Tribe reaffirms commitment to protecting Treaty resources while supporting long-term ecosystem restoration.
August 4, 2026 | CHILOQUIN, Ore.— The Klamath Tribes are heartbroken by the ongoing loss of migratory birds within the Klamath Basin wildlife refuges. These birds are important Treaty resources that have sustained our people since time immemorial. Like many throughout the Basin, we want to see healthy wetlands, thriving wildlife, and a restored ecosystem that supports fish, birds, and future generations.
The Klamath Tribes recognize the concern expressed by local governments and others regarding current conditions in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges. However, the current wildlife emergency cannot be understood apart from decades of ecological change and water management decisions that have fundamentally altered the Basin’s natural hydrology.
As Brad Parrish, Water Rights Specialist for The Klamath Tribes, has stated: “We wouldn’t have this issue if we had a functioning ecosystem.”
For thousands of years, the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Paiute people lived within an ecosystem that supported abundant fish, birds, wetlands, and the people who depended upon them. The challenges facing the Basin today are the result of generations of alteration to that ecosystem, not the actions of any one community or single decision.
The Klamath Tribes also have legal, moral, cultural, and spiritual obligations to protect c’waam and koptu, two critically endangered fish species that remain central to our culture, identity, and Treaty rights. Water levels in Upper Klamath Lake are managed under existing legal requirements intended to prevent these species from disappearing forever. The Tribe cannot ignore those responsibilities, even while recognizing the seriousness of the current refuge conditions.
The Tribes believe protecting birds and protecting fish should never be viewed as competing priorities. Both are part of the same interconnected ecosystem. Long-term solutions must address the Basin’s underlying health while respecting Tribal Treaty rights, applicable law, and the best available science. Water quality in Upper Klamath Lake continues to decline, placing c’waam and koptu at even greater risk. Lowering the lake level further increases the threat to these critically endangered species. Addressing one ecological crisis by increasing the risk to another is not responsible stewardship. The Klamath Tribes remain committed to pursuing long-term solutions that restore the health of the entire Klamath Basin ecosystem while honoring their Treaty obligations.
Chairman William E. Ray, Jr. emphasized the Tribes commitment to protecting its treaty-reserved resources. We should neither be asked to sacrifice our Treaty Reserved-Protected Resources as guaranteed under the Treaty of 1864, our water, our subsistence and medicinal plants, our fisheries, our big game, and all of our relatives who have sustained us for millennia, because of the conditions created by others, nor should we be blamed for exercising our sovereignty for protecting the gifts granted by Creator.”The Klamath Tribes remain committed to working with federal agencies, Tribal governments, local governments, and other partners to pursue collaborative, science-based solutions that restore the long-term health of the Klamath Basin for the benefit of fish, wildlife, and future generations.
The Klamath Tribes remain committed to working with federal agencies, Tribal governments, local governments, and other partners to pursue collaborative, science-based solutions that restore the long-term health of the Klamath Basin for the benefit of fish, wildlife, and future generations.
Media Contact: Willa L. Powless, willa.powless@klamathtribes.com
541-576-4458
