Posted on 01/14/2005 9:21:53 AM PST by Reagan is King
Klamath River Salmon Protections Ruled Illegal: Federal Court Says Endangered Species Listing Of Klamath Coho Is Bogus
Eugene,OR; January 13, 2005: Coho salmon in the Klamath River Basin region have been illegally listed under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species, a federal judge declared yesterday. Ruling from the bench, Judge Michael Hogan agreed with Pacific Legal Foundation that the federal government violated the ESA when it failed to consider hatchery fish in its assessment of coho in southern Oregon and northern California rivers. ESA protection of coho in the Klamath River was a significant factor in the government’s devastating decision to shut off irrigation water to Klamath Basin farmers in the spring of 2001.
“This victory came too late for the farmers who where pushed into bankruptcy and the businesses that were forced to close to protect fish that were never endangered,” said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Russ Brooks. “Our rivers and streams are teeming with salmon, yet the Klamath community was practically destroyed because of environmental politics run amok.”
“This ruling should send a message to NOAA Fisheries that they cannot continue to circumvent the ESA to keep salmon listed when the prolific number of hatchery fish means salmon are not endangered. If NOAA does not accept the reality that the ESA does not distinguish between wild and hatchery fish before it issues its new hatchery policy, we will wind up back in court,” Brooks said.
The case, Grange v. National Marine Fisheries Service, had been stayed by Judge Hogan pending environmentalists’ attempts to appeal PLF’s landmark victory in Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans (2001). In that case, Judge Hogan held that the government had illegally listed coho along the Oregon coast as threatened when it excluded hatchery coho from fish counts. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal in February, 2004.
In yesterday’s ruling, however, Judge Hogan did not set aside the illegal listing, but left it in place while the agency completes the review of 26 west coast salmon listings, which it agreed to undertake as a result of its loss in Alsea. In June, 2004, NOAA proposed a new hatchery policy, but simultaneously announced that it would result in the relisting—not delisting—of west coast salmon and steelhead populations.
However, Judge Hogan also indicated that if a federal agency took a specific enforcement action on behalf of the illegal listing which caused harm, those harmed could go to court and ask to have the federal action stopped.
“In other words, as long as the federal government complies with Judge Hogan’s ruling that the listing is illegal, there won’t be a problem. But if they try to cut off the water again or take some other similar action, we’ll be back in court,” Brooks said.
In November, 2004, PLF announced it will file a sweeping lawsuit challenging all 26 listings if NOAA enacts the proposed policy and continues to distinguish between hatchery and naturally spawned fish. The final rule is scheduled to be published in June, 2005.
In California, the State coho listing (same coho) goes into effect shortly. The State regs are slightly different as prohibited "take" is pretty much just "kill" and not habitat destruction. On the other hand, one must "fully mitigate" the kill under any incidental take permit and that pretty much means provide and eye for an eye.
The public permitting process to allow folks to continue to irrigate in my area will be a nightmare and prohibitively expensive. We have been working on a solution for a year to avoid having to shut down operations in the mid-Klamath region near Yreka. It should cost upwards of $500,000 per valley to get a programmatic permit started through the process. Heck, nobody here has that kind of money. What will happen is that all those farmers and ranchers who can't irrigate will challenge their prime ag zoning. Then we will break up all the farmland into little 5 acre retirement ranchettes. Some of these guys already have the plans drawn.
I don't understand why the envirals and the agencies were so stupid to force this listing when our area is known as a leader in thev State in voluntary conservation efforts for anadromous fish and watershed processes.
I resemble the proverbial chicken myself.
It was never about the environment. You know it, I know it, the sheeple don't.
Personal secret of mine, I used to be an enviro.
The enviros don't do that through any logic that would make sense to normal people, they do their thing out of political concerns and out of "raising people's awareness" about things.
In their mind, people are bad and animals are good, people are evil for wanting to live while animals are good for wanting to live.
Very simplistic in their views, but also damnably complex and convoluted.
In the enviro bigwig's point of view, it's all about 'sticking it to THE MAN' and shutting down 'E-vil corporations'.
They use the lower rung enviro's feelings and concerns to push their personal agendas.
It sounds all nice to 'save the whales' and 'save the forests' for 'future generations', but in reality, there is nothing natural about letting multi-million acres burn down in hyper fires.
But the enviros will not admit that.
(I state that resources should be used, and used smartly in a stewardship fashion. Logging opens up areas to new growth, and hatcheries help species that may actually be endangered. Enviros see this as blasphemy or heresy to an extent.)
Even though an area is voluntarily conserving 'resources', it's always resources in dryspeak to the enviros, in their view the 'uneducated' aren't doing enough.
Basically, you could bulldoze every house building and road in an area to 'return it to the pristine condition it was in' prior to 'human encroachment', and literally kill every human within 500 miles, and it still wouldn't be enough for them.
Someone had it right, I think it was farmfriend, when they posted a pic to some envirotroll that said "Visualize voluntary human extinction".
That's pretty much what the environuts want, but they don't say it outright.
Unless it's in their support for UN 'depopulation' efforts.
Hopefully you guys out there will get an even bigger break than just this ruling.
It would be nice, and would go a long way to undoing the environut's damage.
I hear that!
As sam_whiskey said in his thread, "Unnngh.."
