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July 12, 2001
Klamath
heats up
Tensions mounted in the fight
over how to allocate scarce water in the Klamath system last
week, with farmers desperate for irrigation flouting the law
while fish downstream showed signs they may die for lack of water.
Events took a dramatic turn
June 30, when someone opened a Klamath Irrigation District headgate
in Klamath Falls, Ore., sending water that had been reserved
for threatened fish species into an irrigation system that feeds
Klamath Basin farms.
Local law enforcement did not
pursue the individual, claiming that no state law had been violated.
Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said in an interview with
the Associated Press that he was instructed by the FBI only to
step in if public safety was threatened.
The gate was welded shut July
2 by the Bureau of Reclamation, but a crowd cut the gate back
open July 4 using blowtorches and a chainsaw. The gate was closed
again a few hours later.
The threatened coho salmon,
which was supposed to be protected in this drought year by a
Bureau of Reclamation decision not to divert water from the river
to the farms, has begun showing signs of a fatal disease caused
by low river flows.
A report in the July 7 Times-Standard
said that about half of the young chinook salmon sampled by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have ceratomyxo Shasta, an intestinal
parasite that often kills its host. Infection rates in coho are
expected to be similar. The disease is always present but remains
latent until water temperatures rise, as they do when insufficient
water is in the river.
Meanwhile, California Assembly
lawmakers passed a resolution this week that places them squarely
on the side of farmers in the growing battle. Assembly Joint
Resolution 14 asks the federal government to amend the Endangered
Species Act and convene the "God Squad," a committee
that can exempt certain species from protection under the ESA.
That may not be far-fetched.
Vice President Dick Cheney said in a radio interview July 2 that
the ESA "needs to have more flexibility built into it"
to deal with the situation in the Klamath.
Eureka Fisheries
layoff
Fish processing company Eureka
Fisheries announced July 9 that it will suspend operations at
its nine sites in the Northwest, laying off more than 100 employees.
The move is due to reduced supply,
lowered demand, and high prices for the fish, shrimp and crab
the company processes, according to a faxed statement from the
company.
The statement blames the company's
situation on "the pressure environmentalists have put on
the National Marine Fisheries Service to stop commercial fishing
on the Pacific Coast." The groundfish fishery is undergoing
major regulatory changes in response to concerns that some species
are becoming overfished.
The company has suspended the
purchase of fresh seafood until the end of the month. That time
will be used "to meet and discuss our future direction,"
according to the statement.
Eel River
compromise criticized
A compromise between PG&E
and state and federal regulators on the amount of water to be
left in the Eel River has been criticized by Sonoma County.
PG&E diverts about 52 billion
gallons of water a year from the Eel River to the Russian River
at its Potter Valley hydroelectric dam. While the dam produces
only negligible amounts of power, the water supplies farms and
developments in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.
PG&E has suggested reducing
the amount of water taken from the Eel by 15 percent to help
protect federally protected salmon and steelhead in the river.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, which is responsible for
protecting the fish under the Endangered Species Act, published
a report earlier this year stating that the 15 percent reduction
wasn't enough.
That sent PG&E, NMFS, the
state Department of Fish and Game and the Federal Energy Regulatory
Agency, which has final say over the river diversion, back to
the drawing board.
In May, the Journal reported
a compromise had been reached. It has not been made public, but
representatives for PG&E said last week it gives the Eel
more water in the summer without appreciably affecting Russian
River water supplies.
According to a letter from PG&E
attorney William Madden Jr. to the commission, the compromise
contains provisions to adjust flows to respond to changing river
conditions. It also addresses the problem of pikeminnows, an
introduced species that preys on juvenile salmon.
Attorneys representing Sonoma
County lodged complaints with the energy commission against the
proposal last week, claiming it would reduce the water available
to Russian River users. The attorneys also said the plan was
drafted without sufficient public comment or scrutiny and would
affect wildlife on the Russian.
Roadless
rule reopened
Public comment was reopened
July 6 on a federal rule that would prevent road construction
in some undeveloped areas of National Forests -- including sections
of the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests.
