| Fast Facts |
location
from Crater Lake to Mount Shasta
ecoregions
East Cascades and Modoc Plateau
project size
500,000 acres
preserves
Sycan Marsh, Williamson River Delta
public lands
Winema National Forest; Klamath Marsh, Upper Klamath Lake, Tule Lake and Lower Klamath Lake national wildlife refuges
partners
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Klamath tribes, PacifiCorp, ZX Ranch, Upper Klamath Basin Working Group
conservancy initiatives
Freshwater, Invasive Species
natural events
spring and fall bird migrations among the most spectacular in North America | |
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| Despite widely divergent interests, local people are coming together to ensure adequate water resources for human and natural communities in the Klamath Basin. |
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Snow geese.
© Tom & Pat Leeson |
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| Although dammed and diked for agriculture, the Upper Klamath Basin is still the heart of a great wetland system. A birder’s paradise, this stopover on the Pacific Flyway hosts the largest congregation of wintering bald eagles outside Alaska, and millions of ducks, geese and swans pass through on their fall migrations. Its shallow waters and rivers, springs and marshlands harbor at least 25 species of fish, freshwater mollusks and land snails found nowhere else on Earth. |
| The unusual aquatic diversity of the Upper Klamath Basin has ancient beginnings. Most of the Pacific Northwest was repeatedly engulfed by glaciers and lava flows that, each time, wiped the |
Williamson River Delta Preserve, with Mt. McLoughlin catching the morning light.
© Michael Wilhelm |
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ecological slate clean—but not the Klamath Basin. Instead, aquatic creatures and their habitats persisted and evolved through radical climate changes, shifting river courses and, 7,000 years ago, the explosion of Mt. Mazama. That traumatic event built Crater Lake—one of the world’s deepest lakes—and blanketed the land with volcanic ash and dust. | |
When droughts in the mid-1990s constricted the amount of water reaching Klamath Basin farms, major divisions emerged between residents and conservationists. To help alleviate this conflict, The Nature Conservancy works to build consensus and to provide enough water for both agriculture and wildlife. For instance, in 2002 the Conservancy waived its right to withdraw water from Upper Klamath Lake, leaving more water in the lake for fish and farmers. (The water rights came with our purchase of a farm in the basin.) In exchange, we asked the federal government to increase its support for wetland restoration. We collaborate with wildlife authorities, the Bureau of Reclamation, tribes, farmers and ranchers on pioneering wetland restoration projects to improve water quality. We also helped create the Upper Klamath Basin Working Group, a community-based coalition that seeks to balance the needs of all stakeholders.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Oregon. |
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| Conservation Profile |
targets
yellow rail, migrating waterfowl, Lost River sucker, shortnose sucker, bull trout, freshwater streams and marshlands, freshwater mollusks
stresses
degraded water quality, damming and diversions, grazing, invasive species
strategies
restore ecosystems, protect water quality, promote compatible development, strengthen local partner organizations
results
more than 37,000 acres in conservation management and restoration; diverse working group created to develop solutions that will enhance the environment and promote a sustainable local economy | | | | |
