Montana Convoy

Report from Dave Skinner and Gary Hall       Report from Clarice Ryan

    It was a long and tiring trip, about 950 miles one way - hot and dry all the way. Dave Skinner and I traveled together in my Honda, leaving Kalispell a day after the main convoy (MFMU staged a departure rally) with a plan to catch up to the convoy Monday morning in Bend, OR. We did, but only after a 200-mile mountain detour north of John Day in central Oregon because of a 9,000 acre wildfire.
    There were 21 vehicles in the Montana/Pacific Northwest convoy as we left Bend after a rest stop and press interviews.
    Klamath Lake is about half the size of Flathead Lake, and is only about 40 feet deep at the most, with most of the lake being around 12 feet deep. It’s pretty, but pretty underwhelming, too.
    The canal and headgate area itself is hardly noticeable. There’s a small headhouse, a gate works, and that’s it. The "A" canal itself is about 20' wide and several feet deep and runs right through Klamath Falls on its way to the farm fields in the basin.
    The head gates are surrounded by a chain link fences with barbed wire at the top. The fence gates were all heavily chained and padlocked, and inside the gates were many federal officers. Six or seven BLM guards were visible at all times. The guards were BLM’s front line elite, including Ms. Felicia Probert, Badge # 1, the head of BLM law enforcement.
    To their credit, the BLM police, as well as all local law enforcement, were courteous, even friendly, the entire time we were in Klamath. I had a chance to talk to Agent Probert, and asked her if she had noticed any changes in her agency since Bush took office. She said no, but that was probably because only the top officials had been changed. Therefore no directives were coming thru channels and they were acting on old directives from the Clinton administration.
    We ate a good steak dinner at the gates, had some good chats with the locals, and then headed back to the fairgrounds to hear the local speakers. The most common themes were pride in the accomplishments of the local people, and a determination to win and to do it without violence. Sheriff Tim Evinger was especially concerned that the activities be nonviolent.
    More convoys from Nevada, California, and Washington came in the next day. The parade through Klamath Falls started out at the edge of town with 85 vehicles and more joined as we proceeded.
    The Oregon State Patrol provided escorts to only 10 of the 85 vehicles, leaving the rest to fight the traffic lights. Not only that, but OSP actually handed out a couple of tickets to convoy cars for running a red light. Why the bad attitude? Could it be their boss, Governor Kitzhaber is green sympathizer?
    A BIG bucket from the Jarbidge Shovel Brigade was erected on the Courthouse lawn. The speechifying lasted for at least an hour while the parade waited in the downtown streets. Later there were more speeches at the fairgrounds, which Dave and I listened to. Some were boring, some really good.
    While we were in Klamath the water was flowing and no attempts to take over the head gates were made. It was expected that the water would be shut off after the convoy left and it was - at 5:30 AM on Thursday. We did hear some talk that there would a civil disobedience action on Thursday.
    Media was present but they didn't seem to be making a big splash -- not enough blood, guns and handcuffs.
    The strangest thing to Dave was how easy the reporters were to spot. All one had to do was look at their attire, brand new 501’s with the cuffs rolled up and the crease still in, and the shoes -- slip-ons, Birkies, loafers, clunky "street boots," not an old pair of Acmes or work shoes anywhere.
    In general, the local farmers do not seem very comfortable with political activism, which isn’t surprising. They’ve been able to get by and grow crops, expecting the water negiotiations to be handled in good faith. They still think a handshake means something, that people can be taken at their word.
    The extremist Greens they are facing are excellent spin doctors. Few farmers have the time to fully research the crazy ideology of Andy Kerr, Felice Pace, Wendell Wood, et cetera or the dirty foundational money trail -- old news to forestry workers.
    The rhetoric from Montana and elsewhere was generally stronger than that of the locals. Sheriff Evinger is on their side but very worried about violence. He seemed to think that outsiders (like us) might get out of hand. We assured them that we were only there to support them.
    The local people who said anything at all were glad to see the convoys but I think the community is divided or at least apathetic to the farmer's plight. Although the crowd at the parade was estimated at 4000, the town is larger than Kalispell.
    Quite frankly, I expected a much larger turnout to demonstrate against an issue so clearly unjust and so focused. However, the local media, both print and radio, were very unfriendly to the convoys - especially the Montana convoy. They were looking for the militia - maybe even hoping for the militia.
Where did all the "militia" talk originate? The Montana Human Rights Network -- which has helped Flathead enviros put together an "aboutfacts" website that has absolutely NO facts about who wrote the material or who sponsors the site -- shotgunned out a "press advisory" that "warned" of possible militia involvement.
    The MHRN press release caught the imagination of the local reporter, who got completely off the subject of Montanans helping the Klamath farm community, instead going "fishing" for a "militia" angle.
    The story ran in the Klamath paper the day the Montana convoy arrived, and both Dave and I noticed a certain reticence on the part of most people, at least until they talked with us a bit.
    Then, it was handshakes and big smiles all around.
    But the fact remains, that terrible, biased article scared a lot of people who don’t know the whole story...and now they never will.
    This event had a twofold purpose: let the farmers know that they are not alone in this battle and focus media spotlight on their plight. We succeeded with the first, but thanks to our paid professional Green friends, I am not sure about the second.

TOP         Contact Webmaster              SITE MAP

Copyright 1999-2007 by  Montanans For Multiple Use