Local Rancher to Receive National NRCS “Excellence in Conservation Award”
June 18, 2004
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Mike Byrne, an Upper Klamath Basin rancher who has long been active in the local agricultural community, will be recognized for his leadership in conservation next week by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) chief Bruce Knight. The award will be presented in conjunction with the annual NRCS Honor Awards Ceremony to be held in Washington, D.C., next Friday, June 25^th.

The purpose of the Excellence in Conservation Awards Program is to recognize the valuable contributions that those outside of the federal government make to conserve natural resources on private land.

Byrne has been an effective community leader in advocating conservation measures, particularly in recent years. In addition to serving in leadership roles in the California Cattlemen’s Association, the California Farm Bureau Federation, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and numerous local organizations, Byrne has been a key player in helping to resolve water and endangered species issues in the Klamath Basin. Byrne was, and continues to be, a spokesperson for conservation-minded farmers and ranchers – speaking to local and national news media, legislative representatives, and government officials.  

“Mike Byrne represents the best of what citizenship in America means,” U.S. Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR) said in a floor speech in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2001 Klamath Project water shutoff.  “He’s been in the trenches every day, in town hall meetings, in meetings with federal, state, and local authorities and around kitchen tables throughout the basin.”

Byrne brought the local Resource Conservation District to a leadership role in upper basin communities. The district is now a critical part of a coalition of Klamath Basin districts working toward long-range solutions for the problems facing the Klamath Basin.   Byrne was also a key player in securing special funding in the 2002 Farm Bill, a total of $50 million, for water conservation in the Klamath Basin through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).  According to an NRCS spokesperson, his leadership and influence have “contributed significantly to the outstanding participation rate in conservation programs in the basin”. Last year, according to NRCS, there were 884 sign ups for Klamath Basin EQIP alone in California.   

Byrne and his brother Dan have also completed projects on their ranch near Clear Lake, California.

He helped broker a Challenge Cost Share Agreement between the U.S. Forest Service and the Klamath Water Users Association in the mid 1990s that allowed biological assessments of management activities involving grazing allotments on Modoc National Forest land that furnish water to the Clear Lake watershed. Byrne also spearheaded an effort with the Modoc National Forest and Lava Beds Resource Conservation District during the same time period to construct 38 miles of riparian fencing and a new water source along Mowitz Creek, near the Clear Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

“I will accept this award on behalf of the Klamath Basin. It’s not my award; it’s our award,” said Byrne. “I believe Ronald Reagan was right when he said there is no limit to what you can achieve if you do not care who gets credit for it.”

Klamath Water Users Association
2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3
Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603
Phone (541) 883-6100
FAX   (541) 883-8893  
kwua@cvcwireless.net