CONNECTIONS

Welcome to CONNECTIONS.  Here we gather, from the little bird in the Everglades in Florida, the grizzlies in Montana, wolves in Alturas California, to the suckerfish in Klamath Falls, Oregon.  Is it the silvery minnow that caused your home to be destroyed?  Which reproduces faster, a bunny or a wolf?  What did the dying little girl whose health insurance was discontinued in Oregon think about the $15 million fish screen on the Klamath for a fish that they do not know how many sucker fish there were, how many there are, or how many they want, but they are 'endangered', so they are more important than her.  And let's destroy the loggers to close down the forest roads to protect the spotted owl that burned up (along with some firemen and homes) because we can't access the raging fires.

CONNECTIONS will grow.  It is a place you can call home.  Feel free to send your story to  kbc@klamathbasincrisis.org, and/or participate in our forum.

 

JULY 4th - Letter to KBC from Kristine Cook, San Joaquin Valley, where a judges ruling devastated thousands of people because of an "endangered" little fish. (KBC NOTE - This is deja vu 2001 in the Klamath Basin, and brings back memories of despair when our land, formerly a lake since time immemorial, was dewatered by a draft opinion later to be ruled wrong. Lives were devastated--auctions, suicides, mass exodus of resident farm labor families, wildlife died. Pray for Central Valley)

NEVADA - Major water ruling issued, Capital Press, posted 7/10/08

Lawmakers have their eye on new dams, higher dams, 1976 Teton Dam disaster is just one hurdle facing any project to store more water and make more electricity, Statesman Journal 3/20/08

NEWS RELEASE: Farmers lose water to fish, posted to KBC 9/6/07. "San Joaquin Valley farmers receiving water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will see their 2008 supplies cut by as much as 50 percent or a reduction in deliveries by as much as 500,000 acre-feet, one of the largest single court-ordered reductions in California water history...'The judge’s decision is disappointing because scientists are telling us that the pumps only account for 5-15 percent of the causes that are affecting the smelt population,” Nelson added.  “Other factors representing a greater effect on the smelt numbers are loss of food supplies and the introduction of foreign plant and fish species that have dramatically altered the environment.' "

State purchases Chief Joseph’s gravesite Long-disputed: Eastern Oregon land will become a large public park, H&N, posted 8/6/07. (KBC Comment: KBC was invited to share Klamath water and land-grab experiences this spring with the fine farmers from Joseph. On a tour of this property, Steve Krieger showed us his land, how the intended development would not even be in sight of the grave, and showed the buffer that the state previously demanded from him. He was harassed and threatened with condemnation of the land until he was forced to sell. There are no indications of cultural sites. By the way, the state owns the entire other side of the lake as an enormous park; the state wanted it all. The Nez Pierce Tribe did not live in that area.) Go HERE for Chief Joseph's Prayer.

Water war heats up, Casper Star Tribune 7/23/07. "They're fighting a plan to pump billions of gallons of water south across the desert, saying it would eat up groundwater supplies and could spell the end for ranchers and farmers in rural valleys."

The Planned demolition to NE Oregon: visit to NE Oregon, by Jim Beers, 5/15/07. Beers, left, is hearing the stories of Steve Krieger and Dale Potter, Joseph OR. KBC was there. Krieger showed us the land that the state is forcing him to sell with threat of condemnation. Wallowa County water and land are being taken by the feds, State of Oregon & Idaho tribes.

Judge keeps (Idaho) water flowing, Idaho Statesman, posted to KBC 5/11/07

KBC just returned from Joseph, Oregon, where we presented Klamath Basin issues. We joined retired FWS employee and author Jim Beers, author Elaine Willman 'Going to Pieces; the dismantling of the United States of America, Aubryn Curtiss, Montana State Senator, and Dan Johnson, North Central Idaho Judicial Alliance in defense of members and citizens from expanding Nez Perce Tribal claims. Wallowa farmers and ranchers are trying to endure tribal expansion, conservancies, and government land-grabs including threats of condemnation for some if they don't sell. We will be bringing you more news of their dilemma.

Eating dust; Miles from city sprinklers, Colorado's farmers struggle to survive, csindy.com, posted to KBC 6/17/06

OTHER PLACES: The Bureau of Reclamation in Lake Berryessa, 11/29/05:  If You Liked The Kelo Eminent Domain Decision, You'll Love Berryessa, American Land Rights Assoc.

Water War in the Making at Wallowa Dam? 6/29/04. Among the Bill's most significant features: - locking up valley irrigation water and placing it under outside control; - disrupting the valley ecosystem with water transfers and pipelines; and - facilitating the (re)introduction of endangered species of salmon. Senate Bill 108-250 :"any facility constructed using federal funds authorized by this Act located at the Wallawa Lake Dam for trapping and transportation of migratory adult salmon may be owned and operated only by the Nez Perce Tribe." "Wayne Wolfe: 'You know down in Klamath Falls, the water was shut off, by government agencies. So, why would they want to get them up here? I don't know.' "  http://www.stopthewatergrab.org

Other places: Everglades homesteader needs your letters, 5/27/04. "...Cabinet members by a 4-0 vote gave the Department of Environmental Protection authority to wrest Hardy's property from him by condemnation..." For another Everglade tragedy, with photos, go HERE.

Please help out the people in Everglades, Florida who are being forced off their land...they were here for us in the Klamath Basin when our water was taken from farms and refuges. Go HERE to write a brief letter of support.

A healthier Salton Sea, $2.5 billion, 6/18/03 posted on KBC

Man in Rural Areas:  The Real Endangered  Species, Chronwatch 6/9/03 http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=3031  "They are trying to obliterate the San Diego farmers and ranchers. "The greens want to be able to jump into their Prius or hop onto their Segway and ride into the back country and not see houses or other habitation. Farmers, who often want to sell off parcels when water prices rise too high, are their natural enemies.
Ranchers, who for generations have raised cattle often find that, without being told, their land has had a sensitive habitat overlay put on it that effectively prevents them from doing something so simple as plowing without a permit. For them it may seems as though the true endangered species is Man himself."

Montanans sue the feds By Fred D. Hodgeboom, June 16, 2003

Endangered Species Act: Flawed Law - Few species saved; millions spent, thousands of jobs lost, 4/14/03, T. R. Mader, Reseach Director, Abundant Wildlife Society of North America

Grizzlies and locked roads: Flathead County, Montana.  http://www.sierratimes.com/03/04/26/article_jj.htm

http://www.mtmultipleuse.org/

Check out the wildlands map--take notice Klamath Basin.  The conquest had just begun.  What shall we do?  What would our fathers have done???

County signs on to lawsuit over forest road closures, in Flathead County, Montana.
 

stay tuned!  there's more to come.......