East Cascades Projects
Agency Lake
Big Marsh
Sycan Marsh
Williamson River Delta
Wood River Wetlands
Agency
Lake
 Location:
On the northwest shore of Agency Lake, 27 miles north of Klamath
Falls, Oregon.
Size: 7,159 acres
Land Manager: United States Department
of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation
Project: The Trust for Public Land purchased
the Agency Lake Ranch and resold it to the Bureau of Reclamation
(Reclamation) in November 1998. Acquisition of the property
helps link more than 28,000 acres of wetlands habitat along
the shores of Agency Lake. The 14,000 acre Upper Klamath National
Wildlife Refuge is to the south of the property, and the Bureau
of Land Management’s 3,300 acre Wood River Wetland is
to the northeast. Just across the Lake is the The Nature Conservancy’s
3,600 acre Williamson River Delta restoration project and
the new Goosebay purchase.
The Reclamation’s proposed management plan
for the property includes storing up to 35,000 acre feet of
water (with an expanded system of levees) to supplement supplies
for downstream water users when water levels drop in Upper
Klamath Lake, and enhancing the protection of over 7,000 acres
of wetland habitat. Moist soils conditions on the property
will provide habitat for a diversity of wetlands-associated
species. In a remarkable demonstration of the resiliency of
this wetland, within weeks of removing livestock and maintaining
moist soils on the property, the property was dominated by
native wetland species that had been dormant for more than
a generation and was providing habitat for thousands of waterfowl
as part of their migration.
Partners: Trust for Public Land, US Department
of Interior - Bureau of Reclamation
Contact: Bob Davis, United States Department
of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, 6600 Washburn Way, Klamath
Falls, Oregon, 97603; telephone: 541-883-6935 or Fax: 541-884-9053.
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Big Marsh
Location:
Off Highway 58 south of Crescent Lake in northern Klamath
County.
Size: 1,500 acres
Ownership: Deschutes National Forest.
Recent restoration efforts: Big Marsh
was drained and grazed for decades before the U.S. Forest
Service acquired the property in 1982. A 1989 Ducks Unlimited
restoration project started the marsh on the road to recovery
by blocking the main drainage ditch. A second project completed
by the U.S. Forest Service in September 1997 installed a series
of small dams that sent Big Marsh Creek's flows back into
old channels, spreading water more naturally across the marsh
and improving habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. Big
Marsh supports Oregon's largest remaining population of spotted
frogs and provides breeding habitat for one of the state's
rarest breeding birds, the yellow rail.
Future plans: In addition to monitoring
the results of this year's work, Forest Service biologists
are planning future projects to control reed canary grass
and halt the encroachment of conifers into the edges of the
marsh. An interpretive trail is also planned.
Contact: Rick Newton, U.S. Forest
Service, Box 208, Crescent OR 97773; 541-433-3237.
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Sycan Marsh
Location:
50 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, near the headwaters
of the Klamath Basin.
Size:
24,400 acres
Owner: The Nature Conservancy
Recent Acquisitions:
In 1999, The Nature Conservancy purchased 4,400 acres to
add to the Sycan Marsh Preserve. Acquisition of the historic
Brattain Ranch, in one of the deepest sections of the marsh,
consolidates TNC ownership of the wetlands complex.
Project goals: Restore
more natural hydrology to improve the ecological functions
of the historic marsh.
Recent restoration efforts:
More than 6,000 acres of wetlands have been restored or
improved through construction of several dikes, weirs and
artificial deltas at the mouths of tributary streams. Project
costs have totaled more than $1.5 million. Current
efforts include removing major drainage channels and an
old railroad grade through the marsh.
Partners: U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Murdock Foundation, CH2M Hill, National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, Weyerhaeuser Co., ZX Ranch.
Benefits: Sycan Marsh
is one of only a handful of nesting sites in Oregon for
yellow rails and upland sandpipers. The marsh also hosts
breeding white-faced ibis, horned grebes, and sandhill cranes,
and supports several rare plant communities.
Contact: Mark Stern,
The Nature Conservancy, 821 SE 14th St, Portland, OR 97214;
503-230-1221.
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Williamson River Delta
Location:
Mouth of the Williamson River on Upper Klamath Lake, 18
miles north of Klamath Falls in Klamath County.
Size: 7,400 acres
Project: In the fall of
1999, The Nature Conservancy purchased 3,700 acres of farmland
at the mouth of the Williamson River on Upper Klamath Lake.
Approximately 2,700 acres will be held by the Conservancy,
and an estimated 1,000 acres will be sold for continued
agricultural use. The Conservancy will continue to farm
approximately 2,200 acres over the next three years while
evaluating restoration and management options.
Just across the river delta,
3,600 acres purchased by TNC in 1996 are already being restored
to a mixture of wetlands and farmed upland habitats. The
new acquisition has been added to TNC’s Williamson
River Delta Preserve, which now encompasses 7,400 acres
along the mouth of the river. Now restoration efforts can
be more effective, considering opportunities to restore
portions of the river on both sides of the delta.
Initial restoration work in 1997
resulted in flooding of about 2,000 acres, creating habitat
that drew thousands of migrating waterfowl. TNC and several
partners will develop restoration plans for approximately
2,700 acres of the new property.
Partners: The Nature Conservancy,
Natural Resources Conservation Service, PacifiCorp, Cell
Tech International, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation, Klamath Tribes, National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation.
Benefits: The delta was
historically one of the most important wetland complexes
in the Klamath Basin, providing habitat for two endangered
fish species - Lost River and shortnose suckers — as
well as a wide variety of migratory and breeding birds.
Over 90% of the wetlands surrounding the lake have been
developed and drained for agriculture.
Contact: Mark
Stern, The Nature Conservancy, 821 SE 14th Street, Portland
OR 97214; 503-230-1221; mstern@tnc.org
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Wood River Wetlands
Location:
North end of Agency Lake, 25 miles north of Klamath Falls
in Klamath County.
Size: 3,300 acres
Project: Restoration of 3,000 acres of
wetlands purchased by the Bureau of Land Management in 1993.
Partners: BLM, Ducks Unlimited, Oregon
Trout, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality, Bureau of Reclamation, Oregon Department
of Transportation, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,
Klamath Tribes,.
Other: Most of the wetland restoration
work was completed in early 1998. The property was diked and
drained for livestock grazing. Elimination of grazing and
impoundment of water later into the year produced dramatic
initial results in 1995, with more than 100,000 birds counted
on the site in a fall waterfowl survey - up from 150 birds
the year before.
A second phase begun in 1997 and spearheaded
by Oregon Trout is focusing on restoring the Wood River to
its historic channel. In 1998, an $830,000 project restored
the lower 1.5 miles of river from a 200-foot wide dredged
canal to a deeper, 50-foot wide meandering channel. Plans
for 2000 include restoring flows back into the river’s
lower half-mile and historic delta marsh on Agency Lake. The
restoration projects are expected to provide significant benefits
for water quality and several species of endangered suckers.
Contact: Wedge Watkins, Bureau of
Land Management, 2795 Anderson Avenue, Klamath
Falls OR 97603; 541-885-4110; Jim Myron, Oregon Trout, 117
SW Naito Parkway, Portland OR 97204; 503-222-9091.
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Updated
November 14, 2002
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