Oregon Governor Renews Demand 

For Summit On Klamath Management

The Oregon Governor's office has collaborated with California Governor Schwarzenegger to urge changes to federal management policy in the Klamath Basin. As part of Oregon's efforts, the state has invested more than $8.0 million in restoration and conservation projects in the Basin since 2000, Kulongoski told Kempthorne in his letter. Both Kulongoski and Representative Greg Walden have previously urged a Klamath Basin Summit by the end of the year.

Thanks to poor policy decisions by the federal government in recent years, much of Oregon and California's commercial salmon troll feet has been subjected to severe fishing restrictions this year, emphasized Kulongoski. The federal decision to close the salmon-fishing season resulted from poor returns of Klamath River Fall Chinook.

This week, the Governor made $500,000 available in direct state payments as a bridge for out-of-work fisherman until federal assistance arrives, though Congress has yet to approve such assistance.

The Governor told Kempthorne that poor water quality caused the death of thousands of salmon and extreme economic hardship for fisherman. "We can do better," the Governor said, "but only with more sustained engagement by the federal government."

The Governor said that while the challenges of the Klamath Basin are formidable, they can be solved through cooperation, engagement, and a higher level of commitment by federal agencies. The Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds¿which emphasizes "cooperative conservation" and collaborative efforts by landowners, industries, conservationists, land managers and citizens¿could be a model for what successful recovery efforts could look like, the Governor said.

"Working on a long-term, sustainable solution will be a tremendous challenge," the Governor said. But an on-site Klamath Basin summit, he added, could be an important step in charting a solution for the region's future. Such a summit would involve US Commerce Secretary Gutierrez, Agriculture Secretary Johanns, Governor Schwarzenegger, and Environmental Quality Council chair James Connaughton, as well as members of Congress, tribal leaders, business leaders and landowners.

August 22, 2006

The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary

Department of the Interior

1849 C Street NW

Washington , D.C.   20240

Dear Secretary Kempthorne:

Thank you for holding this listening session on Cooperative Conservation and thank you also for making it a priority to personally attend today’s session in Oregon .  Your presence in Oregon is deeply appreciated by all who care about our land, water, fish and wildlife.

The Administration’s initiatives of recent years to foster and support greater cooperation, particularly cooperation with private landowners, are appreciated.  Such efforts should be continued and expanded. One very noteworthy example is the Landowner Incentives Program.  Since 2002, with your assistance, Oregon has partnered with over 900 landowners to create and restore fish and wildlife habitat.  We have one of the nation’s best track records in obligating federal funds to cooperating landowners and urge your support for continued funding of this and similar programs.

Earlier this year, I became the first governor to join with the Bureau of Land Management as a cooperating agency in the revision of the Bureau’s land use plans for 2.5 million acres of federal land in Oregon .  In so doing, I have committed the staff and resources of nearly a dozen state agencies to assist the Bureau in developing a plan that fulfills its federal obligation for those lands while at the same time serving Oregon ’s best interests.  Soon, I will sign a similar agreement with the U.S. Forest Service in which Oregon will become a “cooperating agency” in the revision of the U.S. Forest Service national forest management plans for Oregon .  I raise this issue because I want you to know how important it is to me that we turn our attention to the issues such as forest health, reducing the risk of catastrophic fires and guaranteeing predictable and sustainable supplies of wood for our forest dependent local economies.  In late 2002, I announced my desire to work with the federal government on these priorities.  While we have differences over the issue of roadless area protection, I want you to assure you that we will continue cooperating on these other important matters.

 In Oregon , the success we have achieved in recovering the once threatened Coastal Coho depended heavily on the voluntary support and active participation of private landowners in general and the forest industry in particular.  At this time, we are working hard on recovery plans for ESA-listed salmon and steelhead for the Lower Columbia , the Willamette , Mid Columbia and the Lower Snake rivers.  Successful implementation of these plans will require a strong partnership between state and federal government as well as the active participation of farm and forestland owners as well as urban dwellers. 

