Proposal senseless

Herald&News 10/02/03 letter to the editor

In my 87 years on this earth, I have heard some stupid ideas, some unbelievably stupid, but the one presented in the Herald and News of Oct. 22, supposedly made by the National Research Council in its report on water cutoff in the Klamath Basin outshines them all.

The Council's recommendations to improve the Basin environment included the following from page 2: "Ridding Lake of the Woods of exotic game fishes and replacing them with native suckers."

Let's look at that recommendation from various angles.

First, why have many families built expensive summer homes around Lake of the Woods, built docks and brought in boats? Was it for the pleasure of cruising around and watching useless suckers that, if they were allowed to be caught, would be virtually unfit to eat? I think not. The attraction was not only the beautiful surroundings but also the pleasure of hooking and landing fighting game fish.

If this stupid plan were to be carried out, it wouldn't be long until Lake of the Woods would be deserted, the value of the cabins would be zero. What about the concession that has been in place for years? It would be abandoned, a worthless structure. Who would compensate the owners for their loss?

The sucker is a warm-water, bottom-feeding fish, preferring shallow water with, preferably, a muddy bottom. They are not inherently a cool, deep-water species.

Just recently a published report on suckers in the Klamath Lake stated that during a 90-minute period of time, 100 suckers were trapped in a tiny area near the A Canal head gates. To me, that would indicate that, considering the size of lake, there must be millions of suckers inhabiting it. Just how many suckers are enough?

I can think of many more questions concerning such a recommendation, but the above will do for a start. Think about it.

Jim Leard

2330 Marina Drive