event news

Killing the Klamath: First Look at Documentary – March 18 at 8:30pm SOPBS

February 25, 2021February 25, 20214 min read

Share

news obituaries

In Loving Memory, Julian R Hood

February 25, 2021February 25, 20213 min read

Share

news

Coat Drive

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021

Share

council news

Tribal Council Agenda

February 23, 2021February 23, 20211 min read

Share

event news

Save the date! KILLING THE KLAMATH Documentary Coming March 2021! See Trailer Now

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021

Share

news

Klamath Tribe Featured: Meyer Mail: Healthy Environment February 2021 newsletter

February 22, 2021February 22, 20214 min read

Klamath Tribal fisheries, Collaborative Design, Wood Sourcing Award, Case StudyTrouble viewing this email? Try our web version.SHARE THIS EMAIL Healthy Environment Portfolio NewsFebruary 17, 2021

Share

news Uncategorized

State offers help for Oregonians with wildfire-affected domestic wells

February 22, 2021February 22, 20212 min read

From: Oregon Health Authority <oha@service.govdelivery.com>Subject: [EXTERNAL] State offers help for Oregonians with wildfire-affected domestic wells Vouchers for free well testing available to eligible property owners, well users

Share

news

News Release: This land is your land ‘Piecing together a broken heart’: Native Americans rebuild territories they lost

February 22, 2021February 22, 20211 min read

Share

news Uncategorized

FYI: Healthy Environment February 2021 newsletter

February 22, 2021February 22, 20214 min read

Share

news

Spotlight on Success – Our own, Lori Theros (Klamath Falls City School Board)

February 19, 2021February 19, 20215 min read

For more information go to: www.osba.org

Share

news obituaries

In Loving Memory, Francis R. Crispen

February 19, 2021February 19, 20211 min read

Share

news obituaries

In Loving Memory, Tori Lynn Scott

February 19, 2021February 19, 20212 min read

Share

news

Meyer Healthy Environmental Program 2021

February 19, 2021February 19, 20214 min read

Dear Chairman Gentry, Council Members and Klamath Tribes partners, I am delighted to share the Meyer Healthy Environment Program e-newsletter that was published yesterday and

Share

news obituaries

In Loving Memory, Clayton Chocktoot

February 18, 2021February 18, 20212 min read

Share

news obituaries

In Loving Memory of Wendi Sue Decker

February 18, 2021February 18, 20212 min read

Share

news

Press Release: Klamath Tribes File a 60-day Notice of Intent to File Suit (BOR)

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021

Share

news

Public Hearing Notice! ODOT 2-16 thru 19th 2021 grant apps 5310 & STF

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021

Share

news

Notice! Openings at ECDC – Chiloquin, Oregon

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021

Share

news

KTHFS Interim Chief Medical Officer

February 12, 2021February 12, 20211 min read

Happy Friday Everyone, please E-meet Katie Martin!

Share

news

Klamath Tribes Press Release: KTHFS Achieves AAAHC Accreditation

February 11, 2021February 11, 20213 min read

Share

council news

Feb. 10th Tribal Council Agenda

February 10, 2021February 10, 2021

Share

news

Today in Klamath Falls, Oregon – Klamath Tribes Vaccination Warriors

February 10, 2021February 10, 20213 min read

Share

news

KTHFS Warriors: COVID Vaccine

February 8, 2021February 8, 20211 min read

Share

event news

Looking for tribal youth participants.

February 4, 2021February 4, 2021

Share

news

KTHFS NOTICE: Vaccine Push- with a perk in Klamath Falls

February 4, 2021February 4, 20211 min read

Share

news

News Article: Klamath Tribes hold first mass vaccination event! See below for Vaccination information

February 3, 2021February 3, 20216 min read

Share

news

Tribal Community Drive Thru

February 3, 2021February 3, 2021

Share

news

Notice! Letter: COVID-19 General Welfare Tax-Exemption letter

February 3, 2021February 3, 2021

Share

news

Notice! Public Hearing Adults in Custody COVID response

February 2, 2021February 2, 20212 min read

Share

news

ECDC Part-time job: Training program – Part Time teacher aides flyer

January 29, 2021January 29, 2021

Share

news

Flyer for Pre school Enrollment- Chiloquin

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021

Share

news

E-News! Completion of COVID vaccine- by M. Wadzeck

January 27, 2021January 28, 20213 min read

Share

news

Opportunity: do you love data?!

January 27, 2021January 28, 20213 min read

Share

council news

Tribal Council meeting agenda- Wednesday 27th

January 27, 2021January 27, 2021

Share

event news

Tribal Health Recovery Support Circle Jan-25

January 22, 2021January 28, 2021

Share

event news

KTHFS Vaccination Clinics in February – Call for more info

January 20, 2021January 20, 20211 min read

The Klamath Tribes are offering COVID-19 vaccination clinics on 2/2/2021 in Chiloquin, and 2/9/2021 in Klamath Falls for all tribal members ages 18 or above,

Share

news

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR KLAMATH TRIBAL TRAVEL CENTER TRUCK STOP!

