Conservation groups seeking removal of four aging Klamath River dams near the California border welcomed a report Wednesday by the National Research Council confirming studies indicating that salmon and other fish need more water.
This report is a major victory for salmon, commercial fishermen, Native Americans, and everyone else who cares about the health of the Klamath River,” said Steve Pedery, conservation director for Oregon Wild, based in Portland.
{more, and why this sucks for Gordon Smith, below}
High concentrations of toxic blue-green algae in the Klamath River last week spurred tribal and governmental agencies to post signs warning the public to avoid contact with the water.
Two reservoirs located up the Klamath River-Iron Gate and Copco-are believed to be the source of the algae blooms, and could help sway the debate on whether dams along the waterway should be removed.
The Yurok Tribe and California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board posted warnings on nearly 200 miles of the Klamath River starting from the mouth after levels of toxic algae (Microcystis aeruginosa) were found to be more than double the state-mandated thresholds.
"When the levels that we monitor get above those thresholds, we have a responsibility to warn the public of the threat," said Yurok Tribe Environmental Director Kevin McKernan.
Toxins released from the algae when it dies is known to cause severe liver damage after long-term exposure and can cause minor sickness, such as eye irritations, skin rash, vomiting and diarrhea, from limited contact.
[Happy Labor Day weekend; as you can imagine we'll be taking it easy at LoadedO. Of course, that's only true for the front page; you can always keep the content fresh by writing a diary! Interesting diaries always stand a better chance of front-paging when regular traffic is slow...!]
If you haven't bought a Street Roots newspaper from a street seller in Portland lately, you really should pony up a dollar to one of the polite vendors and check them out again. While there was a certain charm to the sometimes-addled poems and honest but less substantive government rants of the past, it always felt more like charity to help a vendor, rather than something of real value that you were buying.
No more. Street Roots has joined the national chain of street papers, allowing it to share content and avail itself of a strong redesign. Even better, the poetry and street culture sections remain alongside hard news, intelligent editorial, and probing letters. Under Director/Editor Israel Bayer's hand, I now buy Street Roots for the paper itself--helping a self-starting vendor with 70% of the proceeds is icing on the cake.
And not only are they covering hard news, they're covering current news, and (OK, I'm biased) IMPORTANT news--like the 2008 elections, and whether Oregon is going to hold Gordon Smith accountable for actions like those leading to the fish kills of 2002.
In the same week The Register-Guard criticizes U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) for not being honest about the Klamath River water diversion, he contradicts himself – twice – in an interview with The Bulletin.
“Does Gordon Smith think people will just believe anything he says, no matter how contradictory or untruthful?” DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith asked. “In the same month that he tells The Register-Guard there is no connection between the low water and the fish kill, he tells The Bulletin he never claimed there was no connection. Six years after publicly providing clear knowledge of Vice President Cheney’s direct intervention on Klamath, he says he was unaware that Cheney was directly involved. Time and time again Gordon Smith has let the truth become a casualty in his re-election bid. He continues to break the trust of Oregonians.”
...
Even after all the media coverage of Smith and the White House’s political coordination to abuse environmental and commercial resources to get him re-elected in 2002, Smith still acts like he can contradict the public record and no-one will notice. The 2002 Klamath River water diversion destroyed coastal fishing communities and garnered statewide and national media attention.
“Does Gordon Smith think he can mislead reporters, editors and Oregonians and get away with it?” Wood Smith asked. “It is sad to see a U.S. Senator consistently destroying his credibility.”
Owie. I'm ever so happily married, but if Ms. Wood-Smith keeps up this barrage of Smith truth-telling all the way to the election, I might need to start considering the appeal of a 2nd wife. (Or maybe I've been watching too much Big Love.)
Man, we're reaching Gary Hart "Prove I'm a cheating sleazebag" territory here. Two more articles (one unfortunately behind the dratted subscriber firewall) have appeared in state media, as outlets continue to ask Gordon Smith (and now Greg Walden) about his actions and responses to the Klamath fish kill story.
