Klamath River salmon need to have free passage up into the tributaries for spawning grounds. The reduction in salmon population is a result of decades of diversion dams blocking spawning grounds, raising water temps, etc. In 2006 people have the chance to save the salmon by voting to decommision the Klamath dams as their Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license expires. Renewal of the FERC licenses would result in another fifty years of these dams suffocating the Klamath river and very possible extinction of the salmon..

The dams on the Klamath are providing irrigation water to agriculture corporations in the Klamath Valley who primarily grow water dependent crops like potatoes and alfalfa. The latter crop is for feeding cattle on nearby ranches. The high desert climate of the Klamath Valley doesn't provide many edible plants for cattle, so they require agricultural crops like alfalfa/corn/etc for survival. Other native hooved ungulates like pronghorn antelope can gain nutritional sustenance from native plants like sagebrush..

Family farmers of the Klamath Valley are a mostly myths constructed by the Bush administration. Though a few photogenic family farmers struggle to hold on, corporate agriculture is the predominant consumer of Klamath River water. Certain Klamath Valley agricultural corporations are against the dams being decommisioned because they depend on the irrigation water for their crops. The reason Bush/Norton are supporting the dams is their campaign funding comes from beef ranching corporations and not much from salmon fishing interests or indigenous peoples along the Klamath riparian corridor..

There are alternative crops that could be grown in the Klamath Valley. Jojoba is a native plant from the southwestern North American Sonoran desert that forms liquid wax similar to oil. Jojoba oil is already used in many hair and skin care products. Jojoba requires little irrigation and survives on natural winter rainfall. Frost tolerance is low, though occasional frosts in the Sonoran desert haven't caused jojoba to become extinct either. With a little TLC and greenhouse shelter, local organic farming communities could have a jojoba crop on reclaimed Klamath Valley land..

Drought tolerant CA native plant/grass list;

http://www.elnativogrowers.com/SuitabilityLists/CaNatives_VeryDry.htm

Jojoba Liquid Wax;

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/v1-247.html

Jojoba;

http://www.livingdesert.org/plants/jojoba.asp

Tepary Bean is drought tolerant Sonoran desert native with at least 30 percent protein content, including iron and other minerals. Some cooking and preparation needed, an excellent sustenacne crop..

Arizona Ancient Foods;

http://www.spmesquite.com/articles/ancientfoods.html

Tepary Bean UC Florida trial crop info;

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_MV025

Salmon populations would then increase in number as Klamath tributaries are opened for safe passage. The nooks found in tributaries is essential for salmon babies (fry) who need shelter and slower water current as they hatch into a new and exciting water world. The evolution of salmon requires yearly tributary access for survival, it is easier for humans to change than for salmon..

Part of the reason humans evolved as a species is our ability to adapt to new conditions and learn from our mistakes. If an agricultural method like dam irrigation requires more energy to maintain than the benefit of the outcome, than maybe we need to look for alternatives. The extinction of salmon is not worth another few years of agriculture corporate profit before increased soil salinity puts them out of business also..

From the Nile to the Tigris/Euphrates, many rivers were dammed and diverted for centuries for agricultural societies. After several decades the result was usually increased salinity from evaporation in the irrigated fields and decreased sealife in the delta/riparian corridor. Eventually crops declined and the agricultural empire collapsed or migrated elsewhere and began the same destructive process. We're running out of places to go, North America may be our last chance to learn about riparian ecology. No ancient dams were ever as severe as the modern concrete monoliths in North America and now Asia/Africa. Large hydroelectric dams are often forced into river habitats against the wishes of the local indigenous community that depend on the river's food for survival, now as for thousands of years. The short term benefit to the agricultural empire is only possible at the loss of the long term sustainability of the riparian ecosystem. This is another aspect of an imperialist culture imposing its power on native communities by usurping their river water for corporate agriculture. This act against indigenous cultural sovereignty also matches the definition of cultural genocide according to the International Court of Justice at the Hague...

International Court of Justice at the Hague;

http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/icjhome.htm



International Criminal Court;

http://www.un.org/law/icc/

Nobody desires to be branded an international war criminal yet the actions taken by the Bush regime indicate they believe they are superior to international law. The war crimes commited in Iraq (depleted uranium, cancer, bombing of civilian villages, murder of civilians, petroleum theft, torture at Abu-Graib, etc.) Afganistan (Afgani goatherders labeled "terrorists" detained and tortured for months/years in Guantanamo Cuba to gain info on CIA funded "Al-Queda"), Haiti (coup and kidnapping of popular elected Aristide, murder of Lavalas supporters, kidnapping of Yvon Neptune, etc.), are also witnessed in a slower, crueler, less visible genocide within the borders of the United States against indigenous North Americans. Land and water theft, forced relocation to reservations, mining pollution, loss of cultural food/identity, etc., are all actions initiated by corporations that are destructive to the cultural/physical survival of indigenous North Americans. These above mentioned practices are also causing ecological problems in the present and future that will impact everyone, regardless of their ethnic/cultural origin..

All residents of the United States who are able to speak out against the criminal actions of the Bush regime should feel free to do so. Remaining silent during times of genocide is a dangerous act for both self and others. By joining together across percieved cultural differences we can realize potential for true freedom and happiness without corporate government control. Indigenous people of North America may help all US immigrants learn about our forgotten cultures and indigenous ways, living closer to Madre Tierra and one another..

The Yurok, Hoopa, Karuk, and other Klamath River Tribes are asking for the support of the American people to speak out for the decommisioning of the Klamath River dams in 2006. Please comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commision in favor of decommissioning the Klamath River dams in 2006..

Single Chance for Salmon;

http://www.klamathforestalliance.org/Newsarticles/newsarticle20050418.html

Klamath Basin Tribal Water Quality Work Group;

http://www.kbtwqwg.com/index.htm