May 19, 2012
Valenzuela on Measure G
Dear Editor:
In the Wednesday May 16, Letters to the Editor edition of the Mt. Shasta Herald, Supervisor Valenzuela stated that why spend $10,000 to get Measure G on the ballot when the county was already laying off staff.
Measure G is not responsible for the laying off of staff.
The cost for Measure G was minimal because Measure A was removed from the ballot due to having multiple subject matter when a ballot measure is limited to only one subject. If Measure A had met the requirements for a ballot measure, Measure G would not have even been on the ballot. The County Clerk was very clear that to add and additional page to place Measure G on the ballot would have been very costly and she would be opposed to adding additional costs to the ballot.
Measure G’s outcome has had a major impact on Siskiyou County and it’s negotiations with state and federal agencies and it didn’t cost us $10,000 to get there.
Frank Tallerico, Jr.
Siskiyou County Water Users Association
PNP comment: Measure G was on the Nov. 2010 ballot in Siskiyou County and it asked if voters wanted the four hydro-electric dams in the Klamath River removed. More than 79 percent of the voters said “NO.”
Measure A was submitted by Greenie groups in Mt. Shasta, Supervisor Valenzuela’s District, but did not meet the standards set for a Measure and was rejected by the County Clerk, under State regulations and Elections code. Valenzuela is trying to re-write history. What a shock! — Editor Liz Bowen
May 19, 2012
PNP comment: Congratulations to Tom Mallams. He is working for “the people.” — Editor Liz Bowen
http://pioneer.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/HeraldandNews/
Republican nominee is opponent of KBRA
By SAMANTHA TIPLER
H&N Staff Reporter
May 17, 2012
The Republican who ousted longtime Klamath County commissioner Al Switzer said his win in Tuesday’s primary election sends a clear message: Voters do not agree with the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.
Tom Mallams, a Beatty-area rancher and outspoken opponent of the KBRA, bested Switzer in Tuesday’s primary election, taking 43 percent of the vote in a four-way race.
He faces Democrat Ted Lindow, a former county commissioner who now runs a construction consulting firm, in the November general election.
Lindow did not return calls Wednesday from the Herald and News.
Mallams, who was backed by Tea Party members and KBRA opponents, said he has been asked if he would rescind Klamath County’s endorsement of the KBRA his first day in office. Switzer was a proponent of the agreement.
His answer: “Probably not.”
But he thinks Oregon’s federal lawmakers will get the message that voters do not like the KBRA and the agreement will be dead before a new commissioner takes office.
“I don’t think I’ll have to make a decision on that come Jan. 1,” he said. “I think it may already be decided as dead on arrival and something in history. If it’s still alive we will address it very shortly.”
The KBRA is a controversial water settlement that aims to establish affordable power rates and sustainable water supplies for irrigators, restore fish habitat, and help the Klamath Tribes acquire a 92,000-acre tree farm in northern Klamath County. A related agreement would remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River.
If elected, Mallams said he would change the way commissioners oversee county departments, known as the liaison system.
He would want the duties to rotate regularly so all commissioners are more familiar with what is going on in county government.
Mallams said he also would communicate with department heads to find the best ways to save money.
He credited his win in Tuesday’s primary to running a clean campaign, something he said his Republican opponents, or their supporters, did not do.
“I think that backfired on the other side completely,” he said.
Mallams said he and his supporters spent time making phone calls, meeting with voters and knocking on doors.
“I even bruised my arch. I couldn’t walk for three to four days. I couldn’t put my boots on,” Mallams said with a chuckle. “We had 1,000 door hangers and got 800 put out in two and a half days.”
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
This information and much more that you need to know about the ESA,
the Klamath River Basin, and private property rights can be found at The
Klamath Bucket Brigade’s web site – http://klamathbucketbrigade.org/index.html –
please visit today.
Republican nominee is opponent of KBRA
By SAMANTHA TIPLER
H&N Staff Reporter
May 17, 2012
The Republican who ousted longtime Klamath County commissioner Al Switzer said his win in Tuesday’s primary election sends a clear message: Voters do not agree with the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.
