Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
Our Klamath Basin
Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
|
Unveiling Upper Klamath Lake
sucker dilemna In the past fourteen years, political and regulatory demands have affected activities at the Klamath Project. In 1988, the short nose sucker and the Lost River sucker, two species that live in Upper Klamath Lake, were designated as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Biological opinions issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) concerning operation of the Klamath Project in recent years have identified actions (with a focus on lake-level management) to avoid jeopardy to the suckers. What many people do not know is that the most compelling and prominent reason why the federal government justified listing the two sucker species was an abrupt downturn in both populations, starting around the time the attached photograph was taken. Some fisheries experts believe that if USFWS would have properly assessed the known impacts on suckers caused by this young man – and the benefits that resulted from him ceasing his activities - it very likely could have affected the ultimate listing decision. And now you know….the rest of the story.
Will call "Dave's
Bait Shop" (USFWS study/collection center at
Headgates) and ask about impacts. Steve Kandra
The issue being overlooked here is the impact on
the night crawlers. The son of a gun is in a
league by himself when it comes to pulling the
slimy, squirming, snotty little buggers out of
the ground. In addition, he takes only the
largest members of the clan which means he is
depleting the breeding stock. Although there was
a time when his pursuit of night crawlers was
driven by an honorable good old fashion
entrepreneur spirit, now that he is fixed the
harvest is driven by his lust to
catch slimy, squirming, snotty squaw fish, carp,
chubs, and other similar species of fish for
which there is no redeeming virtue. Bill Ganong
|
Page Updated: Thursday May 07, 2009 09:14 AM Pacific
Copyright © klamathbasincrisis.org, 2007, All Rights Reserved
