Mo' Money!  Mo' Politics!

The activist group Ventura Coastkeeper will host a fundraiser on Saturday at the Nicholas Canyon County Park Chumash village to support their sister environmental organization, Klamath Riverkeeper, to fight to remove four dams on the Klamath River.

They hope to raise $75,000 to support their campaign efforts, including the cost of experts to assist with a nuisance lawsuit against Buffett's PacifiCorp that is now headed to trial.

"At stake are the traditional cultures of California's three largest Native American tribes as well as the state's commercial and sport salmon fisheries," said organizers.

Mati Waiya, who is the head of Ventura Coastkeeper and a member of the Chumash tribe in the area, said Klamath's struggle is their struggle "because all things and all struggles for justice are connected."

"Once you have a taste of what could be lost, you quickly become a supporter of our struggle," said Leaf Hillman of the Karuk Tribe.

To that end, the highlight of the evening will be a dinner of traditional fire-roasted Klamath salmon.

Meanwhile, Klamath County commissioner Bill Brown and Siskiyou County supervisors Jim Cook and Michael Kobseff will be in Washington D.C. this week lobbying U.S. Senators, members of the House of Representatives and their staff about the plight of farmers and ranchers in the region and the effect removing the dams could have on the region's economy.

Cook said that a deal with the federal government to remove the dams is only "days away" and that the impetus to remove the dams is now "clearly coming from the President's office."

He said that people against removing the dams should immediately contact their respective representatives in Congress "to urge them not to make dam removal public policy."

But with the feds, the President, Indian tribes, environmentalists, some commercial and sports fishermen and even certain Klamath Basin farmers leaning toward removal of the dams, it's unlikely their last-ditch effort will have much of an impact. Still, the county leaders are giving it a shot, lobbying Congressmen Greg Walden of Oregon and Mike Thompson, Wally Herger and, possibly, John Doolittle -- all of California.

"I'm not willing to see our entire economy crippled like with the spotted owl," Kobseff said.

"I'm not willing to do that with the dams. We need to explore other corrective measures in regard to fisheries restoration."

Costs associated with dam removal have been estimated to be as low as $100 million to as high as $1 billion by various groups. But the Karuk Indian Tribe and others argue that all that money will be pumped back into the region's economy - thereby making up for losses incurred by both Siskiyou and Klamath counties. It could take 20 years for the removal to be completed. During that time, some of that money will be used to buy out property owners around the dams, according to Craig Tucker of the Karuk Tribe. 

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