The one I can't link to is from the Bend Bulletin, notoriously conservative among state media but covering what has now become serious news. In a piece published yesterday and headlined "Smith reverses course on salmon die-off," he tries to color previous remarks by fibbing further about what he said, while his spokesperson claims he's not reversing at all, and Democratic challenger Steve Novick nails exactly what he's doing. Check it out below the jump...
I knew when I slapped the snooze button this morning at 6:35, it was probably a mistake if I wanted to get out of the house and down to the KPOJ studios by 7:30. It's not always pleasant to be right; at 7:15 I woke up again and realized I wouldn't be able to make the in-studio gig that Carl Wolfson and Heidi Tauber had set up for me. But thanks to the magic of Alexander Graham Bell and Motorola, doing the interview by phone sufficed, and so another radio segment goes into the LO Publicity Whore archives...
...but before it does, why not take a listen? You can hear the clip this way, helpfully copied from the KPOJ Pojcast page. Go to about the middle of the audio file; I come on after the news at 7:30. We talked mostly about Gordon Smith's no good, horrible very bad week, and how he's digging himself a deeper hole with the state media from his responses on the fish kill scandal.
I don't have a regular gig like Kari at BlueO, but lately I've been on at least a couple times a month--so maybe the best thing is just to listen to Heidi and Carl EVERY DAY so you don't miss me. :) (Or you could blow it off and listen to the Pojcast when I tell you about it, like now--but that's just so lazy of you.)
About a month ago I filed Freedom of Information Act requests at a number of federal agencies involved in the decisions over the Klamath Basin. I've gotten letters back from everyone acknowledging the request, and they get 20 business days to give a response. Sometimes the response is "we got nuthin," which is what a Marine Fisheries regional office told me. Other times, if you're lucky, you hear back a straightforward answer: here's a summary of what we have; order what you want copied by item number.
The Office of Secretary of the Interior has returned a summary of several "conversations" Senator Gordon Smith had with officials at Interior. They stretch back as far as February 2001, one month after George Bush's inauguration and two months before the earliest evidence we knew of that Smith had gotten himself involved. The first sign the media seemed to catch wind was after Smith's letter of March 30, 2001 to the White House, asking for "regulatory relief." After weeks of fruitless searching for that letter, it looks like we scored a hit on the Interior servers for it. And uh, actually quite a bit more. In fact, there's some stuff that sure looks like he's pressuring scientists to change their conclusions. Whatever he was saying--and we'll find out--he was doing a lot of talking to a lot of people.
The problem with Sen. Gordon Smith's defense of the Bush administration's 2002 decision to divert Klamath Lake water for irrigation isn't that the Oregon Republican is wobbly on the facts. It's that he's willing to bend and selectively omit the facts to justify ideologically driven political positions.
(How can I not promote this? Here we have a candidate for office talking straight, talking forcefully, and speaking the truth on a subject that has become sine qua non at LO. Can't you just hear this kind of non-parsed language from the floor of the US Senate? Take it to Gordo, Steve! - promoted by torridjoe)
Gordon Smith's recent remarks on the Klamath fish kill underscore a persistent theme. Gordon Smith doesn't take facts seriously. He doesn't take science seriously. And ultimately, he doesn't take his job seriously.
Smith said that the fish kill occurred 18 months after the water diversion - when it was actually only six months later. He said there was no evidence that the water diversion caused the fish kill - ignoring the study by the California Department of Fish and Game.
If you're reading this, you can't likely have escaped the fact that the Klamath story has very quickly become part of the conversation in Gordon Smith's run for re-election. The first batch of stories began right at the turn of August, the same time that Jeff Merkley was entering the race.
Then there was a second wave, started by Dave Steves at the Register-Guard. If there is one member of the traditional media which has really given the story the focus and the investigative interest it deserves, it's been Steves and the R-G. Bravo. Last Thursday they published the story on their interview with Smith, where the Senator sided "with humankind" and said he was unaware of what Cheney had done, and that the kill wasn't related to what he did since it took place 18 months later and was the result of "gill disease." Noting the stir it caused, the editors then decided to print the entire transcript. Again, Bravo. The various errors and mendacities in his responses got a going over from us here.
