The Political Ecology of Management and Conflict in Tule Lake and Lower Klamath Lake Wildlife 'Refuges.
The wildlife refuge complex in the Klamath River Basin is part of a migratory bird wetland habitat system that spans the western seaboard. Wilson (2010) refers to wetlands along the Pacific Coast as “links in a chain” leading the birds from wintering grounds to summer breeding habitats, and back again. It is estimated that three quarters of the birds traveling through this chain make a stop in the Klamath Basin, and roughly half of those can be found at Tule Lake (Foster 2008 ;Wilson 2010 ) Wetlands provide the ideal habitat for migrating birds water birds because they have a high level of bio mass production and invertebrates(Wilson …show more content…
In the early 2000’s water conflict arose from the listing of three endangered fish species that required in stream flows both in the upper and lower basin, therefore farmers had to forego their accustomed water allocations for a season and suffer substantial economic losses(Tarlock 2007;Doremus and Tarlock 2010; Most 2006). In June of 2013, The Klamath Tribes began to enforce their legal right to keep water in stream for salmon, which makes the refuges the lowest priority water rights holders in the basin (Schwartz 2014). The stakeholder’s in the basin (federal agencies, tribes, fishermen, and farmers) were able to come to an agreement on how to share the water through and extensive process and created a formal agreement. Through cooperation. This primary agreement, which is called the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA), is being reinforced by proposed legislation backed by Oregon and California Senators , and is in the senate approval process at the time of writing. The KBRA, which is up for renewal in 2016, does require a minimum level of water to go to the refuges, though some NGO’s have asserted that the prescribed quantity of (330,000 to 385,000 acre-feet between March and October) which Oregon Water Watch and the Audubon Society argue are insufficient, forcing birds to cluster and risk disease, or to attempt to keep flying without a rest (Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement , 2010 p. 55; Schwartz 2014). Other NGO’s such as: Trout Unlimited; The Nature Conservancy; American River’s; and Sustainable Northwest, have voiced support for the
The wildlife refuge complex in the Klamath River Basin is part of a migratory bird wetland habitat system that spans the western seaboard. Wilson (2010) refers to wetlands along the Pacific Coast as “links in a chain” leading the birds from wintering grounds to summer breeding habitats, and back again. It is estimated that three quarters of the birds traveling through this chain make a stop in the Klamath Basin, and roughly half of those can be found at Tule Lake (Foster 2008 ;Wilson 2010 ) Wetlands provide the ideal habitat for migrating birds water birds because they have a high level of bio mass production and invertebrates(Wilson …show more content…
In the early 2000’s water conflict arose from the listing of three endangered fish species that required in stream flows both in the upper and lower basin, therefore farmers had to forego their accustomed water allocations for a season and suffer substantial economic losses(Tarlock 2007;Doremus and Tarlock 2010; Most 2006). In June of 2013, The Klamath Tribes began to enforce their legal right to keep water in stream for salmon, which makes the refuges the lowest priority water rights holders in the basin (Schwartz 2014). The stakeholder’s in the basin (federal agencies, tribes, fishermen, and farmers) were able to come to an agreement on how to share the water through and extensive process and created a formal agreement. Through cooperation. This primary agreement, which is called the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA), is being reinforced by proposed legislation backed by Oregon and California Senators , and is in the senate approval process at the time of writing. The KBRA, which is up for renewal in 2016, does require a minimum level of water to go to the refuges, though some NGO’s have asserted that the prescribed quantity of (330,000 to 385,000 acre-feet between March and October) which Oregon Water Watch and the Audubon Society argue are insufficient, forcing birds to cluster and risk disease, or to attempt to keep flying without a rest (Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement , 2010 p. 55; Schwartz 2014). Other NGO’s such as: Trout Unlimited; The Nature Conservancy; American River’s; and Sustainable Northwest, have voiced support for the