John Briggs, who ranches north of Chiloquin, stood with hundreds of people Monday morning on the steps of the Klamath County Courthouse. Briggs has been on his ranch for 30 years. “I built it,” he said. “I put in the pumps. I put in the irrigation. I took out the stumps. I planted the grass. I built the corrals. I built the barn. I built everything. And I created my piece of the American dream. I have fed, in 30 years, thousands of people with the beef that I raised.” Like many of the ranchers standing beside Briggs, he has had his water shut off. His was stopped Thursday. “This is my piece of the American dream,” he said. “I am 63 years old. Every single president of the United States has talked about the American dream. And mine was just taken away from me.” Briggs and ranchers from around the Klamath Basin rallied Monday from the Klamath County Fairgrounds to the courthouse. They drove through Klamath Falls in a long convoy of trucks, semis, hay trailers, cattle trailers, tractors and nearly every other type of farm vehicle. At the courthouse, about 500 people waited with signs, cheering the convoy. Ranchers were making a statement: If water is shut off, it will hurt the Basin. It won’t just hurt the ranchers who may have to sell their cattle early or move the animals out of the area, it will hurt all of the local economy...
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Here's a tv video report.
http://youtu.be/SP3TGkcye9g
1 comment:
This issue is not about the fish, as it is portrayed here. The Klamath Valley is simply enforcing western water rules that have been around since the nineteenth century-first in time, first in right. Welcome to the world of drought!
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