What did the council do to incur Herger's wrath? The Council had the courage to say that "the agricultural economies of the Upper Klamath Basin have been developed by the Klamath Project at the expense of the Klamath Basin fish resources, as well as the river and coastal economies that depend on them." The Council urged that the Project be operated this year to provide adequate flows to sustain healthy populations of all anadromous salmonids.

It also linked the Klamath Project operation to the 2002 fish kill, which Herger described as "a completely unwarranted and factually unsubstantiated attack" against the agricultural community.

In response, Bob Strickland, president of United Anglers, said yanking the Council's funding is effectively eliminating the Council's power to "do what is needed for Klamath river salmon and steelhead" by defunding the positions of scientists who advise the council.

"If Herger gets his rider through, agribusiness will receive all of the water that it wants at the expense of Klamath River salmon, steelhead and other fish," said Strickland. "I am tired of people making money off our natural resources and treating them like only they, not the public, own them. United Anglers strongly supports an amendment to the bill by Congressman Sam Farr that restores the Council's funding."

In a letter to Congressman Mike Thompson, John Beuttler of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Gary Seput of California Trout and David Katz of Trout Unlimited also blasted Herger's attempt to suppress the Klamath Council's criticism of Bush administration policies that favor corporate agribusiness over fish.

The letter was delivered on June 24 as dead salmon fry began to show up in fish traps on the Klamath. Biologists were worried that this year may see the repeat of June 2000, when poor management of Klamath flows resulted in the needless deaths of over 250,000 juvenile chinook salmon. Even worse, the fish appear to be dying of the same bacterial diseases that killed over 34,000 salmon last September in the worst recorded fish kill in U.S. history.

"Congressman Herger's rider would punish the Council because of a letter they sent to the Bush Administration regarding the fish kill," they said. "Apparently Congressman Herger objects to the statement that lack of water killed fish."

The letter emphasized that the Klamath Council is not alone in their position on the fish kill, since the California Department of Fish and Game, Yurok and Hoopa tribe biologists and even NOAA Fisheries, a branch of the same federal government that was responsible for the fish kill, made similar statements.

"Congressman Herger's rider is an assault on sound fisheries management, good science, public participation and communities that depend on tribal, recreational and commercial fisheries. It is intended to have a chilling effect on individuals who provide the information necessary for the responsible management of West coast salmon and steelhead," the letter said.

Their letter was followed with a letter on June 25 to C.W. Bill Young, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, by Congressmen Thompson and George Miller and 32 other Representatives. The letter urged Young to strike Herger's rider from the legislation. "Without the KFMC, the fishing families, farming families and other stakeholders who rely upon the Klamath River will not receive the best available information on how to manage the fishery," the letter stated.

The 12 member Council (KFMC) assists federal agencies in the management of the salmon fishery that stretches from Fort Bragg to Coos Bay, Oregon. The federal advisory committee, established in 1986, is managed by the Interior Department through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Herger should be universally condemned by fishery proponents, as well as by civil liberties advocates, for trying to suppress views that disagree with the Bush administration's agenda that favors agribusiness over fish and wildlife. The people on the Council are being chided only because they were courageous enough to tell the truth - that fish need water.

Herger is jumping on the anti-environmental, anti-fish, "wise use" bandwagon that supports massive diversions of water to unsustainable corporate agriculture - at the expense of North Coast economies that depend on salmon and steelhead populations for their existence. We can't allow Herger to censor the Klamath Fishery Management Council because they dared to say that lack of water caused the fish kill of September 2002.

The Congressman's rider paves the way for another potential fish kill this fall when thousands of Klamath and Trinity River salmon return to spawn. I urge everybody concerned about the health of Klamath River fisheries to call the Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and ask their Representative to oppose Herger's rider and support Sam Farr's amendment to restore the funding to the KFMC.