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 Alvin Alexander Cheyne

January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005

 

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The Klamath Bucket Brigade is adamantly opposed to the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and to the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement as they are currently constituted. The agreements represent a minority of special interest groups and spreads the cost to every U.S. taxpayer. The Klamath Bucket Brigade Board of Trustees will support an agreement backed by a majority of the residents of the entire Klamath River Basin and that assures all property and water rights are protected.

 

Read our Position Paper on the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement

            

Our Mission Statement:   Promote individual and property rights that are vital to the safety, social and economic well-being of the United States.  

 

 

What's In The News:

 

January 27, 2012 - Justice Blacksun, a member of the Klamath Tribes’ Forest Warriors, a crew that works on restoration projects around the region and earlier this month, the crew was clearing invasive trees from the Sycan Marsh, north of Bly.    The Forest Warriors program was established in 2010 to create a tribal workforce for restoration and forest management projects. It provides job training and employment in a community where both are hard to come by.  The crew works on a contractual basis, performing restoration work for private landowners, public agencies and environmental groups. The project at the Sycan Marsh is a partnership between the Forest Warriors; the Nature Conservancy, which manages a 30,000-acre preserve there; and Lomakatsi Restoration Project, an Ashland nonprofit that develops and oversees restoration projects.  Read more from yesterday's Klamath Falls Herald and News article Forest Warriors - Tribal group conducts restoration projects, gets on-the-job training.
 
Articles Posted Today:
 
Klamath River Basin Issues:
California Farm Bureau Federation:  Regional water planning faces uncertain future  Jan 25, 2012
 
PNW Salmon News:
NBC Bay Area:  Weekend Rain Spawns Salmon Run  Jan 25, 2012
The Columbian:  Spring chinook forecast good for Wind, Drano  Jan 25, 2012 
Important Reading:
AgInfo.net:  Gray Wolf Management  Jan 25, 2012
Sacramento Bee:  Experts weigh in on wolf's journey into California  Jan 25, 2012
Capital Press:  Wolf issues raise hackles in session  Jan 26, 2012
Capital Press Letter:  Most Californians welcome wolves  Jan 26, 2012
Capital Press Letter:  Wolves should be relocated  Jan 26, 2012
OPB News:  EPA chief hosts town hall at UW  Jan 26, 2012 

 

January 25, 2012 - The Interior Department yesterday published a draft report summarizing two years of scientific and technical studies conducted to help inform the Secretary of the Interior on a forthcoming decision on whether to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, per the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA) of 2010. The comprehensive draft report, entitled Klamath Dam Removal Overview Report for the Secretary of the Interior: an Assessment of Science and Technical Information (Overview Report), and each individual study conducted on the environmental and economic impacts of the potential dam removal, are available at www.KlamathRestoration.gov.  The draft report presents in plain language a summary of dozens of peer-reviewed reports that have been prepared by the federal government and made public as part of the effort to fill important data gaps prior to a Secretarial Determination.  Read more from Interior's Press Release Interior Issues Draft Overview Report on Klamath Dam Removal Studies.
 

Removing four Klamath River dams would provide $14 billion in short- and long-term economic benefits, according to a draft economic analysis released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The study estimates the low-range net economic benefit of $14.1 billion over a 50-year period, even with losses that would result from the elimination of hydropower, white water boating and other recreational activities. Public input on the report will be taken through Feb. 4. Copies are available online.  “Klamath Dam Removal Overview Report for the Secretary of the Interior: An Assessment of Science and Technical Information” was prepared as part of an ongoing process to provide Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar with information on whether to recommend removal of four Klamath River hydroelectric dams. A recommendation is expected this spring.  Read more from today's Klamath Falls Herald and News article Klamath River Dam Removal - Economic benefit at least $14 billion.

