Klamath River Indian
articles, press releases
 and history

Indians Table of Contents

 

 
OSU, Yurok Tribe partner to study Klamath River after dam removal, Capital Press 7/9/2022. "the project was recently awarded $870,000 from Oregon Sea Grant to conduct the research, including outreach among five key stakeholder groups — tribes, irrigators, commercial fishing, recreation and conservation organizations."
Klamath Tribes warn of ESA violations over water allocation, Capital Press 4/25/22. "According to the Klamath Water Users Association, a group that represents 1,200 farms and ranches in the Klamath Project, this year's expected allocation of 50,000 acre-feet equals no more than 5% of all the water that will be used this season from Upper Klamath Lake. About 40% of the water will be sent down the Klamath River for ESA-listed salmon; 28% will be held in Upper Klamath Lake for C'waam and Koptu and 27% will be lost to evaporation..."

Klamath Tribe suing Biden administration over Oregon water to farmers, H&N 4/15/22. “We implore you to rescind the 2022 plan and operate the project this year consistent with the law, which requires the prioritization of the needs of the C’Waam and Koptu,” (Klamath Tribe Chairman Don) Gentry said using native language terms to describe the suckerfish. The fish also have spiritual, cultural and historical significance to the tribes." Yurok Vice-Chairman Frankie Meyers said, “The Upper and Lower Klamath Basin once functioned as an integrated system that provided abundant salmon, suckers and waterfowl with minimal intervention. It is our duty to bring this system back into balance and we will never stop working toward that goal..."
KBC NOTE: Not mentioned in the H&N article, last summer farmers got zero allocation while the Bureau of Rec. withheld 40,000 acre feet of our stored water above what the ESA required, and refused to pay it back to the farmers. In 2021 the agencies and tribes dewatered our refuges for the first time in more than 10,000 years according to Fish and Wildlife Service.
Ongoing fish kill on the Klamath River is an 'absolute worst-case scenario'  (Ongoing fish kill on the Klamath River is an 'absolute worst-case  scenario') — High Country News – Know the West
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Photo from High Country News of Frankie Meyers. Not mentioned by Meyers is, our Klamath Basin DID function as an integrated system with abundant salmon, suckers and waterfowl until, against the direction of the "best available science," the National Research Council, the government agencies mandated higher lake levels and river flows than historically possible before the Klamath irrigation project was built. Lake level and river flow management will not increase sucker propagation according to the NRC. Suckers thrived in years of low water levels.
Watch Meyer's video: https://www.facebook.com/frankie.../videos/4455720501123904 "...You are always in the right if you're telling your government officials to give land back to indigenous communities..." A ten minute video well worth your time.  Keep in mind, every Klamath tribal member was given a ballot to vote on whether to terminate their tribe and receive money...they overwhelmingly voted to terminate and were paid for their land. They later were given allotments and most of them sold their allotments.
   Also, Mayers claimed that only white veterans were chosen to win a Tulelake homestead. FACT: WWI and WWII veterans with farm experience were entered into a contest, and winners were drawn from a pickle jar. Skin color was not a prerequisite.
Gentry: Dam removal key to reconnect salmon to Klamath | Guest Commentary |  heraldandnews.com

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Photo from Herald and News. Don Gentry, current Klamath Tribal Chairman discusses termination and allotments in October 7, 2003 on Tribal Tour of the forests they hoped to be given: #9 In the van, Tribal Resource Specialist Don Gentry in discussion about Termination

 

 

 

 

Klamath Tribes Press Release: Klamath Tribes respond to BOR water allocations 4/12/22. "Today, we see in the Klamath Basin the consequences of nearly 120 years of ecosystem degradation at the hands of the settler society. They have drained hundreds of thousands of acres of open water and wetlands, mowed down the largest pine forests in the west, mined the groundwater to the point that wells now go dry where marshes and lakes formerly prevailed, straightened whole river systems and striven to eradicate beavers that once engineered complex waterways, allowed their cattle to destroy riparian zones and defecate in icy cold springs, and dammed the mighty Klamath River five times."
KBC NOTE: In 2022 Klamath farmers got none of their stored water. The government and tribes mandated higher than historical water levels in Klamath Lake where our water is stored, dewatering our farms and wildlife refuges, "open water and wetlands" which supported 433 species of wildlife here; the biological opinion deals with 3. According to USFWS, these refuges had water for more than 10,000 years, before 2022. With all of our stored surface water denied to farmers, many of our wells did go dry. Because of mandates by government agencies and tribes to not log or thin our forests, millions of acres burned the past summers. The Tribes are presently suing the government to deny us farmers a meager 50,000 acre feet of water this summer also, while mandating historically high levels for Klamath Lake, and also Klamath River to be sent to the ocean. They want to rip out the hydroelectric dams on the river which serve 70,000 families with power. Tribal members have told us they like electricity. Also, most rivers have been fenced to prevent cattle from entering the rivers.
Klamath Ukraine by Rudy Hiley, Klamath Basin 3/6/22.  "...it is alarming to see any population or group try to punitively reclaim land or resources or both just because it was once theirs, no matter how long ago. Incursion is part of the process of attempting to occupy, control, or re-occupying a geographic area that an aggressor really wants, or used to have, or has strong feelings about, yet no longer commands legal ownership of..."
When the Water Stopped: An Oregon town at its breaking point
WATCH THE VIDEO, by Aljazerra/Faultlines 11/10/21
KBC Note: Featuring a film and article of hate, racism, lies, zero science, directed toward "racist/white supremacist" Klamath Farmers and "racist" Klamath hydroelectric dams.
The players: Joey Gentry, Joey's brother Klamath Tribal Chairman Don Gentry, Craig Tucker (Friends of the River activist/community organizer/dam removal activist/Black Lives Matter supporter/KarukTribe spokesman, and ‘Coalition of the Willing’ co-chair. (The other co-chair not is the film is Dan Keppen, former Bureau of Reclamation, former Klamath Water Users Association Executive Director, Family Farm Alliance Executive Director), narrator, Presbyterian Church attendees, Klamath farmer Rodney Cheyne, Dan Neilson.
11/15/21 - Order No. 3403 Subject: Joint Secretarial Order on Fulfilling the Trust Responsibility to Indian Tribes in the Stewardship of Federal Lands and Waters. Today, the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture issued a joint secretarial order directed toward strengthen the role of tribes in management of land and water.  It also commits to support of return of tribal lands and taking federal land into trust. 
Newsom appoints Yurok attorney Amy Cordalis of McKinleyville to California Water Commission, Times Standard 1/14/2021. "...Cordalis is a member of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation Board of Directors..."
Feds Using Tribal Govenments for Tyranny The New American magazine, posted to KBC 9/13/2020. This video features tribal expert, Cherokee Elaine Willman, telling about her new book TNA Magazine: "Federally funded tribal governments are being used as a battering ram against the U.S. Constitution, state sovereignty, and individual liberty, Indian policy expert and author Elaine Willman told The New American magazine's Alex Newman. In her new book American Tribal Tyranny, Willman lays it all bare. She gives insight into the new Supreme Court ruling on Oklahoma, and explains how the federal government's complex and unconstitutional Indian policy mess is helping destroy the nation."
Yurok Tribe joins lawsuit seeking temporary restraining order to restore essential water flows for Klamath River salmon, Del Norte Triplicate 5/18/2020. "The Yurok Tribe joined the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the Institute for Fisheries Resources in pursuit of a temporary restraining order to reinstate water flows on the Klamath River."
Yurok Tribe responds to 'Takings' outcome, H&N 11/19/19. "Officials representing the tribes interests said this means two things: (1) that Yurok water rights require the Bureau of Reclamation to provide, at minimum, enough water to the Klamath River to support salmon habitat and ensure the persistence of coho salmon and, (2) that Klamath Irrigation Project water withdrawals can only occur when there is enough water in the river to ensure the persistence of the fish."
Klamath Tribes agree with court's ruling (on Takings Case), H&N 11/16/19. "Sue Noe, affiliated with the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and legal counsel for Klamath Tribes, said that Klamath Project irrigators, who are junior water users to the tribes, “were not entitled to receive any Project water in 2001.” (KBC NOTE: AFTER the 2001 water shutoff, the National Research Council stated that the water shutoff was "unjustified." For some perspective, NARF is supported by Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation, which along with George Soros' Open Society Foundation funded the northbound central American migrant caravans through Mexico:" https://onenewsnow.com/culture/2018/05/01/reports-soros-funding-border-caravan-invasion
Groups sue over Klamath River water: KRRC's dam removal efforts continue, OPB 8/8/19.
Call on water appears unnecessary, by Bill Boyd, Chiloquin rancher, H&N 7/11/19. "For the second year in a row, the Tribes in the Modoc Irrigation District have called for our irrigation and stock water to be shut off even through we had 140 percent normal moisture level this last winter..."
Klamath Tribes expand crime victim support with $400,000 grant H&N 4/11/19. "Klamath Tribes Social Services Director Marvin Garcia said they currently employ one victim advocate who handles up to 100 cases per month...More than 80 percent of Native American women across the country have experienced violence, according to the Indian Law Resource Center, and more than 50 percent have experienced sexual violence..."
Modoc apology bill passes Senate, on to House, H&N 4/4/19. " Chairman Don Gentry:“On behalf of the Klamath Tribes, the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Paiute people, I hereby express our overwhelming support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 ... Acknowledging the truth of wrongs done is a critical first step towards healing those affected.”
Modoc War apology bill proposed, H&N 3/21/19.
Oregon Regrets executing Modoc Chief Captain Jack who murdered General Canby, Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 Sponsored by Oregon Senator GIROD, February 2019. "Resolved, That we express our regret over the execution of Kintpuash (Captain Jack), Schonchin John, Black Jim and Boston Charley in October 1873 and for the expulsion of the Modoc tribe from their ancestral lands in Oregon." https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SCR12/Introduced
Hoopa Valley Tribe wins lawsuit against feds.The victory may expedite Klamath dam removal, Eureka Times-Standard1/28/19.
from 2018: Hoopa Valley Tribe warns of lawsuit over salmon fishing rules, focus on Klamath and Rogue fishery, Eureka Times Standard, posted to KBC 1/20/19: "The tribe argues that had the council used its original calculation method and allowed for 11 percent of Chinook salmon to be harvested, the number of coho salmon that would killed would be “in excess” of what’s allowed."
Hoopa Tribe Went 10 Times Over Trinity River Salmon Catch Limit, WONews.com KBC 3/23/18. Hoopa's catch was "...1,660 fall salmon last year when its quota was only 163 fish, the Hoopa Tribe admitted it knowingly went over its limits and allowed tribal members to continue fishing, even though the fall salmon season for sport anglers was completely shut down last fall in the Klamath and Trinity rivers, and ocean seasons were severely curtailed as well to protect Klamath Basin salmon." 
James Albert Waddell, Karuk Tribal member, has documented Loggers Life, local art and history, Happy Camp history, Mule Packer, Gold Miners, Miners vs Indians, betrayed Soldiers, George Gibbs journal info, more. Waddell has also contributed extensively to KBC detailing tribal leader corruption.
 
