Posted on 01/27/2006 3:18:08 PM PST by Jeff Head
I am very close to finishing my book regarding The Stand at Klamath Falls and the crisis of 2001. Here is the cover art:
(Note: In this post I am including the Introduction, the Acknowledgements, and the Epilogue for review and comment.. The book should be completed and to the printers by the 1st of February.)
INTRODUCTION It has been almost five years since the memorable and pivotal events surrounding the struggle by farmers in the Klamath Basin of Oregon and California took place. Much has occurred since then that has overshadowed those events…but nothing can erase the importance of them or their impact, then, now, or in the future.
The time has come for this author to tell that story.
It is the story of how rural western farmers and their supporters stood up against entrenched environmentalists, liberal politicians, appointed Federal judges, and agencies of the Federal Government…and prevailed.
It is the story of farmers in the Klamath Basin and those who supported them in their struggle to reclaim their water rights in the summer of 2001. It is a story told through eye-witness accounts, narratives, and pictures. This author was humbled to stand with those patriotic, God-fearing Americans defending their God-given, unalienable rights against a Federal bureaucracy gone amok. It’s a story of how a rabid environmental lobby, federal judges, and politicians willfully perverted our system to deprive those citizens of their water and property rights. In so doing, those citizens were in danger of losing their livelihoods and their way of life.
It led to intolerable conditions that could not be allowed to stand…and those conditions did not stand.
May this inspiring story of American faith, courage, and determination serve as a beacon for all those who read it, may it also serve as a model for others to defend their own rights whenever this ugly specter rears its head.
Jeff Head
Emmett, ID, January 2006ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are too many individuals who gave of themselves, their hearts, their minds, their time, their means, and their body and soul to list individually. To all those who helped, either actively at the head-gates, or at home, on the internet, getting signatures, writing letters, making calls, posting on forums, or in other ways; thank you, and may God bless you.
The good farmers of the Klamath Basin faced a crisis of tremendous proportions in 2001, and in many ways, they still face it today. But, with the help they received, coupled with their own courage, commitment, ingenuity, and faith in God and their fellowman, they prevailed and got through.
Nonetheless, there are some I simply must mention individually.
To those farmers and their friends in Klamath; Joey, Danny, Barron, Barbara, Marni, Gavin, Mike, Bob, Gaylord, the Bill(s), James, Stan, Rick, Jim (God rest your soul) and Mary…thank you for showing me what true Americans can accomplish when they courageously stand,. Thank you for graciously allowing me, a misplaced Texan living in Idaho, to be a part of your struggle. God bless, keep, and prosper you each.
In addition, to a few of the tens of thousands who came from all across the country to help; Sean, Rocky, J.J, my son Jared, Brian, AuntB, Mary, the Dave(s), Bill, Christie, Phil, and Tom….thank you, and God bless and keep you for helping. All of you, with all the others who came, made a huge difference. The numbers mattered, and in the end, they mattered a lot to the administration and the course it ultimately chose to take.
To some of the web sites that supported the farmers and made a huge difference in garnering the much needed support; Freerepublic.com (Jim, thanks and God bless), SierraTimes.com (J.J., again, thanks and God’s best to you), the Frontiers of Freedom, KlamathBasinCrisis.com (where I initially learned of the troubles), and KamathBucketBrigade.com. Thanks for providing a revolution in the way news gets out. We are all better for it.
Finally, thanks especially to my wife, my children, my father (God rest his soul), and my mother for putting up with me as I gave myself to this cause. My love for you, my faith in God, and a desire to avoid similar circumstances fueled me. I have been taught from my youth that we should not expect help from others in such circumstances unless we are first willing help other. I know this is true and Jared, now you do too.
----- Content of book to go here. Approximately 180 pages -----
Sections include:
------------ End of content. Approximately 180 pages ------------
- The Background (1902-1988)
- The Buildup (1988-June 2001)
- The Stand at Klamath Falls (July 2001-September 10, 2001)
- 911 and The Deal (September 13, 2001)
- The Aftermath (September 2001-June 2003)
EPILOGUE The crisis in the Klamath Basin has abated and the farmers have prevailed…but it is not over. Water flowed again in the Spring of 2004, and again in 2005. As of this writing, record precipitation throughout the Northwest makes it clear that the 2006 growing season will be another one where the water flows and the irrigation and farming in the Klamath Basin continues as intended.
