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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>Democrats' SOS for fishermen;
Lawmakers seek help for commercial salmon fleets, inhospitable Klamath River<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><b><font size=4
face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
font-weight:bold'>Sacramento</span></font></b></st1:City></st1:place><b><font
size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
font-weight:bold'> Bee – 4/28/06<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>By David Whitney, staff writer</span></font></b><font
size=4><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:State w:st="on"><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'>WASHINGTON</span></font></st1:State><font
size=4><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'> - <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>
and Oregon Democrats are rallying behind commercial salmon fishermen facing
drastic reductions in their season because of poor runs in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>The 32-member California House Democratic caucus and <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>'s four Democratic
House members joined in legislation introduced this week by Rep. Mike Thompson,
D-St. Helena, that directs $81 million in emergency relief to the commercial
fishermen. It also calls for spending another $45 million to make the <st1:place
w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place> more hospitable to the prized fish. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate
by Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both California Democrats, and
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., making the call for federal aid a unanimous Democratic
initiative. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>So far, no Republican member has joined on the
legislation. But Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., has introduced a much narrower bill
that includes the $81 million for emergency assistance but does not seek any
funds to improve river conditions. Wyden is also a co-sponsor of that bill. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>The political jousting showcases a huge divide over
Bush administration environmental policy. It comes as Commerce Secretary Carlos
Gutierrez is about to act on a recommendation by the Pacific Fishery Management
Council to drastically reduce the commercial salmon harvest this summer from
Monterey to the Columbia River in an effort to protect the low numbers of fish
migrating back to the Klamath River to spawn. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>More than 30,000 adult salmon died in the lower
portions of the Klamath in the fall of 2002 when the river was running low, the
water was warm and a fatal parasite spread. Poor runs last year and this year
are related to that die-off, and continuing water quality issues in the river
have been blamed for tens of thousands of additional fish dying either as they
head out to mature in the ocean or as they return to lay their eggs as part of
their three-to four-year life cycle. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Fishermen blame federal water policy, saying the Bush
administration's management decisions favor water for agricultural irrigation in
the Upper Klamath basin north of the California-Oregon border. A federal court
recently ordered the National Marine Fisheries Service to redo its biological
opinion on water needs for the Klamath salmon. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'>Glen Spain</span></font></st1:PersonName><font
size=4><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'>, Northwest regional spokesman
for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, said the $81
million included in the legislation in aid for commercial fishermen, Indian
tribes and fishing communities reflects what <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State>
and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>
estimate the economic damage will be from the proposed season closures. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Democrats held a press conference with fishermen in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:City></st1:place> on Monday to
announce the introduction of the bill. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>"The Bush administration's gross mismanagement of
the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place> has led to this year's and
last year's shortened salmon seasons," Thompson said. "Yet the
administration isn't offering any assistance." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Last year, Democrats, again unanimously, wrote the
administration seeking an economic disaster declaration after the commercial
season was shortened by 60 percent. The Commerce Department recently rejected
such a declaration, however, saying that high prices paid for salmon last year
canceled out the effects of the shortened season. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Thompson has filed a Freedom of Information Act
request in an effort to evaluate the information the agency used in reaching
that conclusion. Thompson said the situation is so dire this year that the dock
price for salmon would have to top $280 a pound for commercial fishermen to
break even under the expected closures. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>The prospects of economic damage are serious enough
that representatives of Boxer and Smith said separately Thursday they will try
to persuade congressional leaders to include money for the fishermen in an
emergency spending bill for hurricane relief and the war in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region></st1:place> nearing completion in the
Senate. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Even with the pared-down bill Smith proposes, however,
the chances of passage seem grim. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>According to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region>,
without the additional funding for improving the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath
River</st1:place> included in the Democrats' version of the bill, there's not
much hope for reversing the conditions that make the Klamath problematic for
fish. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>"We can't solve the problem just with disaster
assistance," <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region></st1:place>
said. "The river itself is the problem." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Under the Thompson bill, the Commerce Department would
have six months to write a recovery plan for the salmon. Once done, the $45
million would be allocated for monitoring equipment, fish passages and more
fisheries biologists to study the problem and issue annual progress reports to
Congress.</span></font><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;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 size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;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
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><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
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><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 size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><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 size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><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 size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><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 size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;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 size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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