Summit Exposes Violations of Indiansâ?? Rights, Fringe Left Freaks< Elaine Willman. Summit Exposes Violations of Indians’ Rights, Fringe Left Freaks, The New American 10/18/18. "(Cherokee Elaine) Willman highlighted some of the work done by the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance (CERA), where she sits on the board, to help Indians having problems with their tribal governments. “Many of my friends are tribal families,” Willman said, noting that she spent decades living on Indian reservations. “We provide whatever resources we can to tribal persons at odds with their tribal government. Within those tribal governments, members do not have the First Amendment, they do not even have parental rights.” In some cases, she said, tribal governments deprive parents of their parental rights and take their children away as a result of disagreements with tribal officials...Fringe left-wing groups and their “fake news” allies went wild in the days before the conference, but the summit nevertheless succeeded in educating citizens, policymakers, and lawmakers from across the region."
KBC NOTE: Flashback to 10 years ago, Letter by Becky Hyde who blasts Klamath Basin Alliance, Elaine Willman of Cherokee descent/author/film maker/past National Chairman of Citizens for Equal Rights, Philip Brendale and attorney James Buchal.
Response by a KBC editor, May 20, 2008. Even 10 years ago Cherokee Willman and her mentor Cowlitz/Hawaiian Brendale were considered by our Klamath Basin "fringe left" to be anti-Indian and a threat, and using "scare tactics."
$500,000 in water study funds cut, H&N 9/18/18. "...Klamath Tribes stated in a press release last week there is now no flexibility to even consider water allocation negotiations until significant progress is made on improving water quality in Upper Klamath Lake..." KBC Note: Klamath Tribes have been suing Klamath Water Users to shut down our deeded irrigation water all summer. 
KWUA pushes back on (Klamath) Tribes lawsuit, H&N 6/29/18. “ 'I would suspect that if the Tribes prevail, we could expect a shutdown extremely soon after that,' said Scott White, executive director of the KWUA..."
Tribal call restricts Chiloquin water use, H&N 6/13/18. "...residents in Chiloquin cannot use city water for anything other than human consumption following a call on water by the Klamath Tribes..."
KWUA: Court should move Tribes case, H&N 6/10/18. "Klamath Water Users Association is asking that a federal court in Sacramento or a federal court in Oregon be used to hold a hearing about the lawsuit, stating that San Francisco is outside the purview of where the case originates...'They (Klamath Tribes) want to require Upper Klamath to be held at an unprecedented and artificially high elevations for suckers year-around,” said Brad Kirby, president of the association and the association’s operations committee chairman, in a news release. “I wouldn’t expect there to be any water at all available for Klamath Project irrigation and wildlife refuges until there are new biological opinions, which is not expected until 2020.' ”
Klamath Tribes sue to protect fish, H&N 5/25/18.
2 1/2 years ago: Record number of suckers recovered. Biologists find 732 juvenile suckers near A Canal screen, H&N 12/18/15. "
A record number of juvenile Lost River and shortnose suckers were recovered from the headwaters of the A Canal earlier this year. According to a news release, biologists with the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) found the largest number of juvenile Lost River and shortnose suckers since fish salvage operations began in the Klamath Project in the late 1990s..."

Klamath Tribes Press Release regarding sucker lawsuit 5/24/18
KWUA PRESS RELEASE - Klamath Water Users Association, Klamath Tribes action will hurt basin, fish benefits unlikely, 5/24/18.  "...why haven't Klamath Tribes shared this information...that lake levels will work now when they haven't for over 25 years..."

