Got Milkweed? On May 15, 2014 I spotted two monarch butterflies fluttering around two separate showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) patches that my wife, Suzie, planted nine years ago. One patch is in our vegetable garden and the other in a native rock garden on the side of the road. Previously we had only seen one tattered monarch scoping out our patches, so this was a hopeful sign. When Suzie got home from work that day I told her what I saw and she immediately inspected for eggs. Sure enough, there were about fifty eggs combined on both the patches of milkweed.  Research has shown that a female monarch typically lays about 700 eggs in its lifespan, so this was not a huge number of eggs. Monarch caterpillar eggs on milkweed Monarch caterpillar eggs are very small Monarch caterpillars are tiny and vulnerable when they first emerge. Around ten days later the eggs started to hatch and an estimated...

The diversity and color of wildflowers responding to the 2012 Goff Fire is truly staggering. Before the fire much of the Siskiyou Crest was carpeted in dense stands of montane chaparral. Throughout much of the area the fire burned in a natural mosaic of high severity fire, burning off the chaparral and encouraging a lush growth of wildflowers. In this section of the Siskiyou Crest it is clear that wildflowers need wildfire; in fact, to bloom in such spectacular profusion they may need periodic hot fires. Rock penstemon (Penstemon rupicola) blooming at the margin of the Goff Fire near Rattlesnake Mountain. There were about five other species of penstemon in the fire area on the verge of blooming. If you get out there within the next few weeks the floral display will be diverse and impressive. You will see a mixture of what is pictured in this post, along with more species of penstemon, fireweed, and innumerable Washington lilies made more stout and...

                         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,...