Dam elimination advocates support public review of Klamath dam removal project
Donna Tam
The Times-Standard
10/14/2011
Those watching the Klamath River dam removal project closely are hoping that the public shows up in full force to express their support -- or concerns -- over the project's environmental review document.
”We're trying to get people motivated to be involved and try to get as many voices heard on this,” said Gary Graham Hughes, the executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center, or EPIC.
The nonprofit launched its campaign encouraging public comments this week to bring attention to the California Department of Fish and Game's public workshops on the project's environmental impact report. Fish and Game's workshops begin Tuesday in Klamath Falls, Ore., but are also scheduled for Yreka, Orleans, Arcata and Klamath.
The Fish and Game meetings will consist of an hour- and-a-half-long presentation and a question and answer session followed by a two-hour public comment period.
The draft environmental impact statement and report -- containing environmental and economic analyses related to the removal project and subsequent restoration programs -- fulfills a major condition of the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, which was negotiated among state, local, tribal and water provider leaders to remove four dams from the Klamath River.
The public comment period runs through Nov. 21.
Karuk Tribe spokesman Craig Tucker said the tribe, a party of the agreement, is encouraging people to participate because the comments become a part of public record and will be listed in the final environmental report. Tucker said the public support for the document -- which identifies environmental benefits -- such as a nearly 82 percent increase in the coho salmon population and the generation of more than 4,000 jobs -- will help U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar decide if the project benefits the public.
Salazar has until March 2012 to give the project a green light.
”Some of what we want people to do is cheer on the process,” Tucker said. “It's always easier to organize a 'no' campaign than a 'yes' campaign.”
The agreement, signed by 40 parties in February 2010, marked a major milestone for tribes, fishermen and farmers who put aside years of conflict to negotiate the deal. Participants said the agreement will help avoid potential litigation that may stem from the relicensing process for Pacificorp, the owner of the dams. The agreement invests more than $700 million in the Klamath Basin over the next 15 years. Proponents said the plan protects and enhances a natural resource that is worth more than $750 million a year to the local economy.