Dr. William Lewis Jr, National Research Council, at Science Workshop in Klamath Falls "Lewis explained that the suckers were listed since 1988 because of over harvest.  They stopped fishing in '87 but they did not recover. The lake has gone from 3' range under natural conditions to experiencing 6' deep in current dry years. With charts and graphs he showed the habitat and water quality, algae and chlorophyll. He said that the committee looked extensively at water levels, and they find 'no hint of a relationship'. He also said that there was no relationship between lower water levels and extreme ph levels. And "the committee cannot support the idea that water levels effect algae growth.' "It can not be achieved by lake levels." '92 was the lowest water year, and they expected it to be the least favorable for fish. 'The lowest water year produced the same amount of larvae as other years.' He said that fish kill information does not support that fish are dying by changing water level." 2/3/04
Karuk Tribe questions restoration of Ruffey Rancheria, Eureka Times-Standard, 5/25/18.  Here for questions and answers from the Ruffey Tribe: Ruffey Rancheria Setting the Record Straight
'Ruffey' tribal recognition bill passes committee, H&N 5/10/18
KID talks water, efficiency with Tribes, H&N 4/30/18
Klamath Tribe complaints regarding ranchers being allowed drinking water and water for livestock. 4/2/18. Watering crops and pasture on Upper Klamath private land is presently forbidden by Klamath Tribes.
Upper Basin ranchers get reprieve to water cattle, H&N 3/15/18. "Ranchers in the Upper Basin of Klamath County — and the town of Chiloquin — received an emergency exemption from the call on water Friday allowing them to use water for their stock cattle and for human consumption...The Klamath Tribes has the first rights to the water, which it uses to protect endangered short-nosed sucker and Lost River sucker."
4/1/18 - Powerpoint: Position on water for tribes by Alan Mikkelson, Acting Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Chair of the Working Group on Indian Water Rights Settlements.
Hoopa Tribe questions BOR Plan, Feds eye scaling back antiparasite Klamath dam releases,  Eureka Times Standard, 3/26/18. "...The bureau wrote in its court filing that it also evaluated the option of releasing a smaller dilution flow, but that the questions about these flows effectiveness still existed. Including a smaller dilution flow would also cause a complete irrigation shutoff in the Klamath Project until as late as June 15, according to the bureau."
KBC NOTE: Obama-appointed District Judge William Orrick, who ruled against President Trump in the sanctuary city policy, and "ruled in favor of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, Yurok Tribe and environmental group’s arguments in February 2017..." stated “courts are not permitted to favor economic interests over potential harm to endangered species.” He will hear this Klamath case April 11th, and could potentially determine the fate of the Klamath Basin irrigators.
Hoopa Tribe Went 10 Times Over Trinity River Salmon Catch Limit, WONews.com KBC 3/23/18. Hoopa's catch was "...1,660 fall salmon last year when its quota was only 163 fish, the Hoopa Tribe admitted it knowingly went over its limits and allowed tribal members to continue fishing, even though the fall salmon season for sport anglers was completely shut down last fall in the Klamath and Trinity rivers, and ocean seasons were severely curtailed as well to protect Klamath Basin salmon." 
* Tribes seek higher water levels for Upper Klamath; lawsuit notice filed, possibility of extinction-level event cited, H&N 2/14/18.
* Klamath Tribes PRESS RELEASE:
Issuance of Draft 60-Day Notice to Protect C’waam and Koptu (suckers) 2/13/18
* Klamath Tribe's attorney's letter: 60-day notice of violations of Endangered Species Act 2/9/18
Tribes renew dam removal support at FERC meeting, H&N 1/21/18
1/9/18 - Public Not Welcome: Tribal Member Water Update Meeting Draft Agenda, January 9th & 10th: litigation, adjudication, Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement/UKBCA, Secretarial Negative Notice, KBRA Mazama funding, amended KHSA, water calls, BOR reconsultation, Klamath Marsh, global goals....
Interior secretary nixes water agreement: Tribes, Upper Basin irrigators react, H&N 1/2/18
Klamath Tribes ask to intervene late in dam removal, H&N 11/17/17
Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma buys 800 acres near Lava Beds, by Lee Juillerat for Mail Tribune,10/22/17. 'I’m not at liberty to say what the tribe wants to do with it,” Hollis said. 'When we’re ready we’ll make a decision known.' The tribe is based in Miami, Oklahoma."
“Takings” outcome seen as win for Tribes, H&N 10/5/17.  
KBC Note: Before the Klamath Project was built, there were up to 30 feet of water where our farms are now. It was a navigable lake. That's why on our deeds, signed by US President, we were allotted 2 feet of water for our crops, as all the rest we pump uphill, at our expense, out of our closed basin and into the Klamath River? The river often went dry in the fall before the Project was built.
Chiloquin water could be vulnerable to water call, H&N 8/25/17. KBC NOTE: Klamath Tribes made a call on this flood year to shut down ranchers' wells. Now that they learned their call would effect their town's, Chiloquin's, well, they are trying to find an exemption "solution" for their own well.
Klamath Tribes meet with Interior's Zinke, H&N 7/18/17.
Water deliveries begin at Crater Lake, H&N 5/17/17.
Crater Lake National ParkChiloquin to sell water to Crater Lake, 2.5 million gallons, H&N 5/9/17.  Crater Lake water is shut off "...by a call on water made by the Klamath Tribes...the city council agreed to sell water to the park for $0.015 per gallon, an estimated total cost of $37,500 during May and June...6,000-gallon trucks would make the trip to and from the park an estimated eight to 10 times per day...The city reserved the discretion to extended water sales through July and August as needed."

Crater Lake to ship water starting next week, "...$400,000 to haul water.." "...Rim Drive may not open until mid-June due to higher-than-average snow levels..." H&N 5/12/17
Crater Lake to haul water for visitors, Delivery costs top $400,000 for May, June, H&N, posted to KBC 5/7/17. "..Under the Treaty of 1864, the Klamath Tribes have the right to hunt, fish, trap and gather on former reservation land. The Klamath Tribes have legally determined claims that provide for in-stream flows sufficient for the protection of riparian habitat during spring runoff months."
KBC NOTE: The Klamath Tribes sold their reservation. This year was above average snow, and the rivers flooded.

OWRD responds to Tribes' call on (Klamath) water, H&N, 4/28/17. "I’m very disappointed that this call has been initiated by the Klamath Tribes and validated by the Oregon Water Resources Department at a time when our rivers are literally running over their banks,” (State Rep. E. Werner) Reschke said in a statement. “This decision negatively impacts farmers and ranchers up and down the basin and defies conventional logic. Oregonians lose when we allow one group to exercise exorbitant control over the rights of others..."

(Klamath) Tribal water call: 'Devastating.' Ranchers in the upper basin react to water call, H&N, 4/19/17.

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Klamath Tribes make call on Upper Klamath water, Water Resources Department, Klamath Falls April 14, 4/14/17. "Klamath Tribes have notified OWRD of a call (request) for water on the Sprague, Williamson, and Wood Rivers and tributaries, and the Klamath Marsh..."
    FROM MARCH 2017: Flows from Upper Klamath increase amid flood mitigation, Sprague River remains high, H&N,  3/23/17. "... the local snowpack is 113 percent of normal...No evacuations have yet been ordered as high waters along the Sprague River flow downstream, posing minor flood threats to properties in the Chiloquin and Sprague River areas." Flooding possible along Sprague River, H&N posted to KBC 3/25/17

Klamath Basin water year looks promising, H&N, 4/12/17. "...It’s looking like there will be full deliveries of water to the Klamath Basin water users...As of April 1, the snowpack was 122 percent of average and the total precipitation was 139 percent of average, the bureau said... 'Collaboration has been a successful model for solving problems in the Klamath Basin and biological opinion consultation should not be an exception to that.' ...

