Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - View this location on map Established in 1908, this was the first large area of public land to be set aside as a wildlife refuge. Superimposed on an existing federal reclamation project, the marshes and lakes of the wildlife reservation were drained for agricultural purposes until intensive water management measures were initiated in 1940 to bring the refuge back to productivity. The refuge is an outstanding illustration of the 20th-century conflict between utilitarian (or reclamation) interests and conservation interests in the use of public lands and of the introduction of scientific management principles into wildlife conservation. Lower Klamath Lake, Dorris, California Historical

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