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Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
 

ESA TODAY

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

ESA bills, lawsuits and litigation

Silvery Minnow Table of Contents

Klamath Basin ESA stories and reports---how the ESA has impacted them

COMING TO A HABITAT NEAR YOU!
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Publishes Updated List of Candidate Species 5/4/04

California Natural Resources Group
This is a great website regarding the ESA

Wallawa
This is the beginning of the destruction of Wallawa agriculture

Scientific Misconduct
Endangered Species Act Congressional Hearing in Klamath Falls 7/17/04
notices, hearing, articles, photos and testimonies

Articles

Unconstitutional origins of the Endangered Species Act, Times Digest July-Aug 2001
The Many Facets of The Endangered Species Act, by Julie Smithson, posted to KBC 9/7/05. This well-researched document details getting species listed, methods used, United Nations ESA mandate, examples, species recovery success rate, etc. A must-read for the objective student of environmental science.
Emails about the book The Great Salmon Hoax by James Buchal have been circulating in the midst of Klamath dam destruction schemes. Dams, mismanagement, Endangered Species Act, ..."This book is written to begin debunking these myths and provide a comprehensive summary of the best available scientific evidence on the prospects for salmon recovery. It also tells the many stories of how these myths arose, who is promoting them, and how the promoters have overcome both science and law. Myth #1: Columbia Basin Salmon Are in Danger of Extinction."
The Endangered Species Act Fundamental Flaws, by Senator Doug Whitsett 12/12/11. "...These provisions have allowed the intent, implementation and outcomes of the Act to be hijacked to serve the greed and exploitation of preservationist factions both inside and outside of government agencies...In spite of the expenditure of billions of tax dollars, the species recovery rate is less than 1.5 percent."


*
Wish List for Suckers Nails Farms, USFWS proposal 1992


Related - David Vogel, fisheries scientist now with nearly 50 years experience, 14 working for U.S. Fish and wildlife Service: "In 1986 the U.S. F&W Service staff responsible for whether or not to pursue these (ESA) listings believed there were only 12,000 Lost River suckers in the Upper Klamath Lake...they didn't believe they were endangered. A couple years later...we now know for a fact that numbers were exceeded by tens of thousands of Lost River suckers. Now they flip flop and they say they are endangered? What constitutes endangered?" July 17, 2004 Congressional Hearing in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Water shutoff leaves Klamath farmers scrambling to save crops, Capital Press 9/16/22. "...farmers say Reclamation kept changing the end-of-season water elevation needed for suckers in Upper Klamath Lake....Normally, the “absolute minimum” elevation is set at 4,138 feet above sea level. Reclamation added a buffer of 4,138.15 feet above sea level, which it later increased to 4,138.62 feet...Paul Simmons, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, said the changes were “far above any level ever claimed to be necessary for endangered sucker species,” while cutting off access to another 45,000 acre-feet of water for irrigation..."

Farm groups troubled by court's bumblebee ruling (bumble bee is a fish), CFBF Ag Alert 6/10/22. "The move triggered full protection for the bumblebees under state law, which prohibits actions that would kill, or "take," candidate species without a permit or other authorization."

Small fortune coming to Klamath Basin for ecosystem restoration, H&N 11/27/21. "...the funding package will allocate $162 million to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service specifically for “Klamath Basin restoration activities...Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) secured the funding...There’s no shortage of places to work on habitat restoration,” Merkley said. ...Essentially, a plan already exists for implementing wide-scale restoration in the Klamath Basin through the Integrated Fisheries Restoration and Monitoring Plan (IFRMP), a multi-year effort that identifies key restoration priorities throughout the watershed — from recreating instream habitat for anadromous fish in the Lower Basin to reducing nutrient loading in the Upper Basin...it could make life easier for endangered C’waam and Koptu (suckers)...will help fund the expansion of Gone Fishing, the Service’s sucker hatchery operation...The Klamath Tribes, Trout Unlimited, USFWS and other restoration-focused groups are already working with federal agencies.." KBC NOTE: As we opined before, habitat restoration usually includes buying out farms and water rights.   

between 1994 and 2013, over 80 percent of owl habitat loss during this period was due to severe wildfire and forest disease, not timber harvest. Spotted owl populations continue to reach all-time lows, largely due to competition from the barred owl...1.7 million acres of spotted owl critical habitat is not even suitable habitat for the species. One economic study found the designation of uninhabited lands has resulted in economic losses of up to $1.2 billion to our rural economies. A unanimous 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision found the Endangered Species Act does not authorize the government to designate lands as critical habitat unless it is in fact habitat for the species..."

Reclamation nets $2.7 million to help Klamath River coho, H&N 11/15/21

Dry Sump 1A

Beating botulism (in Tule Lake refuge), H&N 11/16/21.
"Tule Lake Sump 1A is mostly dry after most of its water was drained to Sump 1B to try and prevent the spread of botulism..." (KBC NOTE: because The Bureau of Reclamation denied water to the farms and refuges) Eventually, refuge managers will try to refill Sump 1A and create a better environment for waterfowl."

KILLING SUCKERS: The following comment was on our Klamath Basin Crisis Facebook page: November 2022 - From Matt Brimmer 4 days ago in a discussion in this fb group regarding suckers, hatchery, and draining Sump 1A : "Michael this has been attempted on a couple different instances since 2001 and has failed. I sat in on one of the original meetings regarding a Sucker Hatchery. It was set up on Lower Klamath Wildlife refuge towards the Sterns Unit. It was working well until the Birds found it and ate most of them! I also had the opportunity to be part of the Team that assisted with Sucker fish capture on the Caldona (Running Y) marsh when the dike broke. This made for what the ESA and the Tribes called the perfect Sucker Habitat. However, I believe we only captured around 30-40 Suckers. Then let’s fast forward to this year when TID with the assistance of Ducks Unlimited and the Tulelake Basin Farmers drained Sump 1A (again supposed perfect sucker habitat). Multiple Large Adult Breeding suckers were trapped however were not allowed to be moved from 1A to Klamath Lake. They were moved to Sump 1B where most were found floating a few weeks later."

USFWS overturns spotted owl habitat rollbacks, H&N 11/9/21. "The American Forest Resource Council, a group that represents wood products manufacturers and forestland owners, argues the ruling illegally designates more than 1 million acres of federal land that is not currently spotted owl habitat. Travis Joseph, AFRC president, said the designation further restricts timber harvest and tree thinning projects designed to help mitigate large wildfires that threaten the very habitat officials are trying to protect.

Biden administration leaves ESA 'habitat' undefined, Capital Press 11/5/21. "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it plans to repeal a definition that limited “habitat” to land that could support the species."

Fish and Wildlife Service withdraws critical habitat rollbacks for spotted owlAdvocates for the timber industry argue the decision illegally restricts logging on more than 1 million acres of federal land that is not actually spotted owl habitat, and hinders the type of forest management needed to repel increasingly large wildfires...reversing the 2021 critical habitat designation will provide no conservation benefit for the species, and pointed to last year’s catastrophic wildfires that burned more than 560 square miles of suitable nesting habitat in Oregon..."

Biden administration to roll back ESA reforms, Capital Press 6/07/21. "Rescind a regulatory definition of “habitat” that limits critical habitat designations to a location that “currently or periodically contains the resources and conditions necessary to support one or more life processes of a species...Prohibit the agencies from considering the economic impacts and certain other consequences of their ESA listing decisions..." etc.

APRIL 2001 - when Klamath irrigators were informed that they could not have their deeded irrigation water; for the first time ever in known history their land and wetlands were denied water.
KLAMATH BASIN CRISIS - ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT GONE WRONG from: Chris Moudry, Basin Fertilizer, Merrill, OR, April 2001. "I am writing this memo for insight to what can happen when the Endangered Species Act and environmental extremism come together and attack personal property rights. You may think, “Not in America!” Read our story..."

What's in a species? For suckers, some lines are blurred, H&N 3/26/2021. "...scientists have yet to find a way to genetically distinguish shortnose and largescale suckers in the Lost River...geographic and temporal separation is what divides the Basin’s sucker population into separate species...another study confirming the lack of a genetic difference between shortnose and largescale suckers in the Lost River Basin won’t have an immediate effect on management practices there, particularly as it pertains to ESA implementation..."

USFWS acts to remove land from critical habitat for owl, CFBF Ag Alert 1/20/21. "...The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said last week it would revise the designation of critical habitat for the owl, to exclude nearly 3.5 million acres of land in California, Oregon and Washington...The action leaves more than 6.1 million acres of land in the three states designated as critical habitat for the owl, which has been protected under the ESA as a threatened species since 1990."

KWUA NEWS RELEASE: Bureau of Reclamation updates guidance for Klamath Project Operations under Endangered Species Act and water law 1/19/2021. “...Reclamation has found that it still has duties for species protection, but those duties do not include imposing harmful shortages on irrigation as we have seen in the past...”

Saving salmon to feed orcas? Capital Press editorial 10/9/2020. "...Among the reasons they give for wanting the dams removed is to increase the number of native-run salmon — so orcas can eat them."

 

Klamath salmon not a distinct population, H&N by Jerry Jones, Chiloquin 9/9/2020. "Dam removal is not about salmon restoration. Any salmon species that existed in the Upper Klamath river basin have been extinct soon after the first Copco dam was built in 1920."

US officials seek limits on "habitat" for imperiled species, H&N 8/2/20. "The dispute arose after the Fish and Wildlife Service designated 1,500 acres of land and ponds in neighboring Louisiana as critical habitat for the frog even though none lived there."

Federal Government agrees to reevaluate Northern Spotted Owl habitat after Supreme Court ruling, H&N 4/15/2020. "The coalition brought legal action after the Fish and Wildlife Service designated 9.5 million acres of mostly federal lands as NSO critical habitat across Washington, Oregon and Northern California in 2012...The ESA requires the federal government to take “into consideration the economic impact, the impact on national security, and any other relevant impact, of specifying any particular area as critical habitat.”

Merkley facilitates follow-up summit on sucker recovery, H&N 1/5/2020. "Merkley has delivered $23.5 million to the Basin since 2013 to find a way toward a solution..."
KBC NOTE:
Did Merkley address the fact that our government spent millions of $ to build manmade islands in our Klamath basin refuges: to lure fish-eating Caspian Terns from the Columbia that were eating millions of tiny salmon? Now tiny suckers? "...the Columbia River has been responsible for around 15 million to 20 million salmon smolts being eaten annually. The cormorant population growing on East Sand Island is estimated to be responsible for an additional 11 million young salmon each year." More articles on Refuge Page. Did he address the fact that the NRC Chairman Dr William Lewis Jr stated at a Klamath Science Workshop: "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." Here for KBC's Science Page

Suckers die in USFWS pilot project, H&N 10/24/19. "When U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service visited the pens on the lake last week to release them into the wild, 10 of the 1,000 endangered fish were found alive...The fish that remained from the group were plagued by open flesh wounds from Lamprey in addition to numerous parasites...The $242,710-pilot project steered by Childress and a group of biologists with Congressional funding is leading them to identify a need to release fish when they are bigger."
KBC NOTE: The proposed KBRA/
Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement  mandated planting more fish-parasite Lamprey into Klamath Lake. Our community at large opposed this massive dam-removal/land&water acquisition agreement in spite of the closed-door negotiations with Tribes, government agencies and farm leaders.
In February 2004, dozens of scientists at Klamath Basin Science Workshop met in Klamath Falls to put their heads together regarding suckers and government proposals...lake level management.
Read Day 3 of the Science Workshop, Suckers and Hydrology 2/5/04: "...in Lake Euwana, sucker movement did not correspond with PH levels. A rise in PH had no effect. He said suckers passed in 233 to 1500 CFS. The minimum flow of 233CFS is sufficient for suckers. Most of the tagged fish died, and he said that the tagging could be killing them. Barbara Adams from USGS told about suckers with respect to water quality in UKL. They tagged 100, 36 died, and many of the rest got lost.
..
2002 Fires / Fish Kill: "Tamara Wood, USGS, studied water quality--the dissolved oxygen dynamics in UKL. She studied wind speed, temperature and oxygen. They found that in 2002 the oxygen into the lake was turned off by the weeks of heavy smoke from the forest fires. She was asked about lake levels effecting the suckers, 'I don't think the relationship is there.' "
 
2002 Fires / 2002 Fish Kill: "Tamara Wood, USGS, studied water quality--the dissolved oxygen dynamics in UKL. She studied wind speed, temperature and oxygen. They found that in 2002 the oxygen into the lake was turned off by the weeks of heavy smoke from the forest fires. She was asked about lake levels effecting the suckers, 'I don't think the relationship is there.' "
The Biscuit Fire was a massive wildfire in 2002
 that burned nearly 500,000 acres (780 sq mi; 2,000 km2) in the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest, in southern Oregon and northern California. The Biscuit Fire was the largest wildfire in the recorded history of Oregon .
Burned area: 500,000 acres (2,000 km2): 28,7...Date(s): July 12, 2002 –; December 31, 2002
2002 Fish Kill

February 2004 Workshop:
A.  Klamath Science Workshop planned by the DOI, February 3, 2004 KBC. Dr William Lewis Jr., University of Colorado, spoke regarding the NRC conclusions on suckers.
             a.
Water, sucker science argued at conference, H&N 2/4/04.
             b. 
Searching for sound science, HN 2/5/04
             c.  Klamath Scientists Day 3, KBC  2/5/04
             d.  The final day of the scientists, KBC (jdk) 2/7/04

 

North Cascades Grizzly Bear Introduction Draft EIS Comments due October 24, Ag Daily 10/17/19. "The plan seeks to import up to 200 grizzly bears to the region, despite obvious local stakeholder concerns...The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed Ursus arctos, more commonly known as the “Grizzly” bear, as a ‘Species of Least Concern’, due in no small part to its population numbers of over 55,000 across North America."