Water Resources Development Act Includes Several Key Provisions for Indian Country, US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs 12/10/16, "Congress has been very busy accommodating Indian Tribes this session. Here's an "index" of bills nearing Obama's signature...Elaine Willman"
! Water call made on the Williamson, H&N 11/23/16. "Water users in the upper Klamath Basin have received shutoff notices for surface water use after the Klamath Tribes called on their water rights earlier this month....Water users along the Williamson and its tributaries, as well as the Klamath Marsh, received notices directing them to cease stock and domestic use of surface water until February...this should only affect those diverting water from streams and rivers and said wells, which depend on ground water, are not affected."
Klamath tribes protest swan lake pumped storage (Klamath) Tribes protest Swan Lake pumped storage Hydroelectric project, H&N 11/1/16. "The Swan Lake North project, located on the Jespersen Ranch, would take five years to build and create about 170 local construction jobs, proponents say. As many as 3,000 direct and related jobs could be created under the plan...When operational, 11 workers will run the site, with 24 support jobs...use of explosives during construction could panic wildlife, the protest letter said." KBC NOTE: If the tribes oppose this hydroelectric project because it could panic wildlife during construction, what do they think happens to wildlife in the massive wilderness areas they support, with mandates to allow hundreds of thousands of acres to burn up bambies, spotted owls, eagles, bunnies, rare frogs, old growth trees, butterflies , scenic areas...?
Dept of Interior Press Release: Secretary Jewell Issues Secretarial Order to Encourage Tribal Role in Managing Interior Lands with Native American Connections 10/21/16
New Website: "This West Is OUR West" - www.thiswestisourwest.com. From a founder: "a recently launched website intended to offer a space where each of our Western States can post our issues and information, so that we can watch trends federalizing our states, watch for patterns of federal overreaching on water, land, dams, forests...just about all of our major resources within our states.  Particularly, we are watching the spread of tribal jurisdiction over non-tribal persons and lands, the confiscation of waters, and the planned takeover of our national forests."
Fulfilling the Promise of The Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 Volume I, An Analysis by the Intertribal Timber Council in Collaboration with USDA Forest Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs, Intertribal Timber Counsel April 2013.  NOTE: When you agree to give land to tribes that they previously sold, once they have a land base, they can control adjacent land, "Under the TFPA, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior are authorized to enter into agreements or contracts, pursuant to tribal proposals to address hazardous conditions on Forest Service (FS) or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered lands that border on or are adjacent to tribal trust lands or resources."
Tribal Forest Protection Act Success Stories July 2012

Upper Klamath Basin Nonpoint Source Pollution Assessment and Management Program Plan; Klamath Tribal Water Quality Consortium, Aug 16, 2016, Comments WERE due Sept 18, 2016. Who knew about this plan to eradicate agriculture and all the dams in the Klamath River Basin? received and posted to KBC 9/20/16. KBC NOTE: Participants are 6 tribes (including Karuk and Hoopa), many federal and state agencies, Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust, California Coastal Conservancy, ODEQ, State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and dozens more; most of the agencies, tribes and environmental groups are "stakeholders" in the Klamath Basin dam-removal agreements.  "Given the large volumes of water in the Klamath Basin, very large wetlands (on the order of thousands of acres or tens of thousands of acres) would be necessary to have basin-scale effect...", they want to get rid of "... water rights, water availability, and landowner willingness issues...", " TNC recently acquired approximately 4,000 acres adjacent to Agency Lake Ranch and Barnes Ranch which it is in the process of restoring back to wetlands", Wetlands, by the way, evaporates nearly 2ce the amount of water used by irrigated agriculture, "The Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement...calls for inflows to Upper Klamath Lake to be increased by 30,000 acre-feet per year to be achieved by reducing the net consumptive use of water for irrigated agriculture," Roads that are no longer necessary would be considered for ... removal,"..."The Consortium supports reduced irrigation and improved grazing management as a method to reduce irrigation demand," "Once plans are developed for how to remove the dams and appropriate permits are obtained, the dams should be removed. The KHSA targets 2020 as the year in which dam removal would occur."
Comments on the Klamath Tribal Water Quality Consortium by Siskiyou County Water Users Association Rex Cozzalio, received by KBC News 9/20/16

 Energy Bill’s Hidden Provisions Undermine Western and Rural U.S. Property Owners, Western States Constitutional Rights LLC, posted 9/18/16. "Senate Bill S. 2012 (Murkowski, AK) has secretly swallowed up S. 3085 (Roberts,KS) - a Forestry Management Bill that transfers management of any national forest within 100 miles of a tribal reservation, or to any tribe with ancestral or cultural ties to a national forest.  This will give tribal governments: 1) control of all water (snowpack mountain run-off); and 2) let tribal governments determine appropriate uses of the national forests regarding hunting, fishing, trail-hiking, recreating by non-tribal citizens. When strong opposition emerged opposing numerous forestry management bills in the Senate and House that were transferring forestry management to tribal governments, Senators and Congressmen played "hide the ball" quickly last week by tucking this egregious Tribal Forestry Management provision into an Energy Bill that is close to a vote - perhaps this week or next. Call your Senators and Congressmen and raise holy hell.  This could easily transfer national forestry management to tribes for every national forest in the Western States." Elaine Willman

***Dozens of Sprague River wells shut down by Klamath Tribal call on irrigation water, Senator Doug Whitsett 7/28/16.

Pollution Protest - (Tribal) Teens march for better water quality, H&N 7/19/16. "Nearly two dozen teens, who are attending a weeklong Next Generation Climate Justice Action Camp near Ashland, marched in front of the Klamath County government building shouting a call-and-response chant, “When the river is under attack, what do we do? Stand up and fight back!”.."
Water shutoffs start in upper Basin, Klamath Tribes made the call, Wood River could be next, H&N, 5/27/16
Hoopa Tribe Sues Federal Government over Inadequate Protections for Juvenile Salmon, Hoopa Valley Tribe PRESS RELEASE, 5/17/16

Yurok Tribe pulls out of Klamath River agreement, The Triplicate, posted to KBC 9/19/15. KBC NOTE: Environmental activist/current Karuk Tribe spokesman, has stated to a meeting of all the tribes and environmental groups in this video, "we worked with the Klamath Project irrigators, the enemies of the tribes since those guys showed up; we did work out a water sharing agreement. ...We did not solve all the problems in the Klamath Basin with these agreements. We did not get rid of all the farmers, we did not rebuild all the wetlands, but we do pull off the biggest dam removal in the history of the world...and if we're still gonna deal with water quality issues at Keno, at the end of the day, I can guarantee the Karuk Tribe and Craig Tucker will be in the front seat dealing with that next." (KBC NOTE: that refers to destroying the Keno Dam, which provides water to the Klamath Project irrigators).

