Published 1:15 pm Monday, June 8, 2020
Capital Press is to be commended for its continued, professional reporting on the importance of our family farmers and ranchers, what they do for our Nation and the many challenges they face on a daily basis. Your coverage of the recent “Shut Down and Fed Up” water rally held in Klamath County on May 29 was just the latest example of your informative reporting.
On that day, people within the Klamath Basin and far beyond answered the call to unity and took a stand for agriculture. Thousands of men, women, and children from all backgrounds demonstrated the enormity and essential nature of the work done by our farming and ranching communities. Over 2,200 vehicles made up a 29-mile long convoy that wound through farmland desperately in need of strong, sustainable solution for its rightful irrigation water.
We are humbled, grateful, and enormously proud of every person, every operation and every organization that came together for our farms, families, wildlife refuges and communities. We were also grateful for the excellent news coverage your publication dedicated to our event.
Unfortunately, your recent editorial (“Standing up for Klamath farmers”) reached some conclusions that did not reflect the public remarks made at the rally by elected officials and farm leaders. It also did not capture the bipartisan nature of political support we have received from Congress and the White House on Klamath Basin water issues, dating back to 2001.
Congressmen Greg Walden of Oregon and Doug LaMalfa of California both delivered remarks to the assembled crowd near the end of the rally. Both of these Republican representatives have played critical roles in addressing the non-stop water challenges facing Klamath Basin farmers. President Trump’s Administration has also been working hard in our watershed.
Our two Democratic Senators from Oregon have also worked tirelessly to address our problems. The recent Capital Press editorial inaccurately characterized their involvement here in the Klamath Basin, noting frustration that Senators Wyden and Merkley “can’t seem to generate more interest in the area, or a solution to its problems.”
No one in their public remarks at the rally criticized either of our Senators. In fact, those close to the local water issues are very appreciative of their work on our behalf, and recognize that bipartisan, bicameral cooperation is essential to long-term success in Washington, D.C. Rep. Walden and our Oregon senators have worked in a bipartisan fashion for much of the past decade, looking to local water users and other interests for ideas, introducing legislation, and delivering laws and tens of millions of dollars in federal funding that have helped our community deal with water shortages.
For example, in 2010 all three members of the Oregon delegation worked tirelessly to pass an emergency supplemental spending bill which resulted in $10 million in drought relief for farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin.
Senator Merkley — now the senior Democrat on the Senate Ag Appropriations Committee — in 2018 used his seat on the Environment and Public Works Committee to include language in the Senate’s Water Resources Development Bill authorizing up to $10 million a year for the Bureau of Reclamation to work with the farming and ranching community to develop and implement strategies to align water demand with available supply.
Senator Merkley and Senator Wyden — the latter, using his position as Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee — tried multiple times in the Senate to implement landmark water resource agreements in the Klamath Basin to develop solutions to water issues affecting the region. Although those agreements did not come into fruition, the countless hours our two Oregon Senators spent working towards long term solutions for our Basin demonstrate that they do indeed care about our community.
It has been our experience that the Merkley and Wyden offices initiate contacts seeking to help, and are always available to take Klamath farmers and ranchers’ calls. It is hard not to recognize that their regional staff appear to spend most of their time working on Klamath County issues.
And, while water challenges take up much of their time, the Senators have worked closely with Rep. Walden to address other pressing needs in our community, including fighting to return local commercial air service. We are fortunate that these leaders know the difference between politics and policy. The two Senators, Rep. Walden and Rep. LaMalfa have all stepped up for farmers and ranchers in other parts of Oregon and California, as well.
Overall in the past twenty years, the bipartisan support shown by Congressional Democrats and Republicans, and the administrations of the George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump on Klamath water matters has been consistently strong. We are truly blessed to have this type of political attention, and it says a lot about the local community’s ability to effectively engage with Washington, regardless of which party is in control.
Leaders from both political parties will need to continue to work together to get the Klamath water situation back on track again. We appreciate the opportunity to “fill in some gaps” in your original editorial with this “tip of our hats” to our two Senators from Oregon.
