County sends message to Salazar on dam removal

The Siskiyou County board of supervisors agreed to send another strongly worded letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar regarding compensation to the county in the event he determines that dam removal should proceed on the Klamath River. The letter states that the board has authorized its negotiator “to participate in discussions regarding a Final Agreement for the study of the cost and benefits of the removal of PacifiCorp’s dams on the Klamath River.” It was prepared by county counsel Tom Guarino and signed by all five supervisors who state that the county has engaged in discussions about dam removal in good faith and “with the promise that the concerns of Siskiyou County would be addressed.” “We are concerned at this point that our concerns are not going to be addressed and in fact are being marginalized in a reckless, headlong pursuit of a predetermined outcome,” the letter states.
According to the letter, Secretary Salazar has made public statements that “this effort must not fail.” The letter asserts that “this effort” is in fact that PacifiCorp’s dams be removed. “Perhaps you can understand our concern that, when you go to make your determination of whether the costs and benefits of removal of these facilities warrants their removal, you may be predisposed toward an outcome and not entirely objective,” the letter continues. The letter flatly states that, “at this point in time, it is a fact that there are insufficient studies to warrant removal of these facilities.” In order to be legitimate, these studies “must be conducted in a transparent and open manner,” the letter states, “consistent with President Obama’s memorandum of March 9, 2009, regarding scientific integrity.” The supervisors point out in the letter that the studies should analyze the impacts of the proposed removal, as well as a consideration of all impacts of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA), “which clearly is a part of the intended consequence of the removal of the facilities.” The board is concerned that the cumulative effects of federal policies are not being considered. “For example, the Northwest Forest Plan has had a severe negative effect on Siskiyou’s economy, for which no mitigations have been provided,” the letter states, “The cumulative impact of all such federal activity is interrelated to the decaying economic conditions in this County and therefore must be considered in any cost/benefit analysis.”...MountShastaNews