Native Women Protest Over Warren Buffett's Klamath River Dams

Coalition of Klamath River Native Women
Klamath Riverkeeper e-mail: regina [at] klamathriver.org

Group stages demonstration calling for removal of Klamath Fish Killing Dams

Omaha, NE - Tonight a group of Native women from the Klamath River Basin, dressed in traditional regalia, staged a protest over Warren Buffett's fish killing dams on the Klamath River in Northern California. The event was held during a cocktail party at Buffett's local diamond retail Borsheims.

"Wealthy women come here to shop for their jewelry. Wealthy women from the Klamath River make our jewelry from the plants that grow along the river banks and the shells of mussel and abalone," said Yurok Tribal member Georgiana Myers. "Now the river is so polluted from Buffett's dams we are worried about harvesting the plants we need for our jewelry and regalia."

The 20 members of the Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa Valley Tribes unfurled a huge banner demanding, "Warren, Un-Dam the Klamath! Sign the Agreement Now!"

The women, many of whom are mothers, hope to convince the Buffett family to consider their appeals to meet and discuss a dam removal plan that would serve in everyone's best interests.

"Our stance now is that since there is no business as usual on the Klamath River, there will be no business as usual for Buffett here in Omaha," said Myers.

The group contends that dam removal is good for business as studies show that dam removal is cheaper than relicensing the antiquated structures that block over 350 miles of salmon habitat and turn the river a putrid green with toxic algae blooms each year.

"We are a reasonable people, but the Buffetts have to own up to their responsibilities and sit down with us to resolve this issue," said Myers.

"We came here last year and we will keep coming back to Omaha every year until Buffett signs a dam removal agreement," concluded Molli White, a Karuk Tribal Member from Orleans, CA.

See http://www.berkshireshareholders.com or http://klamathriver.org for more information; phone: 707-599-0877.