Long Range Plan For The Klamath River Basin ... - KrisWeb

Such a sanctuary was never established. The Klamath watershed had alreadybeen substantially altered by 1892 from gold mining activities and the dramatic flood of1861. Impacts yet to come were major dams, intensive water diversions, gold dredging,numerous roads, extensive logging, two more phenomenal floods, and catastrophicforest fires. Had we known then what we know now about the importance of watershedand stream habitat protection, the salmon and steelhead populations of the KlamathRiver Basin would very likely not need this restoration program.HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVEWild salmon and steelhead stocks have evolved with stream systems that wereflushed by floods, blocked by fallen trees and beaver dams, muddied by naturallandslides, and dried by droughts. The stream and watershed conditions we see todayare also reflections of at least 150 years of human alterations. When fur trappersremoved 1800 beaver from the Scott Valley in 1836, the anadromous fish habitat wasaltered. Land and water uses over the years have transformed the landscape, in manyplaces permanently.The historical perspective on how and when the land and water has beenmodified is brought into each section of this chapter: timber harvest, mining, agriculture,urban and rural development, dams, and water diversions. As ecologists have told us, itis important to understand the sequence of changes that have occurred for two reasons(Sedell and Luchessa 1981):1. To learn from past mistakes and to provide better habitat protection in thefuture; and2. To provide both a rational context and an effective direction for habitatrestoration efforts.ORGANIZATION AND STRATEGY OF THIS CHAPTERTo describe the various issues and findings on the subject of habitat protection,this chapter is divided into two major sections and several subsections:LAND MANAGEMENTTimber HarvestingMiningAgricultureWATER MANAGEMENTWater and Power ProjectsWater DiversionsWithin each subsection, the findings are organized as follows:HistoryManagement PracticesSalmon and Steelhead ImpactsRegulationsConclusions