For decades, biologists have called the Klamath Basin (map) the "Everglades of the West."  This unique region is home to an incredible diversity of plants and animals, and is today the most important wildlife area in the Western United States.

Klamath Basin History

In the upper portion of the basin, Upper Klamath Lake is the largest natural lake in Oregon, and it supports two endangered fish species that have historically sustained people of The Klamath Tribes.  Upper Klamath Lake is also home to massive rainbow trout--the largest rainbows found anywhere in North America, and in decades past salmon and steelhead swam up the Klamath River and through the lake to spawn in upper basin tributaries like the Wood, the Williamson, the Sprague, and the Sycan Rivers.

The upper Klamath Basin once contained over 350,000 acres of shallow lakes, freshwater marshes, wet meadows, and seasonal wetlands in southeastern Oregon and northern California.  These areas in turn supported the largest concentration of migratory birds in the Western United States, and served as the "lungs" of the Klamath River.  These wetland areas captured water during the wet winter months, when it was plentififul, and gradually released it over the course of the summer.

The Klamath Basin once supported the third largest salmon population in the Western United States--only the Columbia and Sacramento Rivers produced more fish.

Much of the Klamath's Natural Heritage Has Been Lost, But Important Resources Remain

Today, at least 80 percent of the Basin's wetlands have been drained and destroyed to make way for commercial agriculture.  Potatoes and alfalfa occupy land that was once the bed of massive freshwater lakes, and as agriculture has expanded, more and more water has been drained from area lakes, rivers, and wetlands during the summer months. 

Yet, even with the destruction of historic fish and wildlife habitat, the Klamath Basin today still contains the largest area of freshwater wetlands remaining west of the Mississippi River. 

As a result, 75 percent or more of the millions of waterfowl migrating along the Pacific Flyway stop in fall and spring to feed and rest in the Klamath Basin. The Klamath Basin is so important to America's birds that six National Wildlife Refuges have been established in the area, sheltering millions of birds each year. But now, come summer's end, marshes in these refuges are frequently without water.

Statistics which show former wildlife abundance (and decline) in the Klamath River/Basin have been well documented and noted in numerous US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and other agency publications. In 1994, the USFWS office in Klamath Falls wrote, in describing the need for habitat restoration, that "113 out of 410 wildlife species identified in the Klamath Basin are considered to be of concern or at risk." Moreover, for the entire Klamath/Central Coast Ecoregion there are "197 species that are considered sensitive (i.e. federal category species or species which are considered sensitive or species of concern by Oregon and California.)"--Klamath/Central Pacific Coast Ecoregion Restoration Strategy-USFWS, Volume 4, January 14, 1997.

The Klamath River and its tributaries are also major spawning grounds for threatened coho salmon, as well as for fall chinook salmon which sustain the commercial fishing industry of Northern California and Southern Oregon. Spring chinook salmon, which once spawned in the Oregon portion of the Klamath Basin, are today struggling to hold on.  Other rare and threatened native fish, including the massive green sturgeon, struggle to survive in the Klamath Basin.  A series of aging dams on the Klamath River have cut this important waterway in half, and now block salmon from reaching over 300 miles of historic spawning streams in Oregon.

The Bald Eagles of the Klamath Basin

In addition, the Klamath Basin supports the largest wintering population of bald eagles in the lower 48 states. Some eagles are year-round residents of the basin, but hundreds of the majestic birds migrate here each winter in pursuit of geese and other migratory waterfowl.  Over the course of the fall and winter, as many as 1000 eagles rely on waterfowl in Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges for food.  The recovery of this majestic species may hinge upon what happens to bald eagles in the Klamath Basin.