The successful story of Oregon ’s Coastal Coho is a story about the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds.   Over the last ten years, Oregon has been a national leader in putting into practice the principles of cooperative conservation.  Cooperative conservation is a key element to Oregon ’s blueprint for managing natural resources and improving watershed health.

The Oregon Plan emphasizes local, volunteer, incentive-based investments to improve water quality, recover fish and wildlife populations, and restore watershed health.  These investments fund partnerships between landowners, local conservation groups, tribes, and state and federal agencies to improve the condition of Oregon ’s watersheds.  These partnerships foster trust between private and public interests and empower local citizens to become stewards of their watersheds. Ensuring that investments are based in the community and reflect community interests is critical to the Oregon Plan. 

The Oregon Plan and recovery of Coastal Coho are models of success in cooperative conservation.  However, an even tougher test of our resolve to work cooperatively on habitat restoration and species recovery can be found in the Klamath River Basin .   As you well know, we have the problems of water quality, water supply, listed species, energy generation, and agricultural sustainability expressed in countless ways in the Klamath Basin .   In past years we have seen economic hardship and divisions within communities when water was withheld from irrigators.  We have also seen the consequences of inappropriate policy decisions regarding water quality, which caused the death of thousands of salmon returning to spawn.  An equally painful consequence of poor policy decisions in the Klamath Basin is occurring this year.  Much of Oregon’s and California’s commercial salmon troll fleet has been subjected to fishing restrictions resulting in the nearly total loss of fishing opportunity due to the poor returns of a single run – Klamath River Fall Chinook.

Governor Schwarzenegger and I, and our respective state agencies, have been working cooperatively to bring leadership and solutions to the Klamath Basin .  As an assurance of Oregon ’s commitment, we already have invested over $8,000,000 in state resources in restoration and conservation projects in the Basin since 2000.   Our respective congressional delegations also want to assist.  The Native American tribes want to assist and cooperate in finding solutions.  Moreover, leaders from agriculture, the energy sector, and the fishing industry are eager to join an effort to address this difficult issue.  We are asking that you and your fellow cabinet members, to include Secretary Gutierrez and Secretary Johanns, to join our efforts to find workable solutions in the Basin.

This is why I have called on you, Secretary Gutierrez, Secretary Johanns and the Council on Environmental Quality chair James Connaughton to come to Oregon to meet with members of congress, tribal leaders, business leaders, landowners, Governor Schwarzenegger and me to chart a strategy for the Klamath Basin .    The Klamath will require leadership, funding and commitment.  More importantly, it will require cooperation as envisioned in the Cooperative Conservation Initiative.  In 2004, we signed an agreement known as the Klamath River Basin Conservation Implementation Program in which we agreed to work together to address water use and development as well as endangered species protection and recovery.  That agreement, if expanded to include all parties of interest and the development of an agenda to address other issues, easily serves as the vehicle for the cooperation I envision.

So, my request to you today is as follows:   Would you make it a priority to return to Oregon with your fellow cabinet officials who are co sponsoring these listening sessions to develop an aggressive strategy for the Klamath Basin .  Further, I urge you to direct all available resources now within your agencies to assist us with species recovery in the Pacific Northwest with emphasis on the Klamath Basin .  Finally, I am asking you to join me in advocating for even greater support from the President and the Congress in future federal budgets to assure full implementation of desired strategies.

My final request is that you carry the message back to Washington that the Klamath Basin has reached a critical condition where agriculture, natural resources, population pressures and water scarcity are creating economic hardship, conflict and loss of confidence in our nation’s ability to assure our citizens that their children and grandchildren will have the opportunity our generation has enjoyed.

Although each of us may have different political views, I firmly believe that all Americans share a common value and expectation about their government.  We depend on government to keep us safe and secure and to do its most to give us hope and opportunity that the future will be a better place than today.  On behalf of the people of the Klamath River Basin , our coastal communities all of Oregon , I thank you for listening and we await your assistance.

Thank you again for your attendance at this session.  I do look forward to seeing you in Oregon again in the near future.

Sincerely,

THEODORE R. KULONGOSKI

Governor

Cc: Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary Mike Johanns, Mr. Stephen Johnson, Mr. James Connaughton

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