One Step Closer to Dam Removal
Karuk Tribe Press Release
August 2, 2006

Portland, OR - For the past several years, Klamath Basin Tribes have appealed to PacifiCorp to remove their Klamath River dams. The Tribes and their allies argue that the dams deny salmon access to over 350 miles of historic spawning habitat, heat the river to temperatures lethal to salmon, and provide habitat for massive blooms of toxic blue algae. “These negative impacts of these dams clearly justify their removal,” states Howard McConnell, Chairman of the Yurok Tribe.

Now under new management, the company is starting to listen. This morning PacifiCorp Energy President William Fehrman released a statement that concluded by stating, “We have heard the Tribes’ concerns. We are not opposed to dam removal or other settlement opportunities as long as our customers are not harmed and our property rights are respected.” (For the entire statement look under “news and information”at http://www.pacificorp.com

The Klamath River has been the poster child for ecological collapse since the now infamous fish kill of 2002 left 68,000 adult salmon dead. Since then, Tribes, conservation groups, fishermen, farmers, and now PacifiCorp, have been working on solutions to what has metastasized into a major problem for the entire West Coast.

“This year’s west coast fisheries closures were mandated to protect struggling Klamath River salmon runs. It’s costing the states of Oregon and California millions in lost revenues and many fishermen their jobs,” explains Scott Boley fishermen and member of the Oregon Salmon Council.

For Tribes, the disaster is more than economic. “We consider salmon to be our relations. They are part of our cultural identity. What’s more, many of my people still fish to feed themselves and their families,” explains Leaf Hillman, Vice Chairman of the Karuk Tribe.

Other Tribes have suffered even greater losses. “We have not fished for salmon for over 88 years when the first ladder-less dam was built,” says Allen Foreman, Chairman of the Klamath Tribes, Oregon’s largest. “Now we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to remove these dams and bring our salmon home.”

Although no agreement has been signed, the Tribes, fishermen, and conservation organizations are all encouraged by the company’s statements. “By working with us on this visionary restoration effort, PacifiCorp could become a model for corporate responsibility,” adds Foreman.

Yurok Tribal Chairman Howard McConnell expressed guarded optimism as well. “We are seeing positive momentum on the issue of dam removal,” he said, “and Mr. Fehrman’s latest comments are very encouraging. The next step is to pair action with words. The Yurok Tribe will work closely with all parties in the basin to achieve our long-term goal of a free-flowing river and a restored fishery.”

Many details remain to reach a final removal plan, not the least of which is the need for funding and equitable compensation for PacifiCorp. Currently Tribes, PacifiCorp, Klamath water users and a host governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations are working to hammer out a final deal. “We will need help from our elected officials including Governor Kulongoski,” says Foreman. Tribal leaders hope the state can provide PacifiCorp with incentives such as tax credits for developing renewable power sources such as wind and biomass.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.

PacifiCorp May Agree to Removing Dams
By Jeff Barnard, The Oregonian
August 03, 2006

The new president of PacifiCorp's power generating division says the utility could agree to remove five dams from the Klamath River to help restore salmon if customers don't have to pay more for electricity.

"We have heard the tribes' concerns," PacifiCorp Energy President Bill Fehrman said in a statement posted Wednesday on the utility's Web site. "We are not opposed to dam removal or other settlement opportunities as long as our customers are not harmed and our property rights are respected."

The company said the statement reflected its position all along in talks concerning a new 50-year license to operate the dams. But Native American tribes characterized it as an encouraging move toward restoring salmon to 350 miles of river blocked by the dams for nearly 100 years.

In Portland, about 200 people, mostly members of tribes along the Klamath River, rallied at the Oregon Convention Center where 2,000 hydroelectric experts from around the world met for a conference.

Demonstrators chanted "Undam the Klamath, bring the salmon home" as tribal representatives voiced cautious optimism that the new PacifiCorp management would hear their words.

"The company is behaving differently under the new management," said Craig Tucker, coordinator of the dam removal campaign for the Karuk Tribe. "Certainly when we first started, they said there was no way they were going to consider dam removal. This is the first time they've released a media statement with us saying, 'Dam removal is OK by us.' They just don't want to stick it to (their) ratepayers."

PacifiCorp posted the statement at the request of the Yurok, Karuk, Klamath and other tribes, in conjunction with the rally.

"By working with us on this visionary restoration effort, PacifiCorp could become a model for corporate responsibility," Allen Foreman, chairman of the Klamath Tribes, said in a statement.

The tribes will be looking to Oregon and California governments to develop a package of grants and tax incentives to help PacifiCorp remove the dams, Tucker said.

The cost of that package will become more clear as the relicensing process continues, and PacifiCorp sees what it will have to spend to continue operating the dams, he added.

PacifiCorp created PacifiCorp Energy and hired Fehrman from a Nebraska power cooperative as part of a reorganization after being taken over this year by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., based in Des Moines, Iowa, and controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett.

Fehrman has been active in settlement talks and has spoken with tribal leaders since becoming president, said Dave Kvamme, a company spokesman.

"We would far prefer reaching a settlement agreeable to all parties than to work through the standard licensing process to its conclusion," Kvamme said, "because we think there's more room for a creative outcome through settlement than there is through standard licensing process."

Once the third-largest producer of salmon on the West Coast, the Klamath River has produced only a fraction of its historic runs since five dams were built between 1917 and 1962. Spring chinook are a remnant of former runs. Fall chinook are struggling. And coho salmon are listed as a threatened species.

To protect the Klamath's struggling fall runs of wild chinook, federal fisheries managers this year cut off most of the commercial salmon fishing along 700 miles of the California and Oregon coastline. The Bush administration is considering an economic disaster declaration to make possible millions of dollars in aid for salmon fishermen.

The dams produce about 150 megawatts, enough to power about 75,000 homes in California. The power represents 1.7 percent of PacifiCorp's total output for 1.6 million customers in six Western states.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is expected to issue an environmental impact statement later this year on PacifiCorp's application for a new license to operate the dams.

As part of the licensing process, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said it wants to see fish ladders built over all the dams and fish screens installed on the turbines so salmon can return to the upper Klamath Basin. In the past that would have been mandatory, but changes this year to federal energy law give PacifiCorp a chance to challenge it. An administrative law judge will hear the case starting Aug. 21.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.