For the last four years, and now going into the fifth, since those fateful events in 2001, the farmers have not had to resort to protest and civil disobedience to get water that they have the rights to in the first place. Such an occurrence was narrowly averted in 2003, but it could be repeated again at almost any time.
That 2003 event punctuated that the danger and instability to the farming way of life in the Klamath Basin remain in place, and are only averted under the status quo by the political leanings and activities of elected and appointed officials. Under a different administration, like the Clinton administration of the 1990’s, or even a more liberal Republican one, it is likely that the original crisis would not have been addressed as it was, and equally likely that it would have long since raised its head again even if it had been.
For the liberty-loving, patriotic, and God-fearing farmers, there are some very critical lessons that have been learned.
1) The Endangered Species Act (ESA) must either be wholly done away with, or completely amended to its core. It has been wrested far beyond its original purpose. It has also become the source of the growth of a powerful and rabid environmental lobby with tendrils that reach to every state house in this nation, to both halls of congress, and the White House itself. Billions of dollars have become wrapped up in an industry that has become over-burdensome, corrupt, and far too powerful. Those tendrils now boasts many non-governmental organizations that attempt to use provisions of the ESA to implement United Nations based, and other socialistic initiatives that are the source endless infringement and encroachment on American citizen’s property and water rights. Such a condition in un-American to its core and cannot be allowed to continue. Until this key issue is addressed, the threat of another Klamath Crisis, either in the Klamath Basin or elsewhere will loom ever present.
2) The water rights and the very irrigation works themselves in the Klamath Project were meant to, and ought to belong to the farmers themselves, to be administered by them. Addressing this key, long-standing issue would make it much more difficult for the provisions of the ESA to be applied to the private irrigation works of the farmers, and make them much more independent and robust in their ability to administer and control their own destiny.
3) Irrespective of the leanings of the major media and their bias, their exists a powerful communication medium in America through the internet, talk radio, cell phones, and word of mouth that can bring significant physical support and political pressure when the ugly specter of judicial or administrative dictate rears its head. Such communication lines must remain in place, ready for instant use, as long as the threat of another crisis like the one that occurred in 2001 remains in place.
4) The willingness of a few dedicated people, using their God-given rights, their faith, their ingenuity, their dedication to principle, the courage and their determination can spark a virtual revolution, if those traits are applied wisely and with no intent or will to be the initiators of violence. If such violence is ever to be, and God forbid that it ever go that far, let it be the other side who initiates it. This faith, this determination, this dedication to principle, and this virtue can be the underlying foundation…indeed, it must be the underlying foundation upon which all the other lessons build. If it is, then a popular saying of the day can come into play whenever the crisis looms, whenever those opposed to this traditional American way of life come out of their dark shadows. That saying is, “if you build it, they will come”.
…and they did come to the Klamath Basin.
The vast majority of those who became aware of the horrible conditions that developed there could see, and they could feel the power of the commitment of these farmers to their liberty, their rights, and to their way of life.
So, they came. First by the dozens, then by the hundreds, and ultimately by the tens of thousands, they came. By extension, out across the nation, they came by the millions and their collective influence was exerted and has made a difference.
THE WATER FLOWS….and may it continue to flow in the Klamath Basin and all across this nation.
