"Key Enviro Group Retreats From Klamath River Settlement"

"An influential environmental group has backed away from a settlement that would remove four dams along the Klamath River to restore salmon and steelhead runs that have been partially blocked for most of the past century on the California-Oregon border.

Friends of the River said yesterday it would not sign the so-called Klamath Hydropower Settlement Agreement, claiming the pact includes so many loopholes that removal of the four dams appears unlikely.

Steve Evans, conservation director for the group, said environmentalists have tried for five years to work with the owner of the dams, Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp, to reach an accord that would balance salmon restoration with hydroelectric supply in southern Oregon and Northern California. But the resulting agreement, which was released last September to much fanfare, comes with too many strings attached for public financing, Evans said."


Colin Sullivan reports for Greenwire February 9, 2010.