The BulleTin • Sunday, FeBruary 13, 2022 A9
KLAMATH BASIN | BIRDING
Festival renews focus on refuges and wildlife
BY ALEX SCHWARTZ
(Klamath Falls) herald and news
The Klamath Basin’s “Ev-
erglades of the West” once at-
tracted millions of birds. Over
the past few decades, the area
has attracted many thousands
of birders.
But after two years of in-
tense drought, most of the wa-
tershed’s iconic wetlands are
high and dry. Now the Winter
Wings Festival, which typically
celebrates the Klamath’s avian
bounty each February, is mak-
ing a bit of a pivot.
Previous years’ Winter
Wings Festivals, presented by
the Klamath Basin Audubon
Society, have always included
birding field trips to Lower
Klamath and Tule Lake Na-
tional Wildlife Refuges, which
are all that’s left of hundreds of
thousands of acres of wetlands
that once filled the Upper
Klamath Basin.
The refuges were renowned
for their variety of migratory
bird species, particularly wa-
terfowl and bald eagles, due
to their crucial position on
the Pacific Flyway. As many
as 80% of all migrating birds
on the West Coast of North
America stop here to rest and
eat on their journeys between
the Arctic and the tropics.
But wetland habitat on both
refuges has shrunk dramati-
cally over the last two decades
due to the Klamath Basin’s wa-
ter crisis, magnified by climate
change and a megadrought in
the Western U.S. The refuges
haven’t received full water de-
liveries from the Klamath Proj-
ect since the 1990s, and bird
counts have fallen significantly
as more avian travelers begin
to skip these crucial rest stops.
In recent years, low water and
record temperatures have led
to botulism outbreaks in late
summer that kill tens of thou-
sands of waterbirds.
This winter, only a few thou-
sand acres on Tule Lake Ref-
uge’s Sump 1B remain wet —
the refuge’s larger wetland unit
and all but a few puddles worth
of Lower Klamath Refuge sit
dry and cracked.
There are still birds, but
Winter Wings attendees visit-
ing the basin for the first time
since 2020 may be in for a
shock.
“The last time the refuge
was this dry was the Dust
Bowl. This is unprecedented,”
said Karl Wenner, local con-
servationist and an owner of
Lakeside Farms. “You’re kind
of whistling through the grave-
yard to just say, ‘Well, let’s look
at birds and have a good time
and not talk about what’s go-
ing on.’”
This year, the festival pro-
gram includes seven presen-
tations and field trips directly
addressing the decline of the
Klamath refuges, how they
fit into the basin’s water crisis
and what can be done to fix
things. Refuge staff, local histo-
rians, private landowners and
non-governmental organiza-
tions are lined up to help festi-
val-goers unravel the complex-
ities of the Klamath from the
avian perspective.
The series kicks off on Fri-
day, Feb. 18, with a tour of the
Klamath Project and a dis-
cussion of how the arrival of
settlers altered the Klamath
Basin’s wetlands, led by Klam-
ath County Museum Director
Todd Kepple. That afternoon,
Klamath Basin Refuge Com-
plex Supervisory Biologist
John Vradenburg will lead
a talk describing the Upper
Klamath Basin’s pivotal role in
the Pacific Flyway and what
the decline of these wetlands
has meant for all of North
America.
“In the basin, it’s just such
a struggle right now because
we’re losing that relevancy at
the landscape scale,” Vraden-
burg said. “We’re trying to keep
in people’s minds just how im-
portant this place is for the Pa-
cific Flyway and for continen-
tal waterbird populations.”
Wenner will then speak
about Lakeside Farms, a
unique restoration project that
aims to improve water quality,
provide wetland habitat for wa-
terfowl and even grow endan-
gered suckers, all on the same
plot of land adjacent to Upper
Klamath Lake. Attendees will
be able to visit the farm Friday
evening.
herald and news
Birds fly over Sump 1B in Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge on Feb. 8.
is that it’s not just gloom and
doom.”
A bald eagle sits in a tree in Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
Meanwhile, Mark Hennelly,
California Waterfowl Associa-
tion’s vice president for advo-
cacy, will discuss the signifi-
cance of Tule Lake and Lower
Klamath refuges, the negative
effects of their recent chronic
dryness and his organization’s
efforts to transfer upstream
water rights to Lower Klamath.