More than $350,000 awarded to benefit endangered Klamath sucker, H&N 10/9/19.
Phosphorus causing decline in Klamath sucker fish by David Hill, Merrill 7/25/19. "
The major element causing the problem is phosphorus, which comes from the leaching of phosphorus from the volcanic ash, "pumice" in Annie Creek and numerous other streams feeding into Klamath Lake, as was found from research done in the 1970s. Klamath Lake is a euphoric lake, meaning it is a self dying lake which was noted by the Fremont Expedition as "stinking water" in the 1800s, no cattle were present then."

      Millions of fish predators dispersed from Columbia River to Klamath Basin
                                Where have all the suckers gone?  

Lower Klamath Refuge construction an effort to save salmon (on the Columbia River). Habitat restoration aimed at dispersing (fish eating) Caspian Tern populations, H&N 2/14/18. "...According to Beckstrand, the Caspian tern population along the Columbia River has been responsible for around 15 million to 20 million salmon smolts being eaten annually. The cormorant population growing on East Sand Island is estimated to be responsible for an additional 11 million young salmon each year..."
FWS wildlife biologist/tour guide John Beckstrand feels solution is farmer buy-out, KBC News 5/22/04
* Caspian Tern Management to reduce Predation of Juvenile Salmonids in the Columbia River Estuary - Final EIS. Refers to Warner Suckers Ch 3 - 14. January 2005
* Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge - Floating Islands Enhance Salmonid Recovery by Creating Alternative Nesting Habitat for Caspian Terns,  US Army Corp of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and NOAA Fisheries plan succeeded, with OSU and USGS,  to bring fish predators to Klamath Basin. Floating Island International 2010, posted to KBC 6/13/13. "In February 2010, FIW and Just Buckets built and launched a 40,000sq. ft. floating island at Sheepy Lake in Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge." (The fish-predator Caspian Terns population in 2010 went from 0 to 325 in 3 months on Lower Klamath.) "This innovative island has been a tremendous success, as the Sheepy Lake tern colony appears to have had the highest nesting success of any Caspian tern colony in the region during 2010."
* Restoring refuges - Wildlife refuges benefit from stimulus funds, H&N, posted 10/16/09.
RELATED ARTICLE: Stimulus funds bring Caspian tern project to Siskiyou County, Siskyou Daily News 8/12/09. "...the Tulelake reserve rock island’s cost is approximately $1.1 million, the Orems unit rock island’s cost is approximately $650,000 and the Sheepy Lake floating island’s cost is approximately $2.3 million...an estimated colony of 10,000 nesting pairs of Caspian terns on Rice Island in the Columbia River were consuming approximately 6 million to 25 million salmonid smolts per year, according to a 1999 USACE report."

Owl killings spur moral questions about human intervention, H&N 10/16/19. ("The owl experiment is unusual because it involves killing one species of owl to save another owl species...After the owl was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1990...federal officials halted logging on millions of acres of old-growth forests on federal lands to protect the bird's habitat. But the birds' population continued to decline...the barred owl is the spotted owl's worst enemy")

Lower Klamath refuge to start getting water, KWUA 9/5/19. “Even in a year with 130 percent of average precipitation, we still did not have a full allocation to the Project,” said Klamath Irrigation District Manager Gene Souza. "The ESA requirements for fish are overwhelmingly the biggest risk to the water needs of the Refuge as well as the Project.”

Rules will change implementation of federal ESA, CFBF Ag Alert 8/14/19

U.S. plans to lift protections for gray wolves, Capital Press 3/6/19.

California judge upholds wolf protection, H&N 3/1/19.

California adds protections for Klamath spring salmon; Klamath spring chinook a candidate for CESA listing, H&N 2/8/19. "The decision was in response to a petition filed last year by the Karuk Tribe and the Salmon River Restoration Council." KBC Note: The Karuk Tribe has stated that Klamath irrigators are "the enemy," they want to get "rid of all the farmers," and after the dams come out they will target "Keno Dam."

Siskiyou County Water Users comments on "Gene research upends Klamath-Trinity Chinook history; ‘Run time gene’ rewrites narrative of spring vs fall runs", by Philip Santos, Eureka Times Standard, 1/23/19. Comments follow by SCWUA President Richard Marshall and member Rex Cozzalio.

Once again, it's time to fix the ESA, Capital Press 1/3/19

DeFazio wolf comments uncalled for, H&N by Capital Press 12/7/18. "...Rep. Peter DeFazio, a Democrat who represents Oregon’s 4th District, in defense of keeping federal protections on wolves. He called the bill “a talking point for a few idiots..."
House wolf debate features OR-7, WSU, ‘idiots," Capital Press 11/20/18

Delisting of Wolves passes the house, 11/16/18: H.R. 6784: Manage our Wolves Act: To provide for removal of the gray wolf in the contiguous 48 States from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife published under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. H.R. 6784: Manage our Wolves Act Passed 196/180 Rep. LaMalfa [R-CA1]: Aye Trackers: Rep. Doug LaMalfa [R-CA1

Saving the sucker species, Summit with Senator Merkley, H&N 11/18/18. "There are about 50,000 Lost River sucker left in Upper Klamath Lake..."
Record number of suckers recovered. Biologists find 732 juvenile suckers near A Canal screen, H&N
12/18/15. "...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."
Lower Klamath Refuge construction an effort to save salmon (on the Columbia River). Habitat restoration aimed at dispersing (baby-fish-eating) Caspian Tern populations, H&N 2/14/18. "...According to Beckstrand, the Caspian tern population along the Columbia River has been responsible for around 15 million to 20 million salmon smolts being eaten annually. The cormorant population growing on East Sand Island is estimated to be responsible for an additional 11 million young salmon each year..."
More articles on imported fish-eating Caspian Terns HERE

Suckers thrived in warm water with low lake levels, H&N KBC 11/11/18

Klamath Tribes drop ESA lawsuit against BOR. Merkley to hold PRIVATE Sucker Recovery Summit November 16 in Klamath Falls, H&N 11/9/18.

Science behind listing of endangered fish should be public, by Christine Hankins, Bonanza, letter to H&N 7/3/18. "...has anyone ever wondered how the ”endangered” short-nosed sucker existed for millennia before the local dams ... made it possible to keep lake and river levels so high?"

Environmental, fishing groups sue Oregon over coho salmon, Statesman Journal 6/13/18. "...Poor logging practices by the Oregon Department of Forestry is causing real harm to the Oregon coast coho and commercial fishing families who depend on these magnificent fish for their livelihoods," Glen Spain (PCFFA/IFR attorney) said, the northwest regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the Institute of Fisheries Resources, both plaintiffs in the case..."

"Rather than seek out yet another unrelated non-profit to funnel the money through, PCFFA created a new organization..." IFR / Institute for Fisheries Resources. KBC NOTE: That link directs you to PCFFA/IFR page detailing their many Earthjustice (partially funded by George Soros) lawsuits against Klamath Irrigators in the takings case, power rate case, shutting down suction dredge mining, Klamath River water quality TMDL's, essentially against timber harvest, farming, mining and river dams.

Funds ($1M) set aside for endangered species study, H&N 5/8/18

ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM THE JUDGMENT AND CLARIFYING INJUNCTION ORDERS April 30, 2018.
   
"...Interveners’ argument mainly rests on the effects of the Klamath River Project on the family farms and ranches in the Project’s irrigation districts...I am not free to favor economic or other interests over potential harm to endangered species..."
   "...the injunctions prioritizes first and foremost the wellbeing of the endangered species (both the Coho salmon and the sucker fish to the extent that they are affected), then the federally-protected rights of the tribes, and finally the rights of the irrigation districts. Federal defendants have not shown that so-called partial implementation cannot meet the objectives of the injunctions, nor that even some lesser amount of Reserve Water would provide no benefits...."
   "...Because the injunctions demand partial compliance in the event that full compliance is not possible, federal defendants’ proposal of releasing water to the Project is clearly inconsistent with their duties. Under the injunctions, they are not permitted to release any water to the irrigation districts that could be instead used to implement Measure 4, even if only partially..."

Irrigators may get their water as judge mulls altering injunction, H&N 4/20/18.

Sucker fish success requires cooperation, H&N by Tracy Liskey 4/3/18. "In the past all we have done is keep the water levels higher and the fish population has done nothing but continue to decrease and the basin economy decrease because of water restrictions..." KBC NOTE: It's been stated at meetings for more than 15 years that the fish die-offs happen when water managers mandate historically high lake levels for the fish. The Klamath Science Workshop Feb. 3, 2004: Dr William Lewis Jr of the National Resources Committee "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. 'We need to look at other locations.' "

Species battle pits protected sea lions against fragile fish, H&N 3/23/18. " the mammals’ numbers dropped dramatically but have rebounded from 30,000 in the late 1960s to about 300,000 today due to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act...Last winter, a record-low 512 wild winter steelhead completed the journey, said Shaun Clements, the state wildlife agency’s senior policy adviser. Less than 30 years ago, that number was more than 15,000...Of all the adults that are returning to the falls here, a quarter of them are getting eaten.”

Groups seek protection for unique Oregon salamander, The Oregonian 3/13/18.

Study blames pot farms for poisoning of threatened owls, H&N 1/12/18. "...Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and the California Academy of Sciences tested 10 northern spotted owls found dead in the region. Seven of the owls tested positive for rat poison, used by pot farmers to keep rodents away from their irrigation systems and crops..."
Spotted owl controversy renews over logging plan, KCBY News 6/12/07. "The Bush administration Tuesday proposed cutting 1.5 million acres from Northwest forests considered critical to the survival of the northern spotted owl, reopening the 1990s battle between timber production and wildlife habitat on public lands..."

Court OKs killing a type of owl to see effect on other owls, ABC News, posted to KBC 1/14/18
$3.5 million to hunt the barred owl that killed the spotted owl, H&N 1/24/14

Environmentalists sue for more rules to protect sage grouse, H&N 2/26/16.  

Birds play role in sucker numbers, H&N 1/29/16. “ 'Predation rates on suckers at Clear Lake were highest by birds nesting at the lake...The predation on suckers in 2014 and 2015 pretty much came from whatever got to nest on Last Chance Island,' Hewitt said."  KBC NOTE: Historically Clear Lake was a meadow. When The Klamath Reclamation Project was built, it stored some water in that meadow and was named Clear Lake. The federal government took the reservoir and named it a bird refuge, nurturing pelicans and cornerants, keeping out people, and mandating certain amounts of "endangered" suckers that never before lived in that meadow. Now the cormorants and pelicans are eating the suckers, keeping them endangered in that former meadow."
*Thousands of fish-eating Cormorants eating baby suckers? by Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett 6/13/13 Newsletter: "What is NOT commonly known is that the second largest nesting colony of Double Crested Cormorants in the Western United States and Canada is located on Upper Klamath Lake. There may be as many as six thousand breeding pairs of these birds reproducing in the Upper Klamath Basin...When will the biologists look to see if the immense population of Double Crested Cormorants living in the Upper Klamath Basin may be simply eating the young endangered suckers?"

Reclamation Announces Increased Numbers of Lost River and Shortnose Sucker Fish in the Klamath Project, BOR 12/17/15. "Bureau of Reclamation biologists found the largest number of juvenile Lost River and shortnose sucker fish since fish salvage operations began on the Klamath Project...the late 1990s"

Swimming upstream: Biologists monitor endangered suckers, H&N 11/27/15. "...scientists have tagged roughly 30,000 Lost River and shortnose suckers."

Judge clears barred owl removal study, Capital Press July 21, 2015. "Populations of the northern spotted owl, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act, have continued to decline in recent decades despite strict limits on logging...U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorized an experiment to remove 3,600 barred owls over four years, typically by shooting them, to see if spotted owl recovery improves...the barred owl has consistently invaded the spotted owl’s territory since the 1970s...the removal study costs $1 million a year"

(Klamath) Project irrigators could get new fed status. ‘Applicant status’ may allow for more input in ESA development, H&N 7/18/15. "The amendment was proposed by by U.S. Reps. Greg Walden, ROre., and Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., to help protect Klamath Project water users in Oregon and California...the amendment gives Project water users “applicant status,” ensuring they are included in Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations that affect Project water operations."

Tracking suckers in drought proves to be a tricky task. Spawning data hard to come by in low water, H&N 5/21/15. "75 Clear Lake suckers received telemetry tags, more than 10,000 have been fitted with another type of tag..."  KBC NOTE: Clear Lake was historically a meadow. When Reclamation rerouted water to create farmland, they put water in the meadow to evaporate. Our government has made it into a bird refuge with a mandate of how many suckers must exist, thus restricting stored water use for farms.

*Hundreds of cormorants shot to protect Columbia salmon, H&N 5/29/15
*
Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett 6/13/13 Newsletter: Thousands of fish-eating Cormorants eating baby suckers? "What is NOT commonly known is that the second largest nesting colony of Double Crested Cormorants in the Western United States and Canada is located on Upper Klamath Lake. There may be as many as six thousand breeding pairs of these birds reproducing in the Upper Klamath Basin...When will the biologists look to see if the immense population of Double Crested Cormorants living in the Upper Klamath Basin may be simply eating the young endangered suckers?"

