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<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>Tribe holds
Congress to river restoration promises</span></font></b><b><font size=4
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>Eureka</span></font></b></st1:place></st1:City></st1:place></st1:City><b><font
size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:
bold'> Reporter – 10/28/07</span></font></b><b><font size=4
color="#6f0000" face=Arial><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:#6F0000;font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=4 color="#333333"
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Hoopa Valley Tribe of Northern California has
notified Congress and <st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName></st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:PlaceType> restoration supporters of the
tribe’s concern the plan for the San Joaquin is fiscally gluttonous and
could drain restoration funds from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></st1:place>, which bisects the Hoopa Valley Reservation. <br>
<br>
“They risk killing a living river and the fish in it if the San Joaquin
legislation (HR 24/S. 27) becomes a new consumer of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State></st1:place></st1:State>’s
river restoration funding,” said Hoopa Valley Tribal Council Chairperson
Clifford Lyle Marshall. <br>
<br>
In an Oct. 23 letter, the Hoopa Valley Tribal Council asked 10 members of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:State>’s congressional delegation
to change the funding mechanism for the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName></st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:PlaceType> restoration and support
legislation authored by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson and co-sponsored by U.S. Rep.
George Miller (HR 2733) to ensure the promise of restoration for the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place>.<br>
<br>
In the letter, the tribe also notes federal funding shortfalls for the
restoration of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place>
are allowing fish habitat to worsen. “Our tribal fishery is failing
because of a collapse of the fish populations in the Klamath and Trinity
rivers,” <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Marshall</st1:place></st1:City></st1:place></st1:City> noted. <br>
<br>
The Hoopa Valley Tribal Council sent the letter to key members of Congress
stating, “We need your assistance to ensure that the federal
government’s prior commitment and trust responsibility for Trinity
restoration are not sacrificed to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:place></st1:place> settlement.” <br>
<br>
Since the San Joaquin settlement was first introduced in the fall of last year,
the tribe has said the legislation’s funding mechanism will be used by
the administration to divert restoration monies from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place> restoration program approved in
December 2000. <br>
<br>
Congressional representatives, environmental groups, water and power
contractors in the Central Valley and administration officials have asked the
Hoopa Valley Tribe not to oppose the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:place></st1:place> legislation. The tribe’s letter replies
the tribe can only drop opposition to the San Joaquin restoration if funding
for the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place>
restoration is assured with HR 2733.<br>
<br>
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Marshall</st1:City></st1:City> said the
federal government betrayed its promises to restore the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place> when administration officials
refused to support HR 2733 during a Sept. 18 House Natural Resources
subcommittee hearing on the bill. The tribe supports HR 2733 as a way to
bolster sagging federal restoration efforts on the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place>.<br>
<br>
“We support river restoration throughout <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:State>, but Congress must recognize the
San Joaquin restoration legislation could allow the Interior Department to create
a billion-dollar vortex that will suck up available restoration funding for <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:State> rivers, including the
Trinity,” <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Marshall</st1:place></st1:City></st1:place></st1:City> said.<br>
<br>
He said the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place>
restoration project is underfunded by $8 million annually and is seven years
behind schedule, according to estimates developed this year by the secretary of
the Interior Department and the tribe. “Shifting limited funds to San
Joaquin will reduce funding for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></st1:place> restoration further,” he said.<br>
<br>
“Funding for the Trinity needs to be identified and confirmed now because
conditions have worsened for the Trinity and Klamath rivers fishery.” <br>
<br>
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Marshall</st1:City></st1:City> said the
Trinity River is the only tributary to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place></st1:place> producing quantities of salmon
available for local harvest. <br>
<br>
“If the Trinity River goes down, so goes fishing for native people,
sports fishermen and the commercial fishing industry for 900 miles of the
Northern California and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State></st1:place></st1:State>
coastline. The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:place></st1:place>
will take decades to restore. Funding for the Trinity will produce immediate
returns on investment and immediate benefits to the coastal communities that
rely on the salmon.”<br>
<br>
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Marshall</st1:City></st1:City> said the
Hoopa Valley Tribe would like to continue talks with Sen. Dianne Feinstein
about restoration of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place>.<br>
<br>
“The Senator has been a friend to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place> in the past. I think she is
concerned that the Bureau of Reclamation is only committing half of the money
it should on the government’s promise to restore the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place></st1:place>. Congressman Thompson’s
Bill will fix the annual funding shortfall. We hope she will introduce the same
bill in the Senate.”<br>
<br>
The federal government began diverting Trinity River waters to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place></st1:place> in l964, but promised enough
water would be retained for the river’s fish and wildlife. Since then,
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has allowed up to 90 percent of the
river’s water to be diverted. In the l980s, Congress recognized the
diversion had caused an 80 percent reduction in salmon populations. In 1992,
the Central Valley Project Improvement Act was passed to create funding for
environmental restoration of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State></st1:place></st1:State>
rivers harmed by commercial water users. <br>
<br>
In 2000, a Record of Decision agreement was signed by the Hoopa Valley Tribe
and the U.S. Department of Interior for meeting federal trust responsibilities
to restore and maintain the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s fishery. Since then, the
tribe has had to litigate against <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Central
Valley</st1:place></st1:place> interests opposed to giving up water for
fishery restoration and fight for restoration monies from the BOR.<br>
<br>
“The San Joaquin settlement is the latest blow to Trinity River
restoration,” <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Marshall</st1:place></st1:City></st1:place></st1:City> said.</span></font><font
size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><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><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'>Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place>, Chair</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'>California Trout, Inc., Advisor</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 </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'>415 519 4810 cell</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>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.caltrout.org">http://www.caltrout.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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