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<DIV><SPAN class=articletitle><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Dams must pass
fish<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><SPAN
class=articletitle><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Eureka</SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN></st1:place></st1:City><SPAN
class=articletitle><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> Times-Standard
3/30/06<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=articletitle><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By John
Driscoll, staff writer</SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN class=articletitle><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Federal officials will
require the owner of the hydropower project on the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath
River</st1:place> to put in fish ladders or other structures to allow salmon
past its dams as a condition of getting its federal license renewed.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The U.S. Interior and
Commerce departments' insistence that installing fish ways -- which could cost
$60 million to $200 million -- could make it difficult for PacifiCorp to
profitably operate the project, and some say that could prompt a settlement with
tribes, conservation groups, farmers and fishermen to take down the dams. The
departments also demanded that most water diverted from the Klamath for power at
J.C. Boyle Dam be sent into the river instead, which would sharply reduce power
generation at a key PacifiCorp facility. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The departments don't
have the authority to demand decommissioning the dams. That's left to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is overseeing the complex
relicensing effort. PacifiCorp's license expired this month, and it will now
rely on an annual license to operate. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Fish ladders could open
up about 60 miles of river to chinook salmon, steelhead and lamprey and
threatened coho salmon, and with further restoration efforts, eventually allow
fish to reach historic spawning grounds in streams above Upper Klamath Lake in
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>. The
conditions released Wednesday also protect water intakes at Keno Dam, keeping in
place vital infrastructure for U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project irrigators.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Restoring access to
good-quality spawning and rearing habitat above Iron Gate Dam is a major step in
rebuilding healthy salmon runs and fisheries that depend on them, said Jim
Lecky, regional administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service. It
creates the opportunity to reconnect the Klamath basin, from headwaters to the
ocean. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Troubled
river <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">While the river has its
share of troubles, the dams are of significant concern. They block fish from
reaching spawning grounds, they heat water in reservoirs, prompt algae blooms --
including highly toxic algae -- and degrade water quality in the river. That is
believed to have serious effects, especially on young salmon, which may be more
vulnerable to deadly parasites when stressed by hot, slow, alkaline water.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Federal fisheries
managers are now considering sharp cutbacks or elimination of fishing in the
river and along hundreds of miles of coastline to protect low numbers of salmon.
That could cost coastal economies about $150 million.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">There are no fish
ladders on the lowermost Iron Gate Dam or at Copco I and Copco II dams. The
agencies wrote that PacifiCorp would also have to rebuild its antiquated fish
passage facility at J.C. Boyle. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Yurok Tribe biologist
Dave Hillemeier said he was pleased with the federal agencies' commitment to
begin helping the ailing river. Hillemeier hopes that PacifiCorp might realize
the costs of the improvements outweigh the benefits.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Our hope is they'll do
the right thing and remove at least four antiquated dams that produce a minimal
amount of electricity from the mainstem river, Hillemeier said.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The whole project
produces about 150 megawatts of electricity, about enough for 150,000
households. Any group that disputes the conditions can request a hearing before
an administrative law judge. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Talks
ongoing <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">There are parallel
settlement talks occurring alongside the relicensing process. Representatives
from the Karuk, Yurok, <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Hoopa</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType> and Klamath tribes, counties in
Northern California and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>, agencies, fishing groups and
conservation organizations have been meeting regularly.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">PacifiCorp spokesman
Dave Kvamme said that he's not surprised about the terms and conditions. He said
the company has until April 15 to file its comments about the demands.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">But Kvamme said that the
utility, which has settled disputes over six other projects, believes that there
is more leeway in the parallel discussions. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Three of those have led
to the removal of dams, he said. Kvamme said the company is hoping to find a
practical solution that protects its shareholders. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">I think it's been our
preference all along to find solution in the settlement process, Kvamme said.
You can be more creative in the settlement process.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">While the talks are
confidential, removal of the dams is undoubtedly a part of the discussions.
Language that could provide funds from <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State> to go toward such an effort was in an
infrastructure bond that failed in recent weeks -- ironically, because of
sparring over money for a new dam in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. But supporters of the measure say
that the language is likely to find its way into another bond measure, which, if
passed, would go before voters in November. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">To help determine if
such an enormous project is even feasible, the California Coastal Conservancy is
working to find out what's behind the dams. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Sediment trapped in
reservoirs sometimes contains toxins, and if it does in this case, it may be
more complicated and expensive to take out the
dams.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The federal requirements
released Wednesday are further justification that the states need to fully study
dam decommissioning, said Michael Bowen with the conservancy. But he said that
PacifiCorp is stalling the project. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The conservancy is
trying to answer some basic questions about removal, Bowen wrote in an e-mail.
