January 16, 2012
Siskiyou County Water Users Assoc. issued a Press Release yesterday stating " Scientists have accused the Department of the Interior of Klamath related scientific misconduct in yet another recent incident claiming the ignoring of credible science from its own Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) Klamath Basin Area Office (KBAO). 7 KBAO biological scientists attest they are being reassigned or terminated, and the field fisheries research office shut down, in response to field office studies contradicting assertions made by several other founding Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) Agencies advocating dams removals plus Klamath Basin wide ‘Agreement’ regulatory expansion and mandate. Read more from Department of the Interior Charged with Scientific Misconduct.
Salmon runs are notoriously variable: strong one year, and weak the next. New research shows that the same may be true from one century to the next. Scientists in the past 20 years have recognized that salmon stocks vary not only year to year, but also on decades-long time cycles. One example is the 30-year to 80-year booms and busts in salmon runs in Alaska and on the West Coast driven by the climate pattern known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. "We've been able to reconstruct what salmon runs looked like before the start of commercial fishing. But rather than finding a flat baseline – some sort of long-term average run size – we've found that salmon runs fluctuated hugely, even before commercial fishing started. That these strong or weak periods could persist for sometimes hundreds of years means we need to reconsider what we think of as 'normal' for salmon stocks," said Lauren Rogers, who did this work while earning her doctorate in aquatic and fishery sciences at the UW and is now a post-doctoral researcher with the University of Oslo, Norway. Rogers is the lead author of a paper on the findings in the Jan. 14 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Learn more by reading the University of Washington's Press Release Salmon runs boom, go bust over centuries on the research.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has announced that he will step down in March. Salazar, a former Colorado senator, has run the Interior Department throughout President Barack Obama's first term and pushed renewable power such as solar and wind and the settlement of a longstanding dispute with American Indians. In a statement, Obama said Salazar had helped "usher in a new era of conservation for our nation's land, water and wildlife" and had played a major role in efforts to "expand responsible development of our nation's domestic energy resources." Read more from the Associated Press article Interior Secretary Ken Salazar leaving Cabinet.
Today's Posts:
Klamath River Basin Issues:
Statesman Journal: Thursday, Klamath Basin preservation covered Jan 11, 2013
Redding Record-Searchlight: Editorial: Science remains the underdog in political battles Jan 14, 2013
Leonard Masten, Hoopa Valley Tribe: In the Klamath Politics Defeat Science and Common Sense Jan 14, 2013
Pie N Politics: Department of the Interior Charged with Scientific Misconduct Jan 15, 2013
Capital Press: ODA taking specialty crop grant applications Jan 15, 2013
Times-Standard: Former Yurok Tribe forestry director arraigned on federal charges Jan 16, 2013
AP: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar leaving Cabinet Jan 16, 2013
PNW Salmon News:
Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Press Release: ODFW Salmon and Trout Advisory Committee to meet in Salem on Jan. 25 Jan 14, 2013
University of Washington: Salmon runs boom, go bust over centuries Jan 14, 2013
AP: Feds propose critical habitat for fish in NW Jan 14, 2013
NBC Bay Area: New Plan to Save Marin's Coho Salmon Jan 15, 2013
Important Reading:
San Francisco Chronicle: Move to extend wolf protections in state Jan 13, 2013
Capital Press: Washington lawmaker to propose moving wolves near supporters Jan 14, 2013
The Hill: Report: Obama officials issued $216 billion in regulations last year Jan 14, 2013
Western Farm Press: Endangered Species Act hits 40th birthday Jan 15, 2013