Pit River chairman upset by pot raid. Calls actions a ‘serious assault to the tribe’s right to self-governance’, followed by Pit River Tribe asserts group is following law. H&N 7/19/15. "The volume of marijuana that the XL facility alone was capable of producing, estimated at 40,000-60,000 plants, far exceeds any prior known commercial marijuana grow operation anywhere within the 34-county Eastern District..."
KLAMATH TRIBES Horse trek: Tribal members make case at capitol; ride to Salem illustrates dissatisfaction with water pact, H&N 6/27/15. "After riding horses on and off for about 250 miles from Chiloquin to the state capitol, tribal members and allies demanded their voices be heard on Wednesday. Protesters said they are speaking out against the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreements (KBRA), Senate Bill 133..."
Klamath Tribes members to protest (Klamath Agreements) at the state capitol. Group of four rides 250 miles on horseback to visit Gov. Brown, H&N 6/24/15. “I decided to take this ride to put a lot of the (Klamath) tribal politics in the spotlight,” Bettles said, explaining that he does not believe the Klamath Tribes’ tribal council is accurately representing what members want in the Klamath water settlement package."
* Klamath Tribal Chairman letter and map of proposed 99,745 acre land gift of the Winema National Forest, June 3, 2015. KBC NOTE: This is former reservation land that the tribes sold, and voted to sell. Tribal members speak out against settlement; Some opposition says land deal is too small, H&N 6/5/15
* Land for Klamath Tribes identified. Klamath Tribes, Forest Service agree on parcel to replace loss of forest, H&N 5/30/15.
*Reliable water the reason Klamath Project was built by Dan Keppen, former KWUA director, H&N 12/15/03. "The community should be assured that any sort of proposed settlement can never be implemented without congressional action, which will require a great degree of local and regional support. There is simply no chance of a "secret deal" being cut on this matter."
*Negotiations regarding Tribes, Klamath Water Users, Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust, and DOI:
2003-2007, closed-door meetings where the Klamath Tribes want 690,000 acres of the Winema/Fremont National Forest returned to them again.
*FOREST TOUR HOSTED BY THE KLAMATH TRIBES This is a complete transcript taken from videotape. This day-long tour was conducted October 17, 2003 for the purpose of showing to local farmers, ranchers, businessmen, and the Klamath County Commissioners, tribal biology and the proposed forest land acquisition. Some of the topics include sucker habitat, tribal traditions, thinning brush, deer-take practices, power plants, gentlemen farmers, and termination. Some of the topics include sucker habitat, tribal traditions, thinning brush, deer-take practices, power plants, gentlemen farmers, and termination.

< Klamath River, Keno April 24, 2015.

Tribes make call for water. Water shutoffs could begin as early as next week, H&N 4/24/15. "Klamath Tribes Chairman Don Gentry said the calls were made to elevate water levels to instream flows agreed upon by stakeholders in the (UKBCA) Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement... " (KBC Note: UKBCA is the latest component of the controversial KBRA/Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement which calls for destruction of 4 hydro-electric Klamath River dams providing power to 70,000 households, permanent retiring of private water rights and downsizing agriculture, land gift to the Klamath Tribes, planting endangered fish into the warm waters of Klamath Lake, etc.)   

(Klamath) Tribes upset with timber land purchase. Singapore-based company buys land, including Mazama Forest, H&N 2/20/15. A Singapore-based company purchased 197,000 acres of land in Klamath and Deschutes counties this week, including the 90,000-acre Mazama Forest, which was promised to the Klamath Tribes in the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement...Earlier attempts to reacquire Reservation lands that had been converted to national forest land met with intense opposition...” 
Tribes to talk water accord, dispute notice; meetings allow members to voice opinions on Senate bill, H&N 1/28/15
Additional water releases for Klamath River, H&N 8/23/14
Hoopa fear salmon die-off; Jewell meets with tribe over water shortages, Redding Record Searchlight 8/13/14

Video, and transcribed quotes from Klamath In the Balance, Forum to discuss dam removal process on Klamath River. The stated purpose was to bring all the conflicting Indian Tribes and environmental groups together with the common goal of destroying the Klamath River Dams.
Green Corps trained activist, a founder of Klamath Riverkeeper, and negotiator for the Karuk Tribe as voting stakeholder on the KBRA, Craig Tucker: "we worked with the Klamath Project irrigators, the enemies of the tribes since those guys showed up; we did work out a water sharing agreement. ...We did not solve all the problems in the Klamath Basin with these agreements. We did not get rid of all the farmers,
we did not rebuild all the wetlands, but we do pull off the biggest dam removal in the history of the world...and if we're still gonna deal with water quality issues at Keno, at the end of the day, I can guarantee the Karuk Tribe and Craig Tucker will be in the front seat dealing with that next." (KBC NOTE: that refers to destroying the Keno Dam, which provides water to the Klamath Project irrigators). KBC NEWS reminder: In the KBRA: hydro dam destruction is permanent. Destruction of fish hatcheries is permanent. $45 million plus land gift to the Klamath Tribes is permanent. Downsizing agriculture is permanent. Mandate of no water storage may be used by irrigators is permanent. However any benefits to the farmers in the KBRA end in 50 years, but, as detailed in this video, any benefits are superseded by the ESA, Clean Water Act and Biological Opinions.

Klamath Tribes of Oregon PRESS RELEASE: Threats against Klamath Tribal Council by Klamath Tribal membership,  5/16/14 (regarding Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement.)

Protesting the vote; Klamath Tribal members demand a new vote, H&N, posted to KBC 4/15/14.

Klamath Tribes approve water pact, H&N, posted to KBC 4/15/14. "A $40 million economic development package for the Tribes...the Tribes also would receive $1 million a year for five years from DOI to care for tribal transition needs this year."

(Klamath) WATER PACT - Complexity frustrates some Tribe members, vote due by Wednesday, H&N 4/8/14. 