“It’s an opportunity to fur-
ther educate people about the
historic importance of the
Klamath refuges for water-
fowl,” Hennelly said.
On Saturday, Lower Klam-
ath Interpretive Park Ranger
Stephen Rooker will chart the
history of conservation pho-
tography in the Klamath Basin
and explain how naturalists
have used images to spur the
protection of natural resources.
Oregon State University Grad-
uate Student Jami Dennis will
then use visual materials like
maps, data visualizations and
photos to tell a story of change
in the Klamath over the past
century.
Anne Wenner, one of the
co-coordinators of the Winter
Wings Festival, said past pro-
gramming hasn’t necessarily
shied away from acknowledg-
ing the problem on the refuges.
Previous festivals have in-
cluded discussions about agri-
cultural activities on the refuge,
the historical decline of wet-
land habitat and talks on avian
botulism. But this year, she said
the focus will be more holistic.
“We’re doing a much more
in-depth explanation of what’s
going on and what creative
solutions stakeholders are
coming up with,” she said. “My
hope with these presentations
‘Things look really different’
Wenner said festival leader-
ship would have likely included
this lineup of talks as part of
the 2021 Winter Wings Fes-
tival, which was canceled due
to COVID-19. Once they de-
cided to make the 2022 festival
in-person, they knew it would
be remiss not to acknowledge
and explain the dire conditions
of the basin’s wetlands that fes-
tival-goers will inevitably en-
counter.
“We’ve hit the tipping point
now. We may lose the Pacific
Flyway,” Wenner said. “With
the Klamath Basin being the
most important spot in the Pa-
cific Flyway for migratory wa-
terfowl, this may be the galva-
nizing thing.”
Vradenburg said he hopes
this year’s festival program-
ming will contextualize the
changes attendees are likely
to notice when bird-watching
this year. He expects birders
to spot eagles and the spring’s
first migrating waterfowl closer
to Klamath Falls or on nearby
flooded agricultural fields
rather than on the dry refuges
themselves.
“It’s important for people to
love the birds and see the birds
and experience the birds, be-
cause that’s where you make
your connection. But it’s also
important for people to under-
stand the issues,” he said. “Let’s
educate people so they know
why, when they’re going down
to the refuge, things look really
different.”
Winter Wings has always
had a conservation angle —
in fact, the festival originally
began in 1980 as a scientific
symposium of sorts for bald
eagle conservation shortly be-
fore that species became listed
under the Endangered Spe-
cies Act. The conference was
renamed “Winter Wings” in
2005 as the bald eagle began to
recover.
“Conservation has always
been a focus of the festival,”
Karl Wenner said. “Now it’s
just become so dire that they’re
really trying to look at solu-
tions.”
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David Carson
March 7, 1949 - November 29, 2021
David Leroy Carson passed away on November
29, 2021, from heart disease. He was born in
Dixon Illinois March 7, 1949, to Stella Carson.
He was a talented basketball player but due to
diffi culti es at home, Dave moved out West to
Oregon in the early 1970s. He married Doreen
VonReyn and was the father to Jamie, Justi n, and
Kyle. David was a talented carpenter and ran his
own constructi on business for many years. Many
would consider Dave “ornery” but those that
knew him best loved him for his no-nonsense
atti tude and willingness to set things right.
Aft er many years in Fairview and Coquille, Dave
made his way to Redmond Oregon working
through the ranks at Tum A Lum lumber with his
last positi on as a company offi cer and purchaser
working for Marvin May, a dear friend to the very
end. He loved the Cubs, fi shing, BBQ, dominos,
and being with his grandkids. David is survived by
his three sons, their wives, and 5 grandchildren.
Unfortunately, Dave was unable to meet his
newest granddaughter, Savanah Carson, born 11
days before his passing.
Per request, there will be no formal funeral,
instead, he will be cremated and his ashes spread
in his favorite place, the Blue Ridge Mountains
between Fairview and Coos Bay. Please pass on
any well wishes or comments to Jamie Carson
carson0802@gmail.com. In lieu of fl owers
please consider a donati on to your local Humane
Society.