6
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June 8, 2018
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the opinions of the authors but
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Opinion
Editorial Board
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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.