The Hoopa Valley Tribe is seeking letters from Michigan tribes to Sen. Stabenow and to the Chairs of SCIA and SENR regarding a bill that would abrogate tribal water rights.
The letters should go to the Senators of the state of the tribe sending the letter. The reference to Sen. Stabenow is for Michganders.
Here are the materials:
Here.
An excerpt:
An accord known as the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA), aimed at settling long-standing conflicts over resource and water rights between Indian Nations, farmers, environmentalists and dams in the Klamath River Basin, has been derailed by Tea Party Patriots members in that area, according to a story in the July 18 edition of the New York Times. An IREHR investigation, however, has found that a combination of Tea Party groups, anti-Indian sentiment and “property rights” groups have combined to make a just solution to this dispute difficult. To understand the significance of this story, however, we begin not with the Tea Party but with the Klamath River Basin itself.
Tom Schlosse’rs new article was published by the Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy: “Dewatering Trust Responsibility: The New Klamath River Hydroelectric and Restoration Agreements.” You can download it here.
Here is the abstract:
In order to protect Indian property rights to water and fish that Indians rely on for subsistence and moderate income, the Interior Department Solicitor has construed federal statutes and case law to conclude that the Department must restrict irrigation in the Klamath River Basin of Oregon and Northern California. Draft legislation, prescribed by the February 18, 2010 Klamath River Hydroelectric Agreement and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, would release the United States from its trust duty to protect the rights of Indian tribes in the Klamath River Basin. The agreements will also prolong the Clean Water Act Section 401 application process to prevent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from issuing a properly-conditioned license for dams in the Klamath River that will protect the passage of vital fish populations. This article argues that the agreements prioritize the water rights of non-Indian irrigation districts and utility customers over first-in-time Indian water and fishing rights.
Turtle Talk 