It's been 'odd' lately.
Yes.
I gave my best shot at trying to define it or quantify it in post 24.
But it's hard to define or quantify emotion based politics and beliefs.
It's a religion. Always hard to define unless you believe.
This is true.
A big victory for sanity. Rational Court rulings aren't exactly growing like kudzu, but little sprigs are finally popping up here and there.
Good news ping!
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southwest Region has scheduled four public hearings to gather input on its proposed designation of critical habitat for seven Evolutionary Significant Units (ESUs) of Pacific salmon and steelhead in California.
On December 10, 2004, NMFS proposed critical habitat designations for two ESUs of chinook salmon and five ESUs of anadromous steelhead (including resident rainbow trout) in California that are listed under the Endangered Species Act. These public hearings have been scheduled to provide the public and other interested parties additional opportunity to comment on the proposed regulations by February 8, 2005. Comments may be made directly to agency staff at the hearing or by a number of other methods listed at the end of this news release. Public hearings will be held from 6:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. on the date and location noted below:
January 13, 2005 North Coast Inn 4975 Valley West Blvd Arcata, CA 95521
January 20, 2005 Radisson Hotel Sacramento 500 Leisure Lane Sacramento, CA 95815
January 19, 2005 DoubleTree Hotel Sonoma Wine Country One DoubleTree Drive Rohnert Park, CA 94928
February 1, 2005 Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort 633 East Cabrillo Blvd Santa Barbara, CA 93103
-more-
NOAA Fisheries Southwest Region 501 West Ocean Blvd Long Beach, CA 90802 562.980.4006 News Release -2- Written comments on the proposed critical habitat designations must be received by February 8, 2005. You may submit comments on the proposed critical habitat designations, identified by docket number [041123329I-4329-01] and RIN number [0649-AO04], by any of the following methods: E-mail: critical.habitat.swr@noaa.gov Include docket number and RIN number in the subject line of the message. Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Agency Web site: http://ocio.nmfs.noaa.gov/ibrm-ssi/index.shtml Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Mail: Submit written comments and information to Assistant Regional Administrator, NMFS, Protected Resources Division, 501 W. Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, California, 90802-4213. You may hand-deliver written comments to our office during normal business hours at the address given above. Fax: 562-980-4027. The proposed rule, maps and other materials related to the proposal can be found on the Southwest Region’s web site at http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov. -NOAA
I want to know if our government paid the farmers who were affected by this injustice. We are sending taxpayer money to foreign governments whose countries were affected by a natural disaster. What about our own citizens who are harmed by government regulations?
Well it looks like California finally is going to get the water they've been working so hard to steal.
Geesh, this has been going on for what, twenty years or so now?
Thanks for the ping, blackie.
Some Freepers think those days and nights we spent trying to save 1400 farmers from loosing their LIVES and a community of 14,000 people from dying was "SILLY". We had full blooded American Indians, Republicans, Democrats, Black Americans, Libertarians, those smart enough to not join any party, Mexican Americans and every other minority that joined and marched 20,000 strong down the streets of Klamath Falls in May of 2001 (IIRC). It was covered by much of the mainstream media because of the news reported here on FreeRepublic.
But some did all they could to stop, disrupt, insult every thread. I'm talking about so called conservatives. We were called welfare queens, idiots, leeches off the government, you name it, by the same people that do the same stuff here every day when someone actually stands up to protect the rights of ALL the citizens of this country.
It's a shame this will be dragged out yet longer in court, as usual the lawyers are running the country. Be damned the small farmer or property owner be he white, black, Mexican or POLKA DOT.
A lot worse damage could have been done, but finally President Bush took some interest with enough voices being raised and Greg Walden and Gordon Smith hijacking a ride on Air Force one to show the president that Klamath Lake was full and there were several hundred "peasants" camped out at Camp Headgate facing down armed federal agents for months.
Evidently, that was the first Bush had heard of it. At a speech in Portland that night he interjected, "There are some folks in Klamath Falls who haven't been treated very well!" He lives in a bubble. But a couple congressmen knew, without doubt, their butts were gone, if they didn't do something.
And then 9/ll happened. I got to speak with Gordon Smith the next day on the LarsLarson Show. I told him, those of us fighting for Klamath Falls were with him and our President and the victims of that terror. And so were the people who had been camped at Camp HeadGate and their supporters. Soon the camp closed and some of those young men joined the military. The same people instead contributed to the victims of 9/11, and I can tell you they came out a lot better financially than those farmers.
"Silly" people like that, tend to put their fellow Americans and country first ahead of their own interests.
For anyone not familiar with this story, I suggest to start with Jeff Head's account here: http://www.jeffhead.com/klamath/
There were several documentary films made. William LaJuenesse of Fox News did wonderful coverage.
Goodnight, logging off.
AuntB
Radical Environmentalists = Watermelons
Green on the outside and RED on the inside.
You're right about it not being about the water or the environment. These people are Marxists who want to destroy our way of life.
Jeff, thanks for all of your hard work to help the farmers and keep us posted during this crisis.
Sadly, despite the ruling -- Justice delayed is still justice denied.
BTTT!!!!!!!
You can't fool me with that disguise! LOL!
OOOPS, thought you were someone else but see you fly OK banner.
Thanks for posting this.
Aquamarine, thanks for the ping.
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