The Klamath Basin is one of the most important waterfowl habitat areas in North America. However, it is also an area where over 75% of the historical wetlands have been lost. Before large scale conversions to agriculture, the Basin contained over 350,000 acres of wetlands.

Ducks Unlimited, Inc. (DU), Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), and numerous other partners recently completed the Klamath Basin Wetlands Project. This large project protected, restored, and/or enhanced a total of 23,992 acres, including 20,300 acres of wetlands and 3,692 acres of wetland-associated uplands. The total funding for the project exceeded $4.3 million. More than $700,000 was provided by a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant. Other key funding partners include the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, California Wildlife Conservation Board, California Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Completed Orr Lake Outlet The Restored Orr Lake Project
Completed Orr Lake outlet. The restored Orr Lake Project.


Ducks Unlimited completed restoration work at seven project sites: Tule Lake NWR, Wood River Wetlands, Randall Wetlands, Butte Valley Wildlife Area (WA), Shasta Valley WA, Lower Klamath NWR, and Orr Lake. At Orr Lake, 800 acres of wetlands were restored by constructing levees, installing six water control structures, restoring an existing water diversion structure, and installing 20,000 linear feet of cattle exclosure fencing.