From: [email protected] Subject: Clarkston Resources Committee ESA Hearing June 6th Update Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Web Address: http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003 Clarkston Resources Committee ESA Hearing June 6th Update Call your friends and neighbors. This may be the only chance you get to get testimony into the Resources Committee in the Northwest this year. Be sure to go to www.landrights.org to print out Endangered Species Act (ESA) Testimony Questionnaires. Here is the message from the Resources Committee: For Immediate Release June 2, 2005 Contact Brian Kennedy or Jennifer Zuccarelli at (202) 226-9019 Water & Power Subcommittee to Hold Field Hearing on ESA, Snake River Dams Balancing Economy and Environment, "Working River" at Stake WASHINGTON, DC - The Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power will hold a field hearing to discuss the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and a recent federal court decision on salmon in the Columbia/Snake River system. The hearing is scheduled for Mon., June 6 at 9:30 a.m. at the Quality Inn and Suites Conference Center, 700 Port Drive, Clarkston, WA. "Jobs, families and important hydropower resources for our country are being systematically sacrificed at the hands of wealthy environmental group lawyers using the ESA as their cash cow," said subcommittee Chairman George Radanovich (R-CA). "Like clockwork in the Central Valley of California and now on Snake River, lawsuit abuse threatens to empower a federal judge to manage water flows and throw dam breaching back on the table to cause even further imbalance for our economy and our ecosystems. As we found in the Klamath basin, destroying a hard-working community is not the answer to resolving ESA issues. We must fight to protect our economy, our families and our natural resources. Science and expertise should determine our course, not litigation." The Columbia/Snake River system serves as the vital economic, cultural and environmental backbone of the Pacific Northwest. As envisioned under Franklin Delano Roosevelt and subsequent Presidential Administrations in the 1960s and 1970s, this unique system provides electricity and irrigation and serves as a vital navigational link for agricultural and timber exports through inland ports like Clarkston, WA and Lewiston, ID. The region struggles with restoring endangered species and protecting economic livelihoods. For years, the environmental community has rallied around breaching four Snake River Dams in an effort to restore salmon fisheries. Removal of these dams on the Snake River would place a heavy economic burden on the electricity ratepayers and grain farmers in the region. "Our Northwest river systems are a critical part of our region's economy and important for transportation, irrigation and recreation," said Congresswoman McMorris (R-WA), who represents the Clarkston, WA region. "Monday's hearing will enable us to hear, first hand, how best to balance protecting endangered species while preserving our way of life." This hearing will provide an opportunity to explore how species may be conserved while ensuring economic stability. The recovery efforts put forth by the federal government have been met with lawsuits over the past decade and Federal District Court Judge James Redden recently struck down the latest salmon recovery plan. He will hold a hearing June 10 to discuss alternative ways to protect salmon. The environmental community has used this latest decision as a rallying cry to remove the Snake River Dams. "This hearing is a welcome opportunity for the folks whose lives and livelihoods are most influenced by the river systems to have their voices heard," said Congressman Otter (R-ID). "I'm grateful to Chairman Radanovich for coming to the region, and for recognizing that the Columbia and Snake are working rivers that require reasonable, balanced management. The recent federal court ruling that invalidated NOAA Fisheries' November 2004 biological opinion threatens this Administration's consistent commitment to balancing salmon recovery with the economic vitality of the Pacific Northwest. I'm hopeful that this hearing will put the court's ruling, as well as such critical issues as meeting the needs of power generation, population growth, irrigation and transportation, in context for the people of our region." "Those who call the Pacific Northwest home know we can have both fish recovery and clean, low-cost hydropower - we understand this is not an either-or-situation," said Congressman Doc Hastings, who represents Central Washington. "Local residents deserve a meaningful role in how our resources are managed and this hearing will help provide that opportunity." At the beginning of the 109th Congress, Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) and the Resources Committee announced a renewed effort to improve and update the Endangered Species Act. This hearing is one in a series to be held throughout the year around the country. For more information on the Water and Power Subcommittee, please visit: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/subcommittees/wp.htm ### The Subcommittee on Water and Power will conduct an oversight field hearing in Clarkston, Washington on Monday, June 6, 2005 at 9:30 a.m. The hearing will focus on the many economic, cultural and natural activities that make the Columbia/Snake a working river system. This hearing will be held at the Quality Inn and Suites Conference Center, 700 Port Drive, in Clarkston. Witnesses will be by invitation only. If you need further information, please contact Kiel Weaver, Mike Correia or Daisy Minter at (202) 225-8331. ______________________________________________________________________________The use of cellular telephones is prohibited on the Committee dais or in the Committee hearing rooms during a meeting of the Committee pursuant to Rule 3(k) of the Committee Rules. Accommodations for individuals with disabilities, including assistive listening systems, interpreters, and materials in alternate formats, may be arranged by contacting the Committee in advance of the scheduled event (4 business days notice is requested) at voice (202) 225?2761; fax (202) 225?5929; e?mail: [email protected]; or 1324 Longworth House Office Building (HOB), Washington, D.C. 20515?6201. The US House Subcommittee on Water and Power will conduct an oversight field hearing in Clarkston, Washington on Monday, June 6, 2005 at 9:30 a.m. The hearing will focus on the many economic, cultural and natural activities that make the Columbia/Snake a working river system. This hearing will be held at the Quality Inn and Suites Conference Center, 700 Port Drive, in Clarkston. Call (509) 758-9500 for reservation. The hearing will be at the Quality Inn in Clarkston Washington, which is located on the Snake River. The Quality Inn offers a room rate of $74 as long as availability lasts. It is timely in light of Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s recent Los Angeles Times editorial and comments at a Whitman College on the importance of Snake River Dam removal. And Congressman Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) introduction of a Bill; (HR 1615) in Congress that would require study of Snake river dam breaching and other restrictions on human uses of this important river system. Both McDermott and Babbitt will be invited to testify at the hearing. Remember the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Plan (ICBEMP)? Some people say Rep. McDermott’s plan is ICBEMP on steroids. Numerous Federal agencies and green groups have embraced the Biologicial Opinion for the Columbia River and the Salmon Recovery Plan. These plans would institute land use planning on private property in a vast area of 70 million acres in the Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana. Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is enaged in this issue again. On March 7, 2005 he gave a talk to 300 people in Walla Walla, WA entitled "Wheat, Wine and Waters: Restoring the Lower Snake River" where he advocated removing all four dams on the lower Snake River to restore salmon populations. You must fight back now before the giant green multi-national industrial complex gains more ground. The Congressional hearing on this issue scheduled for June 6 in Clarkston, WA is a great place to start. Congress must see a large group of very motivated folks who want the Columbia/Snake to remain a working river. This will be an important opportunity for the northwest to educate Congress on the importance of the Rivers to our well-being and how out of control the Endangered Species Act has become. The world is run by those who show up and this is our opportunity to show up. A rally is planned before the hearing and if enough are in town the night before there will be an opportunity for discussion on these important issues. If you are planning to come to Clarkston, let us know by return e-mail sent to [email protected] Even though you may not get an opportunity to testify, be sure to bring written testimony with you. By Monday you will be able to download a testimony questionnaire from www.landrights.org that you can use to submit testimony. There are four choices. You can choose one or all. This is only intended to give you a platform to start your testimony. You should add your personal comments. You can add additional sheets of paper. But get your testimony in. Please forward this message as widely as possible. -- To unsubscribe from this mailing list; please visit http://governance.net and enter your email address.