Staff Spotlight: Kelley Thomas Delpit
Kelley works in Oregon’s Upper Klamath Basin to recruit and partner with landowners who want to increase efficiency, reduce water use, improve water quality, and more.
“I like the balance that we strike at SNW. It’s not just about environmental outcomes, but also economic and social. We’re excellent problem solvers and we have so many ways in the organization to straddle divides and bring solutions to the people.”
How did your childhood influence your decision to work in sustainability?
I grew up on my family’s cattle ranch, Agency Ranch, in the upper part of the Klamath Basin. It’s still a fully functioning 1,700-acre cattle ranch, but when I was little, we all lived there, and my dad was a full-time cattle rancher. Now, we ship the cows to California to feed off grass in the winter and then bring them back up in the spring. But when I was growing up, we kept the cows here year round and hayed them in the winter.
Back then, we were managing the ranch pretty intensively. That’s what everyone around us was doing, too. We had cattle fence to fence. There was no fencing to keep cattle out of the rivers and streams. And there was little consideration for the natural resources. That kind of ranching does make cows grow large, and fairly quickly, which can be lucrative. But we did it that way partly because we didn’t know there was another way or that we were affecting the ecosystem and our downstream neighbors.
The first Klamath water crisis in 2001 was devastating and eye-opening. It was a drought year. Water from the Klamath Irrigation Project in the upper basin was cut off, meaning farmers and ranchers downstream of Upper Klamath Lake had no water. Ranchers lost their livelihoods, and there were suicides. My dad grew up in Tule Lake, California, which is one of those communities downstream of the lake. He knew many of the affected businesses and families. The following year, when water was returned to Project farmers despite continued drought conditions, tens of thousands of downstream salmon died. Our ranch is upstream, and we did not lose access to water, but the whole experience opened our eyes. We, along with almost all of the other ranchers in the 30,000-acre Wood River Valley, were managing cattle in a way that contributed to the problem. The Valley inputs one-third of the water going into the lake, and the effluent from pervasive flood irrigation practices was exacerbating poor water quality that was killing endangered fish species and causing toxic algal blooms. My dad decided he wanted to be part of the solution instead of the problem.
He’s a businessman at heart, so he knew he had to find a way to reduce the number of cattle on the land, restore some of the wetlands, and protect the rivers and creeks – while maintaining a profitable ranch. He realized he could access conservation program funds that would help him – and our neighbors – pay for those things and improve water quality and quantity while still maintaining a working cattle ranch. All of that left a strong impression on me.
How did your educational and career path lead you to Sustainable Northwest?
I studied International Political Economics during undergrad, and when I graduated, my dad and our neighbor formed the Klamath Basin Land Trust. I was one of their first staff members, and I did monitoring, events, and anything else needed. I learned a lot! I learned about flood irrigation and evapotranspiration, how the land responds to too many cattle, and how the rivers and creeks are harmed without protection. And I learned there are ways to work on the land that can be beneficial, not problematic.
I earned a master’s degree in water policy from Oregon State University, and my thesis was about what motivates landowners in the Wood River Valley – right where I grew up – to participate in conservation programs. That research directly relates to what I’m working on now, of course. But my path was winding. I went to Mexico for a while, I taught kindergarten, I worked for a while at another conservation nonprofit, and I took a few years off when my daughters were born. When I was ready to go back to work, I talked to a friend of the family in the Klamath Basin and he suggested I get in touch with SNW. At the time, SNW had no staff dedicated full-time to the Klamath Basin. They hired me on contract to help enroll more landowners into conservation programs, and eventually, it was a full-time job. And now we have two full-time staff in the basin, helping enroll landowners into programs that are improving soil and water quality while also supporting family ranches.
What do you like most about your position at Sustainable Northwest?
I think it’s really unique to be able to straddle both worlds – urban and rural, conservative and liberal, ranching and technology – and this job does that. I’m tasked with helping facilitate opportunities for producers that they would probably not be able to access as easily without support. I meet them where they are and learn their needs and goals, I find the opportunity wherever that is, and I marry the two together. It involves so many worlds meeting – the political, the economic, the values. I like the challenge of being the neutral facilitator in the middle of all of that and helping find solutions that address people’s needs in a way they want without bringing an agenda. Many organizations have very strong agendas, whether it’s fish, forests, or public lands. I like the balance that we strike at SNW. It’s not just about environmental outcomes but also economic and social. We’re excellent problem solvers and have so many ways in the organization to straddle divides and bring solutions to the people.
Passions outside of work: Hiking. Live music. Snow skiing. Running. And I love the water – ocean, rivers, lakes, snorkeling, scuba diving, water skiing. Also horseback riding, but that’s half work.
One thing you think is overrated: Music streaming services like Spotify. Holding and listening to a physical album from beginning to end is underrated.
Favorite thing to do on a day off: A family adventure that goes smoothly. A rare event to be celebrated!
Favorite place in the PNW: Agency Ranch
Favorite band: Cream. LCD Sound System. Sturgill Simpson.
Book recommendation: The Pacific by Mark Helphrin
Cats or dogs? Dogs. And horses!
