Day 12

Our Klamath guide, Alex met us at Collier Campground at 9:00 AM and led us to the Klamath Tribes' Research Station. Here we learned about two species of fish that are both endemic to the area, and a sacred fish of the Klamath Tribe. Koptu (Klamath) - shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris) which can live 33 years old and grow up to 24 inches. C'waam (Klamath) - lost river sucker (Deltistes luxatus) which can live to 55 years old and grow up to 35 inches. Pit tag tracking has shown that neither species has produced young capable of surviving to adulthood, even though millions of larvae are produced each spring.

   

These two species were currency for trade with other tribes as well as the primary food source for the Klamath and Modoc from historic times to the 1980s. Tribes used to harvest tens of thousands of pounds of C’waam each year during the Return of C’waam Ceremony, held each spring. Today, tribes are restricted to harvest of a single fish each year for use in the ceremony.

  

We were joined at the research station by water rights specialist and Heritage University alumni, Brad Parrish. Brad has a background in fisheries with the Yakama tribe. His current occupation has him developing law to protect water rights, an unending, uphill battle. I admire the conviction of the people we’ve met here, as impressive as the passion they have for protecting their natural resources. Seeing the work ethic, knowledge and absolute relentless nature of this line of work is more inspiring than I would have ever expected.

  

At the top of the list of factors working against the two fish species are a variety of agricultural practices. In 1864, the federal government “re-surveyed” the Klamath reservation and “found” that it could be reduced by about 40%. Around the same time, three tribes (the Modoc, Klamath, and Yahooskin) became collectively known as the Klamath. In 1907, the Lower Klamath Lake and Tule Lake (two of three sucker habitable ecosystems, leaving behind Upper Klamath Lake) were drained and converted into farmable land. Lays brand potato chips and McDonalds French fries have production facilities that utilize Upper Klamath Lake’s water – the shallow lake is drained each spring (the lake begins each season with approximately 600 thousand-acre feet of water and is reduced to 180 thousand acre feet by August) as the fish larvae are at their most vulnerable age, forcing young, underdeveloped fish into deeper, warming, lethal water. In 1988, both the shortnose sucker and the lost river sucker were listed as endangered species.

Some other factors of endangerment are the damming of rivers, construction of irrigation canals, habitat loss (lake and wetland removal – swamp and marsh wetland that capture phosphorus, which is the primary limiting nutrient in freshwater ecosystems), competition and predation from nonnative species. Water quality issues associated with cyanobacteria and microcystin (resulting from warm, shallow water), which deplete dissolved oxygen and become toxic algal blooms, and produce large scale fish die-offs. Irrigation, cattle grazing along the edge of the Klamath River, an overallocated water system, and timber issues also play a role in destruction of the sucker habitat.

Essentially, too much change occurs too quickly with a high diversity and high intensity of impacts over a long duration. None of which are within the genetic fitness of suckers, except low intensity fishing.

  

Sucker rearing programs involve the capture of wild larval fish from the Williamson River (which drains into the Upper Klamath), and rearing in safe environment to be released when capable of survival in harsh environments. Radio tagging studies in conjunction with adjustments to release age help to maximize survival rates. These methods are merely a stop-gap measure to prevent extinction (which of course is not guaranteed) but fall short of restoring the fish populations to harvestable size.

Ben and Travis are two chemists we met in the lab at the Research Station. The chemistry lab is where nutrient content of the lake and nutrient concentration going into the lake are measured. The largest changes occur seasonally, regularly shifting pH levels of lake water, another huge setback for the fish and almost every other living organism in the lake.

  

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From the research station, Alex led us to the Link River Dam site. We hiked a short distance along the river to the dam where we had lunch. The water leaving the dam and eventually entering Upper Klamath Lake is around 90^o F by August.

We made a midday stop at the Klamath Library to update blogs before heading to our last stop with Alex, Hagelstein Park. The park was a very small stretch of land along the highway that separates the Upper Klamath from this small tributary. This small public park full of campers, in an area known by the Klamath as the land of rising sun, is the only location where sucker larvae have survived to spawn since 1995. The few fish surviving here are at risk of being discovered and fished before they have a chance to contribute to the population. The tribe is making efforts to buy back this small area of land before it’s too late, but the life cycle of the fish and everything working against them gives the entire species an estimated ten years before they disappear forever.

  

  

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Back at camp, we were joined for dinner by tribal council member Jeff, and his daughter and son in law, Jade and Garrett Souza, all three of whom work for the Forest Service in the Chiloquin Ranger District. Jeff spoke of the wokus, a bulb inside lily pads that, in addition to the sucker fish, was a primary source of food for the Klamath people, and is another resource that can’t mature due to the constant alteration of water for agricultural purposes. Jeff said half of his career was spent working through water issues, one part of which was a plan that began in 1995 to remove four dams on the reservation (making the operation the largest dam removal in the history of the United States) and is scheduled to begin in 2020.

Jade, who is the recipient of the highly competitive Gates Millennium Scholarship, is conducting her own graduate research while working with the Forest Service. Her research is centered around learning why some plants are no longer maturing or producing like they used to. She is surveying plants in five different habitat types and focusing specifically on camas and huckleberries. Garrett, who works as the fire engine crew captain for the Chiloquin Ranger District, was kind enough to give us his contact information and offered advice on applying for jobs with the USFS.

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A few of us hiked the one-mile loop around the campground before calling it wraps on another incredible day. Tomorrow will be another early morning tear down/pack up before we head out to our final stop of the journey.