But unless PacifiCorp lightens up and lets us move forward quickly, our
publicly funded study is dead in the algae-laden waters of the Klamath
reservoirs. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The Interior and
Commerce conditions are subject to public hearings. FERC is expected to come out
with a draft environmental document in June, in which it will lay out a series
of alternatives available for the PacifiCorp project. Bowen said the state study
on trapped sediment and alternatives for fish passage will be critical to the
federal agency as it weighs dam decommissioning as among the possibilities for
the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place>.
#<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><A
href="http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_3654685">http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_3654685</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">U.S.
Acts to Help Wild Salmon in Klamath River; </SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT
face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">As
stocks plummet, agencies demand remedies from the owner of hydroelectric dams.
Options include fish ladders, demolition<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><B><FONT face=Tahoma
color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Los
Angeles</SPAN></FONT></B></st1:place></st1:City><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">
Times 3/30/06<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By
Eric Bailey, staff writer</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><st1:City w:st="on"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">SACRAMENTO</SPAN></FONT></st1:City><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"> Federal
wildlife agencies demanded Wednesday that the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath
River</st1:place>'s imperiled wild salmon be given a way to pass four towering
hydroelectric dams that for nearly a century have blocked the waterway's upper
spawning grounds.<BR><BR>The owner of the dams, PacifiCorp of Portland, Ore.,
could face a costly decision: Should it spend up to $175 million to erect very
long fish ladders, or should it abandon the dams and undertake the nation's
largest removal project?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service and other federal
wildlife agencies presented their demands in response to PacifiCorp's
application to renew its operating license for the dams.<BR><BR>The structures
combined with diversions for irrigation, polluted runoff from ranching, logging
and other factors have caused Klamath fish populations to plummet. Salmon runs
have fallen so low in the last three years that federal regulators next week
will decide whether to recommend that the annual fishing season be
canceled.<BR><BR>PacifiCorp, owned by billionaire financial guru Warren Buffet's
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has in recent years agreed to demolish three other
hydroelectric dams, including a 150-foot-tall concrete structure on the White
Salmon River in southwest <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>.<BR><BR>But that undertaking would
be dwarfed by the scope of removing PacifiCorp's four dams on the Klamath, where
worries over salmon have hurt farmers, whose irrigation supply was slashed in
2001. Also, commercial fishermen could lose this year's prized chinook
catch.<BR><BR>"Something of this magnitude in terms of the number of dams and
the sheer size is unprecedented," said Kelly Catlett, a policy advocate with
Friends of the River in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:place></st1:City>. "This would be in a league of its
own."<BR><BR>Company officials said they would consider appealing the demands of
the wildlife agencies but remain optimistic that an agreement could be reached
in talks that have been underway for more than a year with government agencies,
Native American tribes, fishermen, farmers and other groups with a stake in the
health of the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place>.<BR><BR>"We think
the settlement process is a better way to go," said Dave Kvamme, a PacifiCorp
spokesman. "You can get creative. You can take risks."<BR><BR>Steve Thompson,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife's state operations officer, said those negotiations
conducted biweekly in closed-door sessions are looking at potential remedies
to the Klamath's myriad environmental problems, from its Oregon headwaters to
where it pours into the Pacific north of Eureka, Calif.<BR><BR>"A settlement
could tackle many more issues than just dams," Thompson said. But, he added,
PacifiCorp probably would have to choose "what's the best business decision for
them" to ensure that fish can reach the more than 350 miles of historic habitat
in the river's upper basin.<BR><BR>The natural migration of salmon to Upper
Klamath Lake and beyond into tributaries fed by the snowmelt of <st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State>'s <st1:place w:st="on">Cascade Range</st1:place>
was blocked by the completion of the first of the dams in 1918. Since then, half
a dozen other dams have been erected on the Klamath, with the last of them the
earthen-sided Iron Gate Dam in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> the tallest of them all, rising
173 feet above the river.<BR><BR><st1:place w:st="on">Iron Gate</st1:place> and
three other hydropower dams J.C. Boyle and Copco 1 and 2 are being
considered for alteration or elimination because they pose the biggest barrier
to fish. The three other dams on the river are small enough to be surmounted by
fish ladders. <BR><BR>Critics of the four hydroelectric structures say they have
combined with water diversions for agriculture and runoff from farms, logging
and cattle grazing to brew environmental problems that threaten the river's
salmon.<BR><BR>The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is expected to decide
early next year on whether to issue a new license to operate the
dams.<BR><BR>Elimination of the four dams and the 151 megawatts of power they
produce wouldn't come easy. The cost of demolition and river restoration has
been estimated at $100 million by environmentalists and the tribes, but could
climb higher if unforeseen obstacles emerged.<BR><BR>Some backers of dam
decommissioning have proposed that the idea be sweetened for PacifiCorp with
