[env-trinity] $3M addition for Trinity River/Hoopa reaction

[TBedros765 at aol.com]

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

HOOPA VALLEY TRIBE COMMENDS CONGRESS FOR ADDING $3 MILLION TO RESTORATION 
FUNDS FOR THE TRINITY RIVER – BUT WORFIES PRESIDENT MIGHT RENEGE


Hoopa, Calif. – The Hoopa Valley Tribe of northern California announced today 
the Congressional 2008 Omnibus spending bill added $3 million for the 
restoration of the Trinity River that bisects their reservation. “After a long and 
tense debate about funds for the Trinity River, we are pleased to see both 
houses authorizing needed money for restoration of the Trinity River,” said 
Clifford Lyle Marshall, Chairman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. “This is a victory for 
California’s North Coast citizens because the Trinity River is one of the most 
important salmon producing rivers in the state. If the U.S. Bureau of 
Reclamation (BOR) uses this money appropriately we can get the restoration project back 
on track.” Marshall issued special thanks to California Senator Dianne 
Feinstein, Representatives Mike Thompson, George Miller and other House members.

The added $3 million in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, should 
mean next year’s Trinity River restoration budget will be $11,005,000. “We 
welcome infusion of these funds, but it is just a one-year patch,” said Marshall. 
  “The federal government is seven years behind schedule and only spending 
half of what it should on the restoration of the river.” He predicted more 
budget battles in coming years to complete the restoration project. “We will know 
the job is finished when tribal, commercial, and sport fisheries are harvesting 
fish populations in numbers that existed prior to construction of the Trinity 
River dams,” said Hoopa fisheries director Michael Orcutt.

President Bush cast a cloud of uncertainty over the fate of the added funds 
when he announced yesterday he had instructed his budget director to find ways 
to roll back funding on a number of projects in the Omnibus bill. The 
Washington Post reported White House aides said, “One option would be to ignore the 
vast majority of earmarks that are included only in conference reports rather 
than in the appropriations bill itself.” The Trinity funds are in the conference 
report. The BOR has repudiated conference report directives before and denied 
funds to the Hoopa Valley Tribe to participate in the restoration program. 
The Department of the Interior and the White House Office Management and Budget 
have not responded to tribal requests for assurances the administration will 
honor the funding increase for Trinity restoration. “We won’t be able to rest 
until we see the money in the program,” said Marshall.





This year the tribe faced the added budget challenge of competing with 
legislation to restore the San Joaquin River. The Bush Administration had requested 
$7.5 million for the San Joaquin, but the House Committee on Rules noted, “
Legislation for the San Joaquin River Restoration fund was not enacted by 
Congress.” Instead the committee directed the $7.5 million to the Trinity River ($3 
million), Sacramento River Fish Screens ($2,952,000), and the Anadromous Fish 
Screen Program ($1,548,000), all authorized by Congress in l992.   

The Hoopa Valley Tribe had expressed concerns about how funding for San 
Joaquin could affect Trinity River restoration. “River restoration is a good thing 
throughout California,” said Marshall, “but Congress must continue to search 
for a way to re-water and fund the San Joaquin without undermining other 
Central Valley Project restoration programs.” 

Marshall said the federal government has “promises to keep” for fishery 
restoration. “Federal funding for the Trinity River needs to be pledged now 
because conditions have worsened for the Trinity and Klamath fishery.” Marshall said 
the Trinity River is the mainstay of Klamath River fish propagation. “If the 
Trinity River goes down, so goes fishing for native people, sports fishermen 
and the commercial fishing industry for 900 miles of the Northern California 
and Oregon coastline. The San Joaquin will take decades to restore.   Funding 
for the Trinity River will produce immediate benefits for the coastal 
communities that currently rely on the salmon.”

The Hoopa Valley Tribe has been critical of the BOR’s administration of the 
Trinity River restoration program, noting the project is seven years behind 
schedule and only funded at about half of what it should be. 

The federal government began diverting Trinity River waters to the Central 
Valley in l964, but promised enough water would be retained for the river’s fish 
and wildlife. Since then the BOR has allowed up to 90 percent of the river’s 
water to be diverted to the Central Valley. In the l980s Congress recognized 
the diversion had caused an 80 percent reduction in salmon populations and 
began cooperative studies with the Hupas. In 1992, the Central Valley Project 
Improvement Act mandated environmental restoration of California rivers harmed by 
commercial water users.   In 2000, a Record of Decision agreement was signed 
by the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Department of the Interior for meeting 
federal trust responsibilities to restore and maintain the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s 
fishery.   Since then the tribe has had to litigate against Central Valley 
interests opposed to giving up water for fishery restoration, and fight for 
restoration monies from the BOR. 


                         - 30 - 



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