[env-trinity] Hoopa Tribe Supports Trinity River Legislation

[TBedros765 at aol.com]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


HOOPA VALLEY TRIBE LAUDS LEGISLATION FOR PROTECTION OF TRINITY RIVER 
RESTORATION


Media Contacts:     Clifford Lyle Marshall          (530) 625-4211 ext. 161
               Mike Orcutt               (530) 625-4267 ext. 13
               Tod Bedrosian           (916) 421-5121


Hoopa, Calif. – The Hoopa Valley Tribe lauded north coast Congressman Mike 
Thompson for his introduction Thursday of a bill to adequately fund the 
restoration of the Trinity River, which bisects the tribe’s reservation, and has been 
the focal point of decades of fishery restoration studies, litigation and 
bureaucratic short-changing. Thompson decided to introduce the bill (H.R. 2733) 
after a Hoopa delegation visited him to express concern that Trinity River 
restoration funding was being diminished by a plan to restore the San Joaquin River 
in the Central Valley.   

“The Hoopa Valley Tribe is supportive of river restoration throughout 
California, but legislation to restore the San Joaquin River has a funding plan that 
will significantly reduce environmental restoration funding from the Central 
Valley Project restoration fund,” said Clifford Lyle Marshall, Chairman of the 
Hoopa Valley Tribe. “The Hoopa Valley Tribe sent a delegation to Washington, 
D.C. to alert Congressman Thompson of the potential harm to the fishery based 
communities dependent on the Trinity River, and he reacted to our concerns.” 

Marshall anticipates working with San Joaquin River restoration advocates to 
support tandem legislation to benefit both rivers. “We will gladly be part of 
a coalition to restore both rivers, but after three decades of legislation, 
litigation and cooperative studies that have produced the solid science for 
restoring the river, we cannot agree to new legislation that will undermine the 
federal government’s promise to restore the Trinity River.” Marshall said the 
Trinity River, which is the largest tributary to the Klamath River, is the “
workhorse” that produces more than 50 percent of the fall Chinook salmon in the 
Klamath River basin. The loss of habitat and dramatically declining fish 
populations in the rivers caused the federal government to declare a commercial 
fishing moratorium this year along 700 miles of the California and Oregon coasts. 
President Bush recently signed Congressman Thompson’s legislation to provide 
financial relief to north coast fishermen. 


In past decades the Hoopa Valley Tribe has been a leading supporter of 
restoration of the Trinity River. “Our tribe has been linked to the river for 10,000 
years, but this river is important to many others. “With Mike Thompson’s 
leadership and the support of long-time Trinity River advocate, Congressman 
George Miller, the north coast community has never had a better opportunity to 
bring the Trinity River back,” said Marshall. 

Thompson’s bill would be a building block towards a permanent financial 
foundation for Trinity River restoration, according to Mike Orcutt, Director of the 
Hoopa Valley Tribal Fisheries Department. “The Trinity River has not been 
adequately funded in past years. Even though the restoration program is supported 
by decades of science and has survived years of litigation, we still have had 
difficulty attaining enough federal funding to accomplish the restoration. I 
hope this legislation opens a new chapter for the river’s restoration,” he 
said.


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