While Congressman Mike Thompson prepares to cook salmon at the World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue this Saturday in Fort Bragg, he also is looking forward to an investigation he has led into whether Vice President Dick Cheney contributed to the massive death of salmon on the Klamath River.
Thompson, whose district includes the Mendocino Coast, was one of 36 California and Oregon members of Congress who asked for an official investigation after a Washington Post investigative report alleged Cheney may have personally interfered in water diversions on the Klamath River in 2002.
“We”ve known since 2002 that the Bush Administration manipulated science in a perverse and petty attempt to win votes,” said Thompson in a news release. “Now it appears that this manipulation goes straight to the top. Despite what he may think, Vice President Cheney is not above the law and not above Congress” oversight. We want a thorough investigation of his involvement in the largest salmon kill and fishing disaster in our nation”s history.”
Thompson and the 35 others requested last week that House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall schedule hearings. Rahall agreed to that on Friday.
Thompson”s charges have been quoted in national news accounts from USA Today to Fox News. So far, there has been no response from the vice president”s office in the articles, and none is available on the White House Website.
In 2002, the Interior Department diverted water from the Klamath River Basin to farmers in Oregon, resulting in the death of 80,000 adult salmon, Thompson said. There was an important and close U.S. Senate race in progress in Oregon at that time. Some say Republicans swung the farmers” vote by diverting water that federal scientists said was needed for the health of the salmon fishery.
The issue isn”t new — Democrats have alleged political influence since 2002. Thompson and other Democrats, including John Kerry, have long pointed the finger at the president”s top advisor, Karl Rove, for pushing for the water diversions that killed the salmon.
Thompson and others brought a lawsuit against the Bush Administration in 2002, and three courts found that the water diversion was “arbitrary and capricious and in violation of the Endangered Species Act.”
The Post, in a series of stories last week, said that Cheney played a crucial role in developing a 10-year water plan for the Klamath.
The article on the salmon issue was the last in a series of four about Cheney”s powerful and secretive methods of “governance.”
The effect of salmon problems on the Klamath, which are much more complicated than just a single fish kill, have been felt powerfully in Fort Bragg. Commercial fishing in California and Oregon was cut by more than 90 percent last year — the largest commercial fishing closure in the history of the country — resulting in more than $60 million in losses to coastal economies, a letter by the Congress members to Rahall said.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was the only California Democrat not to sign the letter, the Associated Press reported. Thompson”s staff drafted the letter and Thompson was quoted as saying he did not ask Pelosi to sign.
Thompson has led efforts to provide relief to commercial fishers.
Among his efforts on behalf of salmon, Thompson cooks every year at the World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue, which benefits the Salmon Restoration Association. Thompson, who often sends staff to other events in Fort Bragg, usually stays and cooks for the entire event in the heat and heavy smoke.
The California Department of Fish and Game laid much of the blame for the Klamath fish kill on low water flows controlled by the federal government, saying it created conditions that allowed a fatal gill-rot disease to spread through the fish.
A report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said low river flows played a big role, but said other factors, including a large return of fish, also contributed to the fish kill, the worst in decades, the Associated Press reported this week.
A report by the Interior Department”s Inspector General found that Rove had not interfered, although he had discussed the Klamath issue.
While the political intrigue over the water diversion mounts, the situation again looks ominous on the Klamath.
Indian tribes, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen and conservationists are extremely concerned about the possibility of a major fish kill taking place this summer on the Klamath, Dan Bacher reported in the Fish Sniffer magazine. As Klamath River temperatures rise and the region”s below average snow pack continues to recede, the river”s salmon are again in big trouble, Bacher said.
Bacher also reported that Warren Buffett in May refused to meet with representatives of Indian tribes, commercial fishing groups who traveled to the annual shareholders meeting in Nebraska for Buffett”s Berkshire-Hathaway. Berkshire-Hathaway is the parent company that owns PacifiCorp”s dams on the Klamath.
Those signing Thompson”s letter included George Miller, Anna Eshoo, Zoe Lofgren, Sam Farr, Jim Costa, Howard Berman, Bob Fillner, Adam Schiff, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Brad Sherman, Dennis Cardoza, Tom Lantos, Peter DeFazio, Diane Watson, Linda Sanchez, Doris Matsui, David Wu, Barbara Lee, Jerry McNerney, Jane Harman, Hilda Solis, Pete Stark, Xavier Becerra, Mike Honda, Grace Napolitano, Susan Davis, Lynn Woolsey, Darlene Hooley, Carl Blumenauer, Ellen Tauscher, Loretta Sanchez, Lois Capps, Joe Baca, Maxine Waters and Henry Waxman.
