[env-trinity] Redding Record Searchlight- Cook, Kobseff not swayed by official's speech

[Tom Stokely]

Cook, Kobseff not swayed by official's speech

By Ryan Sabalow
Posted September 19, 2011 at 11:47 p.m.
http://www.redding.com/news/2011/sep/19/supervisors-doubt-dam-removal-plan/?partner=RSS 

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said Monday the benefits of removing dams on the Klamath River appear to far outweigh the negatives, and he called those who continue to oppose the removal plans naysayers set on derailing a hard-fought deal.

At a speech in San Francisco, President Barack Obama's natural resources chief said federal officials have been reviewing reports detailing what exactly the proposed dam removals would mean for the river and the surrounding communities.

He said the analysis, which will be made public Thursday, shows the costs of removing the dams is about $160 million cheaper than originally projected.

The dam removals also would be a major boon to the river's health and for the coho and chinook salmon and steelhead that swim upstream. That, in turn, would benefit commercial fishermen and American Indian tribes who rely on the species, he said.

In addition, Salazar said, dam removal would create close to 4,600 jobs over 15 years, help agriculture and bolster the surrounding economy.

"Those are significant numbers," Salazar said.

But a pair of Siskiyou County supervisors, whose board has voted to oppose removing the dams, and U.S. Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico, said Monday that Salazar said nothing to dampen their concerns, and they question whether the fisheries science and job numbers are being manipulated to support a foregone conclusion that dam removal is a good idea.

"He said it would be adding more than 4,600 jobs to the regional economy. Where?" said Supervisor Michael Kobseff. "It sounds too good to be true because it is."

Kobseff and Supervisor Jim Cook say they also doubt Salazar's claims that pulling the dams down would help farmers in the area, because the dams help regulate needed irrigation water.

They say Salazar also downplayed other negatives, including the loss of hydroelectric power and 50 dam-worker jobs and the decrease in property values of those living near the reservoirs.

"Our public in Siskiyou County, we feel like we've been ignored," Cook said.

Herger and fellow Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of Fair Oaks oppose the removal, saying the regions needs the hydroelectric power the dams produce.

Last month, Herger sent a letter to Salazar attached to a Los Angeles Times story.

The article reported that independent scientists had found holes in the dam-removal plan, calling it a $1.4 billion "experiment with no guarantee of success."

Meanwhile, Salazar's speech and the reports he described were applauded by tribal authorities and fishing groups.

"With grass-roots support from agricultural, conservation and fishing communities as well as industry, this is exactly the kind of job-creation plan Congress should embrace," said S. Craig Tucker, the Klamath campaign coordinator for the Karuk Tribe.

Glen H. Spain, the northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, agreed.

"So far all the indications are that dam removal will cost a lot less than originally thought, will provide huge economic benefits to the region including some 4,600 additional jobs, and would save PacifiCorp's customers a bundle of money to boot," he said.

"This is a win-win situation on nearly every front, and all the studies say that any downsides can be mitigated and controlled."

Built between 1908 and 1962, the dams — three in Siskiyou County and one in Oregon — produce enough power for 70,000 homes, but they cut off up to 420 miles of salmon and steelhead spawning habitat.

Last year more than 40 groups, including some farmers, environmentalists and American Indian tribes, signed an agreement to explore taking out the dams.

"The agreement, which the Obama administration stands behind fully, sets up an open, transparent process for choosing the best path for the Klamath Basin," Salazar said in his speech. "Science and public engagement are at the heart of the process."

Salazar said he's still gathering input on the proposal, and he won't make a final decision until March 2012.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20110921/99192198/attachment.html>