Klamath Falls Herald and News

Letter to the Editor

October 8, 2010

   The Herald and News has featured the plight of the waterless national wildlife refuges a couple of times lately.

   There seems to be little that can be done under present rules and conditions. The real story, then, is that there is a solution at hand. It is Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.

   The KBRA would do a much better job of providing water to the refuges than the current management systems and rules that we have. The KBRA was put together by local people to solve local problems. The refuges’ situation is one of the problems that it solves.

   Opponents of the KBRA don’t like to talk about it, but they are clinging to the status quo, which just guarantees more of the same problems and will not change the plight of the refuges.

   Voters really can do something about the plight of the refuges. There is an advisory measure coming on the November ballot that asks if the county commissioners should turn their back on the refuges and on the solutions offered by the KBRA — the answer is clearly “no.” Vote for refuges; vote no on Measure 18-80.

   Carl Ullman

   Klamath Falls  

   Editor’s note: The writer is an attorney who has been representing the Klamath Tribes on water issues.