The Lower Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge is a breathtakingly beautiful place, the Pacific Flyway's Serengeti for birds. Its landscape is a complex of sage brush, forests, wetlands, and farms – a landscape that was missing something vital the last time I visited it: water.

Because of that, hundreds of birds are dying every day there from avian botulism.

It is tough to witness the effects of avian botulism. The disease attacks a bird’s nervous system and shuts down muscle control. It cannot fly or walk, and because it can't hold its head up, it often drowns.

Estimates say up to 10,000 birds have been lost so far. Because of the lack of water at the refuge, the birds crowd onto nearby Tule Lake. Sadly, this kind of crowding creates the perfect environment for this disease to spread.

But there is hope, and your vote can change the story for waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway into a happy one. Proposition 1 on the Nov. 4 ballot allocates $475 million to the State Natural Resources Agency, part of which can be used to purchase water and restore habitat in the Klamath. This money will save birds.

Funding for the Klamath is just part of how Prop. 1 will help California birds:

• Funding for Central Valley wildlife refuge water and Salton Sea restoration.
• Funding for conservancies to perform habitat restoration in the Central Valley, coastlines, and along streams and rivers.
• Vital restoration of wetland and estuaries.
• Clean water for birds and people.

You may not see the Bald Eagle, the Green-winged Teal, or the Northern Pintail on your ballot this November – but that doesn’t mean you can’t vote for them.

Vote for the birds this Election Day!

Photo of Northern Pintails by Jack Noller/USFWS