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Siskiyou Mountain Range

The Blog

Month: September 2017

2017 Wallow Fire: Fire Effects in the Marble Mountains Wilderness

A view across the Wallow Fire in the North Fork of the Salmon River from the Pacific Crest Trail in the Marble Mountain Wilderness. Since 2012 the Klamath-Siskiyou Fire Reports have been documenting the effects of wildfires occurring throughout the Klamath-Siskiyou region. We ground-truth and document fire suppression actions and their environmental impacts. We are the only organization getting out on the ground and into the heart of the fires, writing detailed reports about how they burned and how fire suppression actions are impacting the wild places we love. Our 2017 field season is in full swing. This week we hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from Etna Summit and down into the North Fork of the Salmon River into the Wallow Fire, part of the Salmon August Complex. The Wallow Fire burned primarily in the Marble Mountains Wilderness and its surrounding roadless areas. The video below demonstrates the fire effects as seen from the PCT in between Etna Summit and...

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Victory for the Siskiyou Crest! Old-growth Logging near Condrey Mountain Canceled.

These vibrant post-fire landscapes will no longer be subjected to clear-cut, post-fire logging as proposed in the Horse Creek Project. Following the Gap Fire on the Klamath River, the Klamath Forest Alliance (KFA), Applegate Neighborhood Network (ANN), Siskiyou Crest Blog and other conservation partners joined together in opposition to post-fire logging on the Siskiyou Crest. The Klamath National Forest (KNF) had proposed post-fire logging on the slopes of the Siskiyou Crest near Condrey Mountain and Dry Lake Mountain.  The proposed logging units were located in upper Buckhorn and Middle Creek adjacent to the Condrey Mountain Blue Schist Geologic Area, the Condrey Mountain Roadless Area and the Pacific Crest Trail. KFA and EPIC responded by publishing the Gap Fire Report, documenting the cumulative impact of fire suppression activities in the Gap Fire. KFA and ANN also played a vital role by monitoring the proposed post-fire logging units. We were the only...

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Wildfire in the Siskiyou Mountains: The Miller Complex, the Siskiyou Crest and the Upper Applegate

The Cook Fire smoldering in the old-growth forests of the Kangaroo Roadless Area on August 16, two days after ignition. Wildfires have been burning all across our region. In the Klamath Mountains, south of the Klamath River, fires are burning in the Marble Mountains, up the Salmon River, along the Klamath River, in the Siskiyou Wilderness and in the mountains above Happy Camp and Seiad Valley, California. The Chetco Bar Fire has been burning all summer in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness and along the Chetco River. In the southern Cascade Mountains from the North Umpqua, the Rogue Umpqua Divide, and on to Crater Lake fires are burning. On August 14, 2017 a large thunderstorm drifted into the canyons of the Upper Applegate River. Hung up on the steep ridges, the storm poured rain while thunder and lightening crashed throughout the maze of canyons and peaks surrounding the Siskiyou Crest.  Twenty-four small fires were lit that evening as lightening touched down into...

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