Unit 36-20 consists of mostly closed canopy, mid-seral forest that provides habitat for the northern spotted owl; the unit is adjacent to an owl nesting site. Unit 36-20 is located on a west facing slope in the Left Fork of Lick Gulch. The unit is also located within the Trillium Mountain portion of the Dakubetede Roadless Area. The unit begins high on the ridge and drops into the Left Fork of Lick Gulch. Roughly one mile of new road construction is proposed under the BLM’s preferred alternative (Alternative 4) to access unit 36-20. The proposed new road construction would be located within approximately 100′ of the Left Fork of Lick Gulch and would severely impact riparian function, hydrology, and sediment delivery regimes. A significant portion of the old, currently closed road would also have to be reconstructed  to provide logging access. The reconstruction of this road would also create high levels of sediment and erosion into Lick Gulch. In fact,...

Boaz Mountain in the Boaz Mountain Roadless Area. The area is a mixture of chaparral, white oak woodland and conifer forest. The forested slopes at the center of this photo are unit 34-30 in the Nedsbar Timber Sale and would be reduced to 40% canopy closure.  Boaz Mountain rises from the banks of the Applegate River near Eastside Road. The mountain dominates the eastern horizon from Star Ranger Station to McKee Bridge on Upper Applegate Road. The slopes of the mountain are roadless on three sides, providing a natural backdrop to many Upper Applegate Valley residences. The Boaz Mountain Roadless Area provides connectivity between the Little Applegate and Upper Applegate watersheds. It also provides connectivity between the Little Greyback Roadless Area and Buncom Roadless Area on the ridgeline dividing the Little Applegate and Upper Applegate Valleys. Units 33-30 and 34-30 lie within the Boaz Mountain Roadless Area on the mountain’s western slope. 34-30...

The good folks from Speak for the Trees and Birch Creek Arts & Ecology Center, Little Applegate Valley based non-profits, teamed up with the Klamath Forest Alliance and the Siskiyou Crest Blog to survey units last weekend. Speak for the Trees board members are pictured here in Nedsbar Timber Sale unit 17-12 near Chelsea Spring up Rush Creek, a tributary of the Little Applegate River. The unit is proposed by the BLM as “group selection 40%,” meaning the stand will be thinned to 40% canopy coverage by removing groupings of trees. The prescription calls for creating half-acre clearings that should not exceed 25% of the stand. The large Douglas fir tree in the photo was marked for removal in the BLM’s previous Bald Lick Timber Sale, which did not sell and has now been reworked into the current Nedsbar Timber Sale.    Pictured here is Chelsea Spring in the Rush Creek watershed. Chelsea Spring is surrounded by the proposed...

The western portion of unit 27-20 is an open stand of large, old Douglas fir trees. The stand supports high quality wildlife habitat, including habitat for the northern spotted owl and Pacific fisher. The stand also supports naturally fire resilient stand conditions. Unit 27-20 The BLM’s Nedsbar Timber Sale identifies unit 27-20 as a “structural retention ponderosa pine 40%” unit, meaning the unit will be thinned to roughly 40% canopy coverage. The BLM has also proposed roughly one mile of new road construction to provide access to both unit 27-20 and nearby unit 26-20. Both units, and the entire length of proposed new road construction, are within the Dakubetede Roadless Area. The Dakubetede Roadless Area is one of the largest and most intact areas in the foothills of the eastern Siskiyou Mountains, and it is also one of the most biologically rich areas in the Applegate Valley. The Dakubetede Roadless Area lies within a vital connectivity...

Pacific fisher (Pekania pennanti)  Photo courtesy of The Center for Biological Diversity Happy New Year!  If you are a person who makes New Year’s resolutions, please consider making a resolution for 2015 to push for the fisher to be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Unlike some other wild places, the Pacific fisher was never extirpated from the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains. We may have lost grizzlies, wolves, wolverines, and condors, to name a few, but we are very lucky to live in a place that still has native genetic stock of fisher. Living at the base of the Siskiyou Crest it is not uncommon for me to see fishers as I explore the canyon where I live. Many other rural folks living in the Siskiyous have reported fisher sightings to me as well: Thompson Creek, Carberry Creek, Elliott Creek, Little Applegate River, Yale Creek, Greyback Mountain, Mt. Ashland. These little predators are elusive and it always feels special to catch...