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Plan sets course for fish
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| Photo courtesy U.S. Geological Survey A trio of Lost River suckers photographed underwater at Sucker Springs, along the southeast side of Upper Klamath Lake. |
Effort aims to rebuild endangered sucker population
By LEE JUILLERAT
H&N Regional Editor
The way Don Sada sees it, there are two solutions to getting endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers off the federally endangered list.
One, allowing the two fish species to completely die off, is unacceptable.
That’s why Sada is heading up a team of researchers to focus on the second, trying to rebuild fish populations that were once a major food source for Klamath Tribes members.
“The agencies want to know what we need to do to get them off the list,” Sada explained during an open house meeting on a sucker recovery plan started earlier this year.
Recovery team members were stationed around a conference room of the Shilo Inn last week to provide updates on findings they and others have gathered since a previous recovery plan was written in 1993. The timetable calls for having a revised plan written, reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and released late next year for public review.
“This will be a guidance document. It is not something set in stone,” explained Sada, an aquatic biologist with the Desert Research Institute.
Sada was hired as the recovery plan project manager because of his 30-plus years of work on fisheries and other recovery plans.
“It’s a lot of fun to teach people about what’s going on,” he said. He’s optimistic because of successes he’s seen with other sucker species, including Pyramid Lake in Nevada.
“We haven’t figured out what we need to do here. That’s part of the process,” he said emphasizing the collected information goes to stakeholders groups as diverse as private landowners, tribes, state and federal agencies, water users and environmentalists.
“Having a recovery plan is a good thing. The devil is in the details,” said Dave Solem, Klamath Irrigation District manager, representing water users and irrigators on the stakeholders group.
Solem, who was involved with the original 1993 recovery plan, said the stakeholders are scheduled to meet four times before a proposed plan is released in about a year.
Larry Dunsmoor, a senior aquatics biologist for Klamath Tribes and recovery team member, said the sucker program is connected to the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.
“This is one part of the agreement,” he said, noting open-ended relationships between different user groups are critical in solving sucker and other water-related issues. “I can see an enormous amount of progress in the key ingredient, that’s the relationship involving the groups of people involved in the efforts.”
“One of the foundational causes of all the disagreement is the condition of the ecosystem,” Dunsmoor said. “Because we’ve been fighting each other, we don’t get around to fixing things. This is one little step along the way. Just think what could happen if people would work together.”
One, allowing the two fish species to completely die off, is unacceptable.
That’s why Sada is heading up a team of researchers to focus on the second, trying to rebuild fish populations that were once a major food source for Klamath Tribes members.
“The agencies want to know what we need to do to get them off the list,” Sada explained during an open house meeting on a sucker recovery plan started earlier this year.
Recovery team members were stationed around a conference room of the Shilo Inn last week to provide updates on findings they and others have gathered since a previous recovery plan was written in 1993. The timetable calls for having a revised plan written, reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and released late next year for public review.
“This will be a guidance document. It is not something set in stone,” explained Sada, an aquatic biologist with the Desert Research Institute.
Sada was hired as the recovery plan project manager because of his 30-plus years of work on fisheries and other recovery plans.
“It’s a lot of fun to teach people about what’s going on,” he said. He’s optimistic because of successes he’s seen with other sucker species, including Pyramid Lake in Nevada.
“We haven’t figured out what we need to do here. That’s part of the process,” he said emphasizing the collected information goes to stakeholders groups as diverse as private landowners, tribes, state and federal agencies, water users and environmentalists.
“Having a recovery plan is a good thing. The devil is in the details,” said Dave Solem, Klamath Irrigation District manager, representing water users and irrigators on the stakeholders group.
Solem, who was involved with the original 1993 recovery plan, said the stakeholders are scheduled to meet four times before a proposed plan is released in about a year.
Larry Dunsmoor, a senior aquatics biologist for Klamath Tribes and recovery team member, said the sucker program is connected to the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.
“This is one part of the agreement,” he said, noting open-ended relationships between different user groups are critical in solving sucker and other water-related issues. “I can see an enormous amount of progress in the key ingredient, that’s the relationship involving the groups of people involved in the efforts.”
“One of the foundational causes of all the disagreement is the condition of the ecosystem,” Dunsmoor said. “Because we’ve been fighting each other, we don’t get around to fixing things. This is one little step along the way. Just think what could happen if people would work together.”
Reader Comments
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Truth wrote on Oct 22, 2008 11:46 AM:
" If all the sports fisherman would quit overfishing the trout will be fine. Them guys are out there, DAILY. The cwam and trout have lived in the same waters for THOUSANDS of years, lawman. Don't worry about the cwam hurting trout populations, worry about the non-Indian sports fishermen overfishing.
I appreciate your concern for McDonald's fries but Idaho potatoes are not on the endangered list, so once again, don't worry your pretty little head. "
I appreciate your concern for McDonald's fries but Idaho potatoes are not on the endangered list, so once again, don't worry your pretty little head. "
Lawman wrote on Oct 22, 2008 4:55 AM:
" If the sucker fish is saved and thousands of them eat food sources that would harm other game fish (trout), what would be the advantage to tribal members. My guess none. They would still eat salmon at the casino buffet and french fries at McDonalds. If there are any potatoes left to slice up. "
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Seymore S. wrote on Oct 22, 2008 6:34 PM:
I have a question.
Will Klamath Falls people ever work together to try to fix a problem that they can't run away from? "