Episode notes
In this new episode—part three of our California history series—Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard close out the Klamath Basin saga and head south to the 240,000-acre Grasslands, where water rights, teal limits, and hard-fought tradition still rule the marsh.
Topics include:
Klamath’s boom-to-bust timeline—from 100,000-duck openers in ’52 to today’s drought-strangled refuge drama
Miller & Lux’s canal gamble that turned alkali flats into duck country and sparked 180 active clubs
Jay Martin Winton vs. the Bureau of Reclamation—the bare-knuckle fight that created the Grasslands Water District and still floods your blind every fall
Small-gauge, big smiles—why teal limits, wigeon straps, and tight-knit club culture make the Grasslands the most approachable duck scene in the state
Habitat truths—cocklebur takeov ...