http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/24137Did Dick Cheney kill 70,000 salmon? Committee to probe
Submitted by matthewg on Sat, 2007-06-30 09:21.
Daily Kos has some history and how the McNerney victory started this ball rolling:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/28/18827/8302Raw Story
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Did_Dick_Cheney_kill_70000_salmon_0629.htmlA Congressional committee is preparing to investigate Vice President Dick Cheney's role in water-management decisions that killed more than 70,000 salmon in Oregon.
Three dozen West Coast Democrats requested the Resources Committee investigation after the Washington Post reported of Cheney's involvement in managing flows from the Klamath River in 2002.
The Post reported that Cheney personally contacted the Interior Department official in charge of the program to push for more irrigation water be delivered from the river to drought-striken farmers and ranchers.
Environmentalists and officials in California and Washington blame the federal policy, which critics say violated the Endangered Species Act, was responsible for the deaths of 70,000 salmon, whose corpses lined the banks of the river. The Post said the plan was enacted "because of Cheney's intervention."
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Excerpts from AP report:
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"The ramifications of that salmon kill are still being felt today as returns to the Klamath River are so low that commercial, sport and tribal fishing seasons have been curtailed for the past three years," 36 House Democrats said in a letter to Rahall calling for the hearing.
Commercial fishing in California and Oregon was cut by more than 90 percent last year — the largest commercial fishing closure in the history of the country — resulting in more than $60 million in damage to coastal economies, the letter said.
Megan McGinn, a spokeswoman for the vice president's office, said late Wednesday she had not seen the letter and could not comment.