To preserve a way of life, coalition wants river to flow

Polluted river waters have made American Indian healing rituals unsafe and caused a decline in the salmon population, a crisis that some concerned are asking billionaire Warren Buffet to resolve

By Clea Benson - Bee Capitol Bureau
April 28, 2007

Dana Stokes, a member of Friends of the River, listens to speakers Friday at the Capitol. Protesters stopped in Sacramento on their way to lobby Warren Buffett about removing dams on the Klamath River . Sacramento Bee/José Luis Villegas

For as long as anyone can remember, medicine men in Northern California's Karuk tribe have bathed as often as 10 times a day in the Klamath River while praying during their renewal ceremonies.

But now, toxic algae blooms caused by stagnant water have polluted their rituals, say tribal members. Last year, one medicine man had to leave his camp in the midst of his prayers to be treated at a hospital for an ear infection, said Chook-Chook Hillman, a Karuk priest who was at the Capitol on Friday.

Members of the Karuk and Yurok tribes and a group of commercial fishermen stopped in Sacramento on their way to Omaha, Neb., to crash billionaire Warren Buffett's annual meeting next Saturday with shareholders of his company, Berkshire Hathaway. They want a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, PacifiCorp, to remove four hydroelectric dams it operates on the Klamath.

A freely flowing river would improve water quality and help restore the dramatically declining salmon population, the tribes and fishermen believe.

"Mr. Warren Buffett has the opportunity to make right a lot of the wrongs that were done to native people on the Klamath River ," said Frankie Joe Myers, a member of the Yurok tribe.

The effort to lobby Buffett is the latest step in a long-running disagreement between PacifiCorp and about two dozen groups, including the tribes, who oppose the dams.

The company's 50-year licenses to operate the dams are up for renewal by federal regulators.

The Bush administration has told the company it must build fish ladders that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars if it wants to keep the dams. A recent California Energy Commission study concluded it would be cheaper for the company to demolish the dams than to build the ladders.

At this point, PacifiCorp is simultaneously continuing its efforts to renew its federal licenses while considering taking out at least some of the dams.

Bill Fehrman, PacifiCorp's president, said Friday that the company has been trying to reach an agreement with 26 groups that have a stake in the health of the river.

"As long as a solution involves an outcome that respects our customers' rights and our property rights, we're OK with that," he said. "If that includes some dam removal, that would have to be part of a more global solution."

Over the decades, the river's salmon runs have declined because of dams, pollution and water diversions for agriculture. Fish population dropped last year to almost the lowest levels in two decades.

The tribes say they are losing not only their livelihood and a food source but also a vital part of their culture.

The Yurok word for salmon, nepuy, can be literally translated as "that which is eaten," Myers said.

Meanwhile, the Karuk priests have started to bathe in small creeks rather than the Klamath during their ceremonies, Hillman said.

"All of us swam in that river growing up as kids," said Hillman, 22. "Now we tell the kids, 'Don't go in that water.' "

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