The rule was issued by President
Clinton in the closing days of his administration. The Bush administration
has been under pressure from Republicans, timber companies and
off-road vehicle users to void or weaken the rule.
The rule has already been the
subject of more than 1.6 million comments and 600 public hearings,
including one last June in Eureka. But U.S. Department of Agriculture
Forest Chief Dale Bosworth said in a statement that more comments
were necessary in order to be "responsive to the concerns
raised by local communities, states, tribes and other stakeholders."
More information on the rule
is available at roadless.fs.fed.us
Fair race
revenue protected
A state law passed last week
ensures that the way money is shared between two county fair
horse racing franchises stays the same.
Gov. Davis signed the bill July
2, cementing the current revenue sharing agreement between the
San Mateo and Humboldt County fairs. Their racing franchises
sometimes overlap, and rather than compete they have held to
an agreement to share their proceeds. When the San Mateo County
fair sold the racetrack, that agreement -- which has brought
$100,000 a year into the Humboldt County fair's coffers -- was
put into question.
The revenue sharing agreement
is now binding on whatever entity operates the San Mateo racing
franchise.
Shielded
by Redwood Curtain?
Humboldt County, in marked contrast
to the rest of the country and the world, had a good May in economic
terms. The economy was up across all sectors, according to the
latest Index of Economic Activity, published monthly by
HSU Professor Steve Hackett and his student, John Manning.
While some sectors, especially
lumber and home sales, showed lower activity than in past years,
May was better than April in every way. Unemployment decreased
1.2 percent; tourism revenues increased despite high gas prices;
and retail sales bounced back from a lackluster performance in
April.
Some of the improvements were
in direct contrast to national trends. National demand for hotels
and motels fell 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2001, and
San Francisco's hotel occupancy rate fell by 11.4 percent in
the same period. Humboldt County, on the other hand, had the
best May for tourism in three years.
The service industries added
600 jobs in Humboldt County during May, while the number of jobs
in this sector nationally fell for the first time since 1958.
Humboldt County shouldn't be
too cocky, however. Many of the gains posted in May merely made
up for losses experienced during a difficult spring.
Gains in service sector employment,
for example, are just helping to offset losses in manufacturing
that the region has experienced -- and service jobs rarely pay
as well as those in manufacturing. The composite index, which
measures the overall health of Humboldt County's economy, increased
2.5 percent during May, but was
5.8 percent less than at the
same time last year.
The Index can be viewed online
at www.humboldt.edu/~economic/current/index.html
Million
for the MAC
Eureka's Multiple Assistance
Center, a planned municipal facility providing job training,
housing and rehabilitation services to homeless individuals,
received $1 million in grants last week.
The money came from a grant
and a loan from the state Department of Housing and Community
Development. The city of Eureka received a $500,000 grant and
the Redwood Community Action Agency was awarded a $500,000 loan.
Eureka senior planner Gary Bird
said the money would likely be pooled, but administration of
the funds had not been settled. The money will be used to rehabilitate
the future MAC site at 2nd and Y streets.
Both the city and RCAA are gratified
to receive the money, Bird said.
"A lot of people worked
a lot of long hours making this happen," he said.
Other grants announced last
week include $353,750 to Humboldt County for the construction
of new homes and the creation of a tribal Court Appointed Special
Advocate Program.
Grand Jury
report out
The Humboldt County Grand Jury's
2000-2001 final report has been published, although you won't
find it in your Times-Standard as you have in past years.
Hard copies of this year's report
will be available at the county library and courthouse, but the
emphasis is on the Internet, said Assistant County Administrative
Officer Karen Suiker.
"It's more universally
available on the web," Suiker said.
Grand Jury Foreman John Westrick
said the decision not to publish the report in the Times-Standard
had less to do with availability than financial necessity.
"The county is in charge
of our budget, and in their wisdom they decided we didn't need
to" publish the report in a newspaper, Westrick said.
The report is online at www.co.humboldt.ca.us/GrandJury/Reports/2000-2001/
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