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Tribes: Time
to pick conflict or collaboration
The Klamath Tribes say it’s
time to choose between collaboration and conflict in
Klamath Basin’s water disputes, and that two state
lawmakers who have criticized the Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement should “get out of the way.”
The Tribes issued a
four-page letter Wednesday urging Basin residents
and those opposed to the restoration agreement,
which seeks to resolve water disputes between
fishermen, farmers, tribes and environmentalists, to
pursue settlement rather than continue litigation.
“Rejecting settlement is
choosing conflict, and will direct energy and
resources into litigation and regulator action,
pathways the Klamath Basin has been experiencing for
the past 20-plus years,” the letter said.
Tribal leaders also slammed
state Rep. Bill Garrard and state Sen. Doug Whitsett,
both Republicans from Klamath Falls, for working
against the settlement without offering solutions or
attempting to work with those involved in the
restoration agreement.
“The mind-set you represent
is deadly to building collaborative solutions to
complex problems,” the letter said.
Response to the Tribes’
statements was mixed.
Whitsett said in a press
release the Tribes never attempted to meet with him,
and a poll he commissioned that showed strong
opposition to dam removal demonstrates the
view of voters.
Tom Mallams, president of the Klamath
Off-Project Water Users, denounced the Tribes’
statements.
“It’s right from what I’d call the tribal
playbook,” Mallams said.
Others, such as Greg Addington, executive
director of Klamath Water Users Association,
declined to comment on the Tribes’ statements about
the state lawmakers, but he agreed with the Tribes
on the continued costs of litigation and costs
associated with keeping four hydroelectric dams on
the Klamath River.
Klamath County Commissioner John Elliott
didn’t comment directly on the Tribes’ statements,
but said, “I agree that we are at a crossroads, and
it is a time to make a decision.”
The Tribes recently reached a tentative
settlement with irrigators on the Klamath
Reclamation Project. In it, both sides agree not to
challenge each other’s water rights.
State legislation that
would help remove four hydroelectric dams on the
Klamath River, a key aspect of the restoration
agreement, will go the House floor for a vote.
State and federal government leaders are
meeting with Portland-based PacifiCorp next week to
further finalize a dam removal agreement, due by
June 30.
Opponents of the restoration agreement
continue to voice their concerns. Both Garrard and
Whitsett, along with state Rep. George Gilman,
R-Medford, oppose dam removal, and Garrard testified
against it in a legislative committee. They also
commissioned a phone poll of Klamath County
residents that showed most opposed dam removal and
other aspects of the restoration agreement.
Phone poll
Jeff Mitchell, Klamath Tribes council
member, said the statements in the four-page letter
resulted from the phone poll conducted by Garrard,
Whitsett and Gilman. He
described the poll as anti-tribal. The statements
also were a response to action taken by the Klamath
County Republican Central Committee, which voted to
reject the restoration agreement.
“There’s only so much we can tolerate,” he
said.
The Tribes did try to meet with the state
lawmakers regarding the dam removal legislation,
though Whitsett voiced his opposition early on, and
a meeting with Garrard demonstrated he was
determined to oppose the legislation, Mitchell said.
The lawmakers otherwise made no attempt to be
involved in settlement or restoration agreement
talks.
Whitsett said in a press release that he
commissioned the poll to demonstrate the tone of
correspondence with his constituents on aspects of
the restoration agreement. In the poll, 65 percent
of the 300 respondents said they opposed dam
removal, a result resembling one from a broader
Pacific
Northwest poll conducted on the Snake River Dams.
The state senator also said his office
records show the Tribes never attempted to meet with
him on the restoration agreement or any other issue
in his more than four years in office.
Mallams said the inflammatory attacks on
Garrard and Whitsett were typical of tribal strategy
that paints opponents as racist, and the Tribes
continue to ignore issues opponents want addressed.
Despite opposition from the state
lawmakers and others, Mitchell said there is strong
support for the restoration agreement and he
believes it will be shown as the process to
implement it continues.
Addington and Elliott said the Tribes’
statements comparing the cost of resolving water
disputes or continuing litigation and relicensing
the Klamath River dams was accurate.
Garrard did not return a
request for comment.
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