<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1561" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>Media Contacts: Clifford Lyle Marshall (530) 625-4211 ext. 161<BR>Mike
Orcutt (530) 625-4267 ext. 13<BR>Tom Schlosser (206) 386-5200<BR><BR>HOOPA
VALLEY TRIBE REJECTS KLAMATH RIVER DEAL BECAUSE IT<BR>LACKS ASSURED WATER FOR
FISH<BR><BR>Hoopa, Calif. – The Hoopa Valley Tribe of northern California will
not endorse<BR>the latest draft of the Klamath River Basin Restoration Agreement
(KRBRA) because the<BR>agreement lacks adequate water assurances for fish.
Despite being in the minority among<BR>the negotiators, Tribal Chairman Clifford
Lyle Marshall said Hoopa would never waive<BR>its fishery-based water rights, as
demanded by federal and other negotiators, in a deal<BR>providing no assurances
for fisheries restoration.<BR><BR>“What began as dam removal negotiations got
turned into a water deal.<BR>PacifiCorp left the room two years ago and
negotiations with the company have since<BR>been separate from this negotiation.
The terms of this so-called restoration agreement<BR>make the right to divert
water for irrigation the top priority, trumping salmon water needs<BR>and the
best available science on the river,” Marshall said. “Such an upside down
deal<BR>threatens the goal of restoration and the Hoopa Tribe’s fishing rights,”
Hoopa<BR>Councilman Joe LeMieux said. “We cannot waive the rights of generations
to come.<BR>Dangling a carrot like this will not work for Hoopa.”<BR><BR>The
Hoopa objections come after three years of negotiations with farm
irrigators,<BR>environmental and fishing groups, government agencies, counties,
and other tribes. The<BR>Tribe has been a leading advocate to protect water
rights and fish habitat in the Klamath<BR>and Trinity rivers that run through
their reservation. “We have worked for years with all<BR>the parties to forge an
agreement that genuinely restores Klamath River salmon
habitat.<BR>Unfortunately, this deal locks away too much water for irrigators
with no recourse for<BR>salmon when the fish need more water. Salmon need enough
water, plain and simple,”<BR>he said.<BR><BR>Marshall said the proposed billion
dollar deal altogether ignores the National<BR>Academy of Science’s
recommendations in its November 2007 report on the U.S. -<BR>contracted Hardy
Phase II Instream Flow Assessment in the Klamath River.<BR>Congressional members
have urged the use of the Hardy Report to protect coho salmon<BR>from jeopardy.
Marshall said the deal also dismisses the only independent scientific<BR>reviews
of the agreement itself. “This latest draft is not a modern science-based
river<BR>restoration plan. It looks more like an old West irrigation deal,
guarantees for irrigators,<BR>empty promises for the Indians.”<BR><BR>The Tribal
Chairman also said that agreement proponents talk about helping the<BR>river’s
fish, but no real fisheries restoration objectives, standards, or assurances are
in the<BR>agreement. “Some parties seem to think there’s no other way to remove
the dams. The<BR>declining fish population tells us the river is being
compromised to death. Hoopa will<BR>retain its rights to defend the Klamath. We
will work with any and all parties to remove<BR>the dams and assure a restored
healthy river.” ###<BR><BR></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Start the year off right. <A title="http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489" href="http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489" target="_blank">Easy ways to stay in shape</A> in the new year. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>