Preservation plan unveiled for sage grouse. Proposal could affect 10 states, oil and natural gas development, H&N 5/29/15 followed by Interior proposes land controls to preserve Nevada sage grouse, Las Vegas Review Journal. “The economic impact of sage-grouse restrictions on just the oil and natural gas industry will be between 9,170 and 18,250 jobs and $2.4 billion to $4.8 billion of annual economic impact across Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming,”..."Department of Interior is updating management plans covering 165 million acres — an area the size of Texas — in consideration of the sage grouse"

Washington ranchers wary of (sage) grouse agreement, Capital Press 5/5/15. "Creston, Wash., rancher Dawn Nelson says she would have to reduce her herd of more than 120 by roughly half if she were to sign up...They say it’s voluntary to sign up, but if you don’t sign up and you happen to have a bird die on your place or an accidental take, they can come back and sue you,' Nelson said."

$4 million for wildfire strategy -Sage Grouse Habitat , H&N, posted to KBC 5/7/15.
Feds spend $236M to help landowners protect grouse, H&N 5/1/14.

Tribes in 13 States Receive $4.2 Million From Service for Conservation Work, FWS 3/27/15. California and Southern Oregon Tribes Awarded Grants. "Tribal lands encompass millions of acres of important habitat for hundreds of wildlife species across the nation...Since its inception in 2003, the competitive Tribal Wildlife Grants program has awarded more than $68 million to Native American tribes, providing support for more than 400 conservation projects...Yurok Tribe ($176,771)...This project will support specific goals of the California Condor Recovery Plan. The Klamath Tribes ($200,000) The Re-introducing Extinct Populations of Endangered Suckers in the Upper Klamath Basin grant will assess and restore spawning habitat for endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers in Upper Klamath Lake Oregon."

Salmon habitat rules on the table, and PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD, H&N 10/24/14. "Sen. Doug Whitsett, R-Ore., said he is concerned about restrictions being placed on the diversion canal connecting Lost River to the Klamath River. He said the diversion is at the “heart of the Klamath Project.”

Biologists identify pot gardens as salmon threat, KATU 9/30/14. "The plan marks the second time that Endangered Species Act actions have pointed to marijuana as a threat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been looking at rat poison left around illegal pot plantations in California as a factor in whether to list the Pacific fisher as a threatened species." Go HERE for numerous articles on huge pot plantations near the Klamath River, on the Hoopa Indian reservation, in our locked-up forests.

Corps seeking comment on plans to again reduce Caspian Tern nesting area on East Sand Island, Due Feb 21, 2014, CBB 1/24/14. “In 2013, at 1.58 acres of nesting habitat on East Sand Island, the number of nesting pairs was near 7,600 and predation on juvenile salmon was near 4.7 million...“In 2013, approximately 680 Caspian terns moved from East Sand Island to some of the constructed inland sites, including Summer Lake, Malheur Lake, Crump Lake, Sheepy Lake, and Tule Lake.” KBC NOTE: These fish predators eat baby fish and were relocated to Tule Lake and Klamath refuges. Our baby suckers are mysteriously vanishing. 100,000 acres of irrigation water were shut off above the Klamath Project because Indians demanded it due to low juvenile sucker counts, claiming more water in the lake makes more suckers. Write comments regarding Columbia building Caspian Tern habitat, terns killed millions of juvenile salmon so they relocated them here, and plan to relocate more. http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Media/Announcements/tabid/1887/Article/21181/draft-ea-caspian-tern-nesting-habitat-reduction-east-sand-island.aspx

$3.5 million to hunt the barred owl that killed the spotted owl, H&N Forum 1/24/14.
Feds begin killing barred owls to help spotted owl, Daily Herald 1/20/14

Sage grouse plan seeking comments by Jan. 13, H&N 1/2/14. "The draft EIS has six possible management alternatives for maintaining and increasing habitat for greater sage grouse on BLM lands in Oregon. The BLM has about 10 million acres in Oregon that provides greater sage grouse habitat."

Feds begin barred owl kills to help spotted owl, H&N, 12/21/13. "Major cutbacks in logging in old growth forest that spotted owls prefer as habitat have not turned around their population decline, and scientists want to see if removing competition from the more aggressive barred owl will make a difference."

Officials oppose Oregon spotted frog habitat; all three commissioners voted to send an opposition letter to USFW, H&N, 12/7/13. "Klamath County commissioners are voicing their opposition to designating more than 56,000 acres in Oregon as critical habitat for the Oregon spotted frog, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list as a threatened species...of the 53,866 acres in Oregon considered for critical habitat, 27,825 are in Klamath County and 8,823 acres in Klamath County are on private land."

Group files suit to stop barred owl shooting, H&N 10/3/13

Spotted Frog Protection; Endangered listing could have impact on Basin; some say ruling would be positive; others disagree, H&N, posted toKBC 9/1/13. "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday a one-year period to assess whether to designate the Oregon spotted frog as threatened, and whether 68,192 acres and 23 stream miles should be listed as critical habitat throughout Washington and Oregon."

Feds to start shooting barred owls, The Westerner 7/24/13. "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday released a final environmental review of an experiment to see if killing barred owls will allow northern spotted owls to reclaim territory they’ve been driven out of over the past half-century."

Lack of forest logging to blame for fires, H&N letter to editor, posted to KBC 7/9/13. "I’m still waiting for just one environmentalist, one environmental group, or anyone else who played an active or sedentary role in stopping logging to save the spotted owl, to come forward and publicly protest the illegal marijuana grows in our national forests, national parks, and Native American Indian reservations, after it’s been proven the pesticides used on these grows are killing spotted owls and fishers."

Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge - Floating Islands Enhance Salmonid Recovery by Creating Alternative Nesting Habitat for Caspian Terns,  US Army Corp of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and NOAA Fisheries plan succeeded, with OSU and USGS,  to bring fish predators to Klamath Basin. Floating Island International 2010, posted to KBC 6/13/13. "In February 2010, FIW and Just Buckets built and launched a 40,000sq. ft. floating island at Sheepy Lake in Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge." (The fish-predator Caspian Terns population in 2010 went from 0 to 325 in 3 months on Lower Klamath.) "This innovative island has been a tremendous success, as the Sheepy Lake tern colony appears to have had the highest nesting success of any Caspian tern colony in the region during 2010."

Photo: A new two-acre island for Caspian terns, shown before it was flooded, was built at the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Restoring refuges - Wildlife refuges benefit from stimulus funds, H&N, posted 10/16/09.
RELATED ARTICLE: Stimulus funds bring Caspian tern project to Siskiyou County, Siskyou Daily News 8/12/09. "...the Tulelake reserve rock island’s cost is approximately $1.1 million, the Orems unit rock island’s cost is approximately $650,000 and the Sheepy Lake floating island’s cost is approximately $2.3 million...an estimated colony of 10,000 nesting pairs of Caspian terns on Rice Island in the Columbia River were consuming approximately 6 million to 25 million salmonid smolts per year, according to a 1999 USACE report."

Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett 6/13/13 Newsletter: Thousands of fish-eating Cormorants eating baby suckers?

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

PRESS RELEASE - Members Launch Endangered Species Act Working Group, House Natural Resources Committee, posted to KBC 5/11/13.

Judge tells feds to study owls before selling timber, Capital Press, posted to KBC 4/6/13. “Arguably, this means every timber sale in the Northwest Forest Plan area has to have an EIS...The EIS will likely come to the same conclusions, but will delay the timber project by up to a year and use up agency resources...That seems wasteful and unnecessary.”

Ranchers wary of rules expanding scope of ESA, Capital Press 3/27/13. "cattle can be subject to greater restrictions on grazing near streams that are considered critical habitat even if no endangered or threatened fish swim in them, said Budd-Falen..."

Timber industry challenges spotted owl habitat, Capital Press 3/22/13.
Who did the spotted owl studies? Former Yurok forestry director released from jail; Raymond accused of embezzling tribal funds, posted to KBC 3/7/13. "Raymond and two biologists are accused of using an elaborate system of fake invoices, false purchase requests and electronic bank transfers to embezzle more than $870,000 in federal funds from the Yurok Tribe during a three-year period of wildlife preservation studies." (these included faked spotted owl studies). For more, see Klamath Science Misconduct page
Forests and logging page

Environmental groups abuse ESA, Hastings says, Capital Press 2/25/13

Department of Interior Federal Register: over 2 million acres proposed critical habitat for yellow legged frog and Yosemite toad, 1,105,400 acres. 750,926 acres in Yosemite: Part 2  Part 3 Public Comments due June 24, 2013. Mining and timber country..."Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, Alpine, Mariposa, Mono, Madera, Tuolumne, Fresno, and Inyo Counties, California"

Feds to cut property rights under Endangered Species Act! PLF blog, posted to KBC 10/27/12.

Plea deal in works for Raymond in $1M embezzlement case; no federal charges yet for LeValley, McAllister, times Standard 9/26/12. "Raymond and biologists Sean McAllister and Ron LeValley are accused of using an elaborate system of fake invoices, false purchase requests and electronic bank transfers to embezzle more than $870,000 in federal funds from the Yurok Tribe during a three-year period of wildlife preservation studies (includes spotted owl studies)."  HERE for Klamath Science Misconduct page

The incredible stretching Endangered Species Act, by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong 9/4/12--coho, wolf, spotted owls. HERE for Armstrong Page

Attacks Against Rural Counties, from Dr Richard Gierak 8/20/12: Spotted Owl listing, Coho, Fish Kill, Yurok boat dance, water pulse, forestry roads,  mining,...

Farmers, ranchers in the Langell Valley familiar with water crises, H&N, posted to KBC 8/16/12. "Under federally-mandated U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinions, a minimum lake level is required to support the short-nose sucker, an endangered fish." (KBC NOTE: There is a mandatory lake level in Clear Lake for "endangered" suckers. Before the Klamath Project was built, Clear Lake was a meadow. The reservoir was built to evaporate water so farmers could farm. The Project also pumped water out of this closed basin into Klamath River, water which historically did not reach the river. The federal government now demands a higher-than-historical lake level for salmon because of the ESA / Endangered Species Act. )

Humboldt: Federal charges against former Yurok forestry director over $1 million embezzlement, The Times-Standard, posted to KBC 8/15/12. "Raymond, LeValley and McAllister used an elaborate system of fake invoices, false purchase requests and electronic bank transfers to embezzle more than $870,000 in federal funds from the Yurok Tribe during a three year period of wildlife preservations studies... The surveys that allegedly were never conducted primarily purported to be for spotted owl research..."

Stand-replacement fire: PNW forest conditions pose biggest threat to spotted owls, other species, Columbia Basin Bulletin 7/27/12

Let the River Run: Strategies to Remove Obsolete Dams and Defeat Resulting Fifth Amendment Taking Claims, by Christopher Scoones, Seattle Journal of Environmental Law, 2012. KBC EDITOR: the message is how to deny claims of communities and resource users when they destroy dams, and use the ESA to force dam removal. "The Endangered Species Act (ESA) can be an effective tool for the removal of public and private hydropower and nonhydropower dams..."

There is local timber that could be cut, Bob Jensen, H&N, posted to KBC 4/15/12. "The 1990 Timber Management Plan for the Fremont-Winema National Forests called for a timber harvest of approximately 490 million board feet...this volume was never met due to legal challenges to various timber sales because of spotted owl and salmon controversies, so that today the two national forests produce approximately 50 to 60 million board feet annually."
The Yurok Grift, Questions linger in million-dollar embezzlement scheme after fugitive surrenders, North Coast Journal, posted to KBC 4/14/12. "Field had already figured out that the Mad River Biologists invoices submitted for spotted owl research were fakes...an associate at Mad River Biologists acknowledged that they hadn’t conducted the surveys in question."

Ocean anglers get long salmon season; In Brookings, Gold Beach area it runs May 1 through Sept. 9, Mail Tribune 4/7/12. "The liberal seasons are possible because more than 1.6 million chinook are estimated to be headed toward Northern California's Klamath River, the highest number in more than 30 years."

National Marine Fisheries Service: ‘Chinook not endangered, Siskiyou Daily News, posted to KBC 4/7/12. "The agency says several studies have “found that spring-run and fall-run populations in the Salmon River were nearly indistinguishable genetically and that spring and fall-run populations in the South Fork Trinity were extremely similar to each other and to the Trinity River hatchery stocks.”

ESA partially to blame for bird kill at refuges, Debbie Kliewer, H&N letter 4/7/12.

Owl plan could fall to local agencies, Proposal calls for shooting barred owls, H&N, posted to KBC 3/12/12

U.S. plans to kill barred owls to save spotted owl,  San Francisco Chronicle 2/29/12. "The government set aside millions of acres of forest to protect the owl, but the bird's population continues to decline - a 40 percent slide in 25 years."  According to Siskiyou County Sheriff Lopey at Saturday's sheriff meeting in Yreka, in the early 80's there were over 22 lumber mills, and now only 2 are functional, and 65% of land in the county is public land. Endangered Species Act / ESA mandates locked up the forests to save the spotted owl. It devastated Siskiyou economy, they have one of the highest unemployment rate. KBC NOTE: Sacrificing the forest, wildlife and owls by rampant wildfires, and communities and economies, all by false science, did not save the spotted owls.
HERE and HERE about 2 esteemed spotted owl scientists.

Rex Cozzalio responds to newest program to impregnate Shasta River with fertilized coho eggs — preposterous, it is, PienPolitics 2/10/12

Timber industry files lawsuit against murrelet designation, posted to KBC 1/31/12. "Because humans almost never see the bird, the FWS seems to think it can throw a net over millions of acres of federal timber land that not only aren’t being used by the bird, but don’t even have the characteristics it is looking for when it flies inland to lay its eggs. Someone has to speak up about this violation of the limits of the ESA.”

Guest Opinion ESA cripples communities 1/11/12, by Rod Kerr

Wolf worries, Siskiyou Daily 1/11/12. “There is no allowance under the law for killing of a wolf that is going after or preying upon livestock, but there is an allowance if there is a direct threat to life and limb for humans.”

