Further: The Kalamath Basin in under stress due to climate change. Fingerling salmon have been dying
en masse. According to the Yurok tribe, around 97% of salmon juveniles were infected with
C. shasta a warm water disease. The juveniles were either dead or dying. This spring, which has been abnormally dry, is but part of an exceptional multi-year drought. Kalamath waters have been fought over for decades, pitting tribes against farmers in a cyclic competition for water that is simply over-appropriated. Climate change has exacerbated the basin's problems. Wet years used to be the norm, but that changed in 2014. Now, dry years with not enough water to satisfy users is the norm. Congress failed to act on the Klamath Restoration Agreement, the last major attempt at a comprehensive plan for the basin. Newly installed Secretary Deb Haaland has expressed interest in Klamath issues, but no new plan has been forthcoming. Another multi-party agreement, the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement, calls for the removal of four dams on the river to improve flow and water levels. Dam removal is still awaiting approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The emerging mass fish die-off reminds river residents of the 2002 mass mortality in which adult fall-run Chinook died from low water levels. The river became a death zone as 60,000 dead salmon littered the banks and floated downstream. This time, it is juvenile salmon who are dying, and who will never reach the sea to reach spawning age. The learnings from 'Merica go on.
In this age when irony has died, it is unremarkable that the state known as the "beaver state" has very few beavers remaining. The aquatic rodent (
Castor canadensis) was nearly wiped out by the trade in beaver pelts during the 19th century. It is still listed as a predator by state government and can be trapped or killed all over the state with few restrictions or reporting. Now, Kalamath tribes want to reintroduce the species to aid in the preservation of native fish species that are prized as a food source. Two bills in the legislature would make take the beaver off the predatory list and prohibit the taking of beaver on federal public lands. [photo: C. Reynolds]
Beavers are keystone species, responsible for the creation of fish habitat and healthy waterways. They also help the spread of wildfires by creating wetlands. Last year Oregon experienced the most devastating wildfires in its history in which more than a million acres burned. The goal of tribal efforts to attract beavers back to the Williamson River is to naturally create a shallow lake wetlands that would encourage the return of C'wamm and Koptu, fish species favored by natives. A man-made analog of a beaver dam was created last year to give the industrious rodents a head start on their construction project. So far no beavers have been attracted to the area, but there are plans to relocate problem beavers to the site if none arrive naturally by next year. Relocation of beavers is permitted on private land, but the process in laborious and requires a state-issued permit. Consent must be obtained from landowners within four miles of the relocation site. Beavers are just as particular about their living quarters, requiring low elevation and low gradient to better control water flow. Often these same areas are occupied by humans who consider the animal a nuisance and who want beavers removed. Under state regulation whole families must be moved within the same watershed in the correct season. Being highly territorial, there is no guarantee that once moved to new quarters, the beavers will stay there.
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The Umatilla tribe has been successfully moving unwanted beavers for years with the cooperation of state wildlife officials. In their program to restore select native foods--salmon, deer, cous, and huckleberry--beavers play a vital role, altering the landscape to create healthy habitat. “There is little dispute that beavers improve streams,” says Kent Woodruff, a former U.S. Forest Service biologist in Washington who spearheaded a relocation program called the Methow Beaver Project. “The scientific literature is solid on the multiple benefits beavers provide.” Their role as Nature's engineers has been overlooked by humans who only see them as pests. As a result, the land has suffered. [photo: J. Jensen]As of this writing the federal Wildlife Services, which regularly kills beavers in Oregon at the request of landowners,
has agreed to stop removals while it consults with the national Marine Fisheries Service on whether beaver removal harms salmon, a protected species under the Endangered Species Act.
The universe live and abides forever;
to meet each need, each creature is preserved.
All of them differ one from another, yet none of them has He made in vain.
For each in turn as it comes, is good;
Can one ever see enough of their splendor? Sirach 42:24-25