 

A draft report released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of the Interior says a landmark agreement to remove dams in the Klamath Basin will restore salmon and sustain irrigation for farmers in Southern Oregon and Northern California. The findings seem to support a bill recently introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkeley, D-Oregon, and North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, that would authorize the Interior Department to decide whether to remove the four Klamath River dams. Thompson issued a statement on Tuesday urging his colleagues in Congress to act on the bill, which dam-removal proponents claim is being held hostage by the partisan rancor that is enveloping the Capitol. ”The synthesis of studies released today scientifically confirms that the agreements in place represent the best way forward for the Klamath River Basin and its communities,” Thompson said in the release. “Years of scientific and technical studies have concluded that the dam removals will not only benefit our river basin by restoring fish and wildlife habitats, it will strengthen our economy by creating thousands of jobs. The time for Congress to act is now.”  Read more from today's Times-Standard article Klamath draft report released; Thompson: 'The time for Congress to act is now'.

 
A series of winter storm systems swept through the Northwest last week, dumping snow and rain on the Klamath Basin. But the area will need a lot more precipitation before spring, forecasters say, to pull out of a deficit that has irrigators concerned.  “This last storm was putting things in the right direction, but we’re still a long ways from even average,” said Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association.  Conditions affecting water usage this year could leave irrigators “no room for error,” he said.  Irrigators have no water reserves. Additionally, government requirements on river flow and lake levels mean irrigators are the last to see water.  Read more from today's Klamath Falls Herald and News article Precipitation levels leave irrigators ‘no room for error’ - Recent storm systems turn snowpack in right direction. 
 
Articles Posted Today:
 
Klamath River Basin Issues:
Herald and News Letter:  Merkley, Wyden aren’t working for the Basin  Jan 25, 2012
Pie N Politics:  Jenner Ranch meeting canceled  Jan 25, 2012 
 
PNW Salmon News: 
Oregonian:  Columbia River ranch to be restored  Jan 23, 2012
Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor:  Five Counties Salmonid Conservation Program  Jan 24, 2012
The Columbian:  Letter: Hunting season for sea lions needed  Jan 24, 2012
 
Important Reading:
The American Spectator:  Now Playing: The Sustainability Con  Jan 18, 2012
National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA):  RNC Adopts Resolution Exposing Agenda 21  Jan 18, 2012 
Capital Press:  Group sues over herbicide use on federal land  Jan 23, 2012
Western Farm Press:  EPA hunting bullfrogs with shotgun in Sackett case  Jan 23, 2012 
Jim Beers:  Once Upon a Time - Bamboozling America  Jan 24, 2012
Senator Doug Whitsett's Newsletter:  The United States Constitution  Jan 24, 2012
Deutsche Welle:  World's dams reveal a mixed environmental record  Jan 24, 2012
ODF&W:  December 2011 Wolf Update  Jan 24, 2012
LA Observed:  Wolf OR7 still in California and moving fast  Jan 24, 2012
NBC Bay Area:  Cali's Lone Wild Wolf Stops Wandering  Jan 25, 2012   
Grist:  Can healthy food come from unhealthy workers?  Jan 25, 2012  

 

January 23, 2012 - The saying goes, whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting. For more than 35 years water stakeholders in the Klamath Basin have been fighting for water in court as part of Klamath Basin Adjudication. Tens of millions of dollars, 730 water claims, 5,600 contests to those claims, and 724 settlements later, the Basin is nearing a landmark: at the end of the year, a judge likely will give a final order of determination, establishing water rights for permit holders and for the first time giving the Oregon Water Resources Department the authority to regulate Basin water.  Representatives from the Oregon Water Resources Department, the Klamath Tribes, Upper Klamath Water Users, and Klamath Reclamation Project contestants on Thursday gave their perspectives on the adjudication process.  The talk was the first of PROSPER’s Klamath Conversations speaker series. Upper Basin contestants who were affected by the most recent adjudication in December declined to offer a representative, organizers said.  Read more from Sunday's Klamath Falls Herald and News article PROSPER water talks - 35-year adjudication process nearing end. 
 
