Science conference scheduled  

January 8, 2010

   The Klamath River Basin Science Conference is being organized by the U.S. Geological Survey — the science information arm for the U.S. Department of the Interior — and is expected to draw more than 300 people, according to Dr. Leslie Dierauf, the agency’s Northwest regional executive. It is open to the public.  

   “It will speak to the science. It is not a political session,” she said. “My hope is at the end of the conference is to come out with real specific needs, some priority orders of what to look at first, second, third, fourth and fifth.”

   Salazar invited

   Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has been invited as keynote speaker for Feb. 2, although it’s not yet known if he is available.

   Dierauf said one conference goal is to determine what information Salazar needs to make a decision in 2012 on whether to implement the Klamath Basin Restoration   Agreement.

   The final draft of the agreement, which outlines a series of steps to improve water quality and fisheries along the Klamath River from Upper Klamath Lake to the Pacific Ocean, is expected to be released shortly. A key element calls for the removal of four Klamath River dams.

   ‘Unbiased science’

   “I know the secretary is going to need some unbiased science to make his decision,” Dierauf said of why the USGS is taking the lead in organizing the   conference.

   The USGS is a nonregulatory agency that conducts scientific research, she said. In the Klamath Basin, the agency has a field office with a staff of 25 involved in studying, for example, the impact of Upper Klamath Lake algae blooms on fish and how the distribution of algae blooms affects fish movements.

   “We do work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service but we do not regulate the Endangered Species Act or set river management policy,” Dierauf said.  

   The pending conference, Dierauf said, will be unusual because it involves the entire Upper a nd L ower K la mat h River basins and focuses on the region as a single unit. Previous conferences have focused on either the Upper or Lower basins.

   Lyman Thorsteinson of the USGS, who is helping to organize the conference, expects a strong turnout.

   “The Klamath is really in the national focus and has been for some time,” Thorsteinson said. “It’s going to remain in the spotlight. The issues are huge.”