Another set of voices on Klamath Water

[Straydog]

Ducks? Where are the Ducks?

This situation has had a direct, negative impact on my business as well as many, many other businesses.

This, like fishing and farming are all part of the economy of our region.

Now what's wrong with this picture?

Lower Klamath Lake and Tule Lake NWRs were dried up by the diversion of the water, that should have gone there' to the river. Upper Klamath lake is lower than usual due to drought and excessive water being released into the river.
Upper Klamath Lake is predominately a diver duck area with a few areas that puddle ducks use. The local puddle ducks breed in the irrigation ditches (again they were drained to put water down river) small ponds and both of the rivers. Most of the northern birds now stopover in the mid Columbia area due to the warmer weather and abundant food from farming (relatively new farm areas) on the southern migration. In the spring the Klamath Basin is a major stopping point for millions of northbound waterfowl. We still have lots of birds passing though and staying if the water isn’t frozen.
Geese eat grain and hay (grass, the fields went fallow due to the lack of water and the birds went somewhere else to layover.

These guys just need to go to where the puddle ducks are and they can get into some fair shooting. Langell Valley (not effected by the water theft) still has lots of resident ducks. The mouth of the Wood and Williamson had lots of ducks opening weekend according to friends that hunted there. The Tingley Lake and the ponds out that way are covered with ducks, due to the no hunting signs.

The ducks get smart quickly and move onto the land that the Nature Conservancy bought and has posted.


This year the farmers used much less water to help out.

[ 11-04-2003, 11:13 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[BrionLutz]

Straydog,

Hey...these guys are just not good hunters. Imagine complaining about duck population falling from 7 million to 600,000. Sheesh.

And a 1 million missing salmon...come on...these fishermen are such crybabies.

Sportsmen for Bush!

Brion

[Thumper]

Ah, yes, it is all Bush's fault.

[Straydog]

Yup, something like 6 million 400 thousands fewer ducks is what some see as what is wrong with the picture!

[BrionLutz]

Straydog,

So we need a plan to restore the ducks and salmon. No wonder the NGS study said 30 times more money and jobs in salmon and ducks than in agriculture.

Brion

Dog,
You know nothing about the causes of the decline in waterfowl numbers. To place the blame for this on the Klamath Project is almost as stupid as draining the marshes to dump fish killing hot water down the canyon. The farmland in the basin attracts far more ducks and geese than the lake ever will, even at full pool. The lake is primarily a fish eating bird habitat and the Western Grebe, Cormorant, and other fish eating bird numbers are way up.

[Straydog]

Keta,

Where did I express an opinion as to the reason the ducks are gone?

Implied


The article also led one to believe that it was low water levels in Klamath Lake that was the caus of the poor hunting. The truth is that the refuges were drained and the farms dried up, then the birds left


#3 :depressed:

[Straydog]

I didn't write the article.

The implication is based on the spin you chose to place for me.

[salmoncatcher]

restoring the population of ducks and salmon is an easy task. just close the seasons until their populations reach sufficiant numbers. it would put several people out of business, but they should have known it was a risk they were willing to take when they started their business. i am an avid fisherman and hunter, but i wouldn't care much for a temporary closure of the fishing and hunting seasons. people working in the fisheries could always start raising salmon in pins to make ends meet.