The past week's Klamath River Basin USGS Flow Graphs are posted and showing the weeks winter weather. The Williamson River flow this morning is at 773 cubic feet per second (cfs). Upper Klamath Lake elevation come up to 4,140.72', from 4,140.38' last week.  Flows through Link River rose to 650 cfs on Thursday and were dropped to 540 cfs today.  Releases from the Keno Dam jumped to 1,000 cfs last Thursday, dropped to 800 cfs late Friday night, jumped back up to over 1,000 cfs Saturday morning and dropped to 905 cfs this morning. The Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam jumped to 1,800 cfs early Wednesday morning and slowly dropped back down to 1,160 cfs today. The Scott River rose to 2,500 cfs Saturday and has since dropped to 629 cfs. The Salmon River gauge rose to near 6,700 cfs Saturday and has since dropped to 3,210 cfs. The Trinity River gauge is showing a jump to nearly 25,000 cfs Saturday and has since dropped to 9,120 cfs. The Klamath River at the mouth gauge is showing all the extra water coming from up-river:  over 70,000 cfs early Friday morning, another jump Saturday to 90,000 cfs and a slow drop to 41,400 cfs this morning.
 
Articles Posted Today:
 
Klamath River Basin Issues:
Herald and News:  Merkley visits Basin; talks funding, policy  Jan 21, 2012
Siskiyou Daily News:  River clean-up  Jan 23, 2012
 
PNW Salmon News:
 
Important Reading
East Oregonian:  Wolves 'probable' cause in mule death  Jan 20, 2012
Center for Biological Diversity Press Release:  More Than 40000 Square Miles Protected for Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtles  Jan 21, 2012
San Francisco Chronicle:  Leatherback turtle sanctuary set up on West Coast  Jan 21, 2012 
Kathleen Marquardt:  Agenda 21, the end of Western Civilization  Jan 21, 2012 
Las Vegas Review-Journal:  Forget the landowner -- save the fish!  Jan 22, 2012
OPB News:   Video: The dirt on the Elwha  Jan 22, 2012
Grist:  A Farmvillesque game that helps save wetlands  Jan 22, 2012
Oregonian:  OR flooding may give native fish a break  Jan 22, 2012

 

January 20, 2012 - Construction of a hydroelectric project in the Klamath Irrigation District’s C Canal is on schedule and the facility should be online by irrigation season.    Most of the facility’s concrete has been poured and its generator should arrive from China early next month, said KID manager Mark Stuntebeck.  The project — a small dam and generator in the irrigation canal — is expected to produce about 3,000 megawatt -hours of power a year, Stuntebeck said. That’s enough to power about 113 homes a year. The plant should be generating electricity by April.  Read more from yesterday's Klamath Falls Herald and News article Hydroelectric project on schedule for April finish - KID’s C Canal project will sell power to grid.
 
If there’s one accomplishment President Obama can take credit for during his first term in office, it’s expanding the size and reach of the federal government. While this may be good for government bureaucrats, the policies and regulations imposed by the Obama Administration are hurting American businesses and impeding economic recovery.  Instead of focusing on creating new jobs, the administration has instead allowed the federal government to insert itself in places it’s never been and doesn’t belong.  One prime example of this, which has largely flown under the radar, is the President’s new plan to zone and regulate our oceans. Done unilaterally through Executive Order, the President’s National Ocean Policy will change how all federal agencies regulate activities impacting the ocean and Great Lake ecosystems. Without clear statutory authority, it sets up a new level of top-down federal bureaucracy with authority over the way inland, ocean and coastal activities are managed.  Read more of House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings Guest Opinion: Ocean policy reaches far beyond the sea.
 
