FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2003Contacts: Allen Foreman, Tribal Chairman, 541-783-2219
Bud Ullman, Tribes’ water attorney, 541-783-3081
Don Wharton, Native American Rights Fund (land issues) 303-447-8760
Joe Browder, Washington D.C., 202-546-3720
Doug Barber, The Ulum Group, 541-434-7023
Klamath Tribes Left High and Dry as Headgates Open
Klamath Falls, Ore. — Rosy projections for a “full irrigation season” made recently by the manager of the Klamath Reclamation Project continue to leave the Klamath Tribes high and dry. According to Tribal Chairman Allen Foreman, the prospect of a full irrigation season for farmers once again kills off any hope of restoring the Klamath Tribes’ sucker fisheries, which have been closed for 17 consecutive years.
Water deliveries to farmers in the Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Project resumed this past week, just six months after similar deliveries created the largest salmon die-off ever recorded in the American West. An estimated 33,000 salmon died last fall in the Klamath River from low water flow.
Klamath tribal fisheries were closed in 1986 because fish populations were declining at an alarming rate. The fish were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1988. Pollution of Upper Klamath Lake and its tributaries, along with agricultural withdrawals from the lake and streams, contributed to the decline.
“By ignoring some facts and favoring a few groups at the expense of others, the Bureau of Reclamation continues with its failed water policies, in the process denying us the water required to restore our treaty-guaranteed fisheries and wildlife,” Foreman notes. He adds that the Bureau’s forecast doesn’t supply enough water for fish in a year when the Klamath Basin’s water supply is barely half its normal amount.
“The Bureau of Reclamation has had ample opportunity to learn from its mistakes,” Foreman noted, “yet they persist with the same lethal water policies.”
Copies of a “Chronology of the Klamath Reservation” and “The Case for Klamath Tribal Lands Restoration” are available from Doug Barber at 541-434-7023 or dbarber@ulum.com
