Dick Cheney: Fish Killa

Cheney was responsible for one of the biggest environmental disasters the west
coast has ever experienced: the 2002 Klamath fish kill. As you
hopefully remember, some 77,000 chinook and coho salmon were left to
rot on the shores of the Klamath River (one of the noted Six Rivers in
Northern California) when the federal government diverted millions of
gallons of water to farmers in Southern Oregon.

Apparently, Dick Cheney had his grubby fingerprints all over this.
The Post article describes Cheney reaching far down the chain of
command and toying with scientific findings to get the farmers some
much-needed water. Oregon, after all was a key battleground state that
the administration barely lost in the election. This fish kill, then,
was all a matter of political maneuvering. Isn't everything...

Of course, 77,000 rotting carcasses isn't just a matter of a few
dead fish. Salmon is the lifeblood of communities, and I'm not just
talking about the commercial fishermen on the North Coast whose
business was decimated that year as well (Bush/Cheney have a long
history of favoring business over the environment... clearly they only
favor certain businesses). Salmon is crucial for Native communities,
both nutritionally and spiritually. Hoopa, Yurok and Karuk tribes were
devastated.

Last year a group of high school girls put together a 214-mile relay
race, mimicking the route of spawning salmon, to raise awareness about
the fish kill. From what I can tell, it didn't happen this year, but I
may be wrong. Here is a radio report I did about the fish kill and the relay race that ran on KMUD News.