Cliff Wooten, former Lin County Commissioner and former resident of Tulelake, Calif. "With the problems of the "poor" management of the irrigation water (trying to save the "sucker" fish at Klamath Lake) the future of Tulelake farming is in jeopardy. I might add the entire lake was poisoned back in the mid 60's to kill all the sucker fish and now the same irresponsible government agencies are trying to "save" this fish which was destroying habitat of other fish. I can't count all the rowboat loads of dead suckerfish that was removed from Klamath Lake at Moore Park. The dead fished floated up and the wind "stacked" them at the park and I remember working for the Klamath Park Department "scooping up" these fish and our boats were dragged ashore and the dead fish loaded in County trucks and hauled away as fertilizer."

AUDIO - Attorney Karen Budd-Falen interviewed by Kirk McKinzie about Equal Access to Justice Act / EAJA, "The ESA does not require the agency to know how many species there are before it's listed...What the Obama administration is proposing is, let's include critical habitat in places where the species may feel like living someday..." Karen explains how the federal government reimburses environmental groups and litigants like Earthjustice and Center for Biological Diversity for attorney fees suing the federal government, however individuals or small groups rarely are reimbursed when trying to save their farms or property. The government does not account for how much money it gives these groups for fees.

House panel probes inner workings of ESA, Capital Press 12/14/11

Excessive Endangered Species Act litigation threatens species recovery, job creation and economic growth, Natural Resources Committee, 12/6/11

Federal Management of Oregon's Forest Lands, Senator Doug Whitsett Newsletter 8/12/11. "federal district court ruled that the owl was threatened under the Endangered Species Act and that nearly unlimited critical habitat was required to preserve the bird from extinction...Oregon’s annual timber harvest from federal lands plummeted from 60 percent to 12 percent. Nearly 300 timber mills closed and more than 30,000 family wage jobs were lost."

Little hope in delisting endangered sucker, by Warren Haught, Klamath Falls 7/22/11. "Our local 11.8 percent unemployment rate is in large part due to the ESA."

My Turn: Fish, frogs and owls didn't survive the Wallow Fire, by Douglas Brown, AZ 7/16/11

One owl horning in on another, H&N, posted to KBC 7/7/11. "One of the potential removal methods involves shooting the barred owls." followed by: Owl plan hinges on killing rival; Spotted owls not recovering; may be linked to barred owl. (KBC NOTE: a few decades ago the federal government poisoned suckers, killing thousands of them. Now the plan is to kill little barred owls...?)

Wildfires threaten protected habitats; wolves, owls among the endangered, H&N, posted to KBC 7/7/11. "Crown fires in overgrown forests have become the greatest cause of unusual losses for the (spotted owl) birds, and 73 protected nesting areas were burned in the fire,...The burned forest supports more than a dozen other endangered or threatened species, including snails, frogs and fish. Dozens of other species live in the forest that aren’t rare, including bear, deer, antelope and a herd of elk that, at about 6,000, is among the state’s biggest."

Environmentalism on taxpayers' dime, Victorville Daily Press Opinion April 18, 2011. "... the Center is one of four environmental groups seeking to protect the “spring run” of the Upper Klamath chinook salmon under the Endangered Species Act by submitting a petition seeking to designate the fish as a “distinct species....between 2000 and 2009, eight environmental groups — led by the Center for Biological Diversity — filed at least 1,596 federal court cases against the federal government....These same environmental groups are receiving billions of tax dollars in attorney fees for settling or ‘winning’ cases against the federal government.”

Officials back environmental reform, Klamath Commissioners vote to support changes to Endangered Species Act, H&N 4/27/11

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.  …”
More letters and research by James Waddell HERE.

Chinook salmon could get endangered species protection, Petition passes; year-long review process begins, H&N, followed by Agency will examine Klamath Chinook listing, Siskiyou Daily News, posted to KBC 4/14/11. (KBC NOTE: each plaintiff, KLAMATH SISKIYOU WILDLANDS CENTER; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION INFORMATION CENTER; KLAMATH FOREST ALLIANCE; CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY" is supported by Earthjustice, supported by George Soros. They also oppose salvage logging trees burnt up in a fire. Same force and $ behind the NGO's in the KBRA.)

SUCKERS AND THE ESA / Endangered Species Act

Irrigation water released, canals fill;  Officials anticipate normal water year, H&N 4/5/11. "Last year at this time, the A Canal wasn’t flowing" (KBC NOTE: because of government lake level mandates for suckers.) "Wildlife refuges in Lower Klamath and Tule Lake didn’t get water last year either." (KBC NOTE: HERE for more pix of 2010 water on Tule Lake refuges)
< KBC Photo of Tule Lake refuge in 2010

Tag, you’re it Biologists tagging endangered suckers in Lake Ewauna, H&N 4/5/11. "The initial reason (for tagging) was to find out how many there are...”The estimated few thousand suckers are ... not large enough to potentially push the fish off the endangered species list."
Water, sucker science argued at conference, H&N 2/4/04, "(William Lewis, chair of the National Research Council committee) said ...the finding that water levels in Upper Klamath Lake aren't as important for suckers as previously thought, ...(the NRC) found that lake levels aren't a "master control" for larval suckers, Lewis said."
MORE on William Lewis and lakes levels for suckers at 2004 science conference.
David A Vogel, Fisheries Scientist written testimony about endangered suckers (KBC NOTE: Vogel says there were 10's of thousands more suckers than estimated when they were listed as endangered, however gov't agencies won't allow them to be delisted.) July 17, 2004.
HERE for 2004 Congressional Hearing on the ESA, and testimony
HERE for Klamath ESA DVD, sectioned film of the 2004 hearing and rally.

Klamath County Republican Central Committee letter to Klamath Irrigation District and other Klamath Basin Irrigation Districts regarding the ESA/Endangered Species Act, posted to KBC 3/28/11

Scientists to study lethal removal of barred owls, H&N posted 3/13/11

New Spotted Owl Plan Would Hurt Rural Economy and Ignore Real Solutions, Forestry Groups Say, PR Newswire, posted to KBC 2/26/11

Foreign and domestic train wreck in the making - more of the ESA, Budd Falen Law, posted to KBC 1/26/11

Governors air gripes about Endangered Species Act, Western governors meet for two-day conference, H&N, posted to KBC 12/19/10

World Governments  Agree on Zero Extinction Target at Convention On Biological Diversity Conference in Nagoya, Japan, American Bird Conservancy, posted to KBC 10/30/10

Another town needs help. Please watch this 20 minute video. We lived this in 2001 when our water was shut off, and other Klamath Basin farmers lived a water shutoff this year. People with water rights signed by the President of the U.S.A. Thanks Awaker on our Discussion Forum   for finding this sad story told by Americans on the East Coast being destroyed by environmental groups and the same government agencies.

ESA requires real repairs, Capital Press editorial posted to KBC 9/19/10

Smelt regulations violate Constitution, Capital Press, posted to KBC 8/28/10

Double Standard on Salmon Losses? California Ag Network 5/27/10 

Basin home to diverse population of lampreys, H&N, posted to KBC 2/15/10. (KBC Note: The Klamath agreement supports planting more lampreys / fish parasites, in Klamath Bason.)

Spotted owls’ rivals targeted, H&N 12/10/09

CONSIDERATION/ACTION: Request Board approval and Chairman’s signature on attached letter to the Klamath Basin NWR Complex.  (Farm Advisor) Sage Grouse, Modoc County Supervisor's audio, posted to KBC 12/3/09

ESA blamed for low flows (Calif. Central Valley), Capital Press 12/3/09

ESA Pitted against our economy, by Nita Still 11/20/09

Saving the sucker, how the fish was listed as endangered, and Critical habitat: Providing safe havens for fish by Jill Aho, Herald and News, posted to KBC 9/17/09
KBC NOTE:
"In 1986 the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff responsible for whether or not to pursue these (ESA) listings believed there were only 12,000 Lost River suckers in Upper Klamath Lake...they didn't believe they were endangered. A couple years later...we now know for a fact that number's exceeded by tens of thousands of Lost River suckers. Now they flip flop and say they are endangered. What constitutes endangered? David Vogel, fisheries scientist with 29 years experience, 14 years working for the Fish and Wildlife Service."

.

Sucker holds significance for tribes, H&N, posted to KBC 9/17/09. KBC COMMENT: According to Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement advocates, power ratepayers and taxpayers must pay millions/billions$ to decimate four Klamath River dams because salmon must come into the Klamath Basin and beyond because they supposedly provided food for the Indians. In this article, tribal biologist said the indians staple was suckers; they would have starved without suckers. What was it, suckers or salmon?

USFWS deny petition to delist suckers, Capital Press, posted to KBC 6/29/09
Feds: fish still endangered, H&N 6/27/09. "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delivered a blow to Klamath Basin irrigators Friday  when it said the Lost River and shortnosed suckers still belong on the endangered species list."
Attorney James Buchal's letter to AP writer Jeff Barnard: "I have not seen the determination, but understand it to have rejected any change in status for either species.  If that is the case, my comment is: "The Service's determination shows that the political imperative to pillage the economy of the Klamath Basin drives the Service's decisions, not good science, since the Service rejected the opinions of its own scientists and its own status review that called for downlisting at least one species.  "In fact, both species are in no appreciable danger of extinction, and the lakes and ponds of the Klamath Basin are filled with literally millions of listed suckers." 6/26/09

Federal plan will protect chinook salmon, H&N 6/5/09

Endangered Species Act: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Has Incomplete Information about Effects on Listed Species from Section 7 Consultations, GAO/Government Accountability Office May 2009

Farmers Losing Crops to Endangered Fish, FOX, posted to KBC 5/18/09

Calif. Central Valley - People or fish: Who gets water under ESA? by M. David Stirling, Guest comment 5/7/09, Capital Press.

Schwarzenegger declines to endorse lifting ESA protections, Capital Press 4/17/09

Science and its proper role, Democrat Herald posted 12/26/08

Advocate: Watch your water rights, Capital Press 11/24/08. "Right now the Supreme Court has made the determination that we are going to protect species at any cost. ... It won't make a difference if 25 million people in Southern California are without water."

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sucker Recovery Public Meeting Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Shilo Inn, Klamath Falls. Posted 10/5/08

Comments due by Sept 15 regarding ESA proposal.

The August 15, 2008 Federal Register has posted Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne's changes to portions of the ESA regulations regarding section 7 of the Act. Here for > Interagency Cooperation Under the Endangered Species Act
Send comments by September 15, 2008 to ensure their full consideration in the final decision on this proposal.

Revised Critical Habitat Designated for Northern Spotted Owl, FWS 8/12/08. "This includes the designation of approximately 1.8 million acres in Washington, 2.3 million acres in Oregon and 1.2 million acres in California."

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)

Sucker revision under way, H&N, posted 6/20/08. "...an appointed group of stakeholders, meetings and consultation from Desert Research Institute researchers will guide the revisions...A fisheries biologist from the Klamath Tribes, the Nature Conservancy and individuals from Oregon State University and the U.S. Geological Survey will participate as stakeholders...Commissioner Bill Brown was concerned to not see a representative from the irrigation community in the stakeholder group and asked if that could be changed. Buettner said the group was established by regional director Steve Thompson..."

County farmers could lose water, Willows Journal, posted 6/10/08

ESA - Julie MacDonald Defends Interior Role, Family Farm Alliance 3/08

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether ESA Listing Exceeds Federal Power, Environmental News, 4/1/08 issue.

Supreme Court: ESA can be be trumped, News With Views, posted 1/23/08

More than one to blame on ESA rulings reversal, Editorial Capital Press 11/30/07, followed by related article by Dan Keppen, Executive Director Family Farm Alliance

Snowy Plover Comments by Oregon Coos County Commissioner John Griffith 11/8/07
COMMENT PERIOD: Habitat Conservation Plan for Western Snowy Plover and Related Environmental Impact Statement Released for Comment Plan Covers Recreation and Management on 32 Miles of Oregon’s 230 Miles of Beach, posted to KBC 11/8/07

Florida hurricane victims may not rebuild because of endangered mice that don't live there, Pacific Legal Foundation 11/8/07

NOAA Fisheries asks judge for more time on coho listing case, CB Bulletin, posted 10/27/07

When Man Is Endangered, Investor's Business Daily 10/23/2007. "That would be the 1973 Endangered Species Act. It's the same law that cut off an irrigation project earlier this decade along the California-Oregon border that 1,400 farmers were counting on."

PRESS RELEASE: Fish and Wildlife Service October 9, 2007. Petition Seeking Endangered Species Act Protection for the Giant Palouse Earthworm Does Not Establish Need for Listing. (KBC NOTE: Oh No! If the worm is not to be listed as endangered, roads will stay open, water will continue to go to farmers, dams won't come out, economies won't be destroyed, property can not be confiscated, mining and logging banned, fishing won't be curtailed, more millions of dollars will not go to studies.)

The Endangered Species Act Out of Control, by John R. Lott Jr. and Sonya D. Jones September 04, 2007. "...does it really matter if a fish’s ancestors are from a hatchery or are naturally spawned? As it is, many so-called "wild" or naturally spawned salmon were all but gone and brought back through the use of hatcheries. Given that hatcheries have been around for over a hundred years, it's likely that all naturally spawned salmon have at least some hatchery-spawned ancestors."

Judge sides with smelt; California water supplies in question; Ruling would restrict pumping to 25 Million Californians, CVBT 9/2/07

Guest Opinion: Are salmon really endangered? Sonya D. Jones, Pacific Legal Foundation, and John R. Lott Jr., author of Freedomnomics and senior research scholar at the University of Maryland, Statesman Journal 8/2/07

Recovery Plan for Pacific Coast Population of the Western Snowy Plover To Rely on Strong Volunteer Effort Plan Covers Entire Pacific Coast of California, Oregon and Washington, USFWS, posted 9/26/07

Supreme Court Says ESA Is No Trump Card, NW Fishletter 7/2/07

Bald Eagle to be Removed from Endangered Species List, American Bird Conservancy 6/27/07.

