ABSTRACT

1
ABSTRACT This poster is an overview of the
Klamath River Basin, designed to familiarize the
audience with this area. Maps, figures, and
pictures of this lovely place are provided to
illustrate data. Other information included is a
physical description of the landscape, climate,
amount of rainfall, vegetation types, and other
interesting facts.

• Physical Description of Landscape
• The Klamath River Basin covers 10.5 million
  acres, and spans from southern Oregon to northern
  California. (Figure 1) This area is long known
  for its agriculture, lakes, rivers, and hunting
  and fishing opportunities. It is home to 6
  federal tribes, and several National Wildlife
  Refuges, Parks, and Forests. The Basin is divided
  into 2 parts, the upper and lower Klamath Basins.
• The habitats found in the Klamath Basin include
  open water, grassy meadows, freshwater marshes,
  coniferous forests, sagebrush and juniper
  grasslands, rocky cliffs and hills, and
  agricultural lands. Over 433 species of birds,
  fish, and wildlife reside here.
• The Klamath Basin is also home to the
  Williamson, Sycan, Klamath, Trinity, Lost, and
  Sprague Rivers. It also contains Crater, Clear,
  Tule, Upper Klamath, and Lower Klamath Lakes.
• National Wildlife Refuges also mark this area.
  The Bear Valley, Tule Lake, Clear Lake, Lower
  Klamath, Upper Klamath, and the Klamath Marsh
  Wildlife Refuges attract many visitors year
  round.

Figure 3- Land Use/Land Cover Map of the Klamath
Basin
Figure 2- Location Map of Upper Klamath Basin
Conclusion The Klamath River Basin is a very
beautiful area and I hope you are now familiar
with this lovely place. However, in addition to
the picturesque landscape and wildlife, this area
is also plagued with many disputes concerning
water rights, supply vs. demand, and much more.
If you havent already visited this lovely area
or one of its several Wildlife Refuges, I hope
you do because it very well could get taken by
the perplexity of society and politics. Youll be
glad you did!

• The Lower Klamath Basin
• Within the lower basin, the Klamath River is
  cut deeply into bedrock, forming a narrow canyon.
  The lower basin is also where most of the valley
  agriculture land is located.
• The mountains that surround the lower basin,
  including the Coast Ranges and Trinity Alps are
  rugged with conifer and fir forests. These
  mountains also produce steep tributary streams.
• Now into the Coast Range region, the climate of
  the lower basin is variable with usually very
  high annual rainfall and mild temperatures. This
  rainfall is pertinent to the recharging of this
  areas groundwater, and freshwater for irrigation,
  fishing, and drinking. (Figure 3)
• The lower Klamath Basin is also home to the
  Lower Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge. Established
  in 1908 by Theodore Roosevelt, it was Americas
  first national waterfowl refuge. Throughout the
  49,600 acres of freshwater marshes, open water,
  croplands, and grasslands, many different species
  of birds can be seen, as well as various crops.
  (Figure 4)

Figure 5- One of the lovely freshwater marshes
seen all throughout the Basin.

• References Cited
• Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology,
  Committee on Endangered and Threatened Fishes in
  the Klamath River Basin, Division on Earth and
  Life Studies,2004, Endangered and Threatened
  Fishes in the Klamath River Basin-Causes of
  Decline and Strategies for Recovery National
  Academy of Sciences, Washington D.C., p 1-22
• Geography 185 Lecture Notes, 2005, Internet Web
  Resource,URLhttp//www.geog.ucsb.edu/joel/g148_f
  05/lecture_notes/lecture_notes.html (Last updated
  September 2005)
• United States Geological Survey, Internet Web
  Resource, URL http//www.USGS.gov , (last
  updated March 17,2006)
• Great Basin Visitors Association, Klamath County
  Oregon, Internet Web Resource, URL
  http//www.greatbasinvisitor.info/index.htm (Last
  updated May 1,2006)
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Klamath Basin
  National Wildlife Refuges Complex, Internet Web
  Resource, URL http//www.fws.gov/klamathbasinrefu
  ges/ (Last updated April 13,2006)
• United States Department of Agriculture Natural
  Resources Conservation Service National Water and
  Climate Center, Internet Web resource, URL
  http//www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/special/klamath.pl
  (Last Updated May 29,2006)
• 7. United States Environmental Protection
  Agency, Internet Web Resource, URL
  http//www.epa.gov/ (Last Updated May 30,2006)

Figure 1-Location Map of the Klamath River Basin

• Overview of the Environment-Upper Basin
• The Upper basin extends north and east from
  the Iron Gate Dam on the main stem of the Klamath
  River. (Figure 2) This area is part of the Great
  Basin and Range region. It is dominated by the
  activity of large volcanoes and active faulting.
  This controls the location and shape of the many
  broad valleys here. These valleys contain all the
  natural lakes and large wetlands of the Klamath
  Basin. The second deepest lake in North America,
  Crater Lake, is one of these grand natural
  rivers.
• This area has a relatively dry, high desert
  climate with little rainfall, typical of areas
  that lie east of the Cascade Range.
• The upper basin is also home to six wildlife
  refuges, the most notable being the Upper Klamath
  Refuge which was established in 1928. This 15,000
  acres of freshwater marshes and rivers are home
  to many species of birds and animals.

Figure 4- Average Annual Rainfall (cm) of the
Klamath Basin Area. Note the difference between
the Upper and Lower area amounts.