Tribe seeks protection for refuges; Modoc Nation members want to halt water removal, H&N, posted to KBC 3/16/14. “The Modoc Nation respectfully requests the U.S. Congress, Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife stop all pumping and irrigating off the sacred water in this refuge complex"  KBC NOTE: The Modoc Tribe, recently branched off from the Klamath Tribe in 2010. The Klamath Tribe in the KBRA agreed with the Congressional right of irrigators to farm the FWS refuge leases. The Modoc Tribe requests all water to be used for their sacred endangered suckers. FWS has built two islands in these refuges which are successfully attracting fish parasites, Caspian Terns, which eat baby fish and keep the species endangered.
(Klamath) Racism and Land Theft, Oregon-Style, by Erika Bentsen, posted to KBC 8/28/13. "What does this mean to the future of Klamath County? Are tribal members going to be the only ones allowed to own land? Now that irrigation is taken out of production, property values are plummeting. But only tribal members will be compensated; all others will be bankrupted. Who gets the land next? Will the tribes buy it for pennies on the dollar? Then what? Will the water in the rivers no longer be called, like it was before the tribes sold the reservation?"
2013-07-01 10.25.53 copy< Klamath Water Crisis, by Dani Nichols, posted to KBC 7/22/13. "...Here are the basics: the Klamath Tribes and the environmental activists have teamed up to starve farmers and ranchers out of the Klamath Basin, because of the lives of the supposedly endangered sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake, and the Coho Salmon of the Klamath River. Because the tribes have been in the Klamath Basin since “time immemorial”, a judge recently ruled that their water rights supersede those of the Klamath County Agriculturalists. What are the tribes doing with these newfound rights? Turning off water to agriculture, the main industry of Klamath County (plus a threat to refuse multi-use water to Crater Lake National Park, the only National Park in Oregon and a revenue generator of more than $30 million for Klamath county and the surrounding area last year) and letting thousands of gallons of economic and cultural force drain to the ocean instead..."
Klamath Tribes and federal government put out historic call for water rights in drought-stricken Klamath Basin, Oregonian, posted to KBC 6/12/13. "The Klamath Tribes and the federal government called their water rights in southern Oregon's Klamath Basin for the first time Monday, likely cutting off irrigation water to hundreds of cattle ranchers and farmers in the upper basin this summer...Some 300 to 400 irrigators – and 70,000 to 100,000 cattle – could be impacted, upper basin water groups estimated. State officials said shut offs could begin as soon as Wednesday, and would be calibrated throughout the summer as river flows and weather dictate." KBC NOTE: Some quotes in above article are by KBRA supporter Becky Hyde, former board member of Sustainable Northwest.  SNW founder and president is Martin Goebel. Goebel was director of World Wildlife Fund, which is partner of United Nations Foundation with George Soros and Ford Foundation. Goebel is Trustee for Summit Charitable Foundation owned by Roger Sant. The company in a five year span granted Sustainable NW $342,875.  The funds come from Sant's company AES, worldwide developer of power in 29 countries, power "from coal to gas to renewables such as wind, hydro and biomass."  Hyde is at the closed-door KBRA negotiation table. The KBRA would destroy 4 hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River and fish hatchery producing millions of salmon, give land to the Klamath Tribes, put full support behind the Endangered Species Act, downsize agriculture by 25% or more, and give new water rights to bird refuges, along with planting endangered fish in warm shallow Klamath Lake and mandating their success.
 Klamath Tribes and feds exercise water rights, Sacramento Bee 6/10/13. "Tens of thousands of acres in Oregon's drought-stricken Klamath Basin will have to go without irrigation water this summer after the Klamath Tribes and the federal government exercised for the first time newly confirmed powers that put the tribes in the driver's seat over the use of water..."
Rat poison left outside illegal pot plantations threatens spotted owls: "The (Hoopa)tribe has received a $200,000 grant from Fish and Wildlife ... to cleaning up as many as five pot plantations identified on the reservation" H&N 5/29/13
Tribal Council Organizing a Force to Help Protect Reservation Lands and People, 2 Rivers Tribune, posted to KBC 12/14/12. "Hoopa Tribal Police, with the help of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and several other agencies, shut down an illegal marijuana plantation with over 26,000 plants in the Mill Creek drainage area of the Hoopa Valley Reservation...Hoopa wildlife researchers were counting Pacific fishers in the Mill Creek watershed, when they discovered a 2,000 plant marijuana plantation. Hundreds of gallons of banned rat poisons and other chemicals were also found there."
Ten years after fish kill, California and Oregon must make salmon a priority, Sac Bee letter by Hoopa tribal chairman, posted to KBC 11/14/12. "...after the 2002 fish kill that a 30-year struggle for the Trinity's water was resolved and 48 percent of historical flows were returned to the river. Up to 90 percent of the river had been diverted south...This year, as a result of good ocean conditions, an estimated 378,000 salmon returned to the Klamath...It is also essential to salmon survival that PacifiCorp stand by its promise to take out the Klamath dams..." KBC translation: Fish died in 2002 for many reasons, including huge Trinity diversions, poor ocean conditions, tribes demanding lethally warm water be sent down Klamath River, and meth lab dumps in the river. Ocean conditions improved and Trinity diverts less and we have a record run this year of salmon. Despite our present huge salmon run, tribes and environmental groups claim that fish will go extinct if we don't tear out 4 hydro dams, an event which will dump more than 20 million cubic yards of sediment in the Klamath River.
Tribe bashes federal officials; claims they're endangering salmon; Government says migrating fish in Klamath River are OK, Record Searchlight, posted to KBC 11/2/12.
Klamath Tribes get share of record salmon run, H&N, posted to KBC 10/18/12.
Klamath and lots of chinook make national news, Pie N Politics, posted to KBC 10/10/12. MSNBC video says the projected salmon run this year is 380,000 Chinook. Pie N Politics Q&A's: "Question: If the salmon numbers are so high and the dams are still in the Klamath River, why do they need to be destroyed?"
Tribes protest state decision on Klamath dams and want owner to comply with Clean Water Act, Sac Bee 7/20/12.
North Coast Marine Protected Areas Adopted in Final Coastal Ocean Region, CDFG 6/6/12. "The north coast regulations include a provision for federally recognized tribal members to continue harvesting and gathering fish, kelp and shellfish as they have for countless generations."
 
 
Cannery on Yurok Reservation Planned: Funding Campaign, Indybay, posted to KBC 3/15/12

 

 

Photos sent to KBC  of Yurok Tribe netting salmon at the mouth of the Klamath River. "How are the Salmon supposed to get passed the Yurok tribe to get to Klamath in the first place?"

(Klamath) Tribal group conducts restoration projects, gets on-the-job training, H&N 1/26/12. "The project at the Sycan Marsh is a partnership between the Forest Warriors; the Nature Conservancy, which manages a 30,000-acre preserve there; and Lomakatsi Restoration Project, an Ashland nonprofit that develops and oversees restoration projects...was founded with a nearly $1.5 million federal stimulus grant"

River Access on Reservation Denied (by Hoopas to non tribal people), Two Rivers Tribune 12/29/11. “The reservation has always been open access for fishing as far back as I can remember,” Duggan said. “There’s people who have been fishing down there since the ‘40s. We’ve got people that come from all over the state and some from out of state to fish for steelhead.”

Karuk Eco-Cultural Resources Management Plan, including map of their ancestral land, posted to KBC 12/7/11

Oregon Set to Enact Strict, New Water Quality Standards to Satisfy EPA, Tribes, Marten Law 8/23/11. "The new standard for fish consumption is 10 times higher than the previous one, and assumes Oregonians will eat 23 eight-ounce meals of Oregon caught fish per month. That rate of consumption translates into dramatically lower permissible discharge levels for 106 pollutants...which in turn could dramatically increase treatment costs for municipal sewage treatment, agriculture, and many manufacturing industries, including paper mills at a time when those industries are already struggling."

No salmon above Klamath River stateline, by James Waddell, Karuk People tribal member 4/14/11. From A. L. Kroeber’s “HANDBOOK OF THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA” “The salmon are said not to run into the Klamath Lake or above, and streams are much smaller and standing bodies of water infinitely more important than in the northwest.  …” Yurok Tribe seeks input on draft legislation; plan seeks transfer of federal land to tribe's control, Times-Standard 3/26/11. "The proposed transfer of Redwood National Park and Six Rivers National Forest lands was first publicized in 2004..." Yurok Tribe Doubles Land Base, North Coast Journal, posted to KBC 4/16/11

Letter to veterans officer by Karuk Tribal member and U.S. veteran James Waddell, posted to KBC 3/2/11. Waddell is being denied veteran services.

