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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2005)
Spllyay Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon October 27, 2005 Appeals court: eight years too Ions for salmon to wait (Al) - An appeals court List week tossed out a key part of the federal government's plan for balancing water between farms and threatened coho salmon in the Klamath Basin, putting the Hush administration on the spot over how to pro vide water to farmers who need it for irrigation while also meet ing Endangered Species Act obligations. The government's decision to take eight years to provide the full amount of water needed for coho survival in the water-scarce basin was arbitrary and capri cious, and not backed up by sci ence, the 9th US. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled. 'The agency (NOAA Fisher ies) essentially asks that we take its word that the species will be protected if its plans are fol lowed," Judge D.W. Nelson wrote in the opinion. "If this were sufficient, (NOAA Fisher ies) could simply assert that its decisions were protective and so withstand all scrutiny. "If there is insufficient wa ter to sustain the coho during this period, they will not com plete their life cycle, with the consequence that there will be no coho at the end of the eight years. If that happens, all the water in the world in 2010 and 2011 will not protect the coho, for there will be none to pro tect." The appeals court sent the case back to the U.S. District Court in Oakland to sort out where the extra water will come from. Earthjusticc attorney Kristin Boylcs said she would ask Judge Saundra Armstrong to order the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to provide the full amount of water called for in 2010 from the Klamath Reclamation Project, which irrigates 180,000 acres straddling the Oregon California border in the high desert east of the Cascade Range. Irrigation was cut off to most of the project in 2001 to protect threatened coho, then restored the next year. Glen Spain, spokesman for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, a commercial fishing group and lead plaintiff in the appeal, said the ruling was an important step in providing balance in the con tinuing fight over water in the Klamath Basin. "It comes at a time when because of past Klamath water problems and fish kills the West Coast fishing industry is suffer ing enormous losses," Spain said. Bob Gasser, a fertilizer and pesticide dealer, said it was a terrible ruling for Klamath farmers, but they would survive. "People are trying to solve 100 percent of the salmon prob lems on the back of the Kla math project," he said. Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, which repre sents farmers, said the irrigation project would have a hard time coming up with the water the ruling demands. 'That's going to be a difficult thing unless we have a whole lot of snow," Addington said. NOAA Fisheries spokesman Jim Middlcbury said the agency was reviewing the ruling, and had no immediate comment. After the irrigation shutoff in 2001, NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for protecting ralmon, came up with a plan to phase in over eight years the full amount of water needed for coho in the Klamath. As part of the plan, the Bureau of Reclamation created a water bank, paying farmers $7.6 mil lion this year for extra water for fish. 5 Salmon to test Upper Klamath Lake KLAMATH FALLS (AP) -Scientists placed chinook salmon in the waters of Williamson River and Upper Klamath Lake last week to see how they respond, perhaps set ting the stage for the eventual return of the sea-running fish to the Klamath Basin.- -, The year-old salmon were confined to 2-foot submerged cubical mesh cages submerged in the water by the US. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Essentially are captives," said Phillip Detrich, field super visor for the agency's Yreka, Ca lif., office. The scientists will evaluate how the water quality affects the salmon as they grow into smolts, young fish ready to go from fresh water to salt water. ' k jl They also hope to see if there is enough spawning habi tat for salmon in the rivers that feed into Upper Klamath Lake. Trout and salmon can usu ally co-exist, but they might com pete for resources if there is lim ited habitat The tests, which will be re peated in spring, are being con ducted as federal officials de cide whether PacifiCorp, which has a series of dams on the Kla math River, should be required to install ways for salmon to get . around the dams as part of a new 50-year license. Detrich said the agency has a long-standing interest in returning the fish to the Basin, where they haven't been since the first power dam was built on the river in 1918. left) Your bargain Connection tBOSt! i i iVflll 1ML..- A llll lllfcrw W n.-wdl - 717 S.W. 5th St Madras Or Just in at the Outpost! iiiibroidgrgd Gaps B - .... s ' ; - 2(0 off all tools! - http:yjvivi.theoutpo6t6tore.6om a 9 I.) ,1. .1 Warm Springs, thank you for supporting the businesses you see in the Spilyay Tymoo. Your support is appreciated! witting) itftt mom m Spelling is Jordan Patt's favorite subject at Warm Springs Elementary School. She also happens to be one of the best spellers in her grade. "She's doing an outstanding job in spelling, " said Dawn Smith, principal. "She's already passed the first 10 levels in spelling. She's doing great. " Besides spelling, Jordan, 6, likes the always-popular recess time at school. After school Jordan I 14 K3 i. 5. 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