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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2018)
6 CapitalPress.com Editorials are written by or approved by members of the Capital Press Editorial Board. June 8, 2018 All other commentary pieces are the opinions of the authors but not necessarily this newspaper. Opinion Editorial Board Editor & Publisher Managing Editor Joe Beach Carl Sampson opinions@capitalpress.com Online: www.capitalpress.com/opinion O ur V iew Feds must also protect Klamath farmers, ranchers F ma er River th s Riv Lo Service, seeking an miles of canals and injunction forcing the 490 miles of lateral agencies to provide ditches. It spans 97 Approximate area more water in Upper roughly 200,000 acres Area in Upper of Klamath Project Klamath Lake for the of farmland, including detail 140 Klamath Lake suckers. 18 irrigation districts. 140 They also support But the available the restoration of water is tied up to Klamath endangered salmon in protect endangered Falls Bonanza the river. suckers in Upper er Gerber t Reservoir 66 Juvenile salmon Klamath Lake, where K L A M AT H Keno ost Riv heading down river snowmelt is stored, 39 Kl a Ore. Malin Ore. are at risk from C. and salmon in the Calif. Calif. Tulelake shasta, a deadly Klamath River. Dorris S IS K IY O U Lower parasite. Oregon follows Tule Klamath 97 Meiss Lake Along with the “first in time, Lake Clear Lake Lake Reservoir a coalition of first in right” water LAVA BEDS N environmental groups doctrine — the oldest MODOC 139 NAT’L MON. 10 miles and fishing interests, water right gets first Alan Kenaga/Capital Press the Hoopa Valley dibs, what’s left flows Lost River suckers, which are and Yurok tribes of to holders of less both culturally significant and northern California secured an senior rights down the line. The federally endangered. injunction in 2017 that requires Klamath Tribes were granted the The tribes also filed a lawsuit the Bureau of Reclamation to most superior rights by treaty in May 24 against the bureau, keep 50,000 acre-feet of stored 1864. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service water to flush away C. shasta The tribes keep water in the and National Marine Fisheries spores until 80 percent of juvenile lake to protect shortnose and L armers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin are in a tough spot. Agriculture is a $557 million industry in the Klamath Basin, but it requires steady, reliable access to water. Despite a huge federal irrigation project, farmers and ranchers in the basin don’t have that. The Klamath Basin received just 43 percent of its usual snow last winter. Stream flows are expected to range between 24 and 58 percent of normal through September. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a drought emergency for Klamath County on March 13. But as of this writing, irrigators still don’t have a water allocation from the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency that controls the project. The Klamath Project is a massive feat of engineering consisting of six dams, 185 salmon reach the ocean — perhaps by June 15. The federal government is obliged to protect the fish. But it’s because of the federal government that there is farming in the basin. It built the project and encouraged farmers to settle with the promise the water would be there. After World War I it gave plots to veterans, many whose descendants are still farming today. As a matter of law, efforts must be made to save the fish. As a matter of right, the culture of the tribes must be preserved. The basin’s 2,000 irrigators and their families have their culture, too. It does not reach back to time immemorial, but it is the life blood of the basin’s economy. It seems to us that the government owes something to the irrigators. If the fish are saved but the farmers and ranchers are not, the loss will be incalculable. O ur V iew Guest comment Sine Kerr Grassroots involvement is a game-changer By SINE KERR For the Capital Press I Sea lions expose conflicts in environmental laws I for at least two years. and President Richard Nixon signed t must have been quite a sight. As U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader tells the story in his in 1972, was aimed at preventing Here the managers want to take drastic, latest newsletter, he and representatives incidental take and harassment of the and expensive, measures on behalf of marine mammals. of the Oregon Department of Fish and protected the native run fish and protected In the Willamette Falls case, the salmon sea lions are killing them. Wildlife were at Willamette Falls, where are protected under the Endangered sea lions were decimating the salmon and What to do. Species Act of 1973. Congress — and steelhead, which are protected under the ODFW last year applied to the National Nixon, before he was run out of office federal Endangered Species Act. Marine Fisheries Service to kill the sea “We witnessed a sea lion taking a — approved that law to protect local lions before they wipe out the salmon