Bringing peace to the Klamath Basin

Oregonian Opinion

January 27, 2010

In her op-ed on The Stump, Regna Merritt of Oregon Wild inaccurately suggests that the settlement agreement that's unfolding in the Klamath Basin is for the benefit of politically powerful agribusiness. It is not. It is for the fisheries, and for the first time in a hundred years, there is a viable plan to bring salmon and suckerfish back to the upper Klamath, restore habitat, guarantee water for wildlife refuges and bring peace to all people who call the Klamath Basin home.

I'm a member of the Klamath Tribes, and I've been working for decades on solutions to the ongoing problems in the basin, and this is not the first time I've heard Oregon Wild oppose plans that would be good for my people.

In the recent past, the Klamath Tribes worked for the return of acreage in the Fremont-Winema National Forest to make right the wrong that occurred when unjust federal government actions took our reservation and terminated tribal governments.

Oregon Wild not only failed to recognize the claims of the tribes to the Winema, it actively worked against land repatriation by unleashing local hysteria with the suggestion that government use condemnation to take private lands for the tribes. While many environmental groups expand their purview to make the link between social, economic and environmental issues, some still fail to make the connection.

Oregon Wild has yet to produce any substantive scientific or legal analysis of the proposed settlement agreement. They have offered no realistic alternatives (financially or politically) to the approach or timeframe for dam removal.

We ask our elected leaders to give change a chance and call out those practicing special-interest environmentalism. And we welcome all partners who will work with us in a positive, productive manner along with the many conservation groups, federal and state governments, and our farming and ranching neighbors as together we restore our resources and heal our community.

The Klamath Basin is a treasured watershed that is our home and our responsibility to steward for our children's future.

Jeff Mitchell is a tribal council member of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon.

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Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/01/bringing_peace_to_the_klamath.html