April 4, 2005
The wildlands of California flood the mind with gorgeous images: saguaro cacti and kit foxes in the Sonoran desert; the high alpine of the majestic Sierra Nevada; the moist cathedral redwood forest. California is widely recognized for its bountiful natural treasures and incredible recreational opportunities. While Joshua Tree, Mt. Shasta, and the California redwoods are familiar destinations for scores of people, the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains are a hidden treasure.
The Klamath-Siskiyou (KS) is a complex and diverse ecoregion. An ecoregion is an area over which the climate, ecology, and plant and animal communities are distinct. The KS and California's North Coast ecoregion are inseparable. Scientists have linked these two regions together due to their overlapping ecology and because the watersheds that flow to the Pacific Ocean must flow through hundreds of square miles of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands.
The KS straddles the California-Oregon border. It is nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Crest, and stretches from the wine country in the south to the Umpqua River in the north. The rivers run through extremely rugged mountains that were on the bottom of the ocean hundreds of millions of years ago. As chance would have it, the KS was spared from glaciation in recent ice ages, and therefore served as a refuge for hundreds of species whose habitat was otherwise frozen. As a result of complex geology, climate, and time, the region boasts some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in North America and one of the richest temperate forests on the planet.
The Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild) is the primary organization monitoring the five million acres of public land in the KS. Founded in 1997 as a grassroots public lands watchdog group, KS Wild quickly found itself at the center of defending the world-class biodiversity of the region. We partnered up with some of the great groups in and around the region, including the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), the World Wildlife Fund's Klamath-Siskiyou program, and the Klamath Forest Alliance.
The KS region is truly a crossroads. A combination of influences from the eastern desert, Central Valley, and the Cascade, Sierra, and Coast ranges creates unique and diverse plant and animal communities. The region's temperate forests are home to more than 30 different species of conifer trees, including the elegant and endemic (found nowhere else on Earth) Port Orford cedar in the rainy, western portion of the region. The eastern, drier part of the region hosts ancient, gnarled junipers more common in the Great Basin.
The region also features the largest concentration of Wild and Scenic rivers in the country, providing excellent freshwater habitat for several species of salmon, lamprey, and other aquatic life. For those seeking quietude and solace, an extensive complex of Wilderness and roadless areas makes the Klamath-Siskiyou the wildest place on the West Coast.
Two major watersheds, the Rogue River in the north and the Klamath River in the south, define the region. These epic rivers are divided by the Siskiyou Crest, which runs east-west from the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument east of Ashland, to the Illinois Valley in the west, and south into the Siskiyou Wilderness in California. The Siskiyou Crest is a unique mountain range that serves as a biological corridor for plants and animals to travel and disperse throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The threats to the ecosystems in the Klamath-Siskiyou are the same threats that plague forests, watersheds, and wildlands worldwide. Conversion of primary forests to logging plantations, widespread cattle overgrazing, rampant off-road vehicle use, excessive road construction, and non-native species are all significant problems in the KS. While more than 25% of the primary forests in the region are still standing, only 10% are protected.
KS Wild works to protect these remaining forests and wild areas, and to restore the damage that has been done. Oftentimes, we find ourselves challenging timber sales, grazing, or road-building plans that would continue to erode the ecological integrity of the region. Using science, education, and a potent legal strategy, KS Wild has stopped more than two dozen timber sales, saving thousands of acres of native forest. Most recently in California we stopped the Beaver timber sale, which proposed to cut old growth in the Beaver Creek watershed, a tributary to the ailing Klamath River. We protect threatened species by petitioning the government to list them under the Endangered Species Act. We also maintain numerous outreach and educational activities, including hikes, film screenings, and a door-to-door canvass.
KS Wild maintains a staff of six, aided by seasonal law clerks, interns, and volunteers. While the office is based in southern Oregon (10 miles from the state line), the philosophy of bioregionalism--not political boundaries--guides our conservation work. Just as the salmon, bears, and Pacific fisher are unaware of what state they might be in at any given time, we attempt to blur the boundaries of Oregon and California, favoring an ecological definition.
We have taken a particular interest in the Salmon River Ranger District of the Klamath National Forest (KNF) due to their outrageous old-growth logging proposals. The Salmon River itself is a wealth of biological treasures. As one of the only un-dammed and un-diverted tributaries to the Klamath, the Salmon River is a refuge for clear, cool waters that numerous species depend on, including the iconic Chinook and coho salmon. The Salmon River is also well known for its raging whitewater and scenic beauty, and thousands of rafters float down this river every year.
The Glassups timber sale, cut in 2003, was the first of three old-growth timber sales that the KNF proposed in the Salmon River watershed. The 578-acre Knob and 744-acre Meteor timber sales would have quickly followed if not for the efforts of KS Wild. KS Wild and our partners recently appealed to the 9th Circuit on Knob, and we filed a lawsuit in February 2005 on the Meteor sale. We will exhaust every legal means available to ensure that the remaining ancient forests of the Salmon River continue standing.
In contrast, we have identified legitimate projects proposed by the KNF that we support. For example, the Scott Bar Mountain Vegetation Management Project thinned small trees (less than eight inches wide) and brush near the human community. We try to highlight and encourage these types of projects
on federal lands instead of logging more old forest.
KS Wild is looking forward to building stronger alliances with groups around the Klamath-Siskiyou and North Coast to get the message out about this important place we call home. The outstanding work of EPIC, the Northcoast Environmental Center, and others is an inspiration. We hope to add to that strength and protect these treasures for the future of all life.
For more information:
541/488-5789
www.kswild.org.
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Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center
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TOC for Forest & River News, Winter 2005