The Miller Complex burning in the Middle Fork of the Applegate River Watershed in August 2017. The Miller Complex Fire burned roughly 36,000 acres on the Siskiyou Crest and in the mountains of the Applegate River and Klamath River watersheds in 2017. Much of the Miller Complex burned beneath a dense smoke inversion, dampening fire behavior and creating large swaths of cool, understory fire. Near the ridges and on south-facing slopes, the fire burned with more intensity, creating mixed severity fire effects, with significantly more vegetative mortality. The fire was diverse, dynamic and had profoundly positive ecological effects. On September 1, 2017 as the fire reached Cook and Green Pass, crews from the Klamath National Forest lit large backburns, under high winds and extreme weather conditions. Quickly their backburns backfired, and fire intensity increased. The fire quickly burned over prepared firelines on the Siskiyou Crest and began backing aggressively into...

Dillion Creek just above its confluence with the Klamath River. KFA defends some of the most intact watersheds on the West Coast of North American. Klamath Forest Alliance (KFA) is celebrating a milestone in 2019! KFA started working for the wildlands of the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains 30 years ago! The organization was formed in 1989 by a small, but committed band of activists from the remote reaches of the Salmon River country and in the Scott Valley of northern California. Rooted within the rural communities of the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains, KFA has worked to protect, defend and restore the wildlands, old-growth forests and biodiversity of this spectacular region. Celebrate 30 years of effective, innovative conservation advocacy in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains by making a year-end donation to KFA! Over the years, KFA has fought and won many struggles with the the United States Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and federal regulatory agencies....

A view from the Illinois River Trail to Pine Flat after the Klondike Fire. The Klondike Fire Along the Illinois River Trail  The Klondike Fire burned along the majority of the Illinois River Trail this summer, deep in the heart of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. The fire burned in a natural mixed-severity mosaic through the 2002 Biscuit Fire footprint. The Klondike Fire burned in a diversity of habitats, including closed-canopy mixed conifer forests, serpentine woodlands, chaparral and forests of sun-bleached snags. The fire reduced fuel, recycled nutrition and continued shaping the fire- adapted forests of this wild region.   As part of Klamath Forest Alliance’s Klamath-Siskiyou Fire Reports, we have been out on the ground exploring the Klondike Fire, its fire effects, fire suppression impacts, and trail conditions. Below is a photo essay of the Klondike Fire along the Illinois River Trail. All photos were taken recently from the...

A rainbow below the Siskiyou Crest in the Elliott Creek canyon. 2018 has been a busy year for Klamath Forest Alliance (KFA). We started the year by officially opening our Siskiyou Field Office, based in the Applegate Valley, at the heart of the Siskiyou Mountains.  KFA’s Siskiyou Field Office roams the region monitoring federal land management projects on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, the Klamath National Forest and the Medford District BLM. Each year we hike hundreds of miles in steep, rugged terrain monitoring timber sales, OHV trails, grazing allotments and fire suppression impacts in the rain, snow, smoke and heat. We work from southern Oregon’s Wild Rivers Coast and across the Siskiyou Crest to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. KFA also spends countless hours writing public comments, administrative objections, appeals and monitoring reports informed by our on-the-ground monitoring efforts. We attend meetings, field trips, and...

A view across the Natchez Fire from Lookout Mountain in the Siskiyou Wilderness. This summer the Natchez Fire burned in and around the Siskiyou Wilderness Area in the backcountry of the Siskiyou Crest. The fire started on July 15, above Takilma, Oregon at roughly 4,400′ in elevation in the Poker Creek Watershed. The fire eventually burned over the ridgeline and into the rugged watersheds in the South Fork of Indian Creek above Happy Camp, California.  With over 100 fires spread throughout the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in mid-July, the Natchez Fire was not a high priority, and being understaffed, it continued to grow in remote and rugged terrain. The sheer number of fires and the proximity of many wildfires to nearby communities overwhelmed fire suppression crews, forcing them to prioritize.  Fires like the Natchez Fire, burning far from residential properties or communities, dropped to the bottom of the priority list. This meant that although...