So what has Smith actually said, and what has been said about those answers? What does this flurry of sudden coverage portend for both the Senate race?
Is there a developing reality that the blogs in the state of Oregon are pushing its political coverage?
Smith maintains there's no evidence it was caused by water diversions to farmers. Smith also defended Cheney's role in intervening with Federal Officials to help farmers in the Klamath Basin.
The House Natural Resources Committee is investigating whether Cheney exerted improper political influence to override scientifically based management of the water resources.
A study by the California Department of Fish and Game found that the water diversions played a key role in the deaths of some 77 thousand salmon.
Even better, is the exceptionally devastating video of the newscaster reading the copy while pictures of thousands of dead salmon lie prostrate in the water. You can click on the link to see the video.
(I'm not saying that laying out the case for LO's bonafides as a nontraditional media force will get your diary promoted every time...but the odds aren't shabby. :) - promoted by torridjoe)
Blue Oregon's Jeff Alworth had an op-ed piece in yesterday's Oregonian about the increasing clout of bloggers vis-à-vis traditional journalism.
A lot of it is cast in "the farmer and the cowman should be friends" tone that never seems to move things forward as much as you'd hope, but he soon gets to the heart of the matter: centralization of control.
Following up on the story we just posted, about Smith's interview with the Register-Guard on the Klamath fish kills, I notice that The O's Jeff Mapes gives a rare hat tip to a story created by a rival paper:
Smith said he was also unaware that Vice President Dick Cheney had intervened with federal officials to restore the flow of water to farmers. A recent Washington Post series that detailed Cheney's involvement in the Klamath issue led to a new round of congressional hearings that began last week.
Steve Pedery, conservation director of Oregon Wild, said that for Smith to say he has "no regrets about the biggest fish kill in Northwest history is just astonishing." He and other environmentalists pointed to a report by the California Department of Fish and Game that said the low flows played an important role in the die-off. Pedery also scoffed at Smith's claim that the fish kills occurred 18 months after water was diverted to farmers. He said the diversions started in March of 2002 and water levels in the river remained low when the die-off started in September of that year.
Sen. Gordon Smith said Tuesday that he has no regrets about the diversion of water from the Klamath River that was intended to protect fish but instead went to farmers.
The 2002 water diversion - and subsequent die-off of 77,000 salmon and eventual suspension of coastal fishing - was the subject of hearings that began last week in a U.S. House committee.
In 2002, Smith's lobbying for increased irrigation in the Southern Oregon region was a topic he raised during that year's campaign. In a TV ad, farmers praised the Republican lawmaker's efforts on their behalf.
advertisement
But with next year's Senate campaign approaching, the issue is more double-edged for Smith. The Democratic Party of Oregon highlighted last week's congressional hearing by calling on Smith to apologize and answer for his role.
In a meeting with The Register-Guard editorial board, the Oregon senator offered his most expansive explanation to date since since the issue's revival in recent weeks. Smith defended his and Cheney's efforts to help Klamath basin farmers salvage their crops during drought.
"I am not here to make any apologies," said Smith, who faces re-election next year. "I am proud to fight for the farmers or any group of Americans whom the federal government says has no standing, no water. I just find that offensive."
Smith downplayed his connection to Cheney in that chapter. He said he did not recall speaking with the vice president, but did lobby President Bush during a flight on Air Force One to allow some of the basin's water dedicated for imperiled sucker fish to be diverted to withering croplands and pastures.
"I was not familiar with all the things the vice president was doing," Smith said, referring to the Washington Post's account.
Yeah, maybe not ALL of them, like when he went to the john on October 3, 2001 or whether he went for an after dinner walk at 5 or 6pm on Tuesday, April 17th, 2002--but he knew the important stuff about what they were going to do in the Klamath situation. Playboy centerfold photos don't get the kind of close airbushing attention that statement must have received, in order to avoid the real issue.