and bite out of a salmon before members of populations of fish, plants and animals. steelhead. That agency, operating at the the Grand Ronde tribe who were fishing Note that it doesn’t protect species so much speed of government, is expected to make at the falls could reel it back in,” the as local populations. a decision by the end of this year. congressman wrote. “The depredation was At Willamette Falls, wildlife managers In the meantime, Schrader, a stunning to see.” Democrat, and Republican Reps. The sea lions are amazing “We witnessed a sea lion taking a bite out of a Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan predators, totally outmatching the fisheries and wildlife salmon before members of the Grand Ronde tribe Newhouse of Washington state Rep. Don Young of Alaska managers, who had already who were fishing at the falls could reel it back in. and have introduced legislation to tried to evict them from the The depredation was stunning to see.” falls. They had scooped up update the Marine Mammal 10 of the offending critters Protection Act. and transported them to new Called the Endangered Salmon and stomping grounds along the Oregon Coast, have a legal standoff: Protected sea lions Fisheries Predation Prevention Act, the are eating protected fish. where they wouldn’t be eating protected bill would extend to states and tribes the All of which would be mildly interesting authority to kill sea lions that prey on fish. to farmers in the Willamette Valley, except endangered salmon and steelhead. Sea Within a few days, though, the sea for one thing. Though populations of lions were back at Willamette Falls. The lions have also been making a banquet of hatchery-reared fish are healthy, fisheries pinnipeds had swum up the coast to the protected fish in the Columbia River. managers have been working overtime to Columbia River and upstream to the It’s a good first step toward getting a Willamette River all the way to the falls. It rebuild the populations of native run fish in handle on this problem. And it might also the river system. They outdid themselves was a trek of a couple hundred miles. be a step toward revisiting the Nixon-era recently with a plan to spend $200 million The problem is that sea lions are also environmental laws that conflict with one to $300 million to build a concrete tower protected under federal law. The Marine another and cost taxpayers hundreds of in Detroit Lake to regulate the water Mammal Protection Act forbids anyone, millions of dollars a year to protect local including wildlife managers, from “taking” temperature for the fish. populations of fish, plants and wildlife. While that tower is under construction, a sea lion, whale, dolphin, sea otter or polar If everything is protected, then nothing irrigation water to 8 percent of the valley’s bear without a permit. farmland would be either cut off or reduced is protected. The law, which Congress passed t only took one unpleasant experience speaking with individuals at a casual din- ner party to realize I needed to make a change in the way I ap- proached socially and emotion- ally charged topics related to agriculture. Initially, the conversation was amicable, with thoughts and ideas freely exchanged. But, when I mentioned that conven- tional and organic milk have the same nutritional value, oh my, did that set one of the guests off on a tirade against conventional farmers. I felt I needed to match her level of hysteria — and I easily obliged! Nothing positive was accom- plished through that exchange and it left me feeling upset and angry with myself for not main- taining my composure. I missed a fantastic opportunity to at least give some thoughtful, calm in- sight about how every type of farmer cares for their animals and monitors the quality of milk they produce. I decided to get help and get help fast! I needed to only look as far as my Farm Bureau. I began to participate in train- ing events that offered resources and genuine hands-on experi- ence in how to relate to people’s concerns regarding how their food is produced. I learned why I needed to keep my emotions in check, how to listen first, ask a few key questions, then calmly and factually share how we care for our cows and crops on our farm. It took some practice, but over time it became easier to control my emotions. I could tell that people really were listening even when they didn’t complete- ly agree. I no longer dread an en- counter or embarrass myself. When passion for your live- lihood meets leadership training and preparation, there is no limit to what opportunities are avail- able. With so few of us produc- ing our nation’s food and fiber, it is critical that when we have opportunities to engage with our non-farming friends, we do so in a manner that has the best chance of transforming their view of modern agriculture. State Sen. Sine Kerr, R-Ariz., is an Arizona Farm Bureau leader and partner in Kerr Family Dairy. This column is adapted from an article pub- lished in Arizona Agriculture, Arizona Farm Bureau’s monthly publication.
