Two Petitions that are Vital to the continuation of Klamath Basin
Farming, Recreation and ACCESS These
two petitions are to Keep the Winema-Fremont National Forest in Oregon OPEN to public
use. ANYONE
can sign them, and you can live ANYWHERE – after all, this is Oregon
forest today, and YOUR forests Tomorrow! Do you enjoy food from farming?
Do you like to recreate? Then, PLEASE, sign these two petitions! Please,
sign both petitions – please,
husbands and wives, sign the petitions separately from your spouses. We
hope to have a four-FOOT-tall stack of petitions, and individual signers
will help the stack grow faster. Hunting,
fishing, trail riding, camping, woodcutting, etc., will likely be
totally banned and/or exorbitant fees charged to continue recreational
pursuits of any kind, no matter how 'passive.' We hope
to present a HUGE stack of signed petitions to the Klamath Basin
federal, State, and local government representatives at a public meeting
in February 2004. Please
return signed petitions to either of the following: The
Basin Alliance P.O.
Box 8161 Klamath
Falls, OR 97601 or The
Klamath Bucket Brigade 201
Main Street, Suite B Klamath
Falls, OR 97601
Request to Elected and Agency Officials, to Provide Equal Access To Negotiations in the Klamath Basin Whereas:
The Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust has set up closed-door
negotiations, purportedly with the support of high levels of government,
to obtain a comprehensive settlement of Klamath Basin Issues. Whereas:
The above negotiations appear to be attempting to develop
agreements to give away hundreds of thousands of acres of our public
land and set forth water management decisions that will have a vast
effect on the whole community. Whereas:
I do not believe Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust’s objectives
represent the goals of the community, or the best interests of the
Klamath Basin. Whereas:
The Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust has hired Dr. Jake Kann, a
Tribal scientist whose work was used in the 2001 biological opinion –
the BO that shut down the Klamath
Project. Whereas:
The Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust has been the benefactor of
exclusive contracts to market water. Whereas: According
to their white paper, the Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust seeks to
purchase the water rights from 48 square miles of agricultural land,
threatening tens of thousands of acres of irrigated agriculture. Whereas:
The Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust appears to have a
significant conflict of interest, in the both the president and
secretary personally profit from water marketing contracts.
Additionally the president’s daughter is a scientist involved
in determining the amount of water gained. I therefore
request that the government halt all support of the Klamath Basin
Rangeland Trust particularly support for closed-door negotiations to
give away our National Forest lands to the Klamath Tribe.
I also request that there be no more special deals provided by
the Government to the Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust. _______________________________
____________________________________ Signature
Printed Name _______________________________________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________________________________ City
State
Zip Request to Elected and Agency Officials to Maintain Intact the Winema
and Fremont National Forests as part of our National Heritage for the
use of all citizens. Whereas:
The Klamath Tribes of Oregon are attempting to have 690,000
acres of our National Forest given to them. Whereas:
The Klamath Tribes have filed claims for water which would
prevent virtually all surface irrigation in the Upper Klamath Basin. Whereas:
The Klamath Tribes voted to introduce the voluntary
withdrawal act, in Congress allowing their members to sell the
reservation for cash (February 2, 3, and 9th 1950 tribal
council meeting). The
voluntary withdrawal act did not pass Congress but evolved into the Act
Providing for Termination of Federal Supervision of the Klamath Tribes
allowing the Tribes to sell the reservation in exchange for cash, for
the withdrawing members. Whereas:
As reported at the July 29, 1954 General Council meeting the
elected Tribal delegates, wrote the following about the Termination Bill
“In conclusion, we desire to advise the tribes that we believe one of
the most desirable features of the bill, and one which has encouraged us
to agree upon the bill as reported by the House Committee, is that which
provides for a complete and accurate appraisal of tribal property.” Whereas:
1,659 tribal members voted to sell and 80 voted to remain;
394 did not vote (source: the Federal Register and the list of Persons
Electing to Remain), and the Tribal Members received over $220 million
actual dollars compensation for the various sales (approximately $990
million in today’s dollars). Whereas:
If this new reservation is granted, thousands of landowners
will be in the middle of a sovereign nation, property values will likely
plummet, access may be denied or curtailed for woodcutting, hunting,
fishing, horseback riding, hiking, snowmobiling, boating and other
recreational opportunities. Whereas:
The Tribes receive millions in federal funding.
These monies have been used in part to fund legal and scientific
efforts to claim all the water of the Klamath Basin.
If successful these efforts would ruin communities and the
agricultural economy. Whereas:
If funding to the Klamath Tribe was to be eliminated,
individual members would still receive health, education and welfare
benefits from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as part of a federally
recognized Tribe. I therefore
request that the Klamath Tribes of Oregon not be granted any new lands.
I also request the elimination of all federal funding of the Klamath
Tribes of Oregon, making the tribe self-sufficient, as envisioned in the
act restoring federal recognition. __________________________________
________________________________________ Signature
Printed Name _____________________________________________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________________________________________ City
State
Zip
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