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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This article is somewhat inaccurate. The 35,000
figure is the target for natural spawners, not all fish; hatchery production is
not included in this criterion. The closure is because the return projected by
NMFS (Santa Cruz lab) software known as Klamath Ocean Harvest Model (KOHN)
predicts less than 35,000 for three years in a row, triggering a closure based
solely on the natural spawn conjecture by the software. The hatchery returns
(Iron Gate, Trinity) are actually at or above 50000 year on year, and even in
2002 (32000 fish kill year) were over 24000 live return at Iron Gate alone.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The natural spawn (basically just non-hatchery as
includes hatchery escapement) is dependent on a lot of spotty reporting and
guesstimates of how many fish use the river gravels. (You could do a aerial
survey to try to photograph spawners the way they do ducks but it would have to
be repeated at least weekly from Sept.-Dec.; high water would tend to reduce
effectiveness but that would at least be empirical data.) The NMFS lab did
publish a paper on the methodology of predicting (without detail on how KOHN
works) but no detail on source data for 2006. So largely unknown what the
actual number of spawners is or was in last three years. But because the KOHN
number came up under 35000 (actually, 29200) and this is a third year, the
closure gears whirr and click. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And, strangely, the article doesn't
mention the FERC proceedings in March 2006. Pacificorp has to renew
licenses of upstream dams and I am not sure the final EIR is out yet. Attached
is the DFG letter re license application for quick idea of some of the issues.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bill Van Loek</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=bwl3@comcast.net href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">Byron </A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=fotr@crank.dcn.davis.ca.us
href="mailto:fotr@crank.dcn.davis.ca.us">FOTR List</A> ; <A
title=env-trinity@crank.dcn.davis.ca.us
href="mailto:env-trinity@crank.dcn.davis.ca.us">Trinity List Server</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, March 20, 2006 10:10
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> SF Chronicle March 20</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"><A
title=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/03/20/EDGU9GJD121.DTL
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/03/20/EDGU9GJD121.DTL"><FONT
color=black><SPAN style="COLOR: black"><SPAN
title=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/03/20/EDGU9GJD121.DTL>Where
are the Klamath salmon?</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></A>
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-STYLE: italic">San Francisco
Chronicle</SPAN></FONT></I></B><B><FONT size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> </SPAN></FONT></B>Editorial<FONT
face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR></SPAN></FONT><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Monday, March 20, 2006 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">GOT SALMON? Come next month,
federal rule-makers may so restrict fish-catching off <st1:place
w:st="on">Northern California</st1:place> that the season will all but end.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The reason is diminishing
population of the migrating fish on the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath
River</st1:place>. Farm diversions, dams and a long drought have reduced river
flows, decimating salmon schools stuck in warm, unhealthy pools along the
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">North</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> river. For several
years, the numbers have dipped below a 35,000-fish-count judged minimal to
perpetuate chinook salmon. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The water-quality problem isn't
much in doubt, not after federal studies and a review by the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">National</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Academy</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> of Sciences. The hard part is
coming up with a solution that will revive salmon runs.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">One painful step will begin in
April. A federal fishery agency will likely recommend a reduced salmon season
that will drop from a half to a quarter of last year's catch. Though salmon
pour into the Pacific from many rivers, the silvery schools are impossible to
tell apart -- hence the need to limit all fishing to save a sub-species reared
in just one watershed. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">But stopping fishing, by itself,
won't fill the Klamath with future generations of fish. If boat owners, deck
hands and their orbit of wharf-side businesses endure hardship, there should
be a response by the federal government that can do much to repair the larger
problem of a sick river. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">For years, upstream farmers in
eastern <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> and southern <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State> have held off
calls for change. The salmon will come back after a bad patch, this group says
in defending their historic water rights. But that's a delusional position,
given the weak fish numbers. Farm runoff is tainting the water. Dams warm the
water flows to fish-killing temperatures. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Change can only come if there is
concerted pressure on <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> to negotiate a compromise to a
complicated, multisided problem. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Mike
Thompson, D-Napa, have shown an interest in the problem and should push for a
solution. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">For starters, the Department of
Commerce, which sets fishing catches, needs to press the Department of
Interior, which watches over crucial water flows. The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission also has a role because it is relicensing four dams on
the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place>'s upper end.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Finding the money for these changes
won't be easy. Washington has little to spare with the Iraq war, a Katrina
fix-up and a deficit hitting $400 billion this year. But doing nothing means
fewer salmon, ever-shorter fishing seasons and angrier participants from all
sides. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The prospects aren't hopeless.
Sinking numbers of salmon along the <st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento
River</st1:place>, the state's biggest fish-nursery waterway, have shot up,
thanks to better management and water conditions. That's a fish story worth
repeating. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><EM><I><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=gray size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: gray">Byron
Leydecker</SPAN></FONT></I></EM></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=gray size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: gray">Chair, Friends of <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></SPAN></FONT></I></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=gray size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: gray">Advisor, California Trout,
Inc</SPAN></FONT></I></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><EM><I><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=gray size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: gray">PO
Box</SPAN></FONT></I></EM></st1:Street><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=gray><SPAN style="COLOR: gray">
2327</SPAN></FONT></I></EM></st1:address><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><EM><I><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=gray size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: gray">Mill
Valley</SPAN></FONT></I></EM></st1:City><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=gray><SPAN style="COLOR: gray">, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode
w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></SPAN></FONT></I></EM></st1:place><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=gray size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: gray">415 383 4810
ph</SPAN></FONT></I></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=gray size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: gray">415 383 9562
fx</SPAN></FONT></I></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</A></SPAN></FONT></I></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</A></SPAN></FONT></I></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</A></SPAN></FONT></I></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><EM><I><U><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=blue
size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: blue">http:www.caltrout.org</SPAN></FONT></U><FONT
color=lime><SPAN style="COLOR: lime"> </SPAN></FONT></I></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>