Tom Mallams, a Beatty-area rancher and outspoken opponent of the KBRA, bested Switzer in Tuesday’s primary election, taking 43 percent of the vote in a four-way race.
He faces Democrat Ted Lindow, a former county commissioner who now runs a construction consulting firm, in the November general election.
Lindow did not return calls Wednesday from the Herald and News.
Mallams, who was backed by Tea Party members and KBRA opponents, said he has been asked if he would rescind Klamath County’s endorsement of the KBRA his first day in office. Switzer was a proponent of the agreement.
His answer: “Probably not.”
But he thinks Oregon’s federal lawmakers will get the message that voters do not like the KBRA and the agreement will be dead before a new commissioner takes office.
“I don’t think I’ll have to make a decision on that come Jan. 1,” he said. “I think it may already be decided as dead on arrival and something in history. If it’s still alive we will address it very shortly.”
The KBRA is a controversial water settlement that aims to establish affordable power rates and sustainable water supplies for irrigators, restore fish habitat, and help the Klamath Tribes acquire a 92,000-acre tree farm in northern Klamath County. A related agreement would remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River.
If elected, Mallams said he would change the way commissioners oversee county departments, known as the liaison system.
He would want the duties to rotate regularly so all commissioners are more familiar with what is going on in county government.
Mallams said he also would communicate with department heads to find the best ways to save money.
He credited his win in Tuesday’s primary to running a clean campaign, something he said his Republican opponents, or their supporters, did not do.
“I think that backfired on the other side completely,” he said.
Mallams said he and his supporters spent time making phone calls, meeting with voters and knocking on doors.
“I even bruised my arch. I couldn’t walk for three to four days. I couldn’t put my boots on,” Mallams said with a chuckle. “We had 1,000 door hangers and got 800 put out in two and a half days.”
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
This information and much more that you need to know about the ESA,
the Klamath River Basin, and private property rights can be found at The
Klamath Bucket Brigade’s web site – http://klamathbucketbrigade.org/index.html –
please visit today.
May 19, 2012
PNP comment: Just what we need is another tax-funded study! If the government agencies and so-called expert officials would stop killing the juveniles, there would likely be more adult salmon. Poor management stemming from politically-based science is disastrous for wildlife and fish. — Editor Liz Bowen
SACRAMENTO
May 16, 2012
California’s Department of Fish and Game says its biologists are trying a new tactic to help California’s ocean-bound juvenile salmon, in hopes of increasing survival rates.
On May 3, for the first time in state history, DFG staff used a boat to move approximately 100,000 young Chinook (called smolts) down the Sacramento River to San Francisco Bay. Upon arrival, the smolts were released in the Bay, where they will grow to adulthood before returning upriver to spawn.
“We’ve been using trucks to transport smolts to points downstream for years, but we’ve never moved them by barge, and we’ve never moved them this far,” says DFG Environmental Scientist Colin Purdy, who supervised the boat transport to the Bay Area. “Truck releases are typically much further upstream, and though they do shorten the fish’s journey to the ocean, they still face all kinds of hazards in the river.”
Salmon return to their spawning grounds using their sense of smell. The process, called imprinting, begins before birth as waters flow over the eggs and continues as they grow and make their way to the ocean. Each segment of water on their journey has distinctive chemical cues that they can re-trace to their spawning grounds.
Sacramento River water is circulated through pumps into the boat’s holding tank, where the fish are kept. The hope is that this may improve their ability to find their way back as an adult and predators are unable to access the fish in the holding tank during the journey downstream, the department says.
This is the beginning of a multi-year study program aimed at increasing return rates of salmon from the sea to their native rivers, says DFG.
Over the next few years, scientists will use the data collected from the fish to test and evaluate the idea that overall survival rates and increased adult returns can be better achieved by giving the young salmon a ride downstream.
To form a basis of comparison for this study, two other control groups of 100,000 smolts each were released by trucks in other locations at the same time as the barge release — one at a different location in the Bay, and one into the Sacramento River near Sacramento.
