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25 J. Land Resources & Envtl. L. 183 (2005)
The Environmental Front: Culture Warfare in the West

handle is hein.journals/lrel25 and id is 189 raw text is: The Environmental Front: Cultural Warfare in the West Erin Morrow* I. INTRODUCTION The Klamath Basin is generally known as the Everglades of the Northwest.' It is home to 430 species of wildlife and six national wildlife refuges. This isolated lake region is also home to the endangered Coho salmon and thousands of small subsistence farmers, both depending upon its scarce water supply. Lured to this isolated region by the promise of water in perpetuity, thousands of World War I and World War II veterans and their families have farmed in the basin for generations. These veterans signed contracts agreeing to farm the high desert area in exchange for a guarantee of uninterrupted rights to irrigation water. The Klamath Basin now faces increasing water demands as population growth, agricultural production, tribal claims, and environmental needs pressure the limited water source. In April 2001, responding to a United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) biological opinion, the Bureau of Reclamation closed the head gates to the Klamath Irrigation Project.2 The biological opinion indicated that continuing irrigation releases at the level guaranteed by federal contracts would threaten the survival of several species of endangered fish.3 The 2001 water reduction resulted in a ninety percent decrease in normal water deliveries to 1400 farmers.4 Consequently, the Klamath Basin economy lost two thousand jobs and suffered upwards of two hundred million dollars in damages.5 Initially no compensation was offered for the water reduction and over a thousand families faced eviction from land they had farmed for generations.6 Seething with resentment, local communities forced canal gates open and formed bucket brigades, symbolically depositing drops of water into dry * J.D. Candidate 2005, Yale Law School; Texas A&M University, B.S. My gratitude to Professor Ellickson, Professor Elmendorf, and the staff of the Journal of Land, Resources, & Environmental Law for their valuable comments on earlier drafts. I would also like to thank the ranchers and industry experts I interviewed for their willingness to share their time and insights. 1 Cor S. Parobek, Note, Of Farmers' Takes and Fishes' Takings: Fifth Amendment Compensation Claims When the Endangered Species Act and Western Water Rights Collide, 27 HARV. ENVTL. L. REv. 177, 177 (2003). 2 See Julia Muedeking, Taking the Heart of Klamath Basin: Is It Free?, 8 DRAKE J. AGRIc. L. 217 (2003). 3 Id. at 220. 4id. ' Id. at 221. 61d. at 218-23.

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