Like last year, folks really enjoyed and supported birds
during Winter Wings Festival. Great!
Like last year, reduced water deliveries (combined with
previous years of water cutbacks) have many Lower Klamath National Wildlife
Refuge marshes nearly dry, or completely dry. The highly likely 2013 result
will be another major disease outbreak, killing tens of thousands of water
birds.
Now is the time for people who enjoy birds to act: Contact
the Bureau of Reclamation. Next, contact our federal senators and ask for more
water for the refuge.
Over the last several years, BOR has cut refuge water
deliveries — including in one year with higher than average water supplies.
Wetland habitat has greatly decreased year after year and 2013 is shaping up to
be another bad disease year thanks to BOR reducing water to the already minimal
acreage of refuge marshes.
Last spring’s big die off (memory is it was more than
30,000 birds) is highly likely to be repeated due to overcrowding. Since these
are breeders heading north to create the next crop of birds, killing them off
for lack of water is such a waste, a travesty.
Enjoy hunting? Enjoy birding? Enjoy Winter Wings? It is
time to step up. Tell BOR that continued starvation of the Lower Klamath Refuge
is completely unacceptable. And since BOR listens more to U.S. senators than to us locals, call or email U.S.
Dave Potter
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