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Klamath panel gets grief Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Klamath Indian Jeff Mitchell of Chiloquin asked a National Academy of Sciences panel meeting in Medford Thursday to "separate fact from fiction" when considering the fate of endangered sucker fish. At left is panel chairman William Lewis. To say there was no reason to shut off water was bad science, critics say at Medford meeting By MARK FREEMAN Research biologists chided a panel of academics here Thursday for claiming there was no scientific justification for shutting off water to Klamath Basin irrigators last year to help protected fish survive the 2001 drought. Representatives from several government and tribal entities told a National Academy of Sciences panel that it held unreasonably rigid standards in declaring that federal agencies had no proof that limiting Klamath Basin Project irrigators was necessary. Based on a threshold of "best available science," the government shut off irrigation to half the basin's farmers last year, keeping Upper Klamath Lake levels high to protect two species of endangered suckers and boosting lower Klamath River flows high enough to save threatened coho salmon. The panel last month declared in an interim report that those decisions were not scientifically justified. But it did so by dismissing important biological reports solely because they did not meet "technical validity" thresholds without ever defining what studies are good enough to pass NAS muster, Yurok tribe biologist Mike Belchik said. "It's not that everybody thinks the (panel) should believe everything we say," Belchik told scientists gathered at Medford's Rogue Regency Inn. "We just want to be heard." Don Markle, an Oregon State University biologist, added that assumptions and incorrect data even rendered the panel's report unusable. "There is no sound scientific basis for this statement of yours," Markle said. NAS panel chairman William Lewis admitted the various agencies and his panel members "are applying slightly different standards" to whether available science is good enough to prove irrigators had to be shut down to protect suckers and salmon. But the Bush administration turned to the NAS for a close look at the science, and Lewis said that's what the panel is doing. "Although the notion makes sense that the lake levels should be high, we find no evidence to support that," said Lewis, a University of Colorado professor. "We were charged to look for scientific evidence, and we didn't find it." Lewis added that the panel's findings are nonbinding and are offered solely as advice. But the panel's controversial interim report already is being used by the Bureau of Reclamation to draft a 10-year management plan for the Klamath Basin Project that calls for guaranteeing less water for suckers and salmon - a move critics say puts the fish in jeopardy. "Whether you know it or not, you have become the Alan Greenspan of the river," said Ronnie Pierce, a biologist of the Karuk Tribe on the lower Klamath. "Alan Greenspan speaks, and the stock market goes up. You speak, flows in the river go down." The NAS panel's 11 volunteer scientists flew to Medford from across the country for a three-day session that began Thursday by hearing from a broad spectrum of scientists and others about how irrigators and protected fish can best co-exist in the Klamath Basin. Klamath Indian Jeff Mitchell of Chiloquin gave the panel an impassioned plea to "separate fact from fiction" and find what is necessary to get endangered suckers rejuvenated enough so the tribes can resurrect the centuries-old sucker harvest. Dave Vogel, a biologist hired by Klamath irrigators, urged the panel to turn away from focusing on water-allocation questions and look at wetlands improvements, better fish screens, fish ladders and other aspects for sucker and salmon recovery. The group will spend today touring the lower Klamath River from Iron Gate Dam downstream to the coast, then reconvene Saturday in Medford for a closed-door session. A final report is expected in a year. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.