The Klamath River: Rebirth and Restoration

Below is my slide show including two plant species from each of the various ecosystems of the Klamath River. Only the tip of the iceberg of this incredibly biodiverse region. I got to experience both the extreme and subtle changes in habitat a few weeks ago as I drove the river from the Pacific Coast to I-5. It is quite something to experience.

For this assignment I really enjoyed using FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL)Viewer . From the flood data research earlier in the semester, I found that the two most likely sites for flooding on the Klamath were from the confluence of the Trinity downstream to the mouth of the river at the Pacific Ocean near Klamath and Requa, CA. Its a very interactive ArcGIS site where you can follow the length of the river and it will layer in blue the possible flood plain. The maps are divided into FIRM Panels and you can zoom in and download each panel. This is the the Pacific to the Trinity River: And this is around Seiad Valley, upriver a ways: Clearly some of the files download differently, but on the site, you can zoom in all in color, and the basic blue layer of the flood plain usually is marked with the letter A. It was helpful to explore the Klamath County Flood Insurance Site to understand what the lettering meant. On this site, a landowner or homeowner can search their parcel

Here's my slideshow outlining some of the invasive species that are being targeted in the Klamath Restoration. I was interested to learn that there are many many more in the region. It's a pretty overwhelming and sometimes disheartening issue across the nation (and the world). Philosophically sometimes you can frame non-native species through the lens that we are a global community where people and other species of plants and animals move freely throughout the world in this day and age. But when species become invasive and destructive of eco-systems, it's a deeper issue. Hard not to look at humans as invasive especially in the context of war and oppression, and obviously the greater environmental and ecological impact we have had.