Historically, the Klamath was the third-most important salmon river in the West, after the Columbia and the Sacramento.

ECONOMIST: Saving the fish of the Klamath river

Farmers in the Klamath basin use about 350, 000-400, 000 acre-feet of water a year.

ECONOMIST: Saving the fish of the Klamath river

The most moving moments of the six hours were two emotional pleas to Buffett by residents of the Klamath, Ore.

FORBES: Magazine Article

He also amassed a network of 3, 000 vendors, like Acme Satellite in Klamath Falls, Ore. and Cosmic Satellite TV in Alamogordo, N.

FORBES: Magazine Article

We sailed over Klamath Falls, Oregon, showing 196 knots of groundspeed.

FORBES: Bleary-Eyed In Bozeman

In 2001 federal fishery authorities, already aware of shrinking salmon numbers, shut off access to Klamath water for farmers in southern Oregon, who then protested noisily.

ECONOMIST: Saving the fish of the Klamath river

The Klamath river's dams, owned by PacifiCorp, a former subsidiary (remarkably enough) of Scottish Power, date back to 1918, and were built without fish ladders to help salmon returning to their natal waters.

ECONOMIST: Saving the fish of the Klamath river

But dams, diversions and recent drought have combined to push the spawning salmon population in the Klamath well below the 35, 000-fish threshold deemed necessary for the river to maintain a sustainable salmon population.

ECONOMIST: Saving the fish of the Klamath river

"It troubles us that Ford is making it easier for them and harder for its core constituency, " says Donald Russell, president of Klamath Water Users Association, a group of ranchers and farmers in Oregon.

FORBES: Seeing red over green

And because there is no way to tell a Klamath-spawned salmon from one from any other river once the fish reach the ocean, the fishery council says it has no choice but to restrict all salmon fishing along 700 miles of coast.

ECONOMIST: Saving the fish of the Klamath river