public funds and are pushing to include Klamath dam removal money in Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's proposed infrastructure bond measures.<BR><BR>"Dam removal is
one piece of the puzzle, but it's a big piece," said Craig Tucker, a policy
analyst with <st1:place w:st="on">Northern California</st1:place>'s Karuk Tribe,
which has seen its Klamath catch nearly disappear. "There's no way you can
conclude that the 151 megawatts those dams produce are more valuable to society
than salmon."<BR><BR>Two other tribes the Hoopa and Yurok fish the river as
part of their cultural heritage. Commercial fishermen estimate that the loss of
this year's chinook salmon season could cost coastal economies $150
million.<BR><BR>The Klamath was once the nation's third-most productive salmon
river, with up to 1.2 million salmon and steelhead trout joining an epic annual
migration to spawn. Today, the river's coho salmon are on the endangered species
list, and its chinook salmon are at record lows.<BR><BR>PacifiCorp's Kvamme said
the company remained unconvinced that salmon would survive in the watershed's
upper reaches.<BR><BR>Some university experts share that concern. <st1:place
w:st="on">Upper Klamath Lake</st1:place> has grown saturated with phosphorus
runoff from the Cascades' volcanic slopes, compromising water quality. In
addition, upstream tributaries are sullied by agricultural runoff and other
pollution.<BR><BR>"My biggest worry is that expectations about the positive
impacts of Klamath dam removal on salmon and steelhead may be raised too high,"
said Peter Moyle, a UC Davis professor of fish biology who helped look at the
Klamath for a National Academy of Sciences study.<BR><BR>Meanwhile, the power
the dams produce, though less than 2% of PacifiCorp's overall production of more
than 8,000 megawatts, is still enough for 70,000 households, Kvamme noted. To
replace that clean electricity, he said, would require burning 360,000 tons of
coal or 5 million cubic feet of natural gas.<BR><BR>But critics say the power
isn't worth the environmental and economic costs. A study by the California
Energy Commission found that losing electricity from the dams would not
significantly harm regional power production. The National Academy of Sciences
and the California Water Resources Control Board have recommended a full
evaluation of dam removal.<BR><BR>Other options include catching fish and
hauling them around the dams, but that effort has not been very effective on the
<st1:place w:st="on">Columbia River</st1:place> and Northwest
streams.<BR><BR>Construction of fish ladders over the dams could prove
formidable. The ladders would have to step an exhausting 120 times to top Iron
Gate Dam and run for nearly two miles. Biologists question if salmon and
steelhead trout would even use the ladders. #<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><A
href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-salmon30mar30,1,7907211.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california">http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-salmon30mar30,1,7907211.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<H2 style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">A good week for Klamath salmon;
Fish ladders, bigger water release ordered<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></H2>
<H2 style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><B><FONT
face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Sacramento</SPAN></FONT></B></st1:place></st1:City><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> Bee
3/30/06<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></H2>
<H2 style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By Matt Weiser, staff
writer</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></H2>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Federal
fisheries managers on Wednesday announced that fish ladders must be installed on
four <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place> dams, a move that could
eventually restore more than 300 miles of salmon spawning habitat.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The news
is a big win for fishermen, who this year may face a total closure of the
coastal salmon fishing season because of a plunge in fish numbers on the
Klamath. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"There is
hundreds of miles of spawning habitat that will now become accessible to these
fish," said Mike Hudson, president of the Small Boat Commercial Salmon
Fishermen's Association, based in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Berkeley</st1:City></st1:place>. "It's good news for fishermen, it's
good news for tribes, it's good news for consumers. It's just plain good news."
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
announcement follows a federal court ruling Monday that will benefit the salmon.
It ordered the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to release more water into the river
from its upstream agricultural water diversions. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The call
for fish ladders comes from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the
fisheries branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Their
recommendation is part of a relicensing process for the Klamath dams now under
way within the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">That
process gives the recommendation of the federal agencies the weight of a
mandate, meaning FERC must now make fish ladders a requirement for relicensing.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"The
federal government is proposing fish passage for the first time in 80 years,"
said Alex Pitts, Department of Interior spokesman. "That's a big deal."
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
Klamath River was once the third-largest salmon producer on the <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Pacific</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType>, after the <st1:City
w:st="on">Columbia</st1:City> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place> rivers. But this year, Chinook
salmon spawning on the Klamath are expected to fall below a population of 35,000
for the third year in a row. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">As a
result, the National Marine Fisheries Service has proposed closing the coastal
salmon fishing season this year, which could jeopardize a $150 million industry.
