<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="1"><BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="2">Media Contacts: Clifford Lyle Marshall (530) 625-4211 ext. 161<BR>
Mike Orcutt (530) 625-4267 ext. 13<BR>
Tod Bedrosian (916) 421-5121<BR>
<BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="2"><B>HOOPA VALLEY TRIBE COMMENDS CONGRESS FOR ADDING $3 MILLION TO RESTORATION FUNDS FOR THE TRINITY RIVER – BUT WORFIES PRESIDENT MIGHT RENEGE<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Hoopa, Calif.</B></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="2"> – The Hoopa Valley Tribe of northern California announced today the Congressional 2008 Omnibus spending bill added $3 million for the restoration of the Trinity River that bisects their reservation. “After a long and tense debate about funds for the Trinity River, we are pleased to see both houses authorizing needed money for restoration of the Trinity River,” said Clifford Lyle Marshall, Chairman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. “This is a victory for California’s North Coast citizens because the Trinity River is one of the most important salmon producing rivers in the state. If the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) uses this money appropriately we can get the restoration project back on track.” Marshall issued special thanks to California Senator Dianne Feinstein, Representatives Mike Thompson, George Miller and other House members.<BR>
<BR>
The added $3 million in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, should mean next year’s Trinity River restoration budget will be $11,005,000. “We welcome infusion of these funds, but it is just a one-year patch,” said Marshall. “The federal government is seven years behind schedule and only spending half of what it should on the restoration of the river.” He predicted more budget battles in coming years to complete the restoration project. “We will know the job is finished when tribal, commercial, and sport fisheries are harvesting fish populations in numbers that existed prior to construction of the Trinity River dams,” said Hoopa fisheries director Michael Orcutt.<BR>
<BR>
President Bush cast a cloud of uncertainty over the fate of the added funds when he announced yesterday he had instructed his budget director to find ways to roll back funding on a number of projects in the Omnibus bill. The Washington Post reported White House aides said, “One option would be to ignore the vast majority of earmarks that are included only in conference reports rather than in the appropriations bill itself.” The Trinity funds are in the conference report. The BOR has repudiated conference report directives before and denied funds to the Hoopa Valley Tribe to participate in the restoration program. The Department of the Interior and the White House Office Management and Budget have not responded to tribal requests for assurances the administration will honor the funding increase for Trinity restoration. “We won’t be able to rest until we see the money in the program,” said Marshall.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
This year the tribe faced the added budget challenge of competing with legislation to restore the San Joaquin River. The Bush Administration had requested $7.5 million for the San Joaquin, but the House Committee on Rules noted, “Legislation for the San Joaquin River Restoration fund was not enacted by Congress.” Instead the committee directed the $7.5 million to the Trinity River ($3 million), Sacramento River Fish Screens ($2,952,000), and the Anadromous Fish Screen Program ($1,548,000), all authorized by Congress in l992. <BR>
<BR>
The Hoopa Valley Tribe had expressed concerns about how funding for San Joaquin could affect Trinity River restoration. “River restoration is a good thing throughout California,” said Marshall, “but Congress must continue to search for a way to re-water and fund the San Joaquin without undermining other Central Valley Project restoration programs.” <BR>
<BR>
Marshall said the federal government has “promises to keep” for fishery restoration. “Federal funding for the Trinity River needs to be pledged now because conditions have worsened for the Trinity and Klamath fishery.” Marshall said the Trinity River is the mainstay of Klamath River fish propagation. “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 Oregon coastline. The San Joaquin will take decades to restore. Funding for the Trinity River will produce immediate benefits for the coastal communities that currently rely on the salmon.”<BR>
<BR>
The Hoopa Valley Tribe has been critical of the BOR’s administration of the Trinity River restoration program, noting the project is seven years behind schedule and only funded at about half of what it should be. <BR>
<BR>
The federal government began diverting Trinity River waters to the Central Valley in l964, but promised enough water would be retained for the river’s fish and wildlife. Since then the BOR has allowed up to 90 percent of the river’s water to be diverted to the Central Valley. In the l980s Congress recognized the diversion had caused an 80 percent reduction in salmon populations and began cooperative studies with the Hupas. In 1992, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act mandated environmental restoration of California rivers harmed by commercial water users. In 2000, a Record of Decision agreement was signed by the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Department of the 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 Central Valley interests opposed to giving up water for fishery restoration, and fight for restoration monies from the BOR. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
- 30 - <BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"></FONT><BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR>See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)</HTML>