Where have all the fish gone?
California's Hupa tribe wars over fish, High Country News, posted to KBC 2/5/11. "This stretch of the river -- known simply as "the Gorge" -- was packed with nets last summer, Pole recalls. "I was dodging nets," he says. "You could actually come down here and see the fish stacked up" trying to get through...(Hupu Indian Pole is) critical of Hupas who sell fish to outsiders when many tribe members can't get salmon themselves. "You have to feed your people first."  Fisheries director, Orcutt already makes close to $100,000 a year. In 2009, Orcutt, his brother, Kevin, and his wife, Vivienna, sold more than 800 fish to Wild Planet, for about $32,000. Last year, the family made $19,000 selling fish to the company -- accounting for more than half the fish that Hupa tribe members sold to it."
Clamor Along The Klamath, Sports Illustrated Si Vault, 6/4/79. "Del Norte County Sheriff Tom Hopper and his men stopped a truck on Highway 101 carrying 650 salmon and one steelhead worth some $60,000 to $70,000. " Klamath River fish are being sold to points as distant as Reno, San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver and "maybe even as far as New York..." As told by Yurok, "The Indians who are now gillnetting the salmon to death are fishing drift nets in the mouth of the Klamath. They say they're fishing 'traditionally.' That's bunk, too. Nobody ever fished the mouth in the old days. It was too far away, and who could paddle those big, cumbersome canoes back upstream? These gill-netters say that the old Yuroks traded salmon with other tribes, and thus they justify commercial fishing. That's a lie. The old Indians believed it to be a sin to sell or barter fish. There used to be a fall run of big salmon in the Klamath—we called them 'kings.' They were big fish, 60 pounds or more. We wiped that run out about 1945."
Secretary Salazar, Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk Submit Draft Consultation Policy to Tribal Leaders; Framework Provides Greater Role for Tribes in Federal Decisions Affecting Indian Country, DOI 1/14/11 Yurok Tribe pursuing acquisition of Redwood National Park land, NY Times and Crescent City Triplicate, posted to KBC 1/2/11 Obama Announces Support for UN Resolution Stating 'Indigenous Peoples Have the Right to the Lands ... They Have Traditionally Owned, Occupied or Otherwise Used or Acquired', CNS News, posted to KBC 12/22/10
Disputed Territory; Federal employees and the Yurok Tribe extend the age-old battle over American terra firma, North Coast Journal, posted to KBC 11/26/10. "...Yurok tribe is quietly working on a bill that would give them ownership of thousands of acres of public land, including parts of Redwood National Park and Six Rivers National Forest, plus marine sanctuary waters surrounding Reading Rock, a sea stack five miles offshore that’s currently under the auspices of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management..."
Paying tribute to tradition: Thousands come together for 29th annual Intertribal Gathering, Times Standard, posted to KBC 11/26/10. "
The reservation straddles the Klamath River about 90 miles north of Eureka, and much of it is still without electricity, something Myers is working to change this year with the help of federal grants." A KBC reader sent us this question: "If they want the Klamath dams out why would they think they are entitled to electricity?"
Klamath Tribe Restoration Act 1986
Native America in the 20th Century 1994. Money given to Klamath Tribes for land purchases throughout the century, and their vote to terminate.
(Ruby) Pipeline creates tribal dissent, Indian Country 9/27/10. " At least one of them, the Klamath Tribes – Klamath, Modoc, Yahooskin – cannot support the project...

Tribe braces for trouble during ritual on Lake Shasta, LA Times 7/24/10. "In 2006, the tribe performed its first such ceremony in 80 years."

New faces for tribal council Klamath Tribes elect chairman, vice chairman, council members, H&N , posted to KBC 4/28/10
Letter to "All Karuk Tribal Members" from Dan Effman, 4/4/10: "I have found in my travels that many Karuk people are fed up with the way our affairs are being run, misrepresentation, nepotism, not being treated equal even though we are counted, and not letting us have a voice.  I have also found out that people are afraid to speak up if they work for the Tribe or need their assistance."
Big changes at Langdon Farms; Steps underway to place golf course land into trust for Klamath Tribes, Canby Herald, posted to KBC 2/26/10. "Klamath Tribes must use the Klamath Restoration Act to acquire the property — a process that would have to run through the BIA and would exempt the property from local or state land use laws...Maletis family recently hired Portland-based public relations firm Hubbell Communications, whose clients include the ...Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust..."
James Albert Waddell, Karuk Tribal member, has documented Loggers Life, local art and history, Happy Camp history, Mule Packer, Gold Miners, Miners vs Indians, betrayed Soldiers, George Gibbs journal info, more. Waddell has also contributed extensively to KBC detailing tribal leader corruption.
Klamath Tribes Dispute, H&N, posted 3/1/10

Klamath Tribes’ court restraining order issued, H&N 2/23/10

Klamath tribal dispute - Group says tribal leaders were recalled, shouldn’t sign water deal, H&N 2/18/10 Deputies called to tribal office, H&N 2/17/10. "A large group of Klamaths claim the existing tribal council was legally recalled at recent general council meetings...Some claim a lack of transparency regarding tribal finances."
Klamath Tribal meeting ends in fight, 15 people were fighting or trying to break up fight, H&N 2/14/10 Modocs discuss separation, H&N posted to KBC 2/12/10 Modoc tribal meeting is Friday; Separation proposal will be discussed, H&N 1/27/10
Karuk People of the Klamath History… and nothing to do with Karuk Political Activists in law suits or with crazy Karuk Dam Removal Efforts! letter by James Waddell, Karuk Tribal Member and U.S. Veteran, posted to KBC 2/8/10 The history of the Shasta Tribe, by Betty Hall, Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 12/17/09.  1905, "Parties coming in from Keno state that the run of salmon in the Klamath River this year is the heaviest it has ever known". The article also states that there is a natural rock barrier below Keno, which it is almost impossible for the fish to get over, should some succeed they are spotted, bruised, and are worthless. Evidently salmon getting to Link River was not a common occurrence, as to the statement made above." Giving a voice to the Shasta tribe, H&N, posted to KBC 11/30/09. "The Shastas, unlike recognized tribes, have not been allowed to participate in negotiations involving the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, which deals with water rights along the Klamath River...The tribe opposes the proposed removal of four Klamath River dams..."
My Opinion: Coho in the Klamath River. This report has been made by history research writer and former and half-century resident of the Klamath River, Karuk tribal member James A. Waddell, in 2009

Hope for Modoc identity, some seek to separate from Klamath Tribe H&N 10/7/09

(Klamath) Tribes’ land purchase would be huge mistake (in Willamette), H&N letter 9/29/09

Yuroks may double land size; Tribe hopes to purchase 47,000 acres, Triplicate 4/25/09

Tribes want policies to help them aid nation’s hydropower needs, Indian Country, posted to KBC 3/27/09. (KBC NOTE: 4 Klamath River Tribes want to tear down our Klamath River hydropower serving 70,000 households annually. In the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, Klamath Tribe in addition to dam removal, wants to be given part of the reservation they sold, water rights "with the priority date of time immemorial", funds, and neighboring land.) Klamath Tribe document of intensions
Jim Foley's presentation on unregulated Karuk Tribe dipnetting of Federally protected salmon, to the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors 3/17/09 Karuk Tribal Vice President and spiritual leader Leaf Hillman: Taxpayers help miners hurt fish habitat followed by 31 Comments, Sacramento Bee , posted to KBC 3/8/09. "Hillman, who lives in Orleans, is charged with one count corporal injury..." Tie 'em to a tree so they can visit with the spotted owls, Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 2/25/09 by Margo Perryman
Revised Critical Habitat Designated for Canada Lynx, FWS, posted 2/25/09. "39,000 square miles fall within the boundaries of the revised critical habitat designation....Excluded
areas include: Tribal lands.
.."
Person of the Year - Roy Hall Jr., Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 1/7/08. "As the chairman of the Shasta Nation, he took a stance against dam removal on the Klamath River...'Taking the dams out isn't about the fish...it's about other tribes taking control of our water in this area.' Roy has made the undisputed claim that the Karuk Tribe used the Shasta's Treaty "R" to gain its federal recognition. 'They are dealing with an illegal tribe.' " Karuk slam dam deal, Pioneer Press, posted 12/11/08. "He wrote that his opposition to dam removal prompted threats on his life - one of the reasons he no longer lives along the River. The petitioners contacted by the Pioneer Press asked not to be identified in this article, fearing retribution. ...Environmental activist and Karuk spokesman Craig Tucker said, '...if these people are not behind it now,' Tucker said, 'then they shouldn't get the benefits when the dams start coming down.' "

