http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2003/10/27/news/top_stories/atop.txt
New refuge manager not new to region

Ron Cole, the new Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges manager, is no stranger to the region.

Published Oct 27, 2003

By LEE JUILLERAT

TULELAKE - Don't expect Ron Cole, the new manager of the six Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges, to prescribe any simple solutions for area water problems.

He knows it's not that easy.

"I know a federal manager is not going to solve this thing," Cole says. "Whatever positive things we do accomplish are going to come from here, the community."

Cole took over his duties in August, but he didn't come to the Basin as a stranger.

From 1984 to 1990, Cole worked at the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake refuges, originally as a temporary bird checker, later as a tractor operator and then, after earning a degree in wildlife management from Humboldt State University, as a technician and biologist.

He understands local concerns. In 1986, he married a Tulelake woman, Joan, the daughter of Shirley and Dave Hatfield. His father-in-law, now semi-retired, is the son of a homesteader. Hatfield had a small farm for several years before working for Clough Oil.

The Coles didn't move far from Tulelake in 1990. He served as the first-ever manager of the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in northern Klamath County and later was assistant refuge manager for the Lakeview-based Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife refuges.

Cole and his family lived in Minnesota and Denver between 1998 and this summer. He said he was reluctant to return to the Klamath Basin.

"I wanted more time where I was, learning different problems, having different experiences, because I wanted to position myself to be the best manager I can be," he said.

"I'm a better manager because of the places I've been, better than if I had stayed here," he said. "This is a refuge with unique problems, but problems are not unique to this refuge."

Refuges nationwide are increasingly becoming more controversial, partly because the network of users has broadened.

"This really isn't a quiet place anymore, and that's as it should be because we have more and more people interested in what we do," he said. "I think we (the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) were a well-kept secret for many decades."

Cole said he yielded to a "full court press" by Interior Department officials only after he received assurances that issues will receive a full hearing.

"The ultimate reason from a professional standpoint was I had enough people tell me they thought I could help, and I needed that," he said. "It's not going to be decided in Washington, D.C. We, the people in the Klamath Basin, are going to lead everybody to where we decide to go. I just hope we're smart enough to see the window of opportunity when it opens up - and that we jump through it."

Cole said he was pleasantly surprised by changes at the refuges, especially at Tule Lake.

"There's so many more moving parts than when I was here before. I had been keeping up to speed with the water issues," he said. "I was impressed with the wildlife diversity here, the whole gamut of wetland birds. I hadn't seen Tule Lake look so diverse."

He's been less excited by the Lower Klamath refuge.

"It was dry most of the summer because of the water issues. I look at Lower Klamath as this great potential refuge waiting to be revived again. I think the staff has been doing as good a job as they can with the infrequent deliveries of water," he said.

While he might have liked more training and experiences, he and his family - the Coles have two children, Lily, 13, and Ethan, 11 - are happy to be "home."

"When people asked us what we called home it was always the Basin," he said.

He's pleased to have the access to Joan's family and his parents, who live near Bandon, after having some years with his family in different environments.

"It was important to expose my family to that, to as many different things as we could," Cole said. "I love being here. I love hunting and I love fishing, and I love the outdoors."