Supreme Court limits the Endangered Species Act,, posted 6/26/07, Environmental News Service

Timber cuts in spotted owl habitat proposed, H&N, posted to KBC 6/15/07

Water crisis looms for Westlands farmers, posted 6/15/07, Capital Press.

The wrong owl is winning the fight, so the feds plan to take a hand - and a gun, The Daily Courier, Grants Pass, posted to KBC 6/10/07. "FWS unveiled last week plans for spotted owl recovery that include shooting 216-576 barred owls in 18 "study areas." Implementing all of its plans would take $198 million and 30 years, the department estimates...why should the FWS - or any human, for that matter - take sides in an owl brawl and thus interfere with natural selection?...

Delta pumps halted; If shutdown is long, agencies may order conservation or rationing, Sacramento Bee, 6/1/07. "Jennings said his group planned next week to seek a restraining order against state pumping operations to protect the smelt."

 

Fish threatened with extinction shuts Delta water pumps, Sacramento Bee 5/31/07. "State water officials Thursday morning stopped exporting water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect the threatened Delta smelt, a tiny native fish that appears to be on the brink of extinction... The Delta supplies 23 million Californians with a portion of their drinking water, as well as to 5 million acres of farmland."

Reps. Young & Sali's Statements from Today's Hearing, "ESA Implementation: Science or Politics", posted 5/10/07.

Federal government defends decision not to list Oregon coho, 4/16/2007, by Tim Fought, The Oregonian

Turning off the flow, Modesto Bee 4/17/07. "Millions of Californians would lose at least a portion of their water supply and 750,000 acres of productive Central Valley farmland would dry up if the state cannot satisfy an Alameda County judge...Water flowing down the aqueduct has transformed California's once dry and barren interior into an agribusiness powerhouse that pumps an estimated $300 billion into the state's economy." More ESA Today go HERE.

Oral arguments set Monday on Oregon coho ESA listing case, posted April 14, 2007 Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Bulletin

ESA: Too Broke to Fix?, New West, posted 4/3/07 Problems with ESA:
No real guidelines for listing or delisting.
No way of tracking costs, needs transparency
No way to mitigate negative impact to other species
Inadequate planning and follow up
Costs of restorations being imposed on individuals and states targeted for listing a species

Species Protections Should Be Based On Current, Not Historic Range,Memo Says, DOI, posted to KBC 3/30/07
The Meaning of "In Danger of Extinction Throughout All or a Significant Portion of its Range, by Dept of Interior, posted to KBC 3/30/07

Judge Orders California Water Project Shut Down Because of Violation of California Endangered Species Act,  March 23, 2007 California Progress Report

Good Neighbor Forum ---- ESA misused, speakers say, Fort Morgan Times, posted to KBC 3/5/07

Tax breaks proposed for saving animals, 2/28/07 Sacramento Bee. Feds defend salmon ESA listing policies in court cases, CB Bulletin, posted to KBC 2/18/07

Policy Experts Reject Proposal to List Polar Bears as Threatened, Environmental News, posted 1/27/07. "According to the World Wildlife Fund, about 22,000 polar bears exist worldwide in 20 distinct populations. The group acknowledges on its Web site that "the species is not currently endangered," but it expresses concern that the bears' "future is far from certain" because the bears are not protected "against the biggest man-made threat to their survival: global warming."

Briefings debate how hatchery salmon fit with ESA listings, CB Bulletin, posted 1/27/07

Wall Street Journal praises PLF's bald eagle lawsuit, posted 1/7/07

VIDEO: Behind the Green Curtain, or http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7934453684194357754 . Doug on our Discussion Forum found and shared this video with us. The film unveils the truth behind the ESA, wetlands on private land, and other tools to take private land away from landowners, posted 12/27/06

Bald eagles may fly off endangered list, Salt Lake Tribune, posted to KBC 12/27/06

90-day finding on a petition to list the tricolored blackbird as threatened or endangered, posted 12/18/06

GAO Report on USDA Conservation Programs, Stakeholder Views on Participation and Coordination to Benefit Threatened and Endangered Species and Their Habitats By: Government Accountability Office  Dec 14, 2006

A million here; a million there, Mountain States Legal Foundation, 11/29/06 "Thus, a win-win proposal, which would have generated more  than enough water for the species, created jobs and  revenues, preserved forest health, and secured local  economics, at no additional cost, was rejected.  In its  place is a multi-million dollar scheme that creates losers  all around, beginning with those ranchers in Colorado and  Wyoming."

Designation of Critical Habitat for the Contiguous United States Distinct Population Segment of the Canada Lynx, FWS: "1,841 square miles fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designation, in three units in the States of Minnesota, Montana, and Washington."

Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the Oakmont Industrial Group Development, City of Ontario, San Bernardino County, CA, Nov 30, 2006, for Delhi Sands flower-loving fly. Rachel Thomas: "Back about 10-12 years ago this same little fly cost about $3 million and a delay of about 3 years in the building of a hospital facility. It almost caused the closure of Interstate 10 at one time."

Revised Critical Habitat for the Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), FWS 11/28/06 "We are proposing to revise the critical habitat for the tidewater goby to a total of approximately 10,003 acres (ac) (4,050 hectares (ha)). This is an increase of approximately 8,422 ac (3,408 ha)..."

San Francisco Bay area: PG&E intends to request a permit to cover 66 species federally listed as threatened or endangered and 23 unlisted species that may become listed during the term of the permit, posted 11/25/06.

Court: BLM Violated Rodent's Protection, Washington Post, posted 11/20/06 (wildlands project shuts down more timber harvest)

Endangered Species Act:The Greatest Con Game of All by Allyn J. McDowell, MD, posted 11/20/06

156,350 acres Critical Habitat Designation for the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow, FWS, posted to KBC 11/18/06

Thousands of acres in Oregon designated habitat for butterflies with ESA, FWS, posted 11/18/06

Designation of Critical Habitat for the Contiguous United States Distinct Population Segment of the Canada Lynx, USFWS release 11/9/06.

FWS: Proposed Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for the Oregon Silverspot Butterfly Along the Central Coast, Lane County, OR, 11/9/06

Proposed Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for the Oregon Silverspot Butterfly Along the Central Coast, Lane County, OR, 11/9/06

Sucker fish return in droves, Herald and News 11/2/06, "In August, the Klamath Project's A-Canal fish screen and bypass facility at the southern part of the lake recorded 4,000 juvenile suckers per hour entering the lake. About 50 per hour were counted in 2004."

Judge tosses out decision to reduce vernal pool habitat, Enterprise Record 11/5/06

Kempthorne likely to seek Endangered Species Act changes, Great Falls Tribune 10/16/06

ESA Commentary Lompoc Record 9/15/06, "The way the feds figure, over 4 million acres of land in California alone is necessary to ensure the survival of the red-legged frog."

Bill Kennedy, Chairman of the Board for the Family Farm Alliance, traveled to Redmond, Oregon and spoke to an audience that included Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Dale Hall (Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Mark Rey (Under Secretary of Department of Agriculture), Rick Otis (EPA Deputy Associate Administrator,Office of Policy Economics and Innovation) and Bob Lohn (NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator). Attached is Bill’s written testimony, which was submitted for the record on behalf of the Alliance. Posted to KBC 9/2/06

Alliance Responds to Misguided CBO Report regarding water allocation, Family Farm Alliance, posted to KBC 9/2/06

Re August 22nd U.S. Department of Interior “Listening Session”  at Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond, Oregon, by Senator Doug Whitsett, Oregon District 28, August 27, 2006. " Our forests are burning out of control, our coastal salmon fishery has crashed, and the Biological opinions that the National Academy of Sciences discovered were not based on accurate and reproducible science five years ago continue to be enforced in the Klamath Basin with catastrophic economic and cultural consequences...Unfortunately, the print media coverage of the event was virtually non-existent."

Oversight field hearing July 7th on "Electricity Costs and Salmon: Finding the Balance, 6/21/06
ESA Bill 4857 Summary, 6/21/06
ESA Transparency Bill 4857 6/21/06.
ESA Bill 4857:
Give consumers the right to know how much the endangered species act is costing them, 6/21/06.

Commentary: Forestry may hold key to spotted owl's existence, CFBF 6/14/06.

ACTION ALERT: Game Wardens are in Trouble – you can help, Endangered Species and Homeland Security are not protected  Klamath Courier, posted to KBC 6/13/06 WRITE OR EMAIL BY JUNE 15TH!

Timber Salmon plan gets federal go-ahead, Seattle Times, posted to KBC 6/7/06

Silent Springs, by Rudy Hiley, June 1, 2006. "It really struck me when we got out of the car at my folk’s place; the mill sounds were all but gone...No, there hadn’t been a plague, or a title wave, or a war, it wasn’t a holiday, there were no celebrity visitors in town; the simple fact was that a vital industry had been flattened by a bird; a Spotted Owl...regardless of whether or not the bird was really endangered..."

Species on endangered list challenged, USA Today, posted to KBC 6/1/06.  

PRESS RELEASE: Listing of California Spotted Owl not warranted, 5/24/06

Here Nessie!Nessie the woodpecker, by Jim Beers "after three years there is no proof of the existence of a single ivory-billed woodpecker. Congress has appropriated millions of dollars." posted to KBC 5/22/06

Finally, a habitat even a frog can live with, Inside Bay Area 4/29/06 "At one point during a 10-year bureaucratic and legal battle, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated more than 4.1 million acres as critical habitat for the frogs. That 2001 fabrication would have created a barrier to further development in almost all of the greater Bay Area. But this month, Fish and Wildlife decided to impose restrictions on 450,000 acres in 20 counties that biologists consider critical to the frogs' survival and recovery."

(Endangered Species) Act has not performed its mission, by Congressman Pombo, Rollcall, 4/26/06

Finally, a habitat even a frog can live with, Inside Bay Area 4/29/06 "At one point during a 10-year bureaucratic and legal battle, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated more than 4.1 million acres as critical habitat for the frogs. That 2001 fabrication would have created a barrier to further development in almost all of the greater Bay Area. But this month, Fish and Wildlife decided to impose restrictions on 450,000 acres in 20 counties that biologists consider critical to the frogs' survival and recovery."

 PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finds protections for Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar salamanders are adequate, Service concludes two species do not warrant additional protection under Federal law  4/25/06

Western Snowy Plover to Retain Threatened Status, FWS, posted to KBC 4/24/06

HRC PRESS RELEASE: GAO Report Shows Agencies Fail to Plan Adequately for Species Recovery; Lack of planning has led to the ESA's failure to recover species 4/7/06

Congressional Requesters: Subject: Endangered Species: Time and Costs Required to Recover Species Are Largely Unknown, GAO-06-463R Endangered Species Recovery, Government Accountability Office, posted to KBC April 7, 2006

KLAMATH: Scott Bar Salamander petitioned for protection under CA ESA, posted to KBC 4/7/06

Of Mice and Men, Wall Street Journal, 3/23/06 "31,000 acres of local government and privately owned land in the state and stretching into Wyoming--an area larger than the District of Columbia--was essentially quarantined from all development so as not to disrupt the mouse's natural habitat. Even the Fish and Wildlife Service concedes that the cost to these land owners could reach $183 million." "It turns out that not only is the mouse not endangered, but it isn't even a unique species." More on ESA price tags, go HERE.

ESA TODAY Doubts cast on superstar woodpecker's return, New Scientist 3/13/06. "The apparent rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in 2005 – hailed as one of the great conservation triumphs of recent times – may be merely a case of mistaken identity....the US government moved quickly to appoint a recovery team and commit more than $10 million to try to rescue the species.....The problem is that the video – still the best evidence of the woodpecker's existence – contains no more than a blurry, four-and-a-half-second glimpse of a distant bird as it takes off from a tree and flies away into the forest."

Owl Be Damned, Wall St Journal posted to KBC 2/22/06

KLAMATH: Eagle Myths from Jim Beers, Retired Wildlife Biologist, Refuge Manager, Special Agent US Fish and Wildlife Service, followed by A winter sky alive with bald eagles, Oregonian letter  2/19/06

NOAA, state seek to maintain funding for coastal coho despite non-re-listing, posted to KBC 2/10/06

NOAA does not list coho, Pressure by Grange aids decision, Pioneer Press posted to KBC 1/27/06. " 'NOAA is still ignoring the court’s decision on the Southern Oregon and Northern California coho, so they are still breaking the law,' said Bergeron."

Northwest - Oregon Coast Coho Avoids ESA Listing, NOAA Fisheries Service Fishnews, posted to KBC 1/24/06

Pombo the Great, The power behind the changes in the ESA by Tim Findley, Range Magazine, posted to KBC 1/23/06, pdf file. rangemagazine.com

Endangered species controversy rages on the Klamath River, Indian Country posted to KBC 11/15/05. "Many, including environmentalists, are confident that Klamath Chinook will be listed in the near future."

A Study Shows Cattle Grazing May Help Endangered Species, All Headline News posted 10/15/05.

Endangered salmon numbers hurt by fishing, Corvallis Gazette-Times 10/12/05

KWUA PRESS RELEASE: ESA educational tour slated for Columbus Day weekend, posted to KBC 10/8/05

Feds cut back habitat for snowy plover, AP posted to KBC 9/29/05

Pacific Legal Foundation: Fish and Wildlife Service Agrees to Perform Status Reviews for 194 Species in California, posted to KBC 9/25/05

National Water Resources Association newsletter for 9/23/05. Includes Secretary Norton's additional funding for more wetlands, and ESA updates.

