by Chuck Edwards

Created on: May 04, 2008

The Klamath River is very sick. This once mighty river runs through the Cascade Mountain Range, from southern Oregon to northern California.

The Klamath River, the third largest river on the west coast, was once one of the most productive salmon rivers in the country with over a million salmon returning to spawn in its waters each year. Now, the Klamath River is only a shadow of its former self.

Every 50 years, the Klamath River Dams undergo re-licensing, and now is the chance for dam removal. Many critics of dam removal state that the dams produce "clean," renewable energy. Although hydroelectricity is sustainable on a massive scale, ancillary ramifications, such as the destruction of wildlife habitat makes it, in a holistic sense, not "green"; and new projects are being protested worldwide. Algae growth on the Klamath, created by an increase in water temperatures by the dams and diversions, actually produce methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Warren Buffett owns the Klamath Dams through his subsidiary, Pacificorp. It has been reported that removal of the dam is more financially advantageous than building fish ladders; however, Pacificorp, one of the lowest electrical producers in the United States, prefers to transport migrating salmon by semi-truck around the dams. Whereas the attempt to do something to save the fish is appreciated, trucking the fish around the dam is not a permanent or clean energy solution. It is reported that the Klamath Dams are old, outdated, and inefficient; however, they remain.

The license to operate these Klamath River dams, owned by PacifiCorp (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway's Mid-American Energy Holdings) expired in 2006. The corporation is now in the process of seeking to renew license for these dams.

The Yurok Tribe, together with a coalition of scientists, commercial fishermen, local business owners, conservation groups and other Native American Tribes, are seeking the removal of the lower four dams from the Klamath River. Removing these dams is most cost effective option for recovering Klamath River salmon and protecting the communities that depend on them.

The problems of the Klamath River are not easily solved; however, a lot is at stake:
The U.S. Government signed a treaty with the various Klamath and Coast tribes in 1864 guaranteeing the tribes' access to Klamath basin fish forever. The 1864 Treaty provided that the Tribes would have "secured" to them "the exclusive right of taking fish in the river, streams and

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