Articles Posted Today:
 
Klamath River Basin Issues:
Siskiyou Daily News:  Supervisors hear salmonid conservation program update  Jan 19, 2012
Siskiyou Daily News Letter:  Board has not supported the people  Jan 19, 2012 
Herald and News:  Dam removal charge on bills  Jan 20, 2012 
Herald and News Letter:  Sage grouse listing would destroy industry  Jan 20, 2012
 
PNW Salmon News:  
 
Important Reading: 
American Farm Bureau Federation:  Farmers warned: We’re all one regulation away from jail or bankruptcy  Jan 13, 2012
USDA.gov Press Release:  California Welcomes Wild Wolf for First time in 87 Years  Jan 18, 2012
AP:  OR wildlife officials think wolves killed mule  Jan 18, 2012
Wallowa County Cheiftain:  Wolves kill mule east of Joseph  Jan 18, 2012
OPB News:  A tax credit for wolf kills in OR?  Jan 19, 2012
Capital Press:  Vilsack defends cuts to USDA  Jan 19, 2012
Capital Press Editorial:  EPA actions disregard due process  Jan 19, 2012 
The Columbian:  Letter: Revise Endangered Species Act  Jan 19, 2012
 House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings:  Guest Opinion: Ocean policy reaches far beyond the sea  Jan 20, 2012
Dr. Laurie Roth, Ph.D:  All who signed the NDAA bill should be impeached  Jan 20, 2012

 

January 18, 2012 - Agriculture holds the most senior water rights in the West and is considered a likely source of water to meet growing municipal and environmental demands. Unfortunately, severing water from agricultural land makes the land less productive. Period. Policy makers should be wary of putting additional emphasis on agricultural water transfers, particularly in the context of growing domestic and global food security and scarcity concerns.  Read more from Dan Keppen's, Family Farm Alliance Executive Director Guest Opinion: The global food reality in today's Yreka Siskiyou Daily News.
 
Articles Posted Today:
 
Klamath River Basin Issues:
Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor:  Economic Development Through Agriculture  Jan 16, 2012
Two Rivers Tribune:  Access Hoopa - Tribe Discusses Options to Protect Land  Jan 17, 2012
Capital Press:   Ag scrutinizing Oregon's right to farm law  Jan 17, 2012
Siskiyou Daily News:  Guest Opinion: The global food reality  Jan 18, 2012
 
PNW Salmon News:
 
Important Reading: 
Jonathan Turley:  The US Is No Longer the Land of the Free  Jan 15, 2012
The Columbian:  In our view: Improve the Endangered Species Act  Jan 16, 2012
Idaho Mountain Express and Guide:  Wolves do kill people  Jan 17, 2012

 

January 16, 2012 - At this week’s Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors meeting, staff of the Five County Salmonid Conservation Program (5C) will present the results of their most recent reassessment of changes in county policies and procedures and the impacts they have had on salmonid protection, management and habitat conditions.  The 5C program began in 1997 when the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Siskiyou and Trinity agreed to collaborate on a proactive response to the ESA listing of coho salmon as a threatened species.  Read more from today's Yreka Siskiyou Daily News article Supervisors to hear from 5C program staff.
 
The past week's Klamath River Basin USGS Flow Graphs are posted and showing a dramatic change from the last few weeks. The Williamson River flow this morning is at 585 cubic feet per second (cfs). Upper Klamath Lake elevation come up to 4,140.35'. Flows through Link River have been dropped to 473 cfs . Releases from the Keno Dam dropped to 715 cfs last Monday afternoon and have stayed near that mark all week. The Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam is at 1,030 cfs. The Scott River has dropped to 111 cfs. The Salmon River gauge dropped to 422 cfs. The Trinity River gauge has dropped to 971 cfs today. The Klamath River at the mouth gauge has dropped to 4,750 cfs this morning.
 