The Pacific Fisheries Management Council, an advisory group, plans to make a
recommendation on the closure next week in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Salmon and
other fish lost access to hundreds of miles of spawning habitat on the Klamath
with construction of the first of the four dams in 1918.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Today,
only one of the four has any sort of fish ladder, and it is the uppermost of the
four, meaning that salmon have three insurmountable dams between them and that
ladder. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">A federal
dam license lasts up to 50 years, so the current relicensing effort is a rare
opportunity to change the river's fortunes. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"I'm
impressed that the feds are really stepping up and taking a hard line," Craig
Tucker, campaign coordinator for the Karuk Tribe, said of the call for fish
ladders. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The tribe
is one of three with historic fishing rights on the river.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The four
small Klamath dams are owned by PacifiCorp, based in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Portland</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Ore.</st1:State></st1:place>, a division of Scottish Power. The
company has estimated that installing fish ladders could cost $200 million,
spokesman Dave Kvamme said. This compares with annual revenues from the dams of,
at most, $32 million. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Tucker and
others hope the company will remove the dams if that proves to be cheaper than
fish ladders. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Dam
removal would have the added benefit of reducing water temperatures in the river
and eliminating warm-water parasites that kill fish.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The four
dams together produce 151 megawatts of electricity annually, or enough for about
70,000 homes. The dams do not supply any water for farms or cities or any
significant flood control benefits. #<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><A
href="http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14236679p-15057622c.html">http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14236679p-15057622c.html</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Groups challenge
fish barriers</SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">;
</SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Agencies want
<st1:place w:st="on">Iron Gate</st1:place> Dam to provide passage for
salmon<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Redding
Record-Searchlight 3/30/06<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By Dylan
Darling, staff writer</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Federal
agencies are calling for salmon to again be able to swim the entire length of
the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place>.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
Department of the Interior, along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, recommended Wednesday that the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) require Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp to figure
out ways for migrating fish to get around a string of four dams on the river.
The company is seeking a 50-year license to operate the dams.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"Restoring
access to good-quality spawning and rearing habitat above Iron Gate Dam is a
major step in rebuilding healthy salmon runs and fisheries that depend on them,"
said Jim Lecky, director of the NOAA Fisheries office of protected resources.
"It creates the opportunity to reconnect the Klamath basin, from headwater to
the ocean." <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Iron Gate
Dam, a 173-foot-high earthen structure about 200 miles from the river's mouth at
the <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Ocean</st1:place>, was built in 1962 and is the
farthest downstream. It blocks salmon, steelhead and lamprey from 300 miles of
spawning habitat. Migrating fish have been cut off from the upper reaches of the
Klamath since the river's first dam, Copco I, was finished in 1918.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
recommendations call for the construction of fish ladders, concrete structures
that provide a regulated cascade of water that fish can swim through to get over
a dam. If not fish ladders, then other types of structures should be built to
get fish past the dams, the recommendations say. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">In accord
with federal guidelines, PacifiCorp may disagree with the recommendations and
offer alternatives, said Dave Kvamme, PacifiCorp spokesman. The company and
stakeholders in the relicensing also can ask for a hearing.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">When
PacifiCorp officials turned in a 7,000-page relicensing application to FERC in
February 2004, fish passage wasn't included in the plan.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Kvamme
said fish passage wasn't included because of poor water quality and habitat
conditions in the upper Klamath and its tributaries.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"We didn't
call for fish passage because we don't think that any significant numbers of
fish can be sustained in the upper drainage," he said. The upper Klamath has
been affected by agricultural runoff and damage from livestock.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Meanwhile,
fishermen groups and American Indian tribes downstream have called for not just
fish passage, but for the complete removal of the dams.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"We think
the real answer to this problem is going to be dam removal," said Craig Tucker,
spokesman for the Karuk Tribe. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Tucker
said the recommendations by Interior and NOAA Fisheries could be a step in that
direction because the cost of putting in fish passage could be more than getting
rid of the dams. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Getting
fish around <st1:place w:st="on">Iron Gate</st1:place> alone would be a
monumental project, with a two-milelong fish ladder needed to get fish over the
dam, Tucker said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Kvamme
said the cost of removing dams varies greatly depending on the method used to
tear them down. He also said the economic impact of not having the dams in
place, which among other things would mean losing the ability to regulate the
river's flow, needs to be taken into account. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Rough
estimates put the cost of fish passage at $200 million. He said the company
hasn't made any estimates of the cost of dam removal.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
Klamath dams provide PacifiCorp with 151 megawatts of power, or enough to supply
about 70,000 customers. #<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><A
href="http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_local/article/0,2232,REDD_17533_4581917,00.html">http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_local/article/0,2232,REDD_17533_4581917,00.html</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">#####<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>