{"nrhp_refnum":"66000238","name":"Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Lower Klamath Lake, E of Dorris","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dorris","county":"Siskiyou County","state":"CA","lat":41.954576739500055,"lon":-121.68768288524154,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1965-01-12","areas_of_significance":["Conservation"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wildlife refuge site straddling the California-Oregon border near Dorris, Siskiyou County, California. It was created by executive order in 1908 and is the oldest of the six refuges in the Klamath Basin complex.","why_significant":"The refuge was the first of the Klamath Basin refuges and is tied to the theme of conservation of natural resources. Waterfowl habitat was restored after reclamation drained the lakebed, using a system of dikes, canals, pumping plants and a tunnel built mostly from 1940 to 1949. The Kuchel Act of 1964 later gave wildlife needs priority over reclamation within the refuge.","narrative":"Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge covers wetlands, fields and uplands on both sides of the California-Oregon border near Dorris. Established by executive order in 1908, it was the first of six refuges in the Klamath Basin complex. The basin once held roughly 187,000 acres of marsh that drew millions of migrating waterfowl. After 1917, federal reclamation cut off the lake's water supply, and by the early 1920s only about 1,000 acres of open water remained. When the alkaline lakebed proved unsuitable for farming, the effort was abandoned. Beginning around 1940, agencies built dikes, canals, pumping plants and a 6,600-foot tunnel from Tule Lake to restore habitat; the basic system was working by 1949. These structures, along with the refuge management units, are counted as contributing resources. Thirty-six archeological sites, dating from about 5,000 B.C., lie within the boundaries but are counted separately. The Kuchel Act of 1964 set permanent boundaries and put wildlife needs ahead of reclamation.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and Klamath Drainage District (builders of the water control structures)","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Functions as an active wildlife refuge and conservation area; water levels are managed through dikes, canals and pumps, and some lands are share-cropped or leased.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.859547-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/66000238_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000238/3f494ea351-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000238/3f494ea351-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Frank Schulenburg","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lower_Klamath_National_Wildlife_Refuge,_January_2022-2001.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Frank Schulenburg</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lower_Klamath_National_Wildlife_Refuge,_January_2022-2001.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858109","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Klamath_National_Wildlife_Refuge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3423293"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/siskiyou-county/lower-klamath-national-wildlife-refuge-66000238/"}