72 



Bird - Lore 



the area where a few years ago Ducks and 

 Geese and their young were found by 

 thousands in the spring and summer, today 

 there is nothing but a barren desert over 

 the surface of which the wind whips the 

 dust and sand as it does among the sage 

 brush on the shore. 



The Biological Survey of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, which is greatly in- 

 terested in preserving all the bird reser- 

 vations, recently had a soil survey made 

 of this Klamath Lake soil that had been 

 exposed by the drying up of the water. 

 The report shows that it is so filled with 

 alkalies that it is practically useless for 

 agricultural purposes. Apparently noth- 

 ing can be induced to grow on it but a 

 rank kind of native grass. 



Congressman Raker, of California, re- 

 cently introduced a bill in Congress (House 

 Bill 8440) which, among other things, au- 

 thorizes and directs the Secretary of the 

 Interior "to determine and make public 

 announcement of what lands in and 

 around Little or Lower Klamath Lake in 

 Siskiyou County, California and Klamath 

 County, Oregon" may be opened for 

 homestead entry. 



A sop is thrown to the bird-lovers of the 

 country in the following: "The Secretary 

 of the Interior shall determine which of 

 the lands now within the boundary of the 

 Bird Reservation are chiefly valuable for 

 agricultural purposes and which for the 

 said reservation, and should open for 

 homestead entry those lands that are 

 chiefly valuable for agricultural pur- 

 poses." 



In other words, we are given to under- 

 stand that the marshes around the lake, 

 .and perhaps a portion of the lake, is not 

 needed as a bird reservation and can 

 therefore be converted into farm land, while 

 ■such portion of the lake as may be deter- 

 mined by the Secretary of the Interior 

 ■shall be kept as a bird reservation. As a 

 tmatter of fact, the marshes are just as 

 valuable, if not more valuable, for the 

 'birds than the open water, as with the 

 exception of the Western Grebe all the 

 birds mentioned above build their nests in 

 ithe marshes. 



To sugar-coat, and play a little politics 

 on the side, the following proposition is in- 

 cluded in the bill: 



"Those who served with the military or 

 naval forces of the United States during 

 the war between the United States and 

 Germany and her allies and have been hon- 

 orably separated or discharged therefrom, 

 or placed in the Regular Army Reserve, 

 shall have preference and prior right to 

 file upon and enter said lands under the 

 homestead laws and the provision of this 

 act for a period of six months following 

 the time the said lands are open to entry." 



This, briefly, is the situation, as we 

 understand it today, of the Klamath Lake 

 Bird Reservation. The whole situation is 

 involved in the extreme. 



Malheur Lake likewise is on the verge 

 of being dried up. The situation, briefly, 

 is this. This lake, about 15 miles in length 

 by 9 miles in width, is shallow, and is said 

 to be not over 1 1 feet in depth at its deepest 

 place. Its margins, likewise, are marshy, 

 and it is believed to be the greatest breed- 

 ing-place for wild fowl in the United States. 

 It lies in the desert country of southeastern 

 Oregon where there is extremely little 

 rainfall. Its waters are kept up by the 

 Silvies River, flowing in from the north, 

 and by the Blitzen coming from the south. 

 On each of these rivers extensive irriga- 

 tion projects are now in process of con- 

 struction, which will divert the water from 

 the Lake to irrigate desert lands. Under 

 the burning desert suns a year or two will 

 probably be all that is necessary to dry up 

 the lake completely. There are a few 

 ranches along the margins of the reserva- 

 tion which of course will likewise be ruined. 



Franklin B. Lane, Secretary of the 

 Department of the Interior, might per- 

 haps be able to save these reservations if 

 enough people in this country were quickly 

 to register their protests against this de- 

 struction. Certainly the Senators in Wash- 

 ington should be urged to vote against the 

 Raker Bill. This Association has fought 

 from every point in the slow, losing fight 

 for the Klamath and Malheur Lake Reser- 

 vations, and it shall continue to use every 

 effort within its means until the matter is 



