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Keeping Southern Oregon Wild! Klamath Forest Alliance Opens a new Siskiyou Office in Southern Oregon!

 

The Klamath Forest Alliance works hard to protect, restore and rewild the Siskiyou Crest as a vital connectivity corridor


The Klamath Forest Alliance (KFA) has been advocating for the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains for 29 years. Specifically, we advocate for wilderness and roadless landscapes, biodiversity, wildlife, connectivity and the ecological integrity of the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains. KFA has long been focused on the watersheds of northern California. Since 2012, through a coalition with the Siskiyou Crest Blog, KFA has broadened our scope. We have expanded our advocacy into the Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon, from the Wild Rivers Coast to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

In the last few years, KFA has taken a leading role in numerous successful campaigns to cancel or significantly alter the Nedsbar, Pickett West and Savage Murph Timber Sales on BLM land. We implemented successful campaigns to cancel post-fire logging on the Siskiyou Crest following the 2014 Beaver Fire and the 2016 Gap Fire on the Klamath National Forest. In total, over 6,500 acres have been canceled in local timber sales due to the work of KFA and our allies. We have also advocated for and secured the closure of 10 unauthorized off-road vehicle routes on BLM and Forest Service land in the Applegate Valley.  

The Applegate Valley is one of Klamath Forest Alliance’s focus areas in southern Oregon’s Siskiyou Mountains.

To continue serving the Siskiyou Mountains and building a strong grassroots environmental community in southwestern Oregon, KFA has started a Siskiyou Office based in the Applegate Valley and run by Luke Ruediger from the Siskiyou Crest Blog. Specifically, we will focus on protecting, restoring and rewilding the Siskiyou Crest, the Applegate Valley, the Wild & Scenic Rogue River and the Kalmiopsis region on the Wild Rivers Coast of southern Oregon. Our goal is to maintain the region’s incredible biodiversity, connectivity and ecological integrity. We intend to keep the Siskiyou Mountains wild by defending against immediate threats and advocating for permanent protection of regional wildlands. 

KFA’s Siskiyou Office focuses on providing in-depth, on-the-ground monitoring and analysis of federal land management projects and activities. We submit detailed, site specific, science-based public
comments, administrative protests, objections and appeals throughout the
NEPA process. We also submit detailed monitoring reports to land
management agencies and environmental regulators, regarding the actual
results of federal land management projects and activities. 

We publicize our findings on the Siskiyou Crest Blog to inform and empower the local grassroots environmental community. We organize grassroots support for conservation throughout the Klamath-Siskiyou region and advocate for the permanent protection of regional wildlands and biodiversity hot spots. 

Please consider supporting our new Siskiyou Office with a tax-deductible donation.  


Our current work and advocacy includes organizing around the following issues in the Siskiyou Mountains:

The Middle Applegate Timber Sale
Klamath Forest Alliance will work to ensure wild places like the Wellington Butte Roadless Area are excluded from the Middle Applegate Timber Sale proposed by the Medford District BLM.
The Middle Applegate Timber Sale has been proposed by the Medford District BLM in a vast planning area encompassing the entire Middle Applegate River watershed. The planning area includes the Wellington Butte Roadless Area, the Enchanted Forest Trail, Billy Mountain, Old Blue Mountain, Slagle Creek, Ferris Gulch, Thompson Creek, Humbug Creek, Bishop Creek and Forest Creek. The East Applegate Ridge Trail and large portions of the proposed Applegate Ridge Trail are also within the planning area. 
KFA will strongly oppose any attempt to build new roads or log the Wellington Butte Roadless Area or other intact ecosystems in the planning area. We will work with the Applegate Valley community to oppose irresponsible logging or road building in the Middle Applegate River watershed. 

Clean Slate Timber Sale
The Clean Slate Timber Sale has been proposed by the Medford District BLM in the mountains around Selma, Oregon in the Deer Creek watershed. The project proposes to log uncut, old-growth units at the headwaters of Thompson Creek and McMullien Creek. These units provide important habitat refugia and connectivity in an otherwise heavily fragmented watershed. 
KFA will advocate for cancellation of late successional and old-growth units in the Clean Slate Timber Sale. 

The Chetco Bar Fire Salvage Project

Klamath Forest Alliance is currently getting out on the ground in the Chetco Bar Fire Salvage Project monitoring old-growth logging units in the Quail Prairie Creek Watershed.
The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has proposed a massive post-fire logging project in the lower Chetco River watershed. The project is located adjacent to the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area, and either adjacent to or within numerous Roadless Areas. The proposal includes 13,626 acres of clearcut, post-fire logging and plantation development across vast areas in the lower Chetco River watershed.

The Chetco River is known for its extreme water clarity and incredible native fisheries. It is also known for its vast wilderness landscapes, intact habitats and extreme biodiversity. KFA intends to protect these important values and defend the Chetco River watershed from rampant clearcut post-fire logging and plantation development.

Seiad Horse Post-Fire Logging Project

The Klamath National Forest has proposed a large, post-fire logging project on the Siskiyou Crest near Cook and Green Pass. The project is proposing a roughly 3,000-acre contiguous clearcut on the south face of Copper Butte and directly adjacent to both the Kangaroo and Condrey Mountain Inventoried Roadless Areas. 
The project would significantly impact the connectivity of the Siskiyou Crest and increase cumulative watershed impacts in both Horse Creek and Seiad Creek, which are both important coho salmon streams in the Klamath River watershed.
The Siskiyou Crest is an important connectivity corridor and climate refuge. We consider the protection of the Siskiyou Crest our highest priority and will fight the Seiad Horse Project with everything we’ve got. 

OHV Monitoring

Klamath Forest Alliance began the Applegate OHV Monitoring Project with Applegate Neighborhood Network in the spring of 2014. The goal of the project is to document the impact of uauthorized OHV trail development and use in the Applegate River watershed. We document unauthorized OHV trails and their environmental impacts. This information is used to advocate for closure of damaging OHV trails on both BLM and Forest Service land.
We have focused on monitoring the Wellington Butte, Burton-Ninemile, Boaz Mountain and Dakubetede Roadless Areas on BLM land. We have also focused on monitoring designated Botanical Areas, the Kangaroo Inventoried Roadless Area and the Little Greyback Inventoried Roadless Area on Forest Service land.

We hope to continue this program in 2018 and continue closing unauthorized OHV trails in the Applegate watershed and beyond.




Help keep Southern Oregon Wild!
Klamath Forest Alliance is working to protect the wild rivers, wildlands, and forests of the Siskiyou Mountains, including the Wild and Scenic Rogue River and the Zane Grey Roadless Area on BLM land.

For more information on Klamath Forest Alliance


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