Human Blockade Halts Logging on Karuk Sacred Sites

Klamath Justice Coalition Halts Logging on Karuk Sacred Sites 
by Dan Bacher, Indymedia, North Coast
Wednesday Dec 16th, 2009 11:11 AM

This morning the Klamath Justice Coalition used a human blockade of 15 people to defend Karuk sacred sites from logging activities. The action took place near Orleans, CA within the Six Rivers National Forest and halted work on the Orleans Community Fuels Reduction Plan. “The OCFR is actually the Orleans Culture and Forest Reduction plan,” said Leaf Hillman, a Karuk Ceremonial Leader in Orleans. Below are the press releases from the Klamath Justice Coalition and the Karuk Tribe.
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PRESS RELEASE - Klamath Justice Coalition
For Immediate Release: December 16, 2009
For more information: Leaf Hillman, Karuk Indian 530-627-3710

ORLEANS RESIDENTS MOVE TO HALT FOREST SERVICE PLANS TO DESTROY SACRED SITES
Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelly Breaks Promises and Federal Law

Orleans, CA – This morning the Klamath Justice Coalition used a human blockade to defend Karuk sacred sites from logging activities. The action took place near Orleans, CA within the Six Rivers National Forest and halted work on the Orleans Community Fuels Reduction Plan.

Forest Service contractors were greeted by activists before day break at Orleans Mountain Lookout Road which leads to one of the units in dispute. Crews turned back without involving law enforcement.

“This morning’s small but important victory marks the beginning of our campaign to defend Karuk sacred sites and protect the health of our forests,” said Orleans local Chook- Chook Hillman.

This logging operation was intended to be part of a larger fuels reduction program developed by the US Forest Service with community buy-in. However, in the end the Forest Service betrayed the local community once again.

According to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the project, the stated Purpose and Need for the Orleans Community Fuel Reduction and Forest Health Project (OCFR) is to manage forest stands to reduce fuels accumulations and improve forest health around the community of Orleans, while enhancing cultural values associated with the Panamnik World Renewal Ceremonial District.

“The OCFR is actually the Orleans Culture and Forest Reduction plan,” said Hillman.

Originally, Forest Supervisor Tryone Kelly engaged with community members on a collaborative process to develop a fuels reduction plan that would protect sacred areas, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, and protect sensitive stands of hardwoods. However, in practice it looks like another timber harvest that disregards the concerns of the community.

“We are shocked that the Forest Service thinks that it can get away with lying to our community. We want fuels reduction, but we will not accept the destruction of Karuk sacred sites or a timber sale disguised as a fuels reduction plan,” added Annelia Hillman.

This is not the first time that Kelly has shown a particular insensitivity to Tribal cultural issues. Last year he oversaw the bull dozing of a Tribal member’s that was on land disputed to be Indian Trust Land. The act not only destroyed a home, but destroyed a nearby archeological site and a contemporary dance ground.

Again during last years’ wildfires, Kelly directed the construction of firebreaks and use of heavy equipment that destroyed sections of “medicine man trails” and high country alters used during annual World Renewal Ceremonies. Representatives from the Karuk Tribe urged Kelley to build the breaks in areas that were less sensitive but the concerns with ignored. “Its like Kelly is hell bent to destroy our sacred areas one step at a time.” Said Hillman.

The Klamath Justice Coalition is not new to direct action as a tactic to force change. The group has staged direct actions in Scotland, Omaha, NE, Portland, OR, and Sacramento, CA, and Salt Lake City, Utah focused on the removal of Klamath Dams.

Who we are:

The Klamath Justice Coalition is an ad hoc group of Klamath Basin Residents from all walks of life. We are Indians, non-natives, mothers, fathers, workers, hippies, youth, and elders. Our goal is to ensure that the cultures and ecosystems of Klamath Communities are protected and enhanced.

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Karuk Tribe
P R E S S R E L E A S E
For Immediate Release: December 16, 2009
For more information:
Craig Tucker, Spokesman, Karuk Tribe, cell 916-207-8294

US FOREST SERVICE LOGGING PROJECT THREATENS SACRED SITES
Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelley Ignores Local Community, Tribal Leaders, and his own Proposed Plan

Orleans, CA – Six Rivers National Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelley has directed his crews to begin logging with heavy equipment in areas sacred to the Karuk Tribe in violation of his own proposed fuels reduction plan.

