REP. MIKE THOMPSON APPLAUDS AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY REVIEW ON KLAMATH AGREEMENTS
April 4, 2012
Report bolsters case for legislation to protect fish, farms and wildlife
Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-1) today said that an American Fisheries Society (AFS) review of two agreements that would demolish four Klamath River dams and restore large portions of the Klamath basin shows that legislation to implement those pacts is the best way forward to recovering struggling salmon and other fish populations.
“The work done to analyze the effects of these agreements by the U.S. Interior Department, tribal fisheries biologists and others is backed up by some of the top fisheries experts in the world,” Thompson said. “We can revive the Klamath River's salmon - and it is increasingly clear that putting in place the agreements through legislation introduced by me and Sen. Jeff Merkley is the best way to do that.”
The AFS letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar weighs whether implementing the Klamath Hydropower Settlement Agreement (KHSA) and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) would be more beneficial to fisheries than following the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) process to relicense the dams. AFS said it strongly supports implementing the KHSA and KBRA, saying the FERC process - were it to lead to dam removal - would not reintroduce salmon, solve nutrient problems, resolve water management issues, recover endangered sucker fish or reduce fish diseases in the basin.
“Despite the uncertainties surrounding dam removal and overall long-term successes, AFS believes that the current situation is highly problematic and undesirable for fishes and fishers, and is likely to eventually lead to extinction of one or more fish populations,” AFS wrote. “Therefore, AFS strongly supports the proposed actions.”
The Klamath Basin Economic Restoration Act (H.R. 3398) introduced by Thompson and Merkley would implement a comprehensive plan, developed through a multi-year collaborative effort among farmers, ranchers, fishermen, Tribal leaders, and conservationists, to settle one of the nation's most volatile water wars by authorizing the implementation of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA). The legislation approves both agreements and authorizes the U.S. Department of Interior to sign and implement the KBRA, implement the KHSA and take the necessary steps to move the agreement forward, changes or establishes federal policy to assist implementation of the agreements, and establishes a process to plan for and implement dam removal. According to an analysis released by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the removal of four dams on the Klamath River would create more than 4,600 jobs in the basin, including hundreds of jobs in fishing and agriculture, while restoring historical habitat for salmon, steelhead and other fish and wildlife.
The AFS letter can be read here:
https://www.klamathrestoration.org/sites/evo-subsites/mikethompson-evo.house.gov/files/migrated/images/stories/fish/Signed_National_AFS_letter_to_Salazar_re_Klamath.pdf
Congressman Mike Thompson is proud to represent California's 1st Congressional District, which includes the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma, Napa, and Yolo. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Rep. Thompson is also a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and sits on the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus.
“The work done to analyze the effects of these agreements by the U.S. Interior Department, tribal fisheries biologists and others is backed up by some of the top fisheries experts in the world,” Thompson said. “We can revive the Klamath River's salmon - and it is increasingly clear that putting in place the agreements through legislation introduced by me and Sen. Jeff Merkley is the best way to do that.”
The AFS letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar weighs whether implementing the Klamath Hydropower Settlement Agreement (KHSA) and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) would be more beneficial to fisheries than following the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) process to relicense the dams. AFS said it strongly supports implementing the KHSA and KBRA, saying the FERC process - were it to lead to dam removal - would not reintroduce salmon, solve nutrient problems, resolve water management issues, recover endangered sucker fish or reduce fish diseases in the basin.
“Despite the uncertainties surrounding dam removal and overall long-term successes, AFS believes that the current situation is highly problematic and undesirable for fishes and fishers, and is likely to eventually lead to extinction of one or more fish populations,” AFS wrote. “Therefore, AFS strongly supports the proposed actions.”
The Klamath Basin Economic Restoration Act (H.R. 3398) introduced by Thompson and Merkley would implement a comprehensive plan, developed through a multi-year collaborative effort among farmers, ranchers, fishermen, Tribal leaders, and conservationists, to settle one of the nation's most volatile water wars by authorizing the implementation of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA). The legislation approves both agreements and authorizes the U.S. Department of Interior to sign and implement the KBRA, implement the KHSA and take the necessary steps to move the agreement forward, changes or establishes federal policy to assist implementation of the agreements, and establishes a process to plan for and implement dam removal. According to an analysis released by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the removal of four dams on the Klamath River would create more than 4,600 jobs in the basin, including hundreds of jobs in fishing and agriculture, while restoring historical habitat for salmon, steelhead and other fish and wildlife.
The AFS letter can be read here:
https://www.klamathrestoration.org/sites/evo-subsites/mikethompson-evo.house.gov/files/migrated/images/stories/fish/Signed_National_AFS_letter_to_Salazar_re_Klamath.pdf
Congressman Mike Thompson is proud to represent California's 1st Congressional District, which includes the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma, Napa, and Yolo. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Rep. Thompson is also a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and sits on the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus.
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