Impacts of Leaseland Agriculture on Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges

Unique among the more than 500 wildlife refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) allows broad-scale commercial agriculture within the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath refuges that provides no benefit to wildlife. In cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, USFWS maintains an agricultural lease program of over 22,000 acres. The Service also administers a cooperative farming program of approximately 4,700 additional acres.

This commercial farming demands a significant volume of water for irrigation (close to 60,000 acre-feet per year), results in the application of highly toxic pesticides, and consumes acreage that could otherwise be used as wetlands or for surplus water storage. By destroying habitat, diverting scarce water resources, and degrading water quality, the commercial agricultural uses of refuge lands have undermined the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of the refuges, resulting in the decline of migratory waterfowl, bald eagles, and other wildlife that utilize and rely on the refuges.

Despite these impacts, in 2002, USFWS determined that the continuation of its current agriculture and water management practices was consistent and compatible with the primary purpose of the refuges and the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System and would have no significant impact on the refuges. In so doing, it simultaneously reversed a 1999 decision to allow farming within the refuges only to the extent that sufficient water was available to maintain refuge wetlands.

Aren't the crops grown on the refuges used by the birds?

Waterfowl and other birds were using the Klamath Refuges during migration for food and habitat long before there was ever any farming. Now, while birds do eat a small percentage of the grains grown, much of the commercial farming is crops such as onions, potatoes, and alfalfa that have no value to 

wildlife, require large volumes of water, and demand theheavy application of pesticides. Natural wetlands would provide greater food production for wildlife. Refuge biologists have said that wetlands, not artificially supplied foods, are the primary limiting factor for waterfowl on the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges.

How is Refuge management linked to the famous 2002 Klamath River fish kill?

There is not enough water in the Klamath Basin to go around, and the recent fish kill on the lower Klamath River is a sign of that over-allocation of water. Given its scarcity, we should not be devoting water to grow crops in a National Wildlife Refuge to the detriment of the animals that rely on those wetlands.

Will the Refuges get water if commercial farming is modified or eliminated?

The Service previously found that water not used to irrigate refuge lease lands would remain in (or be delivered to) the Tule Lake sumps, where it could be used to benefit both Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges. Historically, this surplus could range from 14,000 to 29,000 acre-feet of water, and as observed by the Service, "a 'savings' of this magnitude could provide a much needed supply of water to Lower Klamath NWR in below average and dry years." (2001 Draft Environmental Assessment at 1.14.)