
<SCRIPT>GetAd(20,'box', 300, 250,'');</SCRIPT>
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1
src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/www.sanmateocountytimes.com/loc;abr=!webtv;pos=box;dcopt=ist;sz=300x250;ptile=20;ord=274898831601944?"></SCRIPT>
<!-- Begin Interstitial Ad --><!-- ArticleAd END: -->
<P>She said she's hopeful the Senate will act soon on a bill without
the so-called pre-authorization language, and that she thinks the
House will accept the bill that way.
<P>"The House would have to accept that," Feinstein said in an
interview. "I see that happening, because getting a bill is too
important, and we have a united community. We have the governor
helping, we have all of the water agencies on board, so there is
very solid support for this bill."
<P>Often when different versions of bills pass the House and Senate,
a conference committee is appointed to resolve the differences, but
Feinstein said there weren't plans for a conference committee on the
CalFed bill. That means the version that passes the Senate would be
the final version. It would have to win approval from the House as
well, then go to the president.
<P>Feinstein has been working with House Resources Committee
Chairman Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy. Pombo's hoping for Senate
passage before the fall congressional recess set to begin in early
October, his spokesman said.
<P>"The chairman is optimistic that, with Sen. Feinstein's
partnership, we will be able to deliver a good bill to the president
before recess. He is committed to working with her in every way he
can to make sure we do," said Pombo spokesman Brian Kennedy.
<P>
<P></P></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD><!-- cdaFreeFormDetailByName.strSQL = FreeForm_GetTextBySectionIDPaperID @Name = 'ArticleBottom', @PaperID = '87', @SectionID = '11268', @ArticleID = '2397083', @Filter = 'Section', @LiveFilter = '1', @DateTimeContext = '9/14/2004 9:00:05 AM' --><!-- ArticleBottom not found --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P></SPAN></P></FONT></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></BODY></HTML>