Articles Posted Today:
 
Klamath River Basin Issues:
Oregonian Opinion:  Klamath tribes: Respect our Rights and our Expertise  Jan 14, 2012
Medford Mail Tribune:  A drought in the works?  Jan 14, 2012
Times-Standard:  Protection closer for rare Humboldt marten  Jan 15, 2012
Siskiyou Daily News:  Supervisors to hear from 5C program staff  Jan 16, 2012
Siskiyou Daily News Letter:  We must stand against over-regulation  Jan 16, 2012
Times-Standard:  Restricted access to Tish Tang stirs up concerns  Jan 16, 2012
 
PNW Salmon News:
Anchorage Daily News:  Website shows how sonar used to track salmon  Jan 15, 2012 
 
Important Reading:
Sacramento Bee:  California's lone wolf can be tracked online  Jan 13, 2012
Science AAAS:  Why NOAA Is in the Commerce Department  Jan 13, 2012
Natural Resources Defense Council:  NOAA Protects Salmon in Fresh and Saltwater and We Should Keep it That Way  Jan 14, 2012  
Capital Press:  WA Legislation would regionalize wolf plan  Jan 14, 2012  
Medford Mail Tribune:   OR-7 may be looking for love in wrong places  Jan 15, 2012

 

January 13, 2012 - Because of a drier than usual December, the Klamath River is being choked down to below bare minimum flows causing a stir amongst salmon advocates who say the reduction poses a serious threat to coho.  A recently revised Klamath Project Winter Operations Plan has less water flowing down the river allowing more to build up in Upper Klamath Lake to meet the irrigation demands expected this coming growing season.A month in the making, the revised plan drops flows below the minimum allowed under the National Marine Services’ (NMFS) 2010 biological opinion intended to protect coho salmon in the Klamath River. But, ironically NMFS approved the plan proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) using a clause of the biological opinion that allows a technical work group to be convened to make changes.  Read more from Wednesday's Two Rivers Tribune article  Klamath River Flow Cut Back to Fill Upper Klamath Lake.
 
As winter continues with little snow falling in the region, Klamath Basin irrigators are looking to groundwater wells to supply water for their crops this growing season.   Local agencies have developed a plan that calls for well owners to pump 40,000 acre-feet of water — about 12 percent of the Klamath Reclamation Project’s annual supply — to offset a potential lack of surface water.  Under the 2012 Groundwater Pumping Program, the Bureau of Reclamation will pay irrigators to pump groundwater into irrigation canals or onto their fields, if needed.  Read more from yesterday's Klamath Falls Herald and News article Planning for the worst winter - Groundwater program begins signing up well owners for 2012 growing season. 
 
As of Jan. 10, Pacific Power customers in Northern California will begin seeing the company’s new dam removal surcharge on their bills, a press release from the utility company announced.  “The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) notified the company on Jan. 3 that the trust accounts to receive the Klamath dam removal surcharge proceeds from Pacific Power’s approximately 45,000 customers in Northern California have been established,” the release began.  Read more from today's Yreka Siskiyou Daily News article Klamath dams: Surcharge rolled out.
 
Articles Posted Today:
 
Klamath River Basin Issues:
Center for Biological Diversity Press Release:  Rare Forest Carnivore, Once Believed Extinct, Now a Step Closer to Endangered  Jan 11, 2012
San Francisco Chronicle:  Feds consider protection for Humboldt marten  Jan 12, 2012
Siskiyou Daily News:  Navigable or not?  Jan 12, 2012
Siskiyou Daily News Letter:  Armstrong should educate herself about wolves  Jan 12, 2012
Capital Press:  Herger to retire  Jan 12, 2012
Siskiyou Daily News:  Klamath dams: Surcharge rolled out  Jan 13, 2012
 
PNW Salmon News:
 
Important Reading:
Bureau of Land Management Press Release:  Meetings Engage Public in Planning Process for Sage-Grouse  Jan 10, 2012
The Columbian:  Erosion spooks Northwestern Lake cabin owners  Jan 11, 2012
San Francisco Chronicle:  Wolf update: He's in Lassen County  Jan 11, 2012
San Francisco Chronicle:  Gray wolf moving east in northeastern Calif.  Jan 12, 2012
Capital Press Letter:  Wolf celebrity not Hollywood variety  Jan 12, 2012
Capital Press Letter:  EPA is out of control  Jan 12, 2012

 

 

 

 

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Archive #72 -  January 2, 2012 to January 11, 2012 

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