Being listed under the Endangered Species Act "is like the Eagle's song 'Hotel California;' you can get in and you can't get out." Congressman Greg Walden

Put Blame in right place, Herald and News letter by Ed Baley, Tulelake Irrigation District board of directors president, posted to KBC 9/20/05

Endangered Species Act Reform Project, Pacific Legal Foundation 8/30/05

Conservationists seek protection of rare salamanders, Center For Biological Diversity 8/23/05. "Wildlife advocates want to extend endangered species safety net to imperiled salamanders in Southern Oregon and Northern California"

Letter to the Oregonian editor regarding Pombo and ESA improvement, by Arlene Kovach, Oregon Women for Agricujlture 8/22/05 "The Endangered Species Act only has less than a 1% success rate in 30 years, while costing farmers, ranchers and other businesses (and ultimately, you) billions of dollars trying to comply with nonsensical rules."

Republicans in both chambers preparing to tackle the ESA, CQ Today, Capital Hill 7/17/05

ESA Has Always Been About Land Use Control, Not Species Aid, Livestock Weekly 8/1/05.

OTHER PLACES: Lewis County, OR - Federal judge has bilked ratepayers with ruling on fish, posted to KBC 7/24/05. "Redden is playing their (the environmentalists') game in the face of solid science that spilling under current conditions is worse for salmon, not better."

Pombo delays ESA rewrite to court Democrats E&E Daily reporter, 7/20/05

Puyallup to track fish with radio transmitters - Bull Trout, Indian Country 7/31/05

News from South Dakota Secretary Larry Gabriel on the ESA, posted 7/18/05 Does the king have clothes?

Pombo Seeks Bipartisan Bill On Endangered Species Act, CQ by Darren Goode 7/12/05

Pombo's draft ESA bill, pdf file, obtained from Center for Biological Diversity press release 7/8/05.

Five Oregon species up for review under Endangered Species Act, 7/8/05

Letter to Pombo regarding ESA reform posted to KBC 7/8/05, PRFA

Herger wants ESA changed; Lawmaker says landmark law lacks flexibility, Redding Local News 7/6/05

Endangering Species, Wall Street Journal 7/3/05

Committee on Resources, The ESA, posted 7/3/05

Pombo on verge of unveiling new species law, Lodi News, posted to KBC 7/1/05

KLAMATH BASIN: Conservationists seek protection for rare salamanders, Center for Biological Diversity 6/25/05

House Resources Committee report on ESA Implementation 6/25/05

PRESS RELEASE: ESA Compliance: Limiting Water Supplies and Driving Up Costs? Water & Power Subcommittee to hold hearing 6/21/05.

TESTIMONY June 22 Subcommittee on Water and Power agenda, including Dan Keppen, Family Farm Alliance and Russell Brooks, Pacific Legal Foundation.
Testimony of Dan Keppen for House Resource Committee, on Environmental Regulations regarding the Klamath Basin and the ESA.

NOAA'S ESA salmon, steelhead 'status review' likely delayed, CBBulletin posted to KBC 6/14/05

Reality vs rhetoric, Save Our Species Alliance response to Eugene Register-Guard, posted to KBC 6/14/05 regarding Congressman Pombo and improving the ESA. HERE is the explanation of the response. Both are pdf files.

Coho costs timber company $10 million-- Public has lost vehicle access to local trailheads, Pioneer Press 6/2/05

PRESS RELEASE: Water & Power Subcommittee to Hold Field Hearing on ESA, Snake River Dams 6/2/05

Democrats and environmentalists express support for Pombo-style ESA reform, Winningreen 5/26/05

After 32 years, what's endangered? Tracy Press 5/23/05

The Government Accountability Office, GAO,  released this testimony on the ESA today. "since the Bureau of Land Management eliminated sheep grazing on more than 800,000 acres in tortoise habitat in California, neither the Bureau or the Fish and Wildlife Service had ensured that necessary research was conducted to assess whether this action had benefited the tortoise." 5/19/05

The Sucker Scam The feds might remove the Chiloquin Dam which caused the decline of suckers. Send comments by May 27th, Klamath  Courier 5/16/05 See Chiloquin Dam Page

Mississippi ESA field hearing report, 5/18/05.

PRESS RELEASE: Pombo Releases Oversight Report on ESA Implementation 5/17/05

Enviros prepare challenges to protect ivory-billed woodpecker Parallels with Klamath Basin, Greenwire 5/4/05
followed by '
Woodpecker Upstages Lawmakers; As U.S. House Resources Committee Meets in Mississippi to Update Endangered Species Act, 'Extinct' Woodpecker Shows up in Arkansas' U.S. Newswire 5/4/05

PRESS RELEASE: Umatilla Electric Co-op CEO Testifies Before Congress on Need to Modernize ESA 5/4/05

Tribes ask states to deal with sea lions, AP Seattle Times 5/3/05

PRESS RELEASE: Oversight Hearing on "Stabilizing Rural Electricity Service Through Common Sense Application of the Endangered Species Act" 5/3/05

PRESS RELEASE: ESA Compliance Represents Up to 20 Percent of Western Hydropower Costs,  Water & Power Subcommittee to hold hearing 5/3/05

Appeals court rules plaintiffs must prove harm to invoke Endangered Species Act, Capital Press posted to KBC 5/1/05.

Pombo fires back at critics report on species act, Lodi News, posted to KBC 4/30/05.

ESA Report to the Chairman, Committee on Resources, House of Representatives by the General Accountability Office, April 2005, pdf. GAO recommends that Fish and Wildlife Service keep track of where their funds go toward endangered species. This is an interesting document.

Activists Must Prove Harm to Species, Not Just Allege It, to Invoke Endangered Species Act, Pacific Legal Foundation posted to KBC 4/27/05

PRESS RELEASE: GAO Endangered Species Report: Little Reason to Expect Poor Recovery Record To Improve, House Committee on Resources 4/26/05

News from the Front #82: Cutting Off Irrigators Again, Buchal 040805

Congressman Richard Pombo Commentary: 'ESA has a zero percent rate of success', AgAlert California Farm Bureau 4/6/05.

Agency proposes to list southern green sturgeon as threatened, Mercury News 4/6/05.

Endangered Species Act: 30 years of Endangering People and Animals is Enough! conservativevoice.com posted to KBC 3/22/05.

Justice Dept. Says ESA Law 'Pretty Much Inoperable', Greenwire 3/21/05

PRESS RELEASE: Walden Cosponsors Bipartisan Critical Habitat Legislation to Update ESA 3/15/05

Nature Undisturbed. The Myth behind the Endangered Species Act  PERC March 2005

$117,500 goes to legal fees, Pioneer Press by Liz Bowen 3/2/05

SOSS explains water issues, posted to KBC 3/1/05, Pioneer Press by Liz Bowen.

OTHER PLACES: Oregon gets money to restore salmon habitat, Curry Pilot 2/27/95

PRESS RELEASE: New Approach to endangered species, Pombo, Walden, Crapo, and Chafee announce House-Senate partnership,  Congressman Walden's office 2/10/05.

Ruling revives endangered status for wolves, Oregonian 2/3/05. "Oregon's state Endangered Species Act does not give ranchers that freedom".(to shoot wolves killing your livestock.)

Bush Drive to Shift Species Protection to States May Begin in Oregon, newhousenews.com 1/30/05

Group making a point with 'endangered' snakehead, hometownannapolis.com 1/26/05 "We don't know what the problems with snakeheads will be and we don't want to use the Chesapeake Bay watershed as an experimental tank to find out," said Jonathan McKnight, associate director of habitat conservation for the DNR."

Oregon State University--The Daily Barometer, An Endangered Act 1/21/05, followed by KBC Commentary, which has been posted to the Daily Barometer. Where oh where are these 'educated' people coming up with their ideas??

Endangered Humans, Investor's Business Daily, 1/20/05. "Environment: A judge has ruled that coho salmon have been illegally listed as an endangered species, a victory that comes too late for the farmers of the Klamath River Basin and the families of four young firefighters."

Media attack proponents of strengthening the Endangered Species Act, Gretchen Randall 1/20/05, Issue Alert from Winningreen -- great myths and facts!

Governor Owens pleased with ESA summit, NWRA news 1/11/05.

Reforming the ESA, Stay Awake, by Jim Beers 1/6/04

Congress may act on ESA, WashingtonPost 1/5/05

The Region Fiddles As Dam Burners Advance by James Buchal, January 3, 2005 "Judge Redden even struck down a rare Bush Administration initiative to reduce the fish taxes by roughly $60 million by reducing summer spill, notwithstanding proof that only a handful of endangered fish might benefit, including some of the same fish subject to a federally-approved harvest rate of over 30%"

ESA TODAY..Subject:  Critical habitat proposed for Pacific Coast population of western snowy plover, Public comment accepted for 60 days, FWS 12/19/04.

Snowy plover protection plan OKd, Oregonian 12/19/04. "The other 16 miles include "unoccupied" areas, where scientists believe the birds are most likely to establish new nests, Wright said." According to Coos County Commissioner John Griffith, "There's no shortage of plovers..."

Endangered Species Act Eyed for Change, FoxNews posted to KBC 12/18/04

Washington's salmon plan is first to state minimums to restore runs "Specifics on the number of fish needed for viable stocks in the lower Columbia Basin aim to guide federal decisions on delisting", The Oregonian 12/16/04. (What a concept! At our Klamath Congressional Hearing it was brought up numerous times that in the Klamath Basin the federal agencies will not count the suckers so they do not know how many there are, were, or how many they want. They will not remove the Chiloquin Dam blocking 95% of sucker habitat. They will not fund deep cold-water storage identified years ago in Long Lake. And they will not acknowledge the National Academy of Science report that stated that lake level/river flow management is not the way to increase fish or help water quality. KBC)

KLAMATH: Feds agree to consider Endangered Species Act protection for lamprey, NCTimes 12/3/04. 

PRESS RELEASE: No Listing Decision for Sage-grouse Good News for Species Recovery, Committee on Resources 12/3/04.

Fish and Wildlife service recommends not listing sage grouse as endangered, Congressman Walden's office 12/3/04

Pombo wants Schwarzenegger, other govs to help change Endangered Species Act, 12/1/04 SanLuisObispo.com

Study: Coastal coho sustainable, Capital Press 11/29/04. "In 1990, fewer than 20,000 wild coho returned for spawning in the 19 largest Coast Range basins. More than 240,000 returned in 2002, the peak of a resurgence credited to favorable ocean conditions, limited fishing in lean years and watershed restoration projects by the hundreds."

Letter by Julie Smithson to the Forest Service regarding introducing and protecting wolves in Oregon. Like regarding our irrigation water in the Klamath Basin in 2001, pay attention! This nightmare will come to your town if you do not stop it. Oregon Cattlemen Association has asked Julie to distribute this information widely.

Subject:  Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan Rulemaking Process, comments due 2/10/05

KLAMATH: Feds agree to consider Endangered Species Act protection for lamprey, NCTimes 12/3/04. 
Lamprey's beauty runs more than slime-deep, Tri-City Herald 12/1/04

Northwest – Critical Habitat Designations Proposed for Endangered Species, NOAA Fish News 12/3/04

Snake habitat under scrutiny 11/29/04 HMB Review

Subject:  Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan Rulemaking Process, comments due 2/10/05

FW Program spending shows $136 million average for 2003, 2004 cb bulletin 11/19/04

Amending the Endangered Species Act by Jim Beers posted to KBC 11/17/04

Feds propose re-listing coho, Pioneer Press 10/20/04.Coho salmon comments for federal ESA re-listing are due Nov. 12. "A federal appeals court found that not all of the coho salmon were counted the first time."

Lamprey: over $8million in 10 years for research, restoration, posted to KBC 10/19/04.

DOI Federal Register for Bull Trout, 10/8/04

An addendum to yesterday's Press Release regarding Greg Walden and bull trout, from Walden's office 9/23/04. "USFWS stated that “in 30 years of implementing the ESA, the Service has found that the designation of statutory critical habitat provides little additional protection to most listed species, while consuming significant amounts of scarce conservation resources.”  The Service went on the say that “The present system for designating critical habitat has evolved since its original statutory prescription into a process that provides little real conservation benefit, is driven by litigation and the courts rather than biology, limits our (USFWS) ability to fully evaluate the science involved, consumes enormous resources, and imposes huge social and economic costs.”  

PRESS RELEASE: Department of the Interior, Secretary Norton to Announce Grants to States For Endangered Species Conservation, 9/23/04

As flow of salmon surges, US moves to cut protections, Boston.com posted to KBC 9/23/04. ''It's going to be difficult to justify taking out the dams with large numbers of fish coming back," said James J. Anderson, associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington.

Shasta Tribal Chairman, Roy Hall, says that coho salmon are not native to the Klamath River system, Pioneer Press 9/01/04.

US Fish and Wildlife Service, 5 Year Review of Sucker Delisting 8/26/04

Farm leaders shocked at state's decision to list coho, AgAlert posted to KBC 8/26/04

Sturgeon info due Aug 17

Coho protection approved, Capital Press 8/17/04 "The listing is 'really disheartening for people who have been working cooperatively for many, many years,' she said. She said it’s frustrating for landowners who have been doing restoration projects on their land to promote coho habitat. Now those landowners could be viewed as criminals if they accidentally harm some of the fish, even though they’re helping the species in the long term. This is a pretty big incentive for landowners not to create (coho) habitat,' Giacomini said. 'And that’s not what we want.' ”

ESA TODAY.OTHER PLACES: .Thomas names ESA hearing witnesses, casperstartribune.com 8/16/04. "While we toil in lawsuits about species' habitats, we have lost sight of the real motivation of this act -- the recovery of species."
ESA TODAY OTHER PLACES: Shrimp Pose Big Problem for LAX, KTLA.com, 8/16/04. "Fish and Wildlife Service officials say they had no choice but to propose designating 5,800 acres in five Southern California counties as a preserve for the Riverside fairy shrimp."

