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Defenders Magazine
Defenders in Action: Klamath Suit Aims To Protect Fish and Birds
Defenders and other environmental groups have sued the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to protect species and their environment in the Klamath River Basin in southern Oregon and northern California. Partly because of decisions made by Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the Klamath River has been perilously low with higher than normal water temperatures and has therefore experienced the worst fish kill in recorded history. As many as 30,000 salmon died last summer while trying to make it to spawning grounds.
The lawsuit states that FWS failed to protect two of the wildlife refuges entrusted to its care, Tule Lake and Lower Klamath, where 80 percent of all Pacific Flyway birds stop during annual migrations. Water needed for wildlife is being diverted for agricultural irrigation that does not benefit these refuges or the snow geese, tundra swans, white faced ibis, waterfowl and bald eagles that need these wetlands to survive. Any water that does flow to the refuges’ wetlands is polluted by toxic pesticides used in local agriculture.
