Letter from Stephen Koshy, Civil Engineer, Scientist and Administrator, to KBC News regarding devastating consequences of Klamath dam removal, 12/27/12. "I have not heard from the Board of Supervisors or the County Counsel. I gave clear concise and precise engineering analysis that at current technology, the dams can not be breached as long as the 'impervious clay core' of the earth dams are saturated in water. There is no way to safely breach these earth dams, ever. The other issues are re the stability of slopes and the sediment."

This great nation's immense Christmas season peril, by Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett 12/27/12

Oregon's proposed new tax plan by Senator Doug Whitsett, posted to KBC 12/27/12

PRESS RELEASE - Court ruling in Siskiyou County case bolsters water rights, Siskiyou County Farm Bureau 12/26/12. "The ruling by Judge Karen L. Dixon determined that the California Department of Fish and Game had exceeded its authority by requiring farmers and ranchers to obtain a permit from DFG before they irrigate their crops..."

Luke 9-14: "Then the angel said to (the shepherds), Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!"

< Veteran and Tulelake 1949 homesteader James Deshon, 7/30/27 - 12/18/12 
HERE for Homesteader Page.

Agenda January 8, 2013 @ 12:30 PM, KWAPA / Klamath Water and Power Agency, "8B: Reclamation recommending plan for 150,000 AF shortage"

Feds finalize animal traceability regulations, Capital Press, posted to KBC 12/21/12. "The federal government announced that it has finalized an animal-traceability rule that will require livestock to be deemed disease-free before crossing state lines."

Settlement Checks Arrive in Hoopa Mailboxes “$49.2 million will soon be deposited into the tribe’s trust account, and then $31,269,000 will be paid out to Hoopa tribal members at $10,000 per capita.”

Instream Flow Study on Scott and Shasta Rivers by Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5, 12/18/12. "One glaring problem with this is that the Scott and the Shasta Rivers are already considered “fully appropriated” under the State of CA SWRCB Order WR 98-08. It is difficult to argue that the CA DFG must make recommendations to the State Water Board on flows to be considered in the application for new water rights when there can be no new water rights."
HERE for past columns.

Cal-Fire Protection Fee (tax) refuted by Siskiyou farmer Rex Cozzalio 12/17/12. Letter to California Governor Jerry Brown. "This is NOT a supplementary tax willingly voted upon by the affected tax base for specifically provided beneficial services. Instead, this is a premeditated raping of an unequally represented affected minority by a benefitting bureaucracy that believes such selective injustice will be unopposed by the unaffected majority, regardless of ethics or breach of law."

Husband and wife team could bridge chambers gap, H&N 12/14/12. Rep.-elect Gail Whitsett, R-Dist. 56
Gail Whitsett Website
Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett KBC News Webpage
 

Supervisors refer CDFG to DA’s office, Siskiyou Daily 12/14/12. "YREKA – While representatives of the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) were across town Tuesday carrying out the early stages of planning for their flow studies on the Shasta and Scott rivers, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors were passing a motion to refer the agency to the district attorney’s office for criminal review."

Tribal Council Organizing a Force to Help Protect Reservation Lands and People, 2 Rivers Tribune, posted to KBC 12/14/12. "Hoopa Tribal Police, with the help of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and several other agencies, shut down an illegal marijuana plantation with over 26,000 plants in the Mill Creek drainage area of the Hoopa Valley Reservation...Hoopa wildlife researchers were counting Pacific fishers in the Mill Creek watershed, when they discovered a 2,000 plant marijuana plantation. Hundreds of gallons of banned rat poisons and other chemicals were also found there."

U.S Fish and Wildlife Service designates critical habitat for Klamath Basin suckers, FWS PRESS RELEASE, posted to KBC 12/13/12. "Approximately 282 miles of streams, and 241,438 acres of lakes and reservoirs are included in the final critical habitat designation in Klamath and Lake Counties in Oregon, and in Modoc County, California."
Public Comment on Revised Critical Habitat Proposed for Lost River and Shortnose Suckers from 2/5/12 by a KBC News editor: Contains info from Fisheries scientist David Vogel, National Academy of Science, and significant details including the fact that proposed habitat Clear Lake historically was a meadow.

