25 years ago - May 2, 1996

More than 3,000 acres of valuable farmland beside Upper Klamath Lake would be converted to marsh and wetlands under an agreement announced Wednesday before the Klamath County Commissioners.

Mark Stern, project coordinator for the Nature Conservancy, said a general agreement has been reached for the purchase of Tulana Farms, a 4700-acre tract at the mouth of the Williamson River. Most of the land would be flooded to create marsh and wetlands while about 1,700 acres would remain in agricultural production.

Restoration of marshes and wetlands on Tulana Farms is described by some as the most significant step that could be taken to improve water quality in Upper Klamath Lake.

Commissioner Dave Henzel expressed extreme disappointment in the project. The parcel along the Williamson River was once owned by a partnership that included Henzel’s father, Ben Henzel, and uncle, Dick Henzel, as well as Dave and Dan Liskey and all their wives.

The land was reclaimed in the 1920s by the California Oregon Power Co. which raised a long series of dikes along the lakeshore and banks of the river.

Many experts believe the elimination of the wetlands disrupted the natural process for reducing nutrients in the water flowing into Upper Klamath Lake. Those nutrients, unchecked, have contributed to the growth of blue-green algae in the lake.

A similar marsh restoration project is under way on the former 3,200-acre Wood River Ranch, which lies at the mouth of the Wood River on Agency Lake, only a few miles from Tulana Farms.