Endangered Species Act Sparks Battle, Fox News William LaJeunesse, 8/14/04.  "There has to be balance. If we continue down this road -- doing away with the ESA to solve this problem -- we are deceiving ourselves," said Allen Foreman of Klamath Tribes." (KBC: every witness at the congressional hearing voted that the ESA needs to be improved, and there should be peer review, because now there is not.. And not even one wanted to "do away with the ESA" as Foreman would have the media beleive. And regarding "knocking down dams", go HERE for Klamath Water Users assessment of that scenario.)

- ESA TODAY  OTHER PLACES: Endangered Species Act needs revising, Modesto Bee 8/12/04, by Grover and Mayfield, Stanislaus County supervisors.

Congressman Walden Shares Views with the NWRA on Improving Endangered Species Act July 20, posted to KBC 8/3/04. "...peer review and sound science. These are principles that we’ve used in developing research and health care, medicine, and in many other areas of science. It seems incredible to me that we don’t require that basic scientific principle in peer review in the decision as to whether or not a species is going to live or die; whether or not a community, economically, may live or die, based on the consequences of decisions."

ONRC using Basin issues, H&N 8/2/04

Thomas to chair endangered species field hearing, Casper Star Tribune 8/1/04.

Mouse that Cost Economy $100 Million May Never Have Existed, Environment News 8/1/04.

Bush administration lightens pesticide reviews for endangered species, ENN.com July 30, 2004

ESA TODAY OTHER PLACES: Written Testimony on ESA Impacts In Missouri (Indiana Bat), from William Jud 7/26/04

ESA Incidental Take Permit Revocation Regulations: Comments due July 26, 2004.USFWS

ESA TODAYWildlife Service Reviews Survival Status of Klamath Fish, ENSnewswire.com. "The agency said the petition does not provide substantial new information to warrant delisting." (That is interesting in the fact that there was not enough information, and the fish counts were inaccurate, to list the fish in the first place.)

ESA TODAY Coastal folks like birds, not surprises, The Oregonian 7/26/04. "The rules at some beaches were innocuous, such as limits on camping. But at other beaches, the proposed rules were ridiculously strict. No dogs, not even on leashes. No walking on the dry sand. And in one Taliban-worthy flourish, no kite-flying." (This compares somewhat with NO FARMING in Klamath in 2001, and now taking 1/4 of our water in 2005, just because, even though the National Resource Committee says it wasn't, and isn't, justified. KBC)

Letter to KBC: "I have a question, why cant "We the People"  fire some of these jerks?  Or just get rid of some of the agencies like the BLM?  Do we still have the power?  No probably not, but government is not run by the people and anyone who still thinks it is should take a harder look.  Unless we all stand together against these agencies we wont have any free "public" lands or water for private lands.  Good luck!   Lisa...Washington."
KBC Response regarding Klamath, go HERE

Speaking of "free 'public' lands", check out the following bills to lock up hundreds of thousands more acres in wilderness--no logging, mining, fire fighting (fried owls and boiled salmon), or any uses of resources. Go HERE.

Suckers should not have been listed, Tri-County Courier 7/23/04. "Vogel used a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain a copy of an internal memo sent in 1986 from G.C. Kobetich, a USFW project leader in Sacramento, to USFW’s Portland office. In it, Kobetich states that his office chose not to pursue the listing of the Short Nose sucker due to its “larger population sizes and broader distribution. Despite the knowledge that the Short Nose sucker population was large and viable, the USFW listed the fish as endangered two years later, in 1988.”
For scientist David Vogel's complete testimony, pdf file, go HERE.

Divided House committee advances ESA reform bills, Environment & Energy Daily July 22, 2004

THE REAL SUCKERS ARE THE U.S. TAXPAYERS. Op-ed submitted to H&N by James Buchal, 7/21/04.
FWS NEWS RELEASE: FWS to conduct comprehensive review of Klamath Sucker Populations, 7/21/04 ("rare fish"??? The USFWS has told us last week that they do not know how many suckers there were, there are, or how many they want, and there are tens of thousands more than they thought when they listed them, however, they want more money for 5 years more to study them. They presently have millions more dollars for more land acquisition to 'help' the suckers, although Dr William Lewis with the NRC science committee said that more swamp and more water and more land acquisitions will not necessarily help the suckers---KBC)
FWS Notice:
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of Revised  90-Day Petition Finding and Initiation of a 5-Year Status Review of the Lost River Sucker and Shortnose Sucker. 7/21/04

PRESS RELEASE: Walden Bipartisan ESA Modernization Bill Approved by House Resources Committee, 7/21/04

PRESS RELEASE: Committee Votes to Modernize Endangered Species Act, Brian Kennedy July 21, 2004

Written Testimony on ESA Impacts In Missouri (Indiana Bat), from William Jud 7/26/04

Wildlife Service Reviews Survival Status of Klamath Fish, ENSnewswire.com. "The agency said the petition does not provide substantial new information to warrant delisting." (That is interesting in the fact that there was not enough information, and the fish counts were inaccurate, to list the fish in the first place.)

ESA TODAY Coastal folks like birds, not surprises, The Oregonian 7/26/04. "The rules at some beaches were innocuous, such as limits on camping. But at other beaches, the proposed rules were ridiculously strict. No dogs, not even on leashes. No walking on the dry sand. And in one Taliban-worthy flourish, no kite-flying." (This compares somewhat with NO FARMING in Klamath in 2001, and now taking 1/4 of our water in 2005, just because, even though the National Resource Committee says it wasn't, and isn't, justified. KBC)

JULY 17 Resources Committee ESA Hearing - Klamath Falls, for agenda and information, go HERE.

ESA tragedy of today, July 8, 2004 Rumor today has it that, since the Klamath Basin has been forced to participate in a mandatory "voluntary" water bank with the threat of shutting down the Klamath Project if we don't idle land and pump our aquifer, wells are going dry. Lawsuits are beginning. Thank you government agencies for further damaging our community. Regardless of the "best available science", the National Academy of  Science report saying that higher lake and river levels won't help fish, the BOR/NMFS are demanding 1/4 or our economy, our water, next year. What happened to "the best available science" line they gave us when they shut off our water in 2001?  KBC.

PLF Exposes Multi-Billion Dollar Endangered Species Act Cover-Up, Pacific Legal Foundation July 2004. "Billions of dollars spent each year on Endangered Species Act projects never get reported to Congress, according to an audit requested by PLF."

Coho confusion continues, Pioneer Press 6/24/04. "On June 7, the listing of the Oregon coastal coho salmon to the federal Endangered Species Act was declared invalid. But on June 25, the Northern California coho may be listed to the California Endangered Species Act."

Panel: Nature poses more risk to owls  Some scientists find that logging is not the primary harm to habitat of the northern spotted owl  Oregonian 6/23/04 "Natural events such as wildfires eliminated more forest habitat of the threatened northern spotted owl on public land during the past decade than logging did, researchers reported Tuesday...The science panel said logging of the owl's forest habitat poses less threat to the species than a decade ago, but other dangers including an influx of aggressive barred owls, disease and wildfires in overgrown forests make its survival uncertain."

KWUA letter to CDFG (California Department of Fish and Game) Re: Supplemental Comments Regarding Proposed Addition of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) to the List of Threatened and Endangered Species, 6/23/04

Critical bull trout habitat proposed for Jarbidge River, Times-News 6/23/04

Scientists plan study of sturgeon, H&N 6/22/04 "Federal scientists plan to take another look at the status of the green sturgeon in the Klamath River and are asking for information about the ancient fish from the public. The new study will decide whether the fish needs to be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act and comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Oregon Natural Resources Council, the Environmental Protection Information Center and the Center for Biological Diversity last year."

Comments on the Draft SEIS/EIR on or before June 22, 2004--Trinity

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service News Release, Critical Habitat Proposed for Washington's Coastal-Puget Sound Population of Bull Trout 6/22/04,    followed by Critical Habitat Proposed for the Saint Mary and Belly Rivers in Northwest Montana: "The critical habitat proposal calls for a total of 2,290 miles of streams in western Washington to be designated as bull trout critical habitat, along with 52,540 acres of lakes and reservoirs and marine habitat paralleling 985 miles of shoreline." "The Service also proposed at that time to designate 396 miles of streams and 3,939 acres of lakes and marshes in Oregon as critical habitat for the Klamath River Basin population of bull trout. Those proposals are expected to be finalized in September 2004."

Endangered Species' Cost USA Billions, cns news 6/22/04. "The FSW report did not take into consideration lost jobs, lost business, and lost tax revenues. If it did, the ESA would be rescinded within days. One famous example was the hoax about the "endangered" northern spotted owl. "At least 130,000 jobs were lost when more than 900 sawmills, pulp, and paper mills closed in mid-1990 to protect" the owl."

Get serious about habitat and species protection, 6/22/04 The Oregonian, submitted to KBC by  The Tri-County Courier. "Over the next 10 years we witnessed rural Oregon's economy bludgeoned in an effort to protect this species -- and others added to the list. Once-thriving communities turned into ghost towns while their schools and community services suffered tremendously because of high unemployment and lack of local tax revenue."

PRESS RELEASE: Resources Committee to hold ESA Hearing on The Klamath Project, 6/21/04. Congressman Pombo: "The water shut-off in the Klamath Basin is a dramatic example of how, after 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has failed the species it was designed to recover.  Unintended consequences have devastated communities."

Jurassic fish will get closer examination, Times Standard posted to KBC 6/20/04, Followed by report regarding green sturgeon by NMFW and NOAA and comment deadline "A federal fisheries team will take another look at whether the green sturgeon -- an ancient denizen of West Coast rivers -- needs protection."

Species act hearing first in a series,  Herald and News June 18, 2004

ESA TODAY  Petition Filed to Protect Siskiyou Mountains Salamander as Endangered Species, ONRC 6/17/04.
ESA TODAY Group proposes three Oregon species for endangered species listing, 6/17/04 Newsregister.com.

Hybrid owl upsets politics of threatened species, AP 6/21/04.

ESA TODAY 'Endangered' Vermin That Cost America $100 Million Never Existed, NewsMax posted to KBC 6/13,04.

Feds keep all ESA stocks listed, but upbeat about future, Fishletter 6/2/04.

NOAA PRESS RELEASE: Agency Praises Regional Efforts to Protect Salmon through Habitat Projects and Hatchery Reforms, 5/28/04 "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service(NOAA Fisheries) today announced its continued commitment to protect 27 Pacific salmon and steelhead populations listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)."

Bush Administration Salmon Policy Puts Politics Before Science, the Law and People, Pacific Legal Foundation 5/28/04. "Pacific Legal Foundation criticized the Bush administration today for its proposed policy that would leave in place 26 Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings for salmon throughout the West, and add yet another listing, despite the fact that salmon are not at risk of extinction"

Feds back protecting wild runs of salmon, 5/15/04 The Oregonian, "The Bush administration is concerned about looking politically correct," said Darryll Olsen, with the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association. "The heart of the issue, at least in our mind, is how much impact does the mainstem hydro-system have on salmon fisheries at this time. We would say it is very minor. They are responding to political pressure."
PRESS RELEASE: letter from NOAA, 5/14/04.

NOAA says will likely relist w5 of 26 fish stocks under review, 5/14/04, cbbulletin.
Redden gives NOAA until November 30 to complete new Biop, 5/14/04 cbbulletin

Endangered Species Act reconsidered 5/11/04, Bend Bulletin. "The Sound Science for Endangered Species Planning Act of 2003, sponsored by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., would require a peer review of all scientific data used to evaluate endangered species."

Tribes, others hope salmon can return over Oregon dams, Seattle Times 5/11/04 "Freeman wants to see hard scientific evidence salmon once spawned in the upper basin rather than relying on tribal histories -- an attitude that riles the tribes."

Feds to announce de-listing decisions for eight fish esu's soon, 5/11/04 NW Fishletter.

PRESS RELEASE: Administration Responds to Pombo's Request on Extension for California Tiger Salamander Listing, 5/17/04

PRESS ALERT from House Committee on Resources:  Pseudo environmental groups call on Bush administration to add 225 species to endangered list, 5/6/04, "...over the last 30 years only twelve species out of the 1304 species listed as endangered or threatened have been saved and those were not due to ESA. The peregrine falcon was saved by a private foundation and the American Eagle recovered when DDT was banned."

Activists want 3 species listed, H&N 5/5/04.

Governor assails salmon plan, H&N 050504

ESA TODAY, other places, Species act allies Cordoza with GOP; Bush supports (Modesto) Democrats efforts to change law, 5/4/04, chronicle washington bureau. "Particularly upsetting to Cardoza is the Fish and Wildlife Service's recent decision to designate 1.7 million acres in California and Oregon as critical habitat for the survival and restoration of vernal pool species....He said that if a species can be found across millions of acres it either can't be endangered or all that acreage can't be necessary to saving the species."  For ESA TODAY page go HERE.

