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http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2004/06/15/news/community_news/cit1.txt

Klamath to host congressional hearing

Published June 15, 2004

By DYLAN DARLING

Members of the U.S. Congress will again be coming to the Klamath Basin to hear testimony, and talk about the Endangered Species Act in an official hearing set for July, officials said.

The House's Committee on Resources will conduct an oversight field hearing in Klamath Falls 9 a.m. July 17, according to a memo by Ken Calvert, chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee.

The exact location of the meeting and the list of witnesses set to speak, which will be made by invitation only, will be announced later.

In 2001, about 1,500 people came to a hearing at the Klamath County Fairgrounds run by Republican members of the committee who called for reform of the Endangered Species Act in the aftermath of the 2001 water cutoff.

Rep. Richard Pombo, a California Republican and chairman of the resource committee, led the 2001 meeting, saying he wanted to focus attention on the needs of the Basin after thousands of farmers and ranchers went without irrigation water, according to a Herald and News report.

Also at the 2001 meeting were Reps. Mike Simpson of Idaho, Jim Gibbons of Nevada, Doc Hastings of Washington, Wally Herger of California and Greg Walden of Oregon, whose district includes Klamath and Lake counties.

The lineup of congressional members this time around has not been announced.

Witnesses at the 2001 meeting included Sue Ellen Wooldridge, then Interior Department deputy chief of staff, John Crawford, a Tulelake farmer and Allen Foreman, chairman of the Klamath Tribes.