Restoring wetlands and wocus, a first food for the Klamath Tribes | Oregon Field Guide

For thousands of years, the Klamath Tribes have harvested a vital first food from the wetlands of Southern Oregon’s Klamath River Basin. It’s a highly nutritious seed that comes from a wetland plant called wocus. As wetlands were drained for agriculture the tribes lost a huge portion of the habitat supporting this plant. But there’s hope that farmers can help bring that habitat back.

Chapters:
0:00 Finding wocus plants in Rocky Point, OR
1:45 Where do wocus plants thrive?
2:22 The draining of lakes in the Klamath Basin
3:27 How agriculture can hurt and help wetlands
5:50 The seeds available for wetlands and wildlife
6:32 How to process wocus plants for consumption
8:10 Credits

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#OregonFieldGuide #KlamathTribes #Wocus #WetlandsRestoration #NativeAmericanCulture #SouthernOregon #FirstFoods #KlamathRiverBasin #EnvironmentalRestoration #SustainableFarming #NativeFood #CulturalPreservation #AgricultureAndConservation #TribalHeritage #KlamathBasin #PNW #OPB #Oregon #PacificNorthWest

[curtiswilson]

This is such a positive story because it is a win-win for everyone. Traditional and scientific knowledge can improve our lives.

[lunasky]

“A thrill of hope - the weary world rejoices”. That phrase woke me up when i heard it sung as part of the “oh holy night” Christmas carol. This video made me feel hope! The family singing and gathering food together was something i thought had been lost forever. The farmer showing restoration can be beneficial to his bottom line is thrilling. I hope for success in this endeavor

[laxthis]

I love that this guy adjusted from his older ways to a way that really works well with the modern day restoration projects. Need more farmers like that man out there

[Andy-vtsl]

What a great story, and I appreciated hearing from both stakeholders here.

I’ve been alongside the lake thousands of times, and I marvel at its beauty still. Best of luck restoring the Klamath Lake closer to what it should be!

[janefinley-english]

So happy to see these efforts come to fruition. A double benefit in this case!

[marenjones]

An 18mo turn around for water quality is insanely fast. Living solutions are always amazing.

[theck]

Thank you for covering this important issue.

[wbymag]

This is absolutely wonderful. I wish much that I could create my own wetland!

[elainelear]

I appreciate a farmer using a 'natural' system for their crops.

[kathyhepler]

The traditions of the. Native people are. Beautiful!!!!

[MsSunstoned]

I love what's happening here & kudos to those people. I'd love to meet them.

[josiburton]

More of this please. We so enjoyed it :)

[MrColinManning]

That's our Native Water Lily. Water Lily is thought to be the original flowering plant. If you have a little space you can have a small pond or water garden ....or whole wetlands if you have acres to work with. I make ponds, waterfall, filters and watergardens!

[foxmanghost]

Working with nature, not against it I like the idea this is something I would love to do if I ever own my own property and it creates a viable sustainability

[raclark]

Every farm or garden for that matter, should have a wetland. 😎👍

[GeorgeWHaydukeIII]

We have been trying to reason with many of these ranchers and farmers for over 40 years now. The vast majority tell us to **ck off. Just recently a few have come around and want to work on fixing this problem. Karl is Awesome, and more Klamath basin farmers need to work with their neighbors before they're forced to.

[namijnebruhtra]

I'm going to eat one the first chance I can

[estebancorral]

All palms are phosphorus accumulators. Nipa palms however also have a good root system they can inject oxygen into the water. The contaminated wocus can be fed to mushrooms which will decontaminate it, leaving nutrients rich compost that could be spread on conventional fields. These fields will use less water and fertilizer.

[sagwawichich]

What's the scientific name of the Wocus?

[steventodd]

they tried a 600 ac marsh to clean the water in south Florida and the snails loved it so much they had to drain it to kill the snails. Good idea but you need to know the critters you will deal with