Methods Klamath Tribes: Traditional Hunting and Gathering Resources, Seasonal Calendar and Evaluation of Impacts of Climate Change - Draft Report
Klamath Basin Tribal Youth Program
Dates
Date Received
2015-10-02
Summary
The Klamath Basin is under constant stress due to a changing climate, unpredictable weather patterns, and management of the forests. The physical geography of the Klamath Basin itself is at the heart of many of the regions ecological issues. With much of the Western U.S. suffering from several years of drought, the disruptions caused by urbanization, expansive agriculture, and climate change are causing problems for the traditional practices of the members of the Klamath Tribes in the Upper Klamath Basin. The Klamath Basin sprawls over the state boundary of California and Oregon, politically dividing the upper and lower basins. Vast differences in landscape, ecology, and topography further isolate the communities between the upper [...]
Summary
The Klamath Basin is under constant stress due to a changing climate, unpredictable weather patterns, and management of the forests. The physical geography of the Klamath Basin itself is at the heart of many of the regions ecological issues. With much of the Western U.S. suffering from several years of drought, the disruptions caused by urbanization, expansive agriculture, and climate change are causing problems for the traditional practices of the members of the Klamath Tribes in the Upper Klamath Basin. The Klamath Basin sprawls over the state boundary of California and Oregon, politically dividing the upper and lower basins. Vast differences in landscape, ecology, and topography further isolate the communities between the upper and lower basins. The lower basin is dominated by steep mountains, and had experienced impacts from, mining, fire suppression, and logging, whereas the upper basin is dominated by an arid, desert-like landscape, and has impacts from agriculture and urbanization. Furthermore, typical watersheds are steepest and wettest in the upper reaches, and flattest and driest near the mouth, but the Klamath reverses this topographic pattern. Most of the agricultural lands are in the upper basin, which in a typical ecosystem would provide the most fertile land, but because of the reverse geo-hydrology of the Klamath River, their agricultural land developed on the driest and most arid sector of the region.
The focus of this paper is located in the upper basin, which has an array of landscapes including of wetlands, various forest types, high deserts, and rivers. The diverse habitat types provide for an array of wildlife, while the abundance of both plants and wildlife have allowed members of the Klamath Tribes to develop their way of life since time immemorial.