The Studhorse incense-cedar in the Condrey Mountain Roadless Area                              (See my head in between the two trunks?) With its headwaters nestled in the eastern portion of the Condrey Mountain Roadless Area, Studhorse Creek flows north from the Siskiyou Crest. It is a land of dry meadows, corn lily fields, schist bedrock and spectacular ancient forest. The stream was named in 1855 following the Humbug War on the Klamath River. It was late July and a group of three Shasta Indians were visiting the community of Humbug Creek. During their visit the Indians had done some trading for a bottle of whiskey and proceeded to become intoxicated. As the Indians left the settlement a miner by the name of Peterson inquired as to...

Fire Ecology of the Red Buttes Wilderness                                       Fire Ecology of the Red Buttes Wilderness Instructor: Luke Ruediger Date: Sunday, May 18, 2014 Location: Meeting at Applegate Dam, carpooling to trailhead in the Red Buttes Tuition: $55 Registration: The Siskiyou Field Institute                        email: institute@thesfi.org                        phone: (541) 597-8530 Course Description This course will use the 2012 Hello Fire as our classroom. The fire is a wonderful example of low to moderate intensity fire that has been allowed to...

Big Windy Fire Report: Wildfire on the Wild Rogue An analysis of fire effects, fire suppression impacts  and management implications      A view into the Big Windy Fire, looking down Howard Creek in the Zane Grey Roadless Area From the introduction to the Big Windy Fire Report:        On July 26, 2013 lightning crashed down on northern Josephine and southern Douglas Counties in Oregon, starting numerous wildfires in the Cow Creek and Rogue River Watersheds. Three small fires were lit in the tributaries of the Wild & Scenic Rogue River. These three fires—west to east—including the Calvert Peak Fire, the Jenny Fire, and the Big Windy Fire, all burned in relatively remote and inaccessible terrain. In early August 2013 these three fires were declared a “complex” with one extensive fire perimeter; later these fires merged, yet in some places never burned to the officially declared fire perimeter. The fires,...

A view into the proposed Mt. Ashland Ski expansion area in the winter of 2011. The lack of a deep snow pack this season has brought the ski resort to the brink of financial collapse, ensuring they won’t have the funds to expand anytime soon.        For many years now the Mt. Ashland Association (MAA), owners of the Mt. Ashland Ski Area, have proposed expanding their operation by building new ski runs and chair lifts in the McDonald Peak Roadless Area and the municipal watershed for the town of Ashland, Oregon. The expansion would include over 70 acres of new ski runs, clear-cut into old-growth forest at the headwaters of Ashland Creek. The area in question includes numerous rare plant species, including Henderson’s horkelia (Horkelia hendersonii), the Siskiyou Mountains’ only stand of Engelman spruce (Picea engelmannii), and the world’s only population of the Mt. Ashland lupine (Lupinus lepidus var....