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Waterfowl beckon hunters east of Cascades By MARK FREEMAN KLAMATH FALLS -- Waterfowlers who head across the Cascade Crest this week for the marshes and wetlands of Klamath County can expect a good opening weekend for duck and goose hunting. Duck season runs Saturday through Jan. 23, 2000, statewide. Goose hunting in Klamath, Lake, Harney and Malheur counties also opens Saturday and runs through Jan. 16. The regular goose-hunting season runs Oct. 16 through Jan. 23 in the southwest Oregon counties of Jackson, Josephine, Coos, Curry and Douglas counties. Opening weekend is usually successful for waterfowlers hunting the marshes and wetlands of the basin -- especially when foul weather keeps the birds moving. Midweek weather was "wet, cold and chilly -- ducky type of weather," says Lanny Fujishin, who manages the state-run Klamath Wildlife Area south of Klamath Falls. "The weather's changed a little, and that should help the hunting," Fujishin says. "Basinwide, I think we'll have a pretty good opener." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently estimated that 780,000 birds are in the basin. This 1999-00 waterfowl season is shaping up as one of the most liberal seasons ever set in Oregon, with shotgunners getting the longest duck and goose seasons allowed by federal treaties. Federal biologists have delayed until next spring the release of an environmental study on Diamond Lake so they can study new options for reclaiming the lake's famed trout fishery from illegally introduced tui chubs. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had planned on issuing its Draft Environmental Impact Statement on restoring Diamond Lake this month. But "a lot of good ideas" from the public on restoring the trout fishery while still protecting the environment have come up that need to be addressed in the study, says Jerry Novotny of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Federal Aid Grants program. "You might call it a process of discovery," Novotny says. "As a result of that input, several new options and issues need to be evaluated." The Fish and Wildlife Service is the lead agency studying ways to rid the pesky tui chubs from Diamond Lake, restock the lake with trout and return it to its stature as one of Oregon's top trout lakes. Tui chubs are native to the Klamath Basin and were discovered in the lake in 1992. They were likely illegally introduced by anglers as bait. The chubs have since overtaken the lake, out-numbering trout 10 to 1 and out-competing the stocked trout for food and space. The result is a declining trout fishery that draws few anglers. In an effort to jump-start fishing interest, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife last month stocked 5,000 2-pound trout from a private hatchery into Diamond Lake. Both the ODFW and the Diamond Lake Resort favor an option used previously at Diamond Lake and elsewhere in Oregon. The option calls for drawing the lake down, chemically treating it to kill off all the fish, and restocking it with trout. Some environmental groups have expressed concern that doing so could harm other species that rely on the High Cascades lake. The draft EIS will look at several options for handling the lake's restoration as well as the expected environmental impacts. The draft likely will list a preferred alternative. After the draft is issued, the public will have a 45-day comment period. A final environmental study with a decision will then be issued by midsummer, the ODFW says. To receive a copy of the upcoming draft EIS, telephone the ODFW's Roseburg office at (541) 440-3353. The so-called "scoping report" that is the prelude to the draft EIS can also be found on the U.S. Forest Service website at: http://www.rl.fws.gov . Oregon State Police fish and wildlife officers are seeking help in investigating two recent poaching cases in Jackson County, and rewards are being offered to those who help solve the cases. One case involves the illegal shooting of a beef cow calf near Butte Falls on Sept. 16, and the second is the illegal shooting of a doe blacktail deer Tuesday night along Sterling Creek Road in rural Western Jackson County. In the first case, someone shot the beef calf about 4 p.m. at the Hailicka Rock Pit near Butte Falls. OSP Senior Trooper Jeff Thompson says a bullet was recovered from the carcass, but he declined to say what caliber or type of weapon was used in the shooting. A $3,500 reward is being offered for information that leads to a conviction in the case, Thompson says. The reward comes from a collection of donors, including a local cattlemen's group, the Oregon Hunters Association and several local cattlemen, Thompson says. In Tuesday's incident, someone shot and killed a doe from a vehicle along Sterling Creek Road near milepost 2. Nearby residents heard a shot fired just before 8 p.m., and the doe was found dead Wednesday morning, Thompson says. A reward in the case is being offered through the Turn In Poachers program. Those with information on either case are asked to telephone 664-4600 or 776-6236. (Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470 or e-mail him at [email protected] ) Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA