Indian tribes take Klamath salmon plight to financier

Road trip will end at Berkshire Hathaway meeting in Nebraska

Glen Martin, Chronicle Environment Writer

April 27, 2007

Indians from Northern California have kicked off a road trip that will take them to the hometown of the second-richest American, who they say should remove four salmon-killing dams on the Klamath River .

Members from the Yurok, Karok and Hoopa tribes plan to tow hand-carved redwood canoes -- symbols of tribal fishing heritage -- to a Berkshire Hathaway stockholders' meeting in Omaha , Neb. , next month.

The company, headed by billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett, owns PacifiCorp, the energy firm that controls the four Klamath River hydropower dams blamed for decimating local salmon runs.

"We hope to meet with Mr. Buffett and convince him to do the right thing and remove these dams," said Bob McConnell, a Yurok tribe member and medicine man who is accompanying the caravan. They began the trip at Fisherman's Wharf on Thursday.

"We hear he's a reasonable man, somebody who still lives in the house he was born in," McConnell said. "We think he'll listen to us."

Salmon are integral to both the food supply and the culture of the Klamath's tribes, which many archaeologists say have lived along the river for more than 10,000 years.

The fate of the Klamath's salmon affects fishermen and seafood lovers as far away as Monterey .

Klamath fish mingle with salmon from other rivers -- notably the Sacramento -- in the open ocean. Extremely low populations of Klamath salmon during the past few years have resulted in heavy strictures on commercial fishing to protect the depleted stocks.

Klamath tribal members traveled to Scotland in 2004 and 2005 to ask ScottishPower, the company that then owned PacifiCorp, to remove the dams.

The trips generated tremendous publicity throughout Europe , said Kelly Catlett, a spokeswoman for Friends of the River, an environmental group supporting the Omaha trip.

"The Scots are a tribal, salmon-dependent people, and they felt great kinship with the Klamath tribal members," Catlett said. The tribe members "were treated like rock stars when they walked down the street. Little old ladies would come up to them and say, 'You go!' "

Those trips appeared -- at first -- to yield results, Catlett said. ScottishPower pledged to provide extensive fish passage around the dams or remove them completely.

But in 2006, PacifiCorp was sold to MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Catlett said tribal members and environmentalists sent a letter to Buffett last summer explaining the situation on the Klamath, "but we didn't hear anything, so we're kind of back at square one."

Tribal members will attempt to meet with Buffett while in Omaha , possibly during the May 5 stockholders' meeting, Catlett said.

The group will stay in Omaha for about a week to publicize the problems on the Klamath, she said.

Debbie Bosanek, an assistant to Buffett, said she didn't know whether her boss was fully aware of the Klamath situation.

"He doesn't run any of his subsidiaries," Bosanek said. "He's very hands-off."

Catlett said Buffett should learn about the Klamath in detail at the stockholders' meeting, which the financier typically attends.

"We know he's a good man, somebody who really cares," she said. "This is something he should know is happening at one of his companies."

Mike Hudson, a salmon troller based in Half Moon Bay, said commercial fishermen would like to accompany the caravan, but noted most are preparing for the May opening of the salmon season.

"I'm really glad they're going," he said. "We can't keep going on this way. As Americans, we typically wait for a disaster to happen, then react. On the Klamath, the disaster already has happened. The only way to deal with it is to remove the dams. We'd have more fish, and better access to them."

Online resources

www.klamathforestalliance.org

www.pacificorp.com

E-mail Glen Martin at glenmartin@sfchronicle.com

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