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neck of the woods | community

been disturbance, such as roadside wildflow-
ers along Rim Drive after road construction.
Some people can’t hike trails, so enjoying
wildflowers as they drive allows them a full
experience. Areas damaged by high levels of
visitor use are also revegetated and restored.

Dave Hering works as a fish biologist with
the Aquatics Program. A favorite part of his
job is seeing what many people miss, the
protected forests around the lake, the park’s
backcountry. The Aquatics program works
with the restoration of native fish in the
park, primarily bull trout. At one time, they
swam naturally in two streams, now in only
one. The principle threat to the bull trout is
non-native eastern brook trout, introduced
by the park decades ago to entice sport fish-
ing. Today, however, few folks fish in park
streams, although anglers can be seen along
Highway 62 at Annie Creek. This restoration
project involves electrofishing to remove the
bull trout to another stream or holding tank,
then removing the invasive fish and reintro-
ducing the native species. Fish also create
their own survival threats, migrating from
the park to outside rivers, then back into
the park. Hering jokingly says they can’t tell
when they leave or reenter the park.

Given Crater Lake National Park’s proximity
to the Klamath basin, part of Hering’s work
involves forming partnerships to improve
fish habitat using what he calls a watershed-
scale approach. He works with ranchers and
communities, as well as national and state
fish and wildlife departments, and Trout
Unlimited (a non-government organization),
the goal being to improve streams and creeks
on public and private property adjacent to
the national park, thus benefiting everyone.
There is real satisfaction in forming positive
coalitions among stakeholders with diverse
interests. On a side note, Hering urges, “This
is a big park. Come see the lake, but also
explore little known areas.”

Scott Girdner, an aquatic biologist, runs a
long-term lake monitoring program, started
in 1983. His team tracks lake health each sum-
mer, studying how winter affects the lake and
the impacts of climate change, and seeing if the
lake is changing beyond typical year-to-year
variability. They measure clarity, water quality,
nutrients, water chemistry, and biology.

52 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | summer 2020