Thompson still top contender to head Interior, Times-Standard 12/10/08. "The Karuk Tribe announced its support of Thompson..."
The Klamath Restoration Agreement supports planting fish parasites, Klamath Lamprey, in Upper Klamath Basin. Klamath Riverkeeper and dam removal activist and Karuk spokesman Craig Tucker, is offended by the fact that KBC News said lamprey are fish parasites: "Will you guys please stop referring to lamprey as fish parasites? Native people (and sushi lovers around the world) love lamprey. They are part of God’s creation too! Thanks, S. Craig Tucker, Ph.D., Klamath Campaign Coordinator, Karuk Tribe". Posted 11/16/08 In Ore., (Klamath) tribes' members eye Supreme Court case, The Oregonian, posted to KBC 11/5/08. "Jeff Mitchell, a council member of the Klamath Tribes, said he believes the Narragansett case could bear some significance in Oregon. His tribe regained its federal recognition status in 1986...We want to put more land back into trust now," he said."
 

Tribes sign option to buy Mazama Tree Farm, H&N 8/29/08

Tribes’ biomass project would use cutting-edge technology, H&N 8/29/09

Yurok Tribe netting salmon - To KBC from Sherrie: "Recently my husband and I were at the coast visiting. We decided to go check out the Klamath River where is meets the ocean. We were shocked when we arrived. Hundreds of people from the Yurok tribe fishing with nets. The nets spanned pretty much across the whole width of the river as far as I could see up the river. How are the Salmon supposed to get passed the Yurok tribe to get to Klamath in the first place?" Sherrie. HERE for photos
OTHER PLACES - Proposal pits tribe against farmers Raising of Shasta Dam would flood sacred spots, H&N, posted to KBC 9/29/08 Green Diamond timberland deal would greatly expand Yurok tribe's holdings, Times Standard 9/26/08. "The Yurok Tribe has entered into an agreement that will buy up 47,000 acres in Klamath country from the Green Diamond Resource Co., a move which would vastly expand its land base and probably its reservation in the future.... a selling price would remain confidential...The tribe would pay taxes on the land until it is transferred into tribal trust status...The tribe would manage the (Redwood) timberland...the tribe and Western Rivers are pursuing private and foundation funds to pay the price of the land, and only after that effort is exhausted would it seek state and federal money." Klamath River fishing is fit for a king, Press Banner, posted to KBC 9/26/08. "Inside the river’s lagoon, the Yurok Tribe sets gill nets to capture salmon for the commercial market and subsistence use. If salmon make their way through the maze of gill nets, they begin the journey upriver...the majority of adult salmon being caught in the nets brought on low scores."
Indian nets hamper Salmon, Pioneer Press, posted September 25, 2008.

Calif. tribe fears losing land if (Shasta) dam is raised, Capital Press, posted 9/25/08

YUROK TRIBE - proposed marine sanctuary stretches from Crescent City to Little River, Times-Standard, posted to KBC 9/24/08

(Klamath Tribes') Energy plant to cost up to $12 million, H&N 9/11/08. (KBC note: Klamath Tribes support Klamath hydroelectric dam removal which provides power to 70,000 households. They are a sovereign nation; this power plant, and forest land they sold and hope to be given, will provide tax-exempt timber for their energy plant and logging. They have previously advocated for no timber harvest on forest land.) A village revived Edison Chiloquin’s birthday to be celebrated Sunday at Pla-ik-ni Village, followed by: Edison Chiloquin: ‘Conscience of the Klamaths’, H&N, posted to KBC 9/11/08. (KBC NOTE: Klamath Tribal government claims that the US Government forced them to terminate their reservation. So, as part of the KBRA, Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, they are demanding the be given the former reservation that they voted to sell, and sold.  Edison Chiloquin chose not to sell.)
(Klamath) Tribes acquire former mill site, Biomass facility planned north of Chiloquin, H&N, posted to KBC 9/2/08. "(KBC NOTE: If the Klamath Dams are ripped out, the 70,000 households dependant on the dams' hydropower will be partially dependant on the Klamath Tribes' biofuel.) Fishing line, Sacramento Bee 8/21/08. "Trinity/Klamath rivers KLAMATH RIVER, Klamath Glen--According to Rivers West Outfitters, there are so many Indian gill nets killing salmon and blocking the river that a boat can't negotiate down to the mouth. There weren't so many on Sunday near the shop, good news, but the Indians had only moved them farther upriver, bad news. The Great Lie, Pioneer Press, letter by Rick Crocker, Happy Camp, 082008 "I have been to the mouth of the Klamath...There are hundreds of nets and then travel up river to the so-called reservoir and they have 100 yard long nets.."
Yurok Reservation and Klamath River to be Cleaned Up, The Eureka Reporter 8/21/08. "...$800,000 in grants Wednesday for the cleanup and removal of illegal waste dumped at sites inside the Yurok Reservation and along the Klamath River...During high river flows, the debris can be carried to the Pacific Ocean..." Firefighting rejected in sacred areas, Washington Times, 8/17/08 The Klamath Tribe and golf course owners seek a windfall from a loophole, Willamette Week 6/25/08. "The Klamaths are relying on federal legislation called the Klamath Indian Tribe Restoration Act of 1986 to argue that they can take the Willamette Valley land “into trust” or make it part of their reservation about 200 miles from their Klamath County home..."

 

Tribes to lobby in Omaha, H&N, 4/24/08

 
Toxins found in Klamath fish, Study commissioned by (Karuk) tribe on river finds risk to public health, H&N, posted to KBC 4/13/08. (KBC NOTE: Craig Tucker, Karuk spokesman, was previously activist with 'Friends of the River', an international dam removal group, ...) Klamath River (Yurok) Clean-up, Triplicate, posted 4/10/08.  Past cleanups of garbage have totaled 160 yards.
Yurok Tribe annual Klamath River Clean-up coming in April, The Eureka Reporter, posted 3/25/08." Last year’s clean-up removed 22 tons of trash, which is a key habitat for salmon, steelhead and sturgeon." 3/9/08 Native Springs all natural energized spring water, New Web site networks info for off-reservation Yuroks, 1/20/08
Indian Tribalism in the United States, by Calvin L. Hunt, M.D., Klamath Falls: a review of Elaine Willman's book Going to Pieces, The Dismantling of the United States of America,  posted to KBC November 1, 2007. And You Think The Indians Lost to the White Man, Ron Ewert, posted 8/29/07 Combating crime in Chiloquin, Community works to improve reputation, Herald and News, posted 8/17/07
HERE is a letter from a Karuk Tribal member to the Karuk Chairman regarding Tribal government corruption in the proposed takeover of Happy Camp Health Services, 8/16/07. Yurok working toward legal system, Triplicate, posted 8/16/07.  
  Never too old to learn - Indians, by Jim Beers, retired FWS, posted to KBC 5/14/07. Klamath cleanup 4/25/07
    Rerun: Tribes dammed Klamath, Klamath Courier June 1, 2005, by Liz Bowen, Pioneer Press
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