“We participated in good faith in the Forest Service’s collaborative process. Although we were assured that our sacred areas would be protected and our values respected and enhanced, it’s clear now that these were hollow promises. Furthermore, the actions directed by Kelly are in violation of federal law,” said Bill Tripp, Eco-cultural Resources Specialist for the Karuk Tribe.

Over the past three years, the Orleans Ranger District in the Six Rivers National Forest has held a series of stakeholder meetings allegedly designed to work with the Orleans community to develop a fuels reduction plan that both Native and non-native community members could accept. After dozens of meetings and an appeal of Kelley’s original plan, tribal members, as well as non-native local residents, thought that a consensus had been reached. However, when logging began, community members realized immediately that Kelley had reneged on his promises and violated the law by implementing a plan inconsistent with his own Environmental Impact Statement.

At issue is the insufficient analysis related to use of heavy logging equipment in areas deemed sacred by the Karuk Tribe, divergence from measures designed to protect, promote, enhance and restore stands of ecological sensitive hardwoods, failure to protect large diameter trees[c1] , and a failure to make good on a commitment for multi-party monitoring during the fuels reduction operations.

According to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the project, the stated Purpose and Need for the Orleans Community Fuel Reduction and Forest Health Project (OCFR) is to manage forest stands to reduce fuels accumulations and improve forest health around the community of Orleans, while enhancing cultural values associated with the Panamnik World Renewal Ceremonial District. Current logging operations are inconsistent with the FEIS and therefore violates the National Environmental Policy act. The Forest Service also proceeded without required consultations with the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO).

“The actual work on the ground will do the opposite of the stated goals. OCFR in all actuality has begun to compromise the integrity of spiritual values associated with the Panamnik World Renewal District,” said Tripp.

The areas being debated represent 914 acres to be mechanically harvested. The USFS awarded the contract to Timber Products for nearly $1 million dollars.

The Tribe is demanding that the Forest Service halt all logging operations until these issues can be resolved and sacred sites protected.

Leaf Hillman is a Karuk Ceremonial Leader in Orleans who contends that this represents the latest in a series of bad decisions by Kelley that have served to denigrate Karuk Cultural areas. According to Hillman, “Tyrone Kelley has no respect for this community or native cultures. The Tribe and local community members worked hard to develop a fuels reduction plan that meets the needs of both the community and the Forest Service. Kelley’s actions are not only an act of bad faith, they are an act of cultural genocide. We will not sit idly by while he destroys the ecological integrity of these forests and the Karuk Tribe’s sacred areas, we will defend our homeland.”
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Karuk Tribe Vows to Protect Traditional Fishing Grounds on Klamath River from Recreational Miners

Klamath Tribe battles ‘recreational genocide’
Written by SHELLEY BLUEJAY PIERCE



Native American Times
NativeTimes.com

March 16, 2009

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Over the past many months, new threats to the Klamath River salmon populations have prompted decisive action by the Karuk Tribe in California. Leaf Hillman, Vice-Chairman for the Tribe, told Native American Times in an interview this week that the recent attacks upon their ancestral fishing grounds are, “Nothing more than Recreational Genocide.”

Dams, drought, developmental expansion and environmental contaminations have plagued the local rivers and experts have said that California may be faced with the worst fisheries collapse in history.

In 2008, the Karuk Tribe, California Trout, and Friends of the North Fork formally petitioned California Fish and Game to restrict suction dredge mining. This controversial gold mining technique has brought strong criticism from local groups who demand that state agencies limit the recreational mining technique.

The Karuk, aided by support from the Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe, the Sierra Fund, various sport-fishing groups, and several other conservation organizations are fighting to protect the endangered fish populations. Despite strong opposition by all of these groups, the agency decided not to act on the petition, allowing the recreational mining to continue.

As a result of the Karuk Tribe filing a lawsuit in 2006, the Fish and Game department is under a court order to re-write mining permit rules statewide. Due to extreme budget constraints in California, however, the agency has yet to act on the new mining rule mandate.