May the lessons learned be fully applied so we in this nation never again have to witness the specter of armed Federal Officers standing on an irrigation dam keeping law-abiding farmers away from the water that they have the rights to. So that farmers can spend their time farming their fields and providing food and resource to a hungry nation, rather than having to resort to civil disobedience and protests against bureaucracy and regulation gone mad to the point of totalitarian conditions. That bureaucracy foisted ridiculous, frivolous, and junk science on the rights of citizens in order to enforce such conditions in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
God grant that the experiences of the farmers in the Klamath Basin will spread as an example across the breadth of this nation so that others can overcome similar conditions whenever they arise. Especially, God grant that this example, that these events, will give rise to true statesmen and patriots in our state houses, in our halls of congress, in our federal agencies, and in the very White House, as opposed to mere politicians who are manipulated by polls or the blathering and screeching of those willingly perverting our American system. It is up we citizens to put such statesmen there, so that the conditions that created this crisis do not materialize in the first place.
THE END
Yes they were...and I go to some lengths to explain and mention that in this story. Such power should be nutured and formailzed so it can readily be applied in other critical situations...and FR, collectively, is honing those skills.
It was a mixture of bad legislation (the ESA in its current form and application), powerful and what I consider to be un-American lobbies bringing suit against the farmers, federal judges not doing their homework either because they didn't know how or had no desire to look at the true merits of the case, federal agencies who also did not do their job correcly, making several erroneous, junk science findings, a main stream media that leaned extremly far in the direction of those trying to destroy the way of life those farmers have maintained, and some politicians who were more worried about glad-handing, playing to those lobbies, and/or what people might "think" of them than they were in simply doing what was right.
All of that came together in Klamath Falls and produced a very ugly and very intolerable set of conditions. That was what the "Stand" and fight were about...and though the farmers have prevailed and returned things to a relative staus quo, the fight is not over. That is what the four points in my Epilogue above that will be appearing in the book are all about.
Scary...
"These are the days that try men's souls", and, "now is the time for all good men to come to the aide of their country".
Both of those quotes applied quite literally in Klamath...and they apply now.
Best FRegards.
Any mention of Greenhorn Grange or the Grange efforts in your book?
Thank you for writing this book. I'll never forget the weekend I spent at Klamath Falls, Labor Day weekend 2001.
Wai-ming
I remember it was one of the more enjoyable threads on FR.
But as you say it was overtaken by events.
As I mention in the acknowledgments, in the end, so many good people and good organizations got involved that it was impossible to list them all. It took such an outpouring to prevail and make the progress we have made. I am grateful to all that got involved...but unfortunately could also not list them all specifically. The Grange, when they became involved, clearly spread the word to many, many more people.
That was another great day and occurance in the overall set of events.
I hope people can read the book and rejoice in the amazing story...and also see it as a recipe for how to respond to their own events and encroachments in the future.
It was overtaken by events...and the farmers themselves recognized it at the time and stepped up to the plate and diffused the situation in light of the national crisis. In the end, they have prevailed, and the status quo has been returned. But it is not over. They now recognize the threat that hangs over them and know it is not won until things like those last four points I made, particularly numbers one and two are achieved.
I would not say I was an expert in these matters.
But it was the dignity of the protest that got me.
I have been on the odd protest, the anti hunt bill in my own country and tho I supported the marchers there actions put me off.
Anyhow, that is not to say that it would never have gotten bad. I am grateful, despite their tardiness in responding clearly and correctly to the situation, that we had the Bush administration in place. I am afraid with a Clinton or Gore admin, it would have gotten much worse before it was over.
Oh, forgot. Congratulations. I'm looking forward to a great read.
Best FRegards.
The radical environmentalist lawyers of Earthjustice of the heartless “Klamath Basin Bucket Brigade” fame (http://www.klamathbasincrisis.org/ ) are representing the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Sierra Club, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, the Wyoming Wilderness Association, and Merlin Hare and Debra Patla in the suit.
It was so wrong it makes a great example of the heartlessness of Earthjustice and their minions.
Good luck with the book
| Daryl L. Hunter - Editor |
Thanks so much. I'll post an announcemnt here when the book is completed and available. Probably 3-4 weeks.
The more Americans who uderstand this, the better...and the more who will fihgt it tooth and nail.
[end rant]
BYW...thanks for pointing these things out so aptly in your editorials. I'll post an announcement here of FR when the book is complete and available. I believe some of your readers wpuld be interested in seeing a recipe for fighting this madness.
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