Klamath farmers seek ‘consistency’ in law enforcement

To the editor: Contributing author Jacques Leslie’s final section misrepresents the farmers and ranchers of the Klamath Project (“Salmon return pits nature against Trump administration” November 5).

The Department of the Interior’s May 2025 memo does not ignore the Endangered Species Act. Rather, it is bound by legal principles Section 7; Only discretionary federal actions are subject to Endangered Species Act consultation. Courts will ultimately decide whether this is somehow “specific” to the Klamath project, although the government has successfully advocated for it elsewhere since at least the Obama administration.

It is as much about fairness and consistency as it is about the law. For decades, irrigators and rural communities have suffered from inconsistent Endangered Species Act enforcement that distributes water instead of addressing the species’ needs.

Advocates have spent decades trying to remove the dams while promises of irrigation and fish protection, such as improved fisheries and the construction of fish screens, remain.

We seek balance and stability. Enforcing the law as written and honoring the promises it makes.

Elizabeth Nelson, Klamath Falls, Ore.
This writer is the executive director of Klamath Water Users Assnn.