Sycan Marsh

About the preserve    
This vast, verdant wetland in the upper reaches of the Klamath Basin is a remote, mile-high meadow that is home to thousands of nesting and migrating birds, threatened fish and newly discovered aquatic creatures. It is also a key site for wetland research and restoration. The name "Sycan" is derived from the Klamath Indian term "saiga keni," which means "level, grassy place."

Location
In the headwaters of southern Oregon's Klamath Basin, east of Crater Lake

Size
30,539 acres

For more information, please see our Preserve Visitation Guidelines, but please note there are no trails at Sycan Marsh Preserve. Download the Sycan Marsh Self-Guided Auto Tour brochure (3.1 MB).

Plants at Sycan Marsh
The wetland includes a variety of grasses from wooly sedge and marsh buttercup to common camas, once a food staple for native Americans.

Animals at Sycan Marsh
Sycan Marsh awakens in early spring to the wingbeats of up to 10,000 tundra swans arriving in their northward migration along the Pacific Flyway. Flocks of 40 other species of waterfowl and water birds, including white pelicans, Forster's terns and white-fronted geese, soon follow. Over 100 greater sandhill cranes return each year to nest on the marsh, as do black terns and yellow rails. Ducks breeding at the preserve include the cinnamon teal, blue-winged teal, northern shoveler, redhead, canvasback, ring-necked duck, common merganser, wood duck and mallard. Bull trout and redband trout frequent the creeks that feed and traverse the marsh. The sedge-dominated marsh is also home to pronghorn antelope and many raptors, including bald eagles, red-tailed hawks and goshawks.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site  
Sycan Marsh is a vital nesting spot and migratory pathway for thousands of waterfowl and other bird species. Historically, Sycan Marsh functioned as a giant sponge, soaking up the spring runoff and slowly releasing it into the Sycan River into the fall, but early 20th Century dikes and drains were drying it out. With agency and watershed partners, the Conservancy is restoring natural water flows to the system, revitalizing over 20,000 acres of wetlands.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
In partnership with the historic ZX Ranch, which holds a grazing lease, the Conservancy is testing the compatibility of grazing practices with wetland restoration. The Jim Castles Applied Research Station, completed in 1997, provides research facilities for Conservancy scientists and meeting space for scientists and others to share research findings and restoration strategies. Research includes radio telemetry studies of bull and redband trout migration and distribution patterns, studies of new species of mussel, lamprey, snails and other aquatic organisms, a botanical study of a highly unusual groundwater-fed fen, and breeding surveys of the elusive yellow rail. The recent addition to the preserve of upland forest areas provides a new opportunity for forest restorations efforts.