All 300,000 fish in this study were implanted with coded wire tags smaller than a tiny piece of pencil lead, which will ultimately enable scientists to tell which of the three groups the returning fish came from — the barge release, or one of the two truck releases.
The study is being conducted by DFG fisheries biologists with the support of the Commercial Salmon Trollers Advisory Committee, which donated the use of the boat, fuel and crew time to help ensure a successful start to the study. They have committed to helping DFG for the next three years of data collection.
“This has been a major cooperative effort and we really appreciate DFG’s willingness to work with everybody and look at new ways of doing things,” says Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen.
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
This information and much more that you need to know about the ESA,
the Klamath River Basin, and private property rights can be found at The
Klamath Bucket Brigade’s web site – http://klamathbucketbrigade.org/index.html –
please visit today.
May 19, 2012
PNP comment: This is really good news. — Editor Liz Bowen
Local farmers were concerned youths they rely on would be robbed of jobs, learning
By JOEL ASCHBRENNER
H&N Staff Reporter
May 17, 2012
H&N photo by Joel Aschbrenner Dillon Nowak, 17, carries irrigation pipe on at Carleton
Farms near Merrill. Nowak works after school at the farm with a group of other teenagers
from Lost River High School.
Local farmers are applauding a decision last month to toss out proposed federal rules that they say would have infringed on family farms, limiting what kind of work children can do.
Since proposing the rules last year, the Department of Labor received thousands of comments from farmers and agriculture organizations stating the regulations would have impeded on family farming.
Labor advocates say such rules are needed to keep kids safe and prevent their exploitation in a dangerous industry.
One rule said only those 16 and older could drive farm equipment and apply pesticides. Another would have prohibited children under 15 from working on a farm that isn’t owned by their parents.
Some agriculture advocates said the language in the rules would have prohibited anyone younger than 15 from using a power tool such as an electric screwdriver or climbing a ladder more than 6 feet off the ground.
Farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin said the rules went too far. Farm jobs keep kids employed and out of trouble and working on the farm from a young age is a way of life here, they say.
“I don’t really think it’s the federal government’s place to tell us what our kids can and can’t do on the farm,” said Merrill farmer Jim Carleton.
Carleton started harrowing hay fields on his family farm when he was 7 years old. His son and stepson started young, too, and still work on the farm.
After school Tuesday, Cody Carleton and Kyle Staudenmeyer, both 17, worked with four other teenagers assembling 700 lengths of irrigation pipe for a field of organic potatoes. Many of the kids around Merrill would not have jobs if not for farm work, Cody said.
“It’s great,” he said of the work. “It prepares you for the real world, what it’s going to be like after high school.”
But some groups, including the nonprofit Child Labor Coalition, said the proposed rules were a long-overdue measure to keep children safe. According to the coalition, more children die in agriculture than in any other industry.
In the U.S., about 500,000 children live on farms and another 230,000 work on farms; an estimated 33,000 children suffer farm-related injuries and more than 100 die as a result of their injuries each year, according to the Occupational Safety Hazard Administration.
Willie Riggs, agricultural economist for the Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center, said agriculture can be dangerous, but farm work teaches kids how to be cautious around potentially dangerous equipment. The extension center and a local 4H program, he added, offer tractor safety classes for kids.
Farmers were particularly concerned, Riggs said, with a provision in the rules prohibiting children under 15 from working on a farm unless it is “wholly owned” by their parents. Many kids in the Klamath Basin work on farms owned by neighbors, grandparents, or a family corporation, he said.
Bob Flowers, president of the Klamath-Lake County Farm Bureau, grew up working on his family farm near the Klamath River south of Klamath Falls. His sons did the same, driving tractors by the time they were 11. Farm work keeps kids out of trouble and gives them the experience they need to one day run their own farm, he said.
“It teaches you work ethic,” he said. “How else are you going to learn it?”
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
This information and much more that you need to know about the ESA,
the Klamath River Basin, and private property rights can be found at The
Klamath Bucket Brigade’s web site – http://klamathbucketbrigade.org/index.html –
please visit today.
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