MEDIA ADVISORY FOR APRIL 27TH
Contact:  Roxanna Smith 415-453-0430  roxanna [at] catercommunications.com
                   Tony Bogar 707-227-9239  tony [at] friendsoftheriver.org
                                                               
 
“WARREN BUFFETT, DO THE RIGHT THING -- TEAR DOWN KLAMATH DAMS”
 
EVENT
A showdown is taking place between an obstructionist utility, PacifiCorp, and a growing chorus of California fishermen, Native American tribes, public health officials, as well as state and federal agencies calling for the largest dam removal project in U.S. history.
 
Friday, Klamath Basin Tribal leaders and commercial fisherman will bring their caravan to the State Capitol steps, on their way to PacifiCorp headquarters in Salt Lake City, and then Omaha, Nebraska, home of PacifiCorp’s parent, Berkshire Hathaway. They will arrive at the same time CEO Warren Buffett meets with shareholders at the company’s annual “Woodstock of Capitalism.” The groups will make their case to Buffett with moral as well as economic arguments. Sacramento restaurants and consumers were hit hard last year when the dams forced the effective closure of 700 miles of salmon fishing leading to exorbitant prices for wild salmon. Tribal elders and commercial fisherman will hold events all the way to Omaha to urge the company to do the right thing: protect the people of the Klamath, while at the same time making a rational business decision.
 
ISSUE   
A confluence of economic, public health and environmental disasters taking place on the Klamath River as a result of PacifiCorp’s four dams (which generate less than 2 percent of the company’s electricity) has prompted these diverse stakeholders to take their case on the road.  The dams are destroying what had been one of the great salmon rivers of the world. The loss of salmon is decimating the fishing industry, tribal cultures, and all the communities dependent on them. 

But "it's no longer just a matter of fish. It’s now a human health issue," said Zeke Grader, director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.  Toxic liver-damaging algae blooms and massive fish-kills are common day occurrences for Klamath communities.  Federal and state agencies recommend taking the dams down due to their environmental impacts. And what Warren Buffett also should know is that all this is bad business because removing the dams actually is the utility’s cheapest option.
 
WHAT:                  Press Conference & Boat Drive Assembly
 
WHEN:                  Friday, April 27, 2007 10:30 am
 
WHERE:                west steps of the State Capitol building,   Sacramento
 
WHO:  (interview opportunities)
·         Commercial fishermen
·         Tribal leaders and fishermen from Yurok and other Klamath Basin tribes
·          Karuk tribal priests
·         Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA)
·         Friends of the River, California’s statewide river preservation group
 
PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES
·         Two 20-foot traditional redwood dugout canoes
·         Tribal leaders in ceremonial robes
 
****B-ROLL OF KLAMATH RIVER DISASTER AVAILABLE ****
###
 
___________________________
Tony Bogar
Communications Director
Friends of the River
915 20th Street
Sacramento CA 94558
phone: 916.442.3155 ext 205
mobile: 707.227.9239
http://www.friendsoftheriver.org