ESA TODAY, other places, Another ESA scandal, posted to KBC 5/4/04, Colorado Springs Gazette. ."But his revelations concerning the creature's true genetic blueprint — it's indistinguishable from mice found in abundance elsewhere, raising potentially scandalous questions about the process leading to a federal listing ...It will likely be months before U.S. Fish and Wildlife reaches a decision about de-listing the mouse." {Does this sound familiar? In Klamath, there are abundant 'endangered' suckers in nearby reservoirs, the lake-level/river-flow management was proven flawed by the National Academy of Science, yet 75,000 acre feet of water are being taken from our farms this year regardless of precipitation, which will greatly impact our ground water, our refuges and our economy. All based on false science. KBC (jdk) }

Profile of Congressman Pombo, the champion of trying to improve the ESA, 5/3/04 sfgate.com and Chronicle Washington Bureau.

West Coast farmed salmon to be counted in endangered species decisions, posted to KBC 5/2/04, from Congressman Doolittle's office.

Agency wants salmon protection extension, The Oregonian 5/2/04. "'We're going to take a little more time, but the results are more likely to be accepted by all of the parties,' said spokesman Brian Gorman. He said election politics had nothing to do with the request for a delay.'

LEST WE FORGET 2001: Man, the endangered species, by Glenn Woiceshyn, May 1, 2001, Aynrand, regarding the Klamath Project shutoff.

PRESS RELEASE:  Bush Administration Contributes to Endangered Species Act Improvement Effort, 4/29/04, House Committee on Resources.

Plan seeks to limit 'critical habitat' cases, Salt Lake Tribune 4/29/04. "The present system for designating critical habitat is broken," Craig Manson, the Interior Department's assistant secretary in charge of endangered species programs, told the House Resources Committee."

Our posterity will laugh at us, Henry Lamb 5/2/04.

 

Judge orders NOAA to complete listing reviews within 30 days, CB Bulletin 4/30/04.

 

PRESS RELEASE: House Resource Committee, Critical Habitat Hearing Reveals Growing Consensus on Need for Modernization, "We've seen the effects of the Fish & Wildlife Service's questionable decision-making on critical habitat issues, causing unnecessary impacts to agriculture and other landowners, as well as to local governments and the economy.  It cannot continue."
Contra Costa's twist: Pombo's hearings start on environmental law, 4/28/04

 

PRESS RELEASE: Chairman Pombo Issues ESA Report, "A Mandate for Modernization" Resources Committee to begin efforts to repair broken law, 4/27/04

 

ESATODAY ESA needs to be friendlier to people, by Bonner Cohen, National Center for Public Policy Research, posted to KBC 4/26/04: "In the 30 years since its enactment, the Endangered Species Act has emerged as one of the most powerful, and ineffective, environmental statutes on the books."

 

ESATODAY Enviros propose motion to stop summer spill, 4/23/04, The NW Fishletter. "Coho fishing will also be allowed for the first time in 11 years off southern Oregon, with a 75,000-fish quota for the area. Wild coho stocks are building up and down the West Coast, but fishermen will only be allowed to keep hatchery fish with clipped adipose fins."

ESATODAY Bull trout could lose federal protection status, Register Guard 4/14/04.

American Rivers' top 10 list of "Most Endangered Rivers" is out. For the first time in 2 years, Klamath River is not on this list, The Oregonian 4/14/04. . HERE for story and list of endangered rivers.

Agency estimates bull trout costs, The Oregonian, posted to KBC 4/9/04, "The cost of protecting the bull trout and its habitat in the Columbia and Klamath basins could reach $230 million to $300 million during the next 10 years, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."

 

The General Accounting Office (GAO) today released the following regarding consultation and the ESA, 3/29/04. Go to http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d0493high.pdf

 

From Oregon Congressman Walden's Office: Letters to Congressman Bonilla and Secretary of Agriculture Ann Venemon, posted to KBC 3/28/04, regarding the ESA listing of sage grouse.

 

ESATODAY Key rules are eased to boost logging, Oregonian 3/24/04. HOPE FOR OREGON? Oregon has the highest unemployment in the United States. The Spotted Owl hoax, Klamath sucker hoax, etc, have decimated our economy.  Bush hopes to relieve timber industry of spending millions of dollars searching for non-endangered species and to revive our economy.. Glen Spain, attorney-environmentalist-Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen (PCFFA), plans to challenge it.
Agencies Sign Agreements to Continue Species Protection, 3/24/04 AgWeb

 

ESATODAY Water study data anxiously awaited, Tri-city herald 3/24/04. These hopeful unsuspecting farmers on the Columbia think the National Academy of Science (NAS) report, our countries 'best available science' will help them form policy. Glen Spain, attorney-environmentalist-PCFFA doesn't want more farmers despite whatever outcome. We Klamath Basin farmers had hope. Gail Norton, our Secretary of the Interior, ordered the NAS report for us, it said the fish are not helped by shutting down the Klamath Project or water-level management. So what good has it done us? The flawed Hardy-science hired by the DOJ/BIA/DOI to go against the farmers in the adjudication is still being used to take our water...this year 75,000AF (acre feet), next year 100,000AF, despite the NAS report and despite our precipitation. A mandatory agricultural downsize despite the NAS report.  Good luck Columbia Basin farmers! KBC (jdk)

 

ESATODAYFishermen want action to stop pinniped predation on chinook, CBB 3/19/04.  The REAL fishermen are battling the ESA gone wacko also.  When we met them last year, they support Klamath Farmers and we support them, despite what the green press would have you believe.  The same environmentalists shutting down our agricultural industry are shutting down commercial fishing for them, even when they know salmon runs are fine.

 

ESATODAY  OTHER PLACES: NOAA Fisheries seeks more time in salmonid ESA listing review, CB Bulletin, posted to KBC 3/20/04.

 

Pombo Calls for Changes to Endangered Species Act, by James M. Taylor;  Environment News
March 1, 2004,  The Heartland Institute - "The Pombo legislation would add “sound science” requirements demanding peer-reviewed justification for listing new species. The new approach would also attempt to remove penalties for creating and maintaining endangered species habitat, replacing them with incentives and cooperative relations with federal agencies. His approach is being applauded by ESA analysts."

 

Endangered Species Act endangers rights of landowners, www.townhall .com,  posted to KBC 2/17/04.

 

Bald eagle's range slows delisting as endangered, AP posted to KBC 2/17/04. "The bald eagle's territory...... stretches over much of the North American continent, with tens of thousands living in Alaska and British Columbia. The most recent survey in the contiguous United States counted nearly 6,500 nesting pairs in 2000 - up from just 417 in 1963."

 

Congress likely to take up peer review in ESA reform effort, westernroundtable, posted to KBC 2/14/04. "A National Academy of Sciences review of the situation later determined the (Klamath 2001 water) shutoff was unnecessary."

 

For the birds, Oregonian letter 2/23/04. "the state should focus on voluntary efforts and habitat restoration before it swings the hammer and forbids people to fly kites, run their dogs, build campfires and otherwise enjoy their beaches."

 

Other places, same war: ESA causes water stewards to change roles, Capital Press-Idaho Staff Writer, 2/12/04.

 

Grants to states for endangered species conservation, 2/12/04 USFWS

 

Feds seize family's ranch; Property owners fight government 'land grab', 2/10/04, New Mexico, WorldNetDaily. Klamath Basin is also on the wish list for 'wildland' designations.

More salmon apparently not what they wanted, EatFirst 1/04.

Species protection threatened by Water-rights ruling, 1/10/04 The SanDiegoChannel

State enhances protection for Coho , LA Times 2/11/04

 

State OKs coho plan, 2/7/04. YREKA - "The listing of the coho salmon as a California Endangered Species became law on Wednesday to the disappointment of Siskiyou County's grassroots Save Our Shasta and Scott Valley communities (SOSS) organization that has worked for years to prevent it from happening."

 

Congressman Walden's 2/4/04 statement on sound science before the House Subcommittee.

 

Republicans begin effort to rewrite endangered species act, 2/5/04

 

PRESS RELEASE: Walden Testifies on Need for Endangered Species Act Reform, 2/4/04. "We learned from the NAS that the decisions made either weren't based on adequate science or were made by misinterpreting the data they had. In either case, more than 1,000 farm families didn't receive vital irrigation water and nearly two-dozen farmers went bankrupt. I pledged then and there to pursue changes in the ESA to require outside, independent peer review of the decisions made by the government when it comes to listing or delisting a species and in formulation of recovery plans."

 

Walden PRESS RELEASE: Subcommittee to Convene Hearing on Peer Reviewed Science for Environmental Policy 2/4/04

 

Fish and Wildlife Service declines to list  California's midvalley fairy shrimp, 1/31/03

 

 For info.about the 'endangered?' owl, read Range article by Tim Findley. pdf file, page 2 article 'Refuge'--KBC

 

Disproved opinions driving assaults on Basin irrigation, H&N  by Dr. Doug Whitsett. We are re-running this recent article. It seems appropriate today, 1/28.

 

MORRISON: The case of the endangered jumping mouse, 1/27/04 Illinois Reader. "Wyoming had paid $61,430 to fund the study and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife kicked in an additional $20,000 and according to DNA results, these mice were not in short supply but were actually abundant."

 

Smith seeks species act changes, 1/27/04 H&N. Walden said in a press release, "As we saw in the Klamath Basin, a scientifically unjustified decision not only brought widespread economic harm to an entire community, but also had the potential to harm the fish species on whose behalf the water-shut off was made." Smith press release.  Walden press release. Steve Pedery of Water Watch said: "...peer review would take too long in most situations"

 

PRESS RELEASE: Smith Introduces Endangered Species Act Peer Review Legislation, posted to KBC 1/25/04
PRESS RELEASE: Walden Applauds Smith's Introduction of Endangered Species Act Reform Legislation; Smith ESA reform legislation identical to Walden bill introduced in 2003 1/23/04

 

Endangered Species Act Targeted  House Resources Chairman Plans to 'Break It Down'
AP posted to KBC 1/14/04 washingtonpost.com Could it be that Pombo is advocating that the ESA be based on peer-reviewed, unflawed, impartial science rather than our nightmare, the DOJ contracted, non-peer-reviewed, BIA/DOI-funded Hardy Flow studies? This study is depleting our stored irrigation water and our untested aquifer!  KBC(jdk)

 

Endangered Species Act Hits 30-Year Mark, Fox News, posted to KBC 1/12/04

 

Pombo eyes overhaul of ESA, Oakland Tribune 12/29/03

Species Act reform may be possible, Billings Gazette 12/29/03.

 

Endangered Species Act at work in Klamath basin, 12/28/03 by Peter B. Moyle and Jeffrey F. Mount. sacbee.com.  "We found that in fact the higher lake levels and flows did not have a strong scientific basis, at least for protecting the listed species."
RESPONSE
to the Dec 28th opinion article in the Sacramento Bee, 12/28/03 entitled, "Endangered Species Act at work in Klamath basin", by Pat Ratliff, Malin, Oregon. "As a landowner in the Klamath Basin let me say, very few of the stakeholders have ever been to the table, and I dare say, never will be. From the smallest tributary north of Klamath Lake to the last landowner at the coast, the *people* who live on this land are given little chance of interaction with those who you so accurately describe as the "players"

 

 

Endangered species listings may backfire, 11/26/03, Society for Conservation Biology
Response by Steve Cheyne, Klamath Falls 11/26/03
"Biologists and conservation organizations, as well as government bureaucracies, have done a remarkably efficient job of making enemies of the people they need to befriend in order for significant conservation work to proceed.  Keep in mind that a farmer or rancher who is in a profitable economic situation will be far better able to spend some money on conservation and apply for some grant money if critical habitat designations were not so onerous."

 

Andy Kerr, 'Don't try to improve grazing, abolish it', outlines how he and the environmental groups will litigate to break the ranchers.

" Better grazing is also boring to work on. Abolition is much more interesting."

"We must make it more expensive for elite welfare ranchers. On forests west of the Cascades, the timber industry used to expend X amount of effort for Y amount of timber. Today, while they still aren't run off the public forests within the range of the Northern spotted owl, they do have to spend 10 times the effort for maybe one-tenth of the timber."

Kerr tells how the ONRC are using the ESA to end timber, and tells which species they plan to use to reach their goals.
Grazing: A property right? Ranchers believe so, but the federal BLM says it’s just a lease, The Mail Tribune posted to KBC 9/16/03

Species Protection Act 'Broken', LA Times, posted to KBC 11/17/03.  "A top Interior official says the law should be revised to give economic and other interests equal footing with endangered animals and plants."

Lawmakers slam Endangered Species Act, World Net Daily, 9/16/03

A Nature Conservancy Condemnation Threat Letter, posted 9/15/03

TNC Faces Double-Whammy Government Investigation, Liberty Matters News Service, 9/15/03

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed revisions for endangered species conservation agreements, posted 9/15/03

Restricted water flow stops Mississippi barge traffic, 9/4/03, Illinois Conservative Politics. " 'I am also concerned about the environment, but cutting the flow does nothing for the birds that have already gone and it hurts the economy. Most people don’t understand the value of the navigation that we have here in the Midwest and the necessity of reliable flows.' said Huffman. 'The barge industry suffers approximately $500,000 a day loss when they run at reduced efficiency but $1,000,000 a day when the rivers are completely closed to navigation.' "

Species recovery good for Colorado, May 2003, Rocky Mt News.com. Walcher: "Congress adopts this incredibly strong law and then puts essentially no resources into it. U.S. Fish and Wildlife put them on the list and it's everyone else's problem to deal with. And so, then, the discussion inevitably is about land management, whether or not to let a ski area expand, whether to close a road, or ban snowmobiles, or stop logging, or stop oil and gas, or stop this or stop that. No one gets back to the question of how we're going to restore a species; regulating the habitat by itself doesn't accomplish that"

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

5-year review of spotted owl and marbled murrelet, April 21, 2003

BLM's Way of Protecting the Tortoise, by Don Fife

Wolves part of an agenda, H&N May 22, 2003

Crappo believes ESA is broken, 5/30/03 NWRA daily report

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