Counterspin - The Settlement:  Just a bit more

By Phil Hayworth

Pioneer Press

Fort Jones , CA

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

page 24, column 1

pioneerp@sisqtel.net

My head is pounding with the details of the settlement - yeah, that thing that everyone is talking about but so few truly understand. And I'm not exactly sure if I'm getting the whole story from the sources with whom I've spoken. That's OK. Ultimately, it's up to me to learn as much as possible, then pass it onto you. But here's the deal: you, dear reader, have to read the whole thing yourself, should you be so inclined. I hope you are. 

As I've noted in the stories in this week's paper, this is a complicated issue. Some argue that the settlement is asking for more water than has been produced in our rivers and lakes over the last 70 years. Others argue that it's doable, and predictability is the most important thing for the future of agribusiness in our communities.

I'd like nothing more than to see hordes of happy fishermen along the banks of the Klamath and her tributaries. But times have changed, folks, and we gotta eat, as they say.

There's got to be a way to settle this thing, and so I think the settlement is a good first step. I do not think it should be pushed through in three weeks, as some proponents are arguing. I'm not even sure if it should be pushed through in three months. It likely won't.

The feeling I get from folks at PacifiCorps is that they want to put the kibosh on this thing for as long as they can - perhaps milking the sweet, pure energy from their four hydro dams for as long as they can.

Replacement power, where will it come from? Rumor is that the Klamath Tribes will benefit from the biomass produced from the 90,000 acres of forested Mazama. Biomass is a good thing, and it's big business. It would help. But do they stand to make most of the big bucks, should the dams come down and the deal go through? Probably. The sad thing is that, to me, the Indian Wars are still happening.

"They'll just waste all the money they make," say opponents to the settlement.

Tribal leaders say it'll be the first time the Indian can return to the old ways - and perhaps help solve some of the horrible social conditions that have plagued them since the coming of the White man.

I hope we can all be helped by the deal. No one should have to suffer, especially in this great country called the United States of America .

Indians want to settle their claims with the federal government and talk is that this settlement will allow them to take steps in that direction. They'll be giving up some of their pending tribal claims in exchange for a cease-fire of sorts, which is how it appears their couching the settlement.

And anyone who has seen the Copco and Iron Gate waters in the summer knows that the thing is a mess. It's almost unusable as a form of recreation. None of that water goes to irrigation. It's a power thing. No, it's a fish thing.

Times are changing, folks, and we're going to have to move with them. Let's just move in the right direction.

Whether folks believe it, the State of Jefferson - that land between Siskiyou and Jackson and Klamath and Humboldt counties - are a part of the same ecosystem. We share the same main artery of life, too - the Klamath. The state borders which separate us are simply arbitrary.

The tribal affiliations that differentiate us are real - and I'm not just talking about Indian tribes, but the tribes with names like rancher, farmer, lumber jack and business person.

The ball's in our court. It's this generation's time to make a decision.

At the very least, let's make the most informed one we can. Good luck.

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