Klamath Deal Steals Middle Ground 

By Gary Lake
Vice Chairman Shasta Nation

Pioneer Press

Fort Jones , CA

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

page E11, column 1

pioneerp@sisqtel.net

This is a response and interpretation to the January 28, 2008 Guest Opinion published in the Siskiyou Daily News by Karuk Tribal spokesman, Craig Tucker.

It is my opinion that Mr. Tucker and the Karuk Tribal leadership are bullying and blackmailing Siskiyou County Farmers, Ranchers and Residents into accepting the fact that the Karuk and the 25 other parties of the so called Klamath Restoration Agreement are going to ram misinformation and flawed scientific data down the throats of the Siskiyou County Residents and the Shasta Nation whether we like it or not.

Mr Tucker and the Karuk Tribal Leadership, BRING A LUNCH!

The best way to "translate" Mr. Tucker's "opinion/threat" is to repeat and decipher the ransom note (opinion) submitted by Tucker and the Karuk Tribal Leaders.

I will now begin ...

1. Mr. Tucker opens with, "It was with great enthusiasm and relief that the 26 parties negotiating the Klamath Restoration Agreement released their proposed plan on Jan. 15."

TRANSLATION- It is a relief that they were not caught concocting this recipe for disaster.

2. Tucker then states, "a compromise that could bring economic stability to the basin"

TRANSLATION- Economic stability to a very select few at the cost of Siskiyou County Residents and the Shasta Nation.

3. Tucker states, "few parties to the negotiation trusted one another."

TRANSLATION- No trust until the pie was divided up at the expense of the stake-holders not aware of said agreement.

4. Tucker states, "would not turn our blunt and open discussions into press releases or law. Thus the need for a confidentiality agreement. "

TRANSLATION- Deception, covert and chaotic efforts toward thinking up such an absurd plan in an attempt to impose a negative socioeconomic welfare upon the Siskiyou County Residents, Ranchers, Farmers, well users and the Shasta Nation People.

NOTE: It could also be translated as Gang Slang for Marijuana Cigar (a Blunt), because someone had to have been stoned to think up such an absurd plan that reminds many of Dr. Evil's plan in "The Spy Who shagged Me" movie.

5. "the vast majority of groups support the deal"

TRANSLATION- Selected front groups.

6. "this represents a huge tract of middle ground that the group has staked out."

TRANSLATION- Middle ground on the Klamath River to be stolen from the Shasta Nation and Siskiyou County residents.

7. "The proposal is complicated and long."

TRANSLATION- Fraught with legal jargon and loopholes.

8. "We hope the citizens will take a deep breath before they read it and keep an open mind."

TRANSLATION- Hundreds of Flipp'n pages! They hope the citizens will NOT read it and the documents will become approved due to complacency and confusion on the issues.

9. "No one is getting everything they want, but we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good"

TRANSLATION- Most Siskiyou County residents are getting absolutely nothing, therefore the good, YOU, should let evil prevail!

10. "especially when the alternative is considered."

NOTE: Ahhh ... the plot thickens. I ask, what is the ALTERNATIVE?!

11. "Years of bitterness fueled by lawsuits"

TRANSLATION TION- Lawsuits brought on by the Karuk Tribal Leadership, Craig Tucker and others.

12. "and VITRIOLIC dialog has in the past crippled our ability to craft bipartisan solutions to our common problems."

TRANSLATION- Of the many uses of VITRIOLIC in the dictionary, I liked "an acerbic tone piercing otherwise flowery prose." However, I am sure that Tucker meant "a policy that is destructive to the economy." And, the word BIPARTISAN means "cooperation, agreement and compromise between two major political parties." (I had to look up both!).

Now, the translation of the translation... Lets leave the Shasta Nation and Siskiyou County Citizens out of the deal because they represent a government-to-government party that has a common problem, the Klamath Deal, and does NOT engage in vitriolic dialog, but instead identifies and solves problems corrosive to the Shasta Nation Members and Siskiyou County Citizens in a civil, responsible and community orientated manner.

13. "on both ends of the basin and political spectrum,"

TRANSLATION- Excluding the legitimate ancestral Tribe, the Shasta Nation.

NOTE: This is not about politics, this is about the survival of a Native American Tribe that has been here for thousands upon thousands of years and the survival of settler families that have been here for over one hundred and fifty years as well as current residents.

14. "some groups appear to hate their political opponents more than they love their own self interests. In other words, some hate farmers more than they love salmon; others hate Indians and fishermen more than they love farming."

NOTE: HATE, HATE, HATE. Tucker used hate three times in half of a paragraph.

TRANSLATION- If we use intense hostilities and aversion deriving from fear, anger and sense of injury, we can "turn water into the gold of the past" and once again, tear the fabric of this community apart! Divide and conquer...

15. "They have started disinformation campaigns and fostered misconceptions about what the deal means."

NOTE: They, are the (Karuk Tribal Leaders and the 25 other parties), and how can WE (Shasta Nation/Siskiyou County Citizens) start disinformation and foster misconception when WE have not been privy to the DEAL?!

16. "Be sure the information you have is accurate."

TRANSLATION- With all of the misinformation and flawed science used in such a masterful and deceitful way, how can anyone ever know what is truly an accurate data source.

17. "before anyone makes a decision to support or oppose the proposal, they first consider the alternative. "

TRANSLATION- The THREAT. Now WE are about to understand the definition of ALTERNATIVE.

18. "The Last 10 years of litigation, personal attacks and economic insecurity will no doubt be repeated in the next 10 years if we are unsuccessful."

TRANSLATION- Blackmail.

NOTE: When the Shasta Nation is reinstated federally, the vast majority of these vicious attacks and frivolous lawsuits will be eliminated.

19. "As we have already learned the hard way, folks from outside the basin won't solve them (local water usage problems) for us."

NOTE: Mr. Tucker, YOU, your financial supporters and the majority of your deal-makers ARE "folks from the outside."

In closing, a serious question comes to mind as to where the source of financial sustainability for all of the frivolous lawsuits are coming from? Hopefully, none of our tax payers money is being used to create socioeconomic hardships against Siskiyou County Citizens and the Shasta Nation Tribal Members so as to facilitate a water grab that will be used to benefit far away interests.

(Permission to post from the publisher.)