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This Website is Dedicated to  Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005

    Most of it is based on the Kuchel Act of 1964, a federal law mandating the refuge lands be managed for both waterfowl and farming. It also set a base of 13,000 acres of permanent surface water. 

    Not long ago, I remember when refuge personnel were proposing that the permanent lake known as Sump 1 be moved to existing dry farmland, and the bottom of the flooded land be dried up and farmed. 

    There were several reasons for doing this, not the least of which was disease in waterfowl and agricultural lands. 

    While it seemed like a good idea, the reality was that it would be totally cost prohibitive and, ultimately, the farmers would be out of business for a long time. 

    Then, the idea was broached by Mike and others that perhaps they could, or should, consider scaling back on their objective to something a bit more manageable. 

    What we now have is a wonderful program by which everyone wins. 

    Not all the land is under refuge control, nor is it all under Bureau of Reclamation control. Each entity has a different program with the same basic plan. 

    Using a more moderate land base of 1,800 acres at a time, Mike divides it up into three 600 acre parcels. 

    The land to be flooded is divided into three 200-acre plots, separated by dikes. This allows the entire 600 acres to be flooded with less water due to the differences in elevation. 

    Almost all work is performed by local personnel during what can best be described as regular dike maintenance, so there is no additional cost. 

    This land is kept flooded for one year in the three-year rotation lands. Each year, a new parcel is flooded and the flooded land drained and farmed, which kills both weeds and insects, like the potato farmer’s nemesis, the nematode. 

    It is called it flood fallowing, but has since changed to referring to it as walking wetlands. 

    In other parcels, officials leave the land flooded for two years, setting up a six-year rotation. These parcels qualify the farmer to sell crops with an organic designation, making it much more valuable. The cost savings on pesticides and the trips across the field to apply them are substantial. 

    It has also increased bidding by farmers, raising the income to the Bureau. 

    The refuge parcels are flooded for four years at a time, making the lands’ response, again, different from the other parcels. 

    Many thousands of acres called seasonal wetlands also are managed. 

    We have learned that land that is flooded during the winter, and dried out slowly in the spring, produces and incredible amount of food for waterfowl. 

    The list of plant species is long, but all of them produce seed, seed that feeds the waterfowl and regenerates itself the following year. 

    As we toured the refuge, the number of waterfowl using the fields and flooded acres was incredible. 

    Mike said that an old timer he talked to said the number of birds is almost like the good old days. The old man said there are more birds now than he can remember. 

    That’s news that makes Mike proud. 

    We also talked about the folks who decry the farming on the refuge and would stop all agriculture on refuge lands. One of the targets is row crops like onions and potatoes. 

    According to Mike, onions require new land each year to avoid disease, and farmers are running out of new places to grow them. By flood fallowing the land for two years, the soil returns to its virgin state and onions are back in business. 

    Potatoes are another field crop that needs expensive control of nematodes for a saleable crop. Anyone who has lived in the Klamath Basin very long should be familiar with the smell of fields being fumigated. 

    Flood fallowing makes that process unnecessary. 

    There is another thing I learned about potato land — the snow geese love it. 

    We watched as tens of thousands of the white birds got up from a flooded field, one of Mike’s, and landed in a plowed potato field, passing up grain stubble on the way. 

    Who says agriculture isn’t good for wildlife? 

    It doesn’t take long for a reasonably intelligent person to see just how much more waterfowl can be fed on lands manipulated by man, especially for them. 

    To stop all agriculture on our waterfowl refuges would be a wildlife disaster of monumental proportions. 

    And, while we are manipulating land for the ducks and geese, other wildlife prospers, as well. On our drive, we saw at least a half dozen rooster pheasants, and as many coyotes, not to mention the hawks and mule deer. 

    Song birds were everywhere, as were shore birds and fish-eating fowl. 

    Habitat designed for one species, by its very nature, nurtures of a host of disciplines, both cold blooded and warm. 

    It isn’t much of a reach to refer to it as the new Tulelake. 

    It is a new concept. We talked with some visitors from central California and they moaned and complained about the refuges there, where the wetlands are left to fend for themselves. 

    The results show in the amount of wildlife they support. 

    There are also some new rules for hunters and birdwatchers, not the least of which is the seasonal pass. No more day-passes. And, for hunters, the key word is adaptive management. 

    Things change from year to year, so check the rules and zones before venturing out before the crack of dawn. 

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