KWSO News for Wed., Aug. 24, 2022

In Warm Springs, the fisheries department and Parkdale Fish facility will be distributing frozen chinook and winter steelhead today at the Community Center around noon. Be sure to bring your own bag or cooler, there will be a limit of two fish or 1 bag per family as there are approximately 60 fish.

Two Pacific lamprey have made history. The eel-like fish have made it past the Soda Springs Dam on Oregon’s North Umpqua River. Biologists say they hope this is a sign of more lamprey to come. Biologists think one lamprey could have followed the other because pheromones sometimes help guide lamprey to good spawning habitat. Now that lamprey have swum beyond the Soda Springs Dam, the eel-like fish will be able to reach more habitat above the dam. Bob Nichols is the Fish-Forest Program manager for the North Umpqua National Forest. He says the passage through the dam is important because lamprey will need access to cooler waters as the climate changes. Nichols: “The access to cool water habitats are going to be pretty important in the future.” Pacific lamprey are a culturally important food for indigenous people. Lamprey also provide traditional medicines, and their oils can be used as moisturizers.

Tensions are high between some members of the Klamath Tribes and farmers in the Klamath Basin. Until Tuesday, a group of farmers had disobeyed federal orders to stop using water from Upper Klamath Lake to irrigate farms along the Oregon-California border. The lake is home to several species of endangered fish that are culturally important to the local tribe. Clayton Dumont is the Chairman of the Klamath Tribes. “Our members are quite angry as we watch the ecosystem around us where we’ve been forever continue to degrade. Our fish are close to being extinct.” Dumont sent a statement to local water managers on Tuesday, saying they would not meet with water users as long as they disobeyed federal regulations. Irrigation water was finally shut off on Tuesday, after an emergency meeting of the Klamath Irrigation District, according to the district manager.

People seeking relief from the McKinney fire can get financial help from a new disaster relief center in Yreka starting on Tuesday. JPR’s Noah Camuso reports. “The Small Business Administration will start offering long term, low-interest loans to homeowners, renters and businesses affected by the McKinney Fire. Rick Tillery with the SBA says loans will not only cover any physical loss from the fire, but nonprofits and businesses are also eligible for economic injury loans. Tillery: “Say there is a gas station or restaurant or hotel in Happy Camp that saw a dramatic drop in visitors due to the fire. That’s what we call economic injury, and they would be eligible for help through this program.” An estimated 185 structures were destroyed by the McKinney Fire according to CAL Fire. Representatives from the SBA will be available for one-on-one assistance at the Siskiyou County Transit Center starting Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.”

KWSO Weather for Central Oregon:

• Sunny today with a high near 97 degrees
• Tonight, Mostly clear with a low around 63
• Sunny and Hot tomorrow with a high of 98 degrees

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