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Convoy for Klamath stops in White City photo by Drew Fleming More than 100 attend rally, with donations headed for farmers By JILL BRISKEY WHITE CITY � Beneath the fluttering signs and banners sat the gifts. As country music played and speakers rallied in support for farmers in the Klamath Basin, Jackson County residents anonymously dropped off dozens of items � a bucket filled with food, a donation of cash, a few gallons of water. Those gifts, along with all of the proceeds from Monday�s barbecue and auction at Big R in White City, will be presented to farmers and business owners during a parade and support rally in Klamath Falls today. A truck convoy that has drummed up both monetary support and awareness for the situation in the Klamath Basin will end its journey at today�s event. The three-truck convoy started in Elko, Nev. It is one of three convoys converging on Klamath Falls from as far away as Southern California and Montana. The rally in White City was the Elko convoy�s last stop after traveling through Nevada, Utah, Idaho and several cities in Oregon. "We�ve been telling the people all about it," said Klamath Falls resident and convoy organizer Dennis Campbell. "The people have just poured their hearts out." Campbell said farmers and business owners have been hit hard by recent events in the Klamath Basin. He said he hopes the effort will spark concern among outlying communities through education. Water for the Klamath Project � a federal irrigation system that supplies water to roughly half the farmlands in the Klamath Basin � was cut this year because of the drought. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation shut off irrigation to an estimated 90 percent of the Klamath Project in order to protect the endangered sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake and threatened coho salmon in the Klamath River. Although headgates were opened last month to release 70,000 acre feet of water, the water is expected to run out this week, setting up a tense situation when the Bureau of Reclamation tries to close irrigation headgates. Over the past month, protesters supporting farmers have developed a large encampment around the headgates controlling water intake on the Klamath Project. The site has been marked by an inverted American flag � a traditional distress signal � and signs denouncing the Endangered Species Act and environmentalists. The headgates are under armed guard by U.S. Bureau of Land Management police. Klamath Falls farmer Bill Oetting, who helped organize the convoy, said there were no militias associated with the relief effort, though there are plenty of people who objected to federal policies on public lands and the Endangered Species Act. "There are two items on the convoy," Oetting said. "One is to raise relief moneys to help farmers through the winter. The second is to inform the general public about what is actually going on here. "This is a peaceful movement." Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said he did not anticipate any violence, but was putting on extra patrols to control traffic and crowds. Extra state police have been assigned to the area. More than 100 Rogue Valley residents attended Monday�s event in White City and listened to politicians, farmers, students and business owners voice their concerns. "The Klamath Basin is the clarion call of all farmers," said C.W. Smith, former Jackson County sheriff. "It�s an issue that will impact families across America who put food on the table." Ron Bjork, president of the Jackson County Farm Bureau, attended the rally to show both his and the bureau�s support for the farmers in the Klamath Basin. "It�s a pitiful, pitiful situation. You have acre after acre dried up, and for what?" Bjork said. "The same thing can happen here. We�re losing our rights. Consequently, we�ll have to put our foot down." Many speakers expressed anger over the Endangered Species Act, which protects the sucker fish and coho salmon, as well as the federal government�s involvement in local affairs. "We believe we have a right to be governed by our voice, not the voice that comes out of Washington, D.C.," Klamath Falls resident and farmer Rick Rodgers told the crowd. "The people in the Klamath Basin have been denied the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." "It�s affecting us all now," said Jackson County Commissioner Jack Walker. "I hope we can wake this giant now." Big R and other area businesses donated many of the auction items for Monday�s event. Local grocery stores and McDonald�s donated the food for the barbecue. All proceeds will go to the Klamath Relief Project. Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] The Associated Press contributed to this report. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.