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<DIV>Colleagues ---</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dan Walters' criticism of investing California tax money in Klamath River
salmon restoration efforts, particularly in four-dam removal in what would be
the largest dam removal, and one of the most ambitious watershed restoration
efforts, in the world comes down to this: <EM>Do you think a one-time
investment of perhaps $90 million in California tax dollars toward dam
removal to help restore the third largest salmon runs in the nation outside
Alaska is worth it, in light of the conservatively projected results: a
more than 80% increase in salmon returning adult numbers per year in the
Klamath, and more than a 46% increase in ocean commercial, and 58% Tribal
harvest increase, harvest opportunities all the way up and down the coast, with
the major job benefits in California -- is worth the
investment?</EM></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>These are the salmon economic benefits calculated (conservatively I might
add) to flow from the Klamath Dam removal project under the Settlement Agreement
in the recently published Draft Environmental Impacts Statement, posted
at: <A
href="http://www.klamathrestoration.gov">www.klamathrestoration.gov</A>.
Check out especially the 4-page summary of economic impacts, and the 4-page
Summary of Key Conclusions both at:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> <A
href="http://klamathrestoration.gov/Draft-EIS-EIR/download-draft-eis-eir">http://klamathrestoration.gov/Draft-EIS-EIR/download-draft-eis-eir</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Among other economic benefits, this would restore hundreds of
salmon-dependent jobs coastwide, plus the balance of some 4,600 jobs total
estimated in the DEIS. See the DEIS for detailed analysis.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There is a very long history in California, as elsewhere, in investing tax
payer money in watershed and natural resource restoration projects for a very
good reason. <U>It helps the economy</U>. In this case it boils down
to whether its a good idea to invest (one-time) that $90 million
in California tax funds (raised through conservation bonds, as is the
general practice) to help stabilize, protect and restore a $150
<EM>million/year</EM> California salmon economy threatened by complete closures
every time the salmon runs in the Klamath collapse. The complete closure
of the California ocean commercial salmon season in 2006 is what we have to look
forward to more and more unless things improve for salmon in the Klamath.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We at PCFFA -- not to mention the affected coastal county of Humboldt --
believe this is a very smart investment in California's economic future.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Apparently Dan Walters believes otherwise. But that is his
sort-sightedness, not ours.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>=============================================<BR>Glen H. Spain, NW Regional
Director<BR>Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA)<BR>PO
Box 11170, Eugene, OR 97440-3370<BR>O:(541)689-2000 --
Fax:(541)689-2500<BR>Email: fish1ifr@aol.com<BR>Home Page: <A
href="http://www.pcffa.org/">www.pcffa.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 11/30/2011 11:26:24 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
tstokely@att.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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<H1
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id=story_headline class=entry-title>Oregon dam removal may cost
California</H1>
<H2
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id=story_subheadline></H2></DIV></DIV></SPAN>
<DIV><A
title=http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/11/24/2626954/oregon-dam-removal-may-cost-california.html
href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/11/24/2626954/oregon-dam-removal-may-cost-california.html">http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/11/24/2626954/oregon-dam-removal-may-cost-california.html</A> </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 12px"
class=Apple-style-span><A
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id=commentCount
title=http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/11/24/2626954/oregon-dam-removal-may-cost-california.html#disqus_thread
href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/11/24/2626954/oregon-dam-removal-may-cost-california.html#disqus_thread"
data-disqus-identifier="2626954">3 Comments</A></SPAN><SPAN
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class=Apple-style-span> (go to the website above to see them- they are
all interesting)</SPAN>
<DIV><FONT class=Apple-style-span
face="'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 16px" class=Apple-style-span><BR></SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"
class=Apple-style-span>
<DIV
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<DIV
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 16px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">
<DIV
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; FONT-STYLE: italic; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(105,122,133); FONT-SIZE: 12px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Thursday,
Nov. 24, 2011 | 09:42 PM</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV
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<DIV
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id=story_text_top class=entry-content>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The
California Oregon Power Co. was founded in 1911 to supply electricity to the
southernmost Oregon counties and the northernmost California counties. It
built four hydroelectric power dams on the Klamath River.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The
Klamath cuts across California's northwestern corner and is incredibly remote.
Until those dams were built, blocking spawning runs, it supported an immense
salmon and steelhead fishery that sustained Indian tribes living along its
banks.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">COPCO
merged with Pacific Power and Light Co. in 1961. PP&L eventually changed
its name to PacificCorp, and in 2005 was acquired by Warren Buffett.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Those
Klamath River dams have become very contentious factors in a controversy over
how the river's waters should be managed, involving not only their effect on
fish, but the water supplies of farmers in the Klamath Basin, the southern
Oregon region where the river begins.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">While
Indian tribes and commercial fishermen demand elimination of the dams to
restore fish runs, farmers worry about irrigation water.</P></DIV>
<DIV
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id=assets_ad>
<DIV
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; CLEAR: both; PADDING-TOP: 0px"
class=clear></DIV></DIV>
<DIV
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id=story_text_remaining class=entry-content>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The
factions have worked out a deal to remove the four dams and restore fish
habitat, while protecting water supplies for those farmers. California Rep.
Mike Thompson, a Democrat who represents the North Coast, and Oregon Sen. Jeff
Merkeley, have introduced legislation to implement it.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">However,
a big sticking point is its cost, about a billion dollars. Thompson and
Merkeley want the federal government to pay half, which already is drawing
opposition in a Republican-controlled Congress. PacificCorp would pay about
25%. The remaining $250 million?</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The
two legislators say it would come from "non-federal sources."</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">They
don't say that it would come from California taxpayers, specifically a $250
million chunk of the $11.1 billion state water bond that is scheduled to go
before voters next year.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">And
why should California taxpayers be on the hook?</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The
dams' removal would have no effect, positive or negative, on our water supply.
The semi-official rationale -- weak at best -- is that improving fish runs on
the Klamath would offset losses of habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">But
the bottom line is that, with interest on the bonds, it's a
half-billion-dollar gift from California taxpayers to Oregon farmers and
Warren Buffett, because PacificCorp would otherwise have to pay for the dams'
removal or attempt to get them relicensed, a virtual impossibility.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Given
the season, one could say that it's a real turkey.</P></DIV><BR
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clear=all>
[Unable to display image]</DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(225,225,225) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: rgb(225,225,225) 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 0px"
id=story_shirtail>
<DIV
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 30px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: uppercase; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(96,132,172); FONT-SIZE: 12px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 0px">DAN
WALTERS WRITES FOR THE BEE’S CAPITOL BUREAU. E-MAIL: <A
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title=mailto:dwalters@sacbee.com
href="mailto:dwalters@sacbee.com">DWALTERS@SACBEE.COM</A>; MAIL: P.O. BOX
15779, SACRAMENTO, CA 95852.</DIV></DIV></DIV><SPAN
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<DIV> </DIV>
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