endangered species

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003986669_klamathblast01m.html

Thursday, November 1, 2007 – Page updated at 02:02 AM

TODD E. SWENSON / AP

Explosives breached the Williamson River Delta Preserve levees to restore marshland for endangered fish, sacred to the Klamath Tribes, at Agency Lake near Chiloquin, Ore., on Tuesday.

Blasts clear dikes to restore Oregon marshland

By JEFF BARNARD
The Associated Press

CHILOQUIN, Ore. — Explosives sent clouds of dirt sky-high Tuesday, breaching dikes to restore marshland for endangered fish at the heart of a long, bitter battle over water in the Klamath Basin.

The charges of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil spaced 10 feet apart along two miles of earthen dike allowed water to start dribbling into 2,500 acres of the Williamson River Delta.

By spring, what used to be among the most productive farmland in the region is expected to be flooded.

It marked the culmination of 12 years of work to overcome animosities among farmers, Indians and conservation groups and to improve Upper Klamath Lake for Lost River suckers and shortnose suckers.

The fish are sacred to the Klamath Tribes. As endangered species, their water needs have twice forced shut-offs of irrigation to most of the 1,400 farms on the Klamath Reclamation Project, which covers 180,000 acres of high desert straddling the California-Oregon border east of the Cascade Range.

The most recent shut-off, in 2001, drew national attention again this year when The Washington Post reported that Vice President Dick Cheney took a hand in getting the water turned on for the benefit of farmers.

In December, the Tenth Circuit will hear oral argument in the United States’ appeal of the dismissal of the prosecution of Winslow Friday for the taking of eagle parts. The district court found that the difficulty for American Indians in obtaining eagle parts using the national eagle repository permit system violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Specifically, the court held that the eagle repository permit system was not the least restrictive means to protect eagles and therefore infringed on the religious freedom of Winslow Friday.

One element of the case that might make it difficult for Winslow Friday is the apparent fact that he never applied for a permit. The lower court found that the application of a permit was futile. However, some American Indians did seek and receive permits to fatally take eagles, perhaps only 1 but perhaps as many as 5.

The lower court order is here: District Court’s Order of Dismissal

The Government’s opening brief is here: US Opening Brief

Friday’s response brief is here: Friday’s Response Brief

The Government’s reply brief is here: US Reply Brief

Turtle Talk

Klamath River Basin Water — Kablooey!

Eagle Repository Case: United States v. Friday (CA10)