January 16, 2021January 16, 20211 min read

Share

news

Vaccine Update KTHFS

January 13, 2021January 13, 20211 min read

Share

council news

Klamath Tribal Council Meeting Agenda- Wednesday, Jan. 12th

January 12, 2021January 12, 2021

Share

news

For release…

January 12, 2021January 12, 20212 min read

Share

news

News Update: Klamath Tribes file complaint regarding Seattle National Archives being moved

January 8, 2021January 8, 20212 min read

Share

news

Klamath Tribes Reclaim Ancestral Lands

January 5, 2021January 5, 20214 min read

Share

news obituaries

In Loving Memory, Anna Marie Bennett

January 4, 2021January 4, 20212 min read

Share

news

Important Notice! Please share.

December 24, 2020December 24, 20202 min read

Share

news

News: 1st Vaccine distribution- KTHFS Wellness Center

December 24, 2020December 24, 20202 min read

Share

news

Klamath Tribes Celebrate Nomination of Representative Deb Haaland for Secretary of Interior

December 21, 2020December 21, 2020

Share

news obituaries

Walking On: In loving memory- Rhoda Brown

December 15, 2020December 15, 20202 min read

Share

news

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: House Republican Leader Announces New Chief of Staff Selection, Mark Cruz

December 10, 2020December 10, 20203 min read

Share

news

Important Notice!

December 9, 2020December 9, 20201 min read

Share

news

Take a Look Tuesday- Just 134 years ago… Klamath History

December 9, 2020December 9, 20201 min read

Share

1 2 3 … 20 Next »

Killing the Klamath: First Look at Documentary – March 18 at 8:30pm SOPBS

Posted: February 25, 2021

PREMIERE DOCUMENTARY RELEASE…

Killing the Klamath: First Look – March 18, 2021 at 8:30pm

See a preview of the Klamath tribes fight to save sacred fish and a dying lake.

https://www.sopbs.org/whats-on/2019-1-january/2021/march/killing-the-klamath/

Trailer also available to view on Homepage at: www.klamathtribes.org

New documentary tells the story of the Klamath Tribes’ fight to save the sacred C’waam and Koptu fish and a dying lake.

Known for its scenic beauty and spectacular wildlife, the Klamath Basin also sees its share of controversy as communities grapple with how to meet the water needs of people, farms, and fish. Told by tribal leaders and scientists, Killing the Klamath explores the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to toxic algae blooms in Upper Klamath Lake that are driving C’waam and Koptu fish to extinction.

Once the most important food fish in Oregon’s Upper Klamath Lake region, C’waam and Koptu were caught by the thousands and remain a centerpiece of the Tribes’ way of life and annual Return of the C’waam ceremony. The Tribes’ creation story tells us “If the C’waam go away, the people go away.”

Today, the Tribes are desperately working to save the C’waam through conservation, better management of scarce water and reducing polluted run-off from agriculture and cattle operations.

Found only in the Upper Klamath River Basin, the clock is ticking for these endangered fish as annual toxic algae blooms kill most of the young fish that are the future of the species. Adult fish can live for 30 years or more, but most are reaching the end of their natural lifespans. Scientists with the Tribe fear they could be extinct in less than ten years.

The collapse of C’waam and Koptu fisheries has marched virtually in lock step with the declining health of Upper Klamath Lake, the largest body of freshwater west of the Rocky Mountains. The lake was once a major destination for boating, birding, wildlife watching, paddling, and fishing. Today people avoid the lake from late Spring into Fall in most years due to chronically low lake levels and severe algae blooms that not only kill fish, but prompt Oregon officials to post regular health advisories warning against contact with toxins in the water.

“My dad used to train swimming across there. Those are things now you wouldn’t even let your animal touch it,” said Klamath Tribes Councilman Clay Dumont.

In a last-ditch effort to save the fish from extinction, the Klamath Tribes every Spring gather newborn fish and rear them for several years before returning them to the wild. But the young fish released into the lake will only survive to become adults, reproduce, and rebuild fish populations if the lake is healthy enough to support them. The Tribes’ are hopeful their supplementation program can keep the fish on life support while they work to restore the health of the lake and surrounding ecosystems.

Upper Klamath Lake and its iconic resident fish suffer from two major, interrelated problems – water quality and water quantity. Polluted run-off from agriculture and cattle operations pour nutrients into the lake that feed the toxic algae blooms. By the end of summer about 75% of the lake is gone, siphoned away for irrigation, crowding the fish into less habitat that turns deadly as the algae dies off, decays and sucks away life-giving oxygen from the lake.

The problem is complex and won’t be fixed overnight, but there are some commonsense steps that can be taken right away. For starters, the State of Oregon could begin enforcing federal clean water protections already in place but largely ignored in the Upper Klamath Basin. Placing fencing along riverbanks offers a cost-effective way to keep cattle out of rivers and streams that are the source of water for the lake.

Improving water quality and leaving more water in Upper Klamath Lake would benefit local communities and all the species that live in the Basin, including fish downstream, where dam removal has been proposed to save Klamath River salmon.

Upper Klamath Wildlife Refuge on the lake is part of a complex of six wildlife refuges that make the Klamath Basin a global hot spot for birds. The Basin hosts the largest wintering concentration of Bald Eagles in the lower 48 states and upwards of 80% of the migrating waterfowl that use the Pacific Flyway, numbering over a million birds at times.

Ultimately, the Klamath Tribes want to heal the lands and waters of their ancestral home and restore sustainable C’waam and Koptu fisheries as a cornerstone of their plan for economic self-sufficiency and a sustainable future for the next generations.