Water
Nowhere in America is there better opportunity to restore an entire river system.
Tim Palmer, author of The Wild and Scenic Rivers of America
in a speech to the California Wilderness Conference in Sacramento, 2001
Speeches and Testimony
"Bald Eagle Conference Plenary Speech" is a general overview of my views and vision for the Klamath Basin. It was given at the annual Bald Eagle Conference in 2000. It examines the plight of the extraordinary Klamath River Basin and how more much can be made locally from conserving and restoring nature rather than exploiting and depleting it.
"Tulelake Rotary Speech" presented my views and vision for the Klamath Basin in 1993. Prior to giving this speech, I was served with a SLAPP ("Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation") suit. It was later withdrawn by the plaintiff in exchange for the Oregon Natural Resources Council not suing him.
"Klamath Falls House Resources Committee Field Hearing Testimony" was summarized orally on June 16, 2001 at the Klamath County Fairgrounds Events Center before a hostile audience of approximately 1,500 people.
Reports
15 Damnable Dams
In 1994, what is now Oregon Wild (then Oregon Natural Resources Council) published a report entitled “15 Damnable Dams.” The fifteen are listed below followed by their status. Six are still doing their damning, one is on an inevitable path toward removal, five have been removed, and three were never constructed.
The dams covered in “15 Damnable Dams are:
Hells Canyon Complex (Hells Canyon Dam, Oxbow Dam, Brownlee Dam), Snake River. Unfortunately, still in existence and killing salmon.
Deschutes Complex (Pelton Dam, Round Butte Dam), Deschutes River. Unfortunately, still in existence and killing salmon.
Elk Creek Dam, Rogue River. “Notched” in 2008, allowing Elk Creek to again flow free. In 2019, Congress included Elk Creek into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Most of the massive hulk of the concrete monstrosity remains.
Gold Ray Dam Rogue River. Removed in 2010.
Savage Rapids Dam. Rogue River. Removed in 2009.
Hines Mill Dam. North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River. Removed in 1994.
Winchester Dam, North Umpqua River. Still there, but it’s just a matter of time for due process to play out and the wallets of the dam’s defenders (fat-cat “lake” shore owners) to empty.
Three Mile Falls Dam, Umatilla River. Unfortunately, still there.
Chiloquin Dam. Sprague River. Removed in 2008.
Proposed Salt Caves Dam, Klamath River. Dead. The free-flowing stretch is now an Oregon scenic waterway and a federal Wild and scenic river/
Proposed Abert Lake Dam. Abert Lake/Dead, but it could always come back. This proposed dam was in the lake. Alas, another dam on the Chewaucan River just upstream from where it empties into Lake Aber is dewatering the lake.
Proposed Milltown Hill Dam. Elk Creek of the Umpqua River. Dead. Douglas County ran out of money when federal timber receipts decreased.
Several other Oregon dams have been removed since 1994 and scores more need to be. Many varied conservation and outdoor organizations deserve credit for the dams that have been removed. For a pdf version of. this update, click here.
Links
Oregon Wild and WaterWatch of Oregon are two of my very favorite groups working on the conservation and restoration of the Klamath Basin.
Articles
The Beaver Solution: An Innovative Solution for Water Storage and Increased Late Summer Flows in the Columbia River Basin. The Lands Council.
Quotes
Nowhere in America is there better opportunity to restore an entire river system [than the Klamath River Basin].
Tim Palmer, author of The Wild and Scenic Rivers of America in a speech to the California Wilderness Conference in Sacramento, 2001