United States Department of the Interior

• Nearly 450 of these wells were tagged “orphan” in 1994, which means they have been dormant and possibly leaking methane gas for nearly 30 years.
• Thanks to a $3 million grant from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, LSU Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering Professor Ipsita Gupta is working with a team of LSU researchers to find out which wells are leaking and measure their emissions before and after they are plugged.
• One of the ways to accurately measure methane emissions in the state is to measure individual wells, which is being done by LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Chair and Professor Kanchan Maiti.
• “It will not only have an immediate impact on reducing methane emissions from orphan wells, which is an important health, safety, and environmental concern; plugging orphan wells will also be impactful for ongoing and future efforts on carbon dioxide storage as the CO2 will be safely sequestered underground if there are no leaking wells around.

• DENVER, Aug. 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR | ADRs - OTCQX: AMRRY | Common Shares - OTCQB: ARRNF) | FSE:1BHA) (ARR or the Company) is pleased to announce John G. Mansanti has joined the Board of the Company.
• “We are very excited to have John join our board as he has significant operating and management experience,” says Creagh O’Connor, Chairman, American Rare Earths.
• I look forward to working with fellow board members and the management team in the development of viable American based rare earth projects,” says John Mansanti.
• This announcement has been authorized for release by the Board of American Rare Earths.

• The Fiber Broadband Association today announced it will host The State Broadband Summit on Wednesday, August 23, at Fiber Connect 2023 in Orlando, Fla. As state broadband offices submit their five-year broadband plans, the Summit will bring together critical players from within the fiber broadband ecosystem to explore the best path forward.
• So, we’ve created content that provides the tools needed to successfully navigate fiber network builds—both today and over the next decade,” said Evann Freeman, EPB Director of Government Relations and Fiber Broadband Association Conference Committee Chair.
• The full Fiber Connect 2023 conference runs August 20-23, and will be held at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Those interested in attending can register for a full conference pass that includes the State Broadband Summit, or a one-day pass is now available to attend Wednesday’s State Broadband Summit only.
• For more information about the State Broadband Summit or the full Fiber Connect 2023 conference, visit fiberconnect.fiberbroadband.org .

• The Klamath River runs over 250 miles (400 kilometers) from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in Northern California.
• Closer to its mouth at Requa, the trees rising above the river are often blanketed in fog.
• The Klamath is central to the worldviews, history and identity of several Native nations.
• From headwaters in Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin-Paiute lands, it flows through Shasta, Karuk, Hupa and Yurok homelands.

People, fish and infrastructure

• Resident fishes of the upper Klamath are highly endemic, meaning that they do not occur anywhere else in the world.
• Many fishes, particularly Chinook salmon, steelhead and coho salmon, annually migrated to or near the headwaters of the Klamath River to spawn.
• Dam building ushered in a new phase of attempted removal for tribes whose lives and cultures were centered along the rivers.

Declining fisheries

• Permitting processes in the heyday of Western dam construction did not consider impacts on Indigenous nations or fisheries.
• Construction of Copco 1 blocked all fish migration to the Klamath’s upper reaches starting in 1912.
• Subsequently, Copco 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate dams further shortened fish migrations, cutting off access to approximately 400 miles (650 kilometers) of productive spawning and rearing habitat.
• The Coho salmon, shortnose sucker, Lost River sucker, bull trout and euchalon all are federally listed as threatened or endangered.

Impacts on tribal nations

• Development in the Klamath Basin has pitted agricultural interests against tribal nations and fish, particularly during dry years.
• Losing salmon along the Klamath is traumatic for Native nations, which see the fish as a cultural and spiritual keystone.
• For them, working to remove the dams and protect the salmon is a commitment and a responsibility.
• These salmon are a direct tie to my ancestors – the physical representation of their love for me.
• According to the Winters doctrine, established in a 1908 Supreme Court ruling, tribal water rights extend back to the dates when reservations were created.

Welcoming salmon home

• Fish population responses will probably vary, particularly during the first several years after removal.
• However, salmon and trout have evolved to migrate upstream and access important headwater spawning and rearing habitats.
• In Yurok restoration engineer Brook Thompson’s words, “We’re all focused on finding solutions to bringing our salmon back home and creating a healthy life for them.