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Proposed settlement in the Klamath Basin establishes a new paradigm for watershed management in the West

The proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement represents a positive step forward for the management of the West’s rivers, rangelands and forests.

The proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement represents a positive step forward for the management of the West’s rivers, rangelands and forests. The document was developed through a process where local farmers, ranchers and Native American leaders set aside long-standing feuds to focus on solutions that provide stability for local communities, benefit endangered species, and strengthen the local economy. 

“More and more in the West, collaboration is replacing conflict when it comes to the management of our natural resources,” says Sustainable Northwest executive director Martin Goebel. “The size and scope of this Agreement is historic. It doesn’t just benefit one species, one community or one piece of land, but covers an area roughly the size of Switzerland.”

The Klamath Basin, straddling the Oregon and California borders, has a rich history rooted in abundant wildlife, dramatic landscapes and productive agriculture. In recent years, conflict over natural resource management splintered the region, reminiscent of the timber wars of the 1980s. The Agreement seeks to share natural resources and promote restoration activities so that traditional economic activities such as agriculture can occur within the parameters of a healthy and productive ecosystem. 

Unlike other landscape-scale restoration efforts, this agreement is unique in that it creates new forms of governance that put people from tribal, agricultural and fishing communities in more control of their future.

“It’s a process where community members shape their own destiny” says James Honey, Sustainable Northwest’s Program Officer for the Klamath Basin.  “It starts with people finding common ground and creating trust. Discussions with your neighbor about your backyard evolve into discussions about large-scale river restoration, increased local management of natural resources, and opportunities for economic diversification of hard-stretched rural economies, both tribal and agricultural.”

Sustainable Northwest board member and former county commissioner Jane O’Keeffe observed, “Lake County learned years ago that fighting about natural resources didn’t keep jobs or improve the environment. The Klamath Agreement deserves the thoughtful consideration of Oregon’s public and its leaders, both in helping to transform the Basin, but also for the example it could provide for rural people and places throughout the West.”

Sustainable Northwest (SNW) is an innovative, solution-oriented leader that works in partnership with communities to renew hope and catalyze economic and ecological vitality for the rural West.  SNW has worked in the Klamath Basin since 2002, helping to maintain rural economies and agriculture, restore natural resources, and strengthen relationships among ranchers and farmers, tribal members, environmental organizations and public agencies.

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