Author: Luke Ruediger

The Gap Fire near Condrey Mountain is being proposed for post-fire logging despite minimal fire severity.  The Gap Fire began as a human ignition near Low Gap on the Klamath River above Seiad Valley and the community of Horse Creek on August 27, 2016. The fire spread quickly, pushed by intense downslope winds burning into the community of Horse Creek and destroyed nine homes. After burning through the community of Horse Creek the fire burned upslope toward the Siskiyou Crest in the Horse Creek, Middle Creek and Buckhorn Creek watersheds. Although a tragedy in Horse Creek, where nine homes burned, the Gap Fire was far from catastrophic and provided great benefit to the habitats in which it burned. The fire burned at 67% low severity, 26% moderate severity and 7% high severity throughout the burn area. The fire burned within the range of variability for wildland fire in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains. Burning at mixed severity, the fire had positive...

A view south into Ruch from the East Applegate Ridge Trail. The Applegate Trails Association (ATA) is a non-profit trail organization advocating for non-motorized trails in the Applegate Valley. ATA has been promoting the Applegate Ridge Trail (ART) since 2011. The ART will extend from Jacksonville to Grants Pass and will tie into the Jack-Ash Trail, proposed to connect Jacksonville to Ashland. In total the two trails will cover over 80 miles and will provide appropriate, non-motorized trail access to the beautiful foothills of the Applegate Valley. The BLM just released the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the East Applegate Ridge Trail, a 5.6-mile portion of trail connecting Sterling Creek Road to Highway 238 near Forest Creek and the town of Ruch. It will be one of the most beautiful non-motorized trails in the Applegate Valley, with its spectacular views, picturesque oak woodland and grassy prairie slopes. The EA also proposes to obliterate an unauthorized,...

The Horseshoe Ranch Wildlife Area on lower Scotch Creek would be added to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument if the proposed expansion is approved. This vital wildlife corridor would be protected by Monument designation, protecting the watershed from its dramatic headwaters at Pilot Rock, to its mouth at soon-to-be-undammed Iron Gate Lake. At the spectacular collision of the Cascade and Siskiyou Mountains lies a region of transition, contrast and renowned biodiversity. The region provides vital connectivity between the Cascade Mountains, the Siskiyou Mountains, the Coast Ranges of Oregon and California, the high deserts of eastern Oregon, and the interior valleys of southern Oregon and northern California. In essence, the Cascade-Siskiyou region ties together the major plant communities and ecoregions of the west. The mountains are an intriguing mosaic of grasslands, oak woodlands, juniper scrub, chaparral, dry pine forests, moist fir forests, meadows, glades,...

Local residents protest the Nedsbar Timber Sale auction on September 22, 2016.Photo: www.timdawphotography.com Last week the Medford District BLM proposed to sell the Nedsbar Timber Sale to the highest bidder, offering some of the last roadless forests in the Applegate Valley to private timber interests for $68 per thousand board feet. The agency was offering 3.4 million board feet of public forest for a minimum bid of $231,014.60. The community of the Applegate Valley believes these intact forests are priceless, and in response organized a large protest at the timber sale auction on Thursday, September 22, 2016.  With resistance to the sale growing, 75 residents of the Rogue and Applegate Valleys attended the rally, advocating that the BLM withdraw the sale and protect the area’s important biological and recreational values. Photo: www.timdawphotography.com Protestors held signs, sang songs, held mock timber auctions, shared information about the...

Many Applegate Valley community members participated in the planning process for the Nedsbar Timber Sale. Based on a review of pubic comments received by the BLM, it appears that the vast majority of the local community is opposed to the Nedsbar Timber Sale as it has been approved. 99% Oppose the Nedsbar Timber Sale In the recent Decision Record for the Nedsbar Timber Sale released by the Medford District BLM, the agency approved Alternative 4 with only slight modifications. Alternative 4 is the sweetheart deal for the timber industry, but has been strongly opposed for over two years by residents in the Applegate Valley community. The project demonstrates the BLM’s lack of collaborative capacity and inability to incorporate community concerns into public land management projects. Still stuck in the past, Medford BLM is refusing to move forward with us into a collaborative, more ecologically sustainable future. The Nedsbar Timber Sale was proposed in the...