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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman">Delay in salmon
fisheries aid prompts anger</FONT></DIV>
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<H3>By David Whitney -- Bee Washington Bureau</H3>
<P>Published 12:01 am PDT Wednesday, June 28, 2006
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<DIV class=storyText id=storyBody
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">WASHINGTON --
The Bush administration said in a heated meeting with West Coast House members
Tuesday that there will be no economic aid until at least February for salmon
fishermen idled because of the collapsing Klamath River fishery.
<P>"This is NOAA saying to the fishermen of California and Oregon: Drop dead,"
snapped Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, after the closed meeting with Conrad
Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
<P>
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<DIV class=adpos_160> <IMG class=OAS_adspace height=0
src="http://ads.sacbee.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_lx.ads/www.sacbee.com/content/politics/386322628/Button20/Sacbee/Albertsons_ROS_160_0606_UUU/img_albertsons_160_ros.html/34303339366235623431666462616630?_RM_EMPTY_"
width=0> The virtual closure of the West Coast salmon season is affecting
fishermen from Monterey to Portland. </DIV>
<P>"This has hurt communities just as seriously as Hurricane Katrina," said Rep.
Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara. "We have fishermen in San Luis Obispo suffering,
not being able to make their boat payments, not being able to continue their
family businesses. Our communities need help, and they need it now."
<P>Thompson and Capps were among a half-dozen House members appealing directly
to Lautenbacher and the Commerce Department for $81 million in disaster aid for
the fishermen and dependent communities. The meeting followed a letter from Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Bush administration Monday expressing deep
frustration over the delay.
<P>"I am at a loss as to what further information you need so that our
fishing-dependent communities can become eligible to receive disaster
assistance," the governor said.
<P>The House members said they were told no disaster declaration would be coming
until at least February, after the closure of the season and enough time for the
administration to calculate actual damages.
<P>Lautenbacher declined to confirm that, saying the agency was "still working
with the congressional delegation."
<P>But that's not what the angry House members said.
<P>"We have fallen into a bureaucratic black hole," sighed Rep. Peter DeFazio,
D-Ore.
<P>The Commerce Department announced in May that it was slashing the commercial
salmon season by 80 percent because of poor returns of fish to the Klamath
River, where a huge die-off three years ago was blamed on Bush administration
policies that favored farm irrigation over downstream water quality.
<P>Despite a regional office approving a disaster declaration, top officials in
Washington have held up a final decision. Many believe that their decision is
influenced at least in part by the fact that a disaster declaration would
implicate the administration's controversial water policy.
<P>According to a Congressional Research Service memo to Thompson, there are no
formal established procedures for fishery disaster declarations and the time for
making them varies dramatically. For example, it took less than a week to issue
such a declaration for fishermen affected by Hurricane Katrina.
<P>Thompson said he and fellow lawmakers would try to add $81 million in
disaster aid to a 2007 spending bill for the Commerce Department this week, but
that effort is likely to be challenged in the Republican-led chamber.
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=atw>
<H4>About the writer:</H4>
<UL>
<LI>The Bee's David Whitney can be reached at (202) 383-0004 or <A
href="mailto:dwhitney@mcclatchydc.com">dwhitney@mcclatchydc.com</A>.</LI></UL></BLOCKQUOTE><A
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