The eastern slope of Cinnabar Ridge in the Little Applegate Valley The proposed commercial logging units on Cinnabar Ridge are outlined in red. Unit 25-30 is highlighted in this blog. Units 26-30, 23-32, 23-32, and 23-30 are not marked by the BLM. As soon as these units are marked I will be reviewing the mark. I recently reviewed the tree removal mark for the Nedsbar Timber Sale, including units on Cinnabar Ridge. Cinnabar Ridge is the long ridgeline dividing the Upper Applegate Valley from the Little Applegate Valley. The east slope of the ridgeline drains into Grouse Creek in the Little Applegate Valley, while the west slope drains into Murphy Gulch, Boaz Gulch, Neds Gulch and Mill Gulch in the Upper Applegate Valley. The west face of the slope is arid, rocky and dominated by oak and chaparral plant communities, with large stands of conifer trees on north-facing slopes and isolated conifer “stringers” running down the face of the ridge. The...

Rally in support of public land, social justice, and the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Ashland, Oregon, on January 23, 2016. More than seventy people came out on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Ashland, Oregon yesterday to show support for the people of Harney County, Oregon, where an armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is about to enter its fourth week. The lives of many people in Harney County have been severely disrupted as this armed occupation of public land drags on. The rally was organized by Oregon Action — their mission: “Led by people of color, immigrants and refugees, rural communities, and people experiencing poverty, we work across Oregon to build a unified intercultural movement for justice.” With a strong social justice message, Oregon Action organized the rally with multiple speakers who each touched on the far-reaching impacts the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge is having on the people of Harney...

The Boaz Mountain Roadless Area is the scenic backdrop for the farms, homesteads, vineyards, and residences in the Upper Applegate Valley. The red lines outline the units on the western face of Boaz Mountain. Unit 34-30 will be cut with a group selection prescription, and unit 33-30 with a structural retention regeneration harvest. Both will be cut to 40% canopy cover or lower. The scenic backdrop for the entire lower end of the Upper Applegate Valley, from Eastside Road and Star Ranger Station to McKee Bridge, is the Boaz Mountain Roadless Area. This area, although little visited or known, is cherished by local residents, recreationalists, and tourists visiting the area’s vineyards, hiking trails, picinic areas and campgrounds. Very few people know Boaz Mountain by name, but nearly all Applegate Valley visitors and residents enjoy its wild, beautiful character.  The Boaz Mountain Roadless Area rises from the Applegate River as a...

A “group selection” cut in unit 25-23. The trees marked white are proposed for removal. Group selection prescriptions call for clearing nearly all trees in a 1/4-acre area. No thinning will take place between each group selection cut; however, they can take place on 100′ centers throughout the unit, creating miniature clear-cuts in up to 20% of the stand. Since the spring of 2015, the Medford District BLM has been marking trees for removal in the Nedsbar Timber Sale, a controversial timber sale in the Applegate Valley. The Siskiyou Crest Blog and Klamath Forest Alliance have begun reviewing the tree removal mark in Nedsbar Timber Sale units. We have been focusing our energy on the controversial timber sale units in unroaded wildlands, old-growth or late-seral forest, northern spotted owl habitat, and in stands proposed for cancellation in the Nedsbar Community Alternative. Recently we hiked into units 25-23 and 25-21 in the vicinity of Owl Gulch and...

  2015 was a big year for The Siskiyou Crest Blog. Together with Klamath Forest Alliance, we worked tirelessly on many issues all over the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion, from the fire sculpted landscapes of the Klamath River to the wild rivers of the Kalmiopsis Wildands and the dry forests of the Applegate Valley. We want to take a moment to reflect on our accomplishments and look forward to the many environmental struggles that lie ahead in the New Year.  Timber Sale Monitoring: Leading a public hike through unit 28-22 in the Nedsbar Timber Sale. The unit has been canceled due to public outrage over logging this fire adapted old-growth stand. Many more units must be canceled to make the sale acceptable to local residents and environmentalists in the Applegate Valley. Nedsbar Timber Sale/Nedsbar Community Alternative Coordinated the Nedsbar Community Monitoring Project, including unit monitoring, photographic monitoring, tree...