June 5, 2019
Liz Writes Life
Ahhhh, the aromas and colors of early summer.
I just love fresh spring mornings with fragrances of blooming flowers flowing
in the breeze. We’ve had quite the thunder storms with lightning, pouring rain
and hail. Then, as the dark clouds clear-out a soft coolness floats-in. We do
live in a beautiful place.
EHS Reunion
The annual Etna High School Reunion will be
held on July 13, 2019 in the Etna City Park. Its organizers are sending out
information this week, but if anyone would like to attend they should call
Helen Lewis at 530-468-2353. The reunion is for all graduates of Etna High,
teachers, friends and relatives. I think that is about everybody!
POW
Ray Haupt, Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor,
had lots to share at the Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting last Thursday
in Fort Jones. First, he thinks it is a “big deal” that the U.S. Dept. of
Interior has rescinded a letter of support for Klamath dams removal.
On May 17, 2019, DOI Secretary David
Bernhardt wrote a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
withdrawing a 2016 letter from then DOI Sec. Sally Jewell. One simple sentence
in the letter explains the reason: “The KHSA (Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement
Agreement), however, did not require submission of the 2016 letter from
Secretary Jewell.”
From all appearances, Jewell’s letter was
encouragement by the federal government in favor of dam removal. That support
is no longer on record with FERC, which is the agency that will decide if
PacifiCorp will be able to re-license the four hydro-electric Klamath dams and
continue to operate them for electricity or allow the non-profit Klamath River
Renewal Corp. to obtain the hydro-electric license with the specific goal of
destroying the four dams and not supplying electricity.
When Ray was in WA. D.C. last October, he met
with Tim Williams, who is Deputy Under Sec. of DOI, and explained why Siskiyou
Co. is working so hard to save the dams. Recently, Ray heard from the
Interagency of Affairs Office, which stated, “This administration does not
remove dams.” Sounds like federal agencies are hearing the concerns over
removal of the dams.
Ray said that Siskiyou Co. keeps pushing and
pushing on the unresolved impacts of dam removal and KRRC is not providing
responses or answers. Those issues include the impacts of the millions of tons
of stored sediment and silt that will affect water quality and the entire
190-mile stretch of the Klamath River, when it is released. There are also
property loss questions that KRRC has not answered.
Because KRRC’s Definite Plan for taking out
the dams only addresses to five-miles below the dams, the county now estimates
the actual cost and rehabilitation of the Klamath River from dam removal is
closing in on $600 million. This is much higher than the original estimation
with the previous Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement of $450 million. There
are a slew of unresolved issues that will add to the cost of dam removal, Ray
explained.
“We now know the sediments will likely
destroy life in the Harbor,” down at the mouth of the Klamath River, Ray added.
Earlier this year, the Crescent City Harbor
District Commission asked KRRC for financial assistance to dredge sediment and
silt resulting from dam removal. From what I have learned, it doesn’t look like
KRRC has committed any funds to what could be an added cost of over $1 million
to clean-out the excess sediments. I have always wondered why Del Norte County
and the Harbor Commission supported Klamath dam removal. Maybe the unresolved
issues are finally becoming a problem.
Fire
Devestation from wildfires continues to cause
major worry – after the fires are out. Ray said that he has heard from his
constituents that home owners’ insurance is becoming a problem to obtain and
some have even lost their insurance or companies will not renew home insurance
policies. This is worrisome for sure.
At the state level, Cal-Fire and the Office
of Emergency Services developed a new map with high fire hazard zone areas.
Guess what? Siskiyou Co. is in a high fire zone with much of Scott Valley in
the highest level. With his extensive background in timber and fire behavior,
Ray once again cited the extreme density of trees as the major problem. He said
the surrounding interface of trees in Scott Valley is estimated to be
four-times the density as those back in 1934. This is in both private lands and
Forest Service managed lands.
Again, it needs to be said that the Klamath
National Forest grows about 600 million board feet of timber each year. Even
with the alarmists claiming all the trees were being cut down back in the
1980s, 1900s and 2000s, KNF has never harvested even half of the possible
growth in a year. That is “growth” which is a small percentage of the entire
forest.
There was never a danger of cutting down all the trees! The public was
duped!
The highest harvest was in the late 1980s at
around 200 million board feet harvested – about a third of the annual growth! (Clip
this information and educate the uninformed.)
Since the NorthWest Forest Plan was
implemented, in 1994, that number has drastically dropped and averages only 20
to 25 million board feet each year. Yep, those trees are growing and growing
with little impact that actually thins the forests. Healthy forest management
must be implemented.
Also, the USFS must actively hustle at
stopping all fires --immediately! But, I digress.
Governments, private companies, Fire Safe
Councils, even CA. Gov. Gavin Newsom are now furiously planning to reduce
wildfires. Strategies are being developed. State legislation has ordered
vegetation management plans under and around power lines by utility companies.
Cal-Trans has been directed to reduce vegetation along highways.
But, in being involved in many of these
meetings, Ray saw too much fragmentation. So, at the local county level, Ray
and Dist. 2 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor Michael Kobseff, have convened all land
management government agencies and industrial (forest-type) companies in a
meeting with the goal of “filling in the gaps.” He said he is extremely happy
with the recent new mapping and planning by the Siskiyou Fire Safe Council. The
target is to add the potential bad fire behavior to the mix. True stewardship
and forest management is the key. A second meeting of this county group will be
held next week.
There is more happening on how to reduce the
threat of fires and I will discuss it next week.
Liz Bowen began writing ranch and
farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County
and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at:
lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.
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