Recently, a recreational gold mining club, referring to themselves as, “The New 49ers,” legally challenged the Karuk Tribe’s right to fish at their ancestral fishing area, Ishi Pishi Falls. The hobbyist miners contend that this violation of the California state constitution, allows the Tribe to kill far more salmon than gold mining and other activities combined and that the commission has illegally granted fishing privileges to a specific group of people, specifically, the Karuks.

Dr. Craig Tucker, spokesman for the Karuk, told Native American Times, “Depending on how far the mining groups want to challenge the ancestral fishing rights, the tribe may seek federal fishing rights as a remedy. In the meantime, we are asking the Department of Fish and Game Director, Don Koch, to immediately implement emergency restrictions on where and when suction dredging can take place. This same authority is used to restrict recreational and commercial fishing when the fish runs are low.”

The groups banding together to protect the fish species in the Klamath River are battling against a mining process called “suction dredging.” These dredges, powered by gas or diesel engines, use powerful vacuum hoses to pull the gravel and sediment from the bottom of riverbeds. This sediment material passes through a sluice box and allows the heavier gold particles to settle into a series of riffles. After the gold is removed, the balance of the dredged material is often dumped back into the river.

This dredging technique is known to redistribute toxic mercury into the environment. As stated in earlier press reports, Izzy Martin, Director of the Sierra Fund, explained, “There is a lot of mercury settled on the bottom of these rivers as the result of gold mining operations in the 1800’s. Dredging reintroduces mercury to the stream creating a toxic hazard for fish and people.”

Mercury contamination has become a global concern as it applies to fish species in that testing has revealed increasingly high levels of mercury in fish populations that may be harmful when consumed. Exposure to mercury can lead to mental retardation, birth defects and neurological damage.

Suction dredging has come increasingly under attack as declining numbers of fish species such as steelhead, Coho salmon, green sturgeon, and lamprey are reported. Damage to the spawning grounds for the fish and the environmental impacts to critical river habitats are drawing the varied groups, including the Karuk Tribe, to take strong action to stop recreational mining.

“Dredging disturbs spawning gravels and kills salmon eggs and immature lamprey that reside in the gravel for up to seven years before maturing. In a system like the Klamath where salmon can be stressed due to poor water quality, having a dredge running in the middle of the stream affects the fishes ability to reach their spawning grounds,” explained Toz Soto, lead fisheries biologist for the Karuk Tribe, in previous press reports.

California Fish and Game manages suction dredge permits and opponents to this type of mining state that the CFG sustains a significant financial loss since the mining fees fail to cover expenses. Figures given by these groups explain that this amounts to spending $1.25 million per year to subsidize the destruction of California fisheries by gold mining hobbyists.

Many of the recreational miners come into California from other states because the mining laws are less restrictive there.

The Karuk Tribe, indigenous to the Klamath River region, states that the threat to them is greater than ever. Vice-Chairman Hillman told Native American Times, “The first gold rush killed more than half our people in 10 years. This modern gold rush continues to kill our fish and our culture.”

Hillman added, “The salmon populations have been effected in so many ways from dams on the rivers to environmental damage and mining. As it is now, we cannot harvest enough fish for our ceremonies or to meet our families’ food needs. The recreational gold miners are just a repeat of what began over 100 years ago.”

Though the Karuk Tribe does harvest salmon for food and ceremonial use only, the Tribe rarely harvests more than 200 fish. Since the population of the Tribe is approximately 4,200 members, the amount of fish taken from Ishi Pishi Falls doesn’t begin to meet the needs of their members. With recent drought warnings across California being issued, the Karuk fear that the salmon numbers will be far less given the stresses all ready upon the fish.

In response to the newest attacks from the recreational gold miners, The New 49-ers, Leaf Hillman stated, “Our fishing grounds have been used by the Karuk long before this land was called ‘America.’ We still use traditional dip nets to fish for the migrating salmon and our way of catching them allows us to release the more endangered species back into the river so that their populations can increase.”

Vice Chairman Hillman concluded by telling Native American Times, “We will not be removed from our traditional fishing grounds in favor of these miners. Harvesting and consuming salmon is a fundamental part of our Karuk culture. The recreational miners now threaten more than the survival of fish, they threaten the culture of the Karuk.”
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