Klamath River stakeholders ‘step it up a notch'

May 6, 2008

By Michelle Ma

Triplicate staff writer

OMAHA, Neb. — Around the time most people were going to sleep, Chook-Chook Hillman took his place as fifth in line among shareholders waiting to secure a spot last Saturday morning at billionaire Warren Buffett's annual meeting in Omaha, Neb.

Many shareholders who get a chance to address Buffett during the six-hour question-and-answer session do so in awe of the acclaimed billionaire.

But Hillman and the other American Indians, fishermen and conservationists who traveled from California and Oregon to the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. annual shareholders meeting had no desire to praise Buffett's work.

When the doors to the convention center opened hours later, Hillman burst inside out of the cold, sprinting toward one of the microphones placed throughout the arena. After writing his name on the speaker sign-up sheet, Hillman found a seat near the front.

When the meeting began, the 23-year-old Karuk tribal member from Orleans was the third person to speak among the 30,000 people gathered in the arena.

"It was powerful to me," Hillman said, recounting how he told Buffett—and an entire arena of his supporters—that PacifiCorp's dams on the Klamath River are creating conditions of poverty and disease in Hillman's rural community. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns most of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, which in turn owns PacifiCorp, the operator of the Klamath's hydroelectric dams.

Hillman asked Buffett publicly to sign an agreement that would require PacifiCorp to halt its attempts to relicense the dams and instead work to remove them. His microphone was turned off shortly after.

"It bothered him that much he had to turn off my mic," Hillman said, adding that Buffett quickly turned the questions over to David Sokol, who oversees Berkshire Hathaway's utility companies.

But Hillman continued to stand at the microphone, holding up the agreement and staring at his target.

"I kept looking at Warren," Hillman said. "This is between me and him."

It was Hillman's second trip to the Berkshire shareholders meeting, and this year he and nearly 30 others coordinated efforts to be more aggressive in their demands and approach, he said. They met for training sessions on how to organize and protest effectively to pressure Buffett to remove the Klamath dams.

Last year Buffett refused to meet with local stakeholders. This year the group made itself heard in a more visible way, securing passes to the high-profile meeting and other events.

"The only way I'm going back is if we step it up a little bit and get a little mean," Hillman said. "It was a lot more empowering this time."

The local group that traveled to Omaha included sport and commercial fishermen, American Indians and a representative from Klamath Riverkeeper. Their message pointed to the dams as blocking salmon passage and creating massive blooms of toxic algae. The group showed a video, held a press conference and peacefully crashed a number of parties set up for Berkshire's shareholders during the long weekend.

The night before the Saturday shareholders meeting, a group of American Indian women went to a cocktail party held for shareholders at a jewelry store. The women held banners calling for dam removal, handed out information and wore traditional regalia.

"So much of what we wear in a traditional sense is to show our wealth comes from the river," said Georgiana Myers, a Yurok tribal member who traveled to Omaha along with her father and brother. Myers also held a banner during the Saturday shareholders meeting, where she was escorted out by security for silently protesting.

"It was the most empowering moment of my life," said Myers, who teaches the Yurok language at Weitchpec Elementary School.

No one was arrested for protesting, though stakeholders were much more visible than last year, said Craig Tucker, Klamath campaign coordinator for the Karuk Tribe. Two other local stakeholders addressed Buffett at the meeting, and more banners were revealed as the day passed. Several Klamath speakers were denied access to speak at the microphone after Buffett said he wouldn't field any more questions about the Klamath.

Still, representatives from the group said the week-long trip gained more visibility for their cause and will fuel future efforts to remove the dams on the Klamath.

"We feel we have marched, protested and filed lawsuits, and marched, protested and filed lawsuits, and it's time to turn it up a notch," Tucker said.

Reach Michelle Ma at mma@triplicate.com.

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