But there's a far more pernicious avoidance of the truth and deceitful defensiveness with which Smith addresses the questions...
{more}
Can I say for the 10th time that the Democratic Party of Oregon has become an aggressive, rapid response MACHINE since Meredith and Marc took over? They are taking charge of the task to define and explain Gordon Smith's real work in the Senate, and folks are starting to listen:
Two days after DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith called on U.S. Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) to apologize for coordinating with Karl Rove, Vice President Cheney and President Bush to earn votes by endangering Oregon’s fishing industries and salmon population, Smith is still silent on the issue.
But the media is raising more and more questions for Smith about his coordination with Cheney and other White House leaders to choose politics over science to earn him votes.
“Gordon Smith should not stay silent on his political abuse of the Klamath River,” DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith said. “In 2002, Gordon Smith couldn’t stop running television ads and boasting to Oregonians about turning on the water. Now that 70,000 salmon are dead, countless fishermen have lost their livelihood and the U.S. House is looking into his actions, he’s suddenly media shy. Gordon Smith should take responsibility for his actions. Gordon Smith should explain when he first contacted Dick Cheney and the White House, what he asked of Dick Cheney, and why Dick Cheney made personal calls on his behalf to divert the water to earn Smith re-election.”
“As the committee meets tomorrow to investigate Vice President Dick Cheney’s move to open the Klamath River irrigation system to earn Gordon Smith votes, Smith can finally apologize to Oregonians for abusing an environmental and commercial resource for political gain,” [DPO Chair Meredith] Wood Smith said. “In 2002, Gordon Smith couldn’t stop boasting about turning on the water. Now that 70,000 salmon are dead, countless fishermen have lost their livelihood and the U.S. House is looking into his actions, he’s suddenly media shy. Gordon Smith should take responsibility for his actions. If Gordon Smith can open an irrigation system to release thousands of gallons of water, surely he can open his mouth and apologize to Oregonians.”
As House Democrats investigate whether political interference may have led to the die-off of about 70,000 salmon on the Klamath River, local observers worry fragile negotiations aimed at ending long-simmering fights over water in Southern Oregon could be derailed.
Specifically, the U.S. House of Representatives is investigating whether Vice President Dick Cheney secretly intervened in the development of a 10-year water plan for the naturally arid Klamath Basin.
John DeVoe, executive director of WaterWatch of Oregon, said the Bush administration has a long history of "meddling with sensitive scientific judgment," and not just in the Klamath Basin.
"Interfering with the judgment of scientists for political purposes is a subject that legitimately should be looked at," DeVoe said, adding that the continuing negotiations are a separate issue.
Glen Spain, a spokesman for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations in Eugene, questions whether much good can come from the congressional probe.
"Congress deserves to know what happened: Policy needs to be driven by science, not politics," Spain said, adding that his concern is that months of talks could be jeopardized if the water issue becomes politicized once again.
"We cannot be lurching from crisis to crisis," Spain said. "There is only so much water, and all the politics in the world will not make more rain," adding that a settlement is the best path forward for fishermen and farmers.
Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, said he too is worried that the hearings could have an impact on negotiations by opening old wounds.
"This cannot help but end in finger-pointing," Addington said. "And nothing good comes out of that."
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, today confirmed that Vice President Dick Cheney, a former Member of the Committee, has been invited to testify at a July 31 oversight hearing on his apparent role in influencing scientific and policy decisions at the Department of the Interior.
As reported in The Washington Post on June 27, 2007, Cheney’s intervention in the development of a 10-year water plan for the Klamath River resulted in the 2002 die-off of an estimated 77,000 salmon near the California-Oregon border – and the subsequent collapse of the West Coast salmon-fishing industry.
The hearing will seek to examine the causes and consequences of political intervention in the decision-making process at the Interior Department, an alarming trend the Committee began exploring at a May 9 hearing that delved into the role of the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks in politicizing the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
RSS Feed: http://www.loadedorygun.net/rss/rss2.xml
