Future vision necessary for Klamath refuges

Oregon Wild Klamath Campaign Coordinator Ani Kame'enui takes a critical look at the 100 year anniversary of the Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge and what the future holds.

A May 13 article by Roy Gault confirms there is much to celebrate this year on the Klamath Basin's National Wildlife Refuges.

This year marks Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge's 100th anniversary and, as Gault points out, will provide an opportunity to celebrate the refuge's diverse bird life.

It is true. In only minutes, you might see any number of bird species, from golden eagles to avocets and more. The Klamath Basin's National Wildlife Refuges are indeed remarkable, some of the most important migratory and breeding habitat in the country, but they have faced tough challenges during the past 100 years and are faced with more of the same.

President Roosevelt's designation of 81,000 acres of marsh and open water in Lower Klamath Lake as the nation's first refuge for migratory birds was a visionary step. Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge has provided valuable feeding grounds for millions of migratory birds and once hosted the largest concentration of migratory waterfowl in the West, up to 7 million birds.

Today, a celebratory tour of the refuge provides vastly different views, but it still includes the invaluable biological diversity provided by native wetland grasses, egrets, herons, pelicans and more.

Visitors may notice, however, that on one side of the highway (which blazes straight through the middle of the refuge) is spectacular bird viewing, while on the other are lease-land farms and grazing lands. The juxtaposition is startling and calls into question what's in store for these refuges during the next 100 years.

Refuge managers strive to do what's best for refuges, providing tours and educational opportunities to encourage locals and visitors to enjoy the special ecological niche these refuges fill. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of refuge acres are at the mercy of commercial agriculture; while we celebrate 100 years for a refuge, we also celebrate nearly 50 years for lease-land farming on refuge land.

Even before the passage of the Kuchel Act in 1964, which barred future homesteading but allowed continued leasing of 22,000 acres of refuge for commercial agriculture, homesteads and farms have used refuge land to the benefit of agribusiness. Because most of the Klamath Basin's wetlands have been destroyed outside of the refuges, the remaining acreage within the refuges is of increasingly critical value. Today those acres host both migratory fowl and agricultural runoff.

In order for us to truly celebrate these refuges, we need a vision for their future that creates more habitat, cleaner water and safer havens for migratory and breeding birds and other wildlife.

This vision should still include refuge tours, hearty celebration and ibises, but also water guarantees for refuges, the phasing out of commercial agriculture of National Wildlife Refuge land and a plan that brings Klamath Basin water needs back into balance with what the region can naturally provide. Some of the last remaining white pelicans should not be fighting for water with farms; after all, they have candles to blow out.