Statement from Dr. Paul Houser, Klamath dams whistleblower 12/13/12 on DOI's firing him for exposing Interior's lack of scientific integrity: "The settlement of my wrongful firing “whistleblower” claim is very good to get behind me. I can’t say much about the settlement, but that it was a good solution for me personally and it did not result in getting my job back. My scientific misconduct allegation is being handled separately and is still under investigation. The Department of the Interior had the final outside panel report delivered back in August/September. I have repeatedly asked the Department for their findings and they indicate that statements will be issued soon."
Here for Dr. Paul Houser Page

Scientific analysis regarding Klamath Dam removal, OPINION by Dr. Richard Gierak of Siskiyou County Water Users Association 12/11/12
* U.S. Department of the Interior ignores scientific data supplied by Klamath Bureau of Reclamation and closes down their further participation in fisheries data collection.
* According to Klamath Bureau of Reclamation studies...Klamath Dams sediment contains toxic levels of Mercury, Chromium, Zinc and Antimony
* According to the Klamath Bureau of Reclamation, removal of Klamath Dams “contributes to species decline”

New Aquatic Wilderness proclaimed by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Oyster farm must close, ruling says, Ag Alert, posted to KBC 12/13/12.

Oregon PERS Senator Doug Whitsett Newsletter, Klamath District 28 12/13/12.

The Food Stamp Bill, Families Protecting the Valley Newsletter 12/10/12. "...we just wish they would change the name to something more in line with what the farm bill has become, namely, the food stamp bill. 80% of the farm bill is related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps"
HERE for KBC News Farm Bill Page

Repealing the Fire Tax, Senator Gaines Press Release 12/3/12. "This $150 fire tax is illegal and unfair – plain and simple. Many rural property owners already pay local fire agencies for protection so it is clearly double-taxation and it is being dumped on the backs of rural Californians when the state has 10-percent unemployment and families are struggling to make ends meet."

Lawmaker: It was illegal to make fire fee permanent; State board approves to make fee permanent, KCRA, posted to KBC 12/10/12.

Watermaster to talk at Ag Expo today; Adjudication benefits to be discussed in his address, H&N, posted to KBC 12/10/12.

Oregon Senator Whitsett on Oregon Water adjudication, Part 1 of 2, 11/8/09, YouTube Video.

Oregon Senator Whitsett on water adjudication, Part 2 of 2, 11/8/09 YouTube Video

 

12/9/12 - OUR DAILY BREAD devotional sent from Frank Tallerico: "At Christmastime we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace; Though now our world is locked in strife, one day He'll make all conflict cease."

Fired scientist resolves whistleblower complaint with feds (regarding Klamath dam study), Capitol Press, posted to KBC 12/9/12. HERE for Klamath Science Misconduct page  

Commentary by Norman MacLeod, followed by USDA Chief: Rural America becoming less relevant, 12/9/12. "The Agriculture Department says about 50 percent of rural counties have lost population in the past four years and poverty rates are higher there than in metropolitan areas, despite the booming agricultural economy....rural voters accounted for just 14 percent of the turnout in last month's election, with 61 percent of them supporting Republican Mitt Romney and 37 percent backing President Barack Obama. Two-thirds of those rural voters said the government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals...'Why is it that we don't have a farm bill?' said Vilsack."
Check out KBC News Farm Bill Page.

Adversity spurs ingenuity in local ag community, different power sources become more important, H&N 12/9/12.

Ag Expo Dec 7-8

 

The Tulelake WWII veterans who won and farmed homesteads were denied irrigation water by their own government in 2001. Homesteader's wife Velma Robinson, in an excerpt of audio from Homesteading in a Promised Land documentary, who lived through this attack, equated her feelings in 2001 to those experienced December 7, 1941: AUDIO > Velma Robison

 

In 1947 - 1949, WWII veterans moved to Tulelake to live on the homestead given to him by the U.S. Gov't for their service in WWII. They fought to defend our country, and spent the rest of their lives raising food for America.

 

 

 

The late Velma and Fred Robison, 1947, when they won their homestead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo of Fred and Velma Robison in
2001. Velma holds Reclamation ERA magazine of 1947.

Klamath Basin Crisis website was borne when the federal government betrayed these WWII veterans (including our parents) and their families in 2001. RIP to you, our "Greatest Generation!" Just know we are still here holding down the fort.

 

* Klamath Basin Area Office of Bureau of Reclamation quit participation in fisheries studies because "tribes, other agencies and interest groups" didn't like BOR studies because it contradicts theirs, BOR Memorandum, posted to KBC 12/5/12

Supreme Court sides with private property against the federal government, HotAir, posted to KBC 12/5/12

Tailoring wolf "science" to justify political ends, by Jim Beers,  a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow. Posted 12/5/12.

Governor Kitzhaber's recommended Oregon state budget, Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett, posted to KBC 12/5/12.

Psalm 119:41-44: Let Your mercies come also to me, Oh Lord. So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in Your word. And take not the word of truth out of my mouth, for I have hoped in Your ordinances. So shall I keep Your law continually, forever and ever. Sent from Frank Tallerico. 12/2/12

2012 Ag Expo Dec 7 and 8, Klamath Falls.