Remote, diverse and treasure-laden, California’s far northern public lands are relatively unknown compared to other areas of the state such as the Sierra Nevada, Joshua Tree and Lassen National Parks. As the southern range for the northern spotted owl, these lands contribute important habitat to Pacific Northwest forests and as such, are managed under the Northwest Plan.

Stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the southern tip of the Cascades, northern California’s Klamath Mountains contain wet, coastal redwood forests, alpine cirque basins, botanically rich meadows, dry pine forests, deep canyons and salmon-bearing streams.

KS Wild monitors proposed activities on public lands throughout the Klamath-Siskiyou region, which in California includes the Klamath, Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests. We monitor timber sales, grazing allotments, Off-Road Vehicles and some private land logging projects.

Several major rivers flow through northwest California, including the Smith, Klamath, Mad, Eel and Upper Sacramento Rivers. KS Wild’s work primarily focuses on the management of the Klamath River watershed. The largest of the northcoast rivers, the Klamath runs 200 miles from its headwaters in Oregon to its mouth, 20 miles south of Crescent City, California.

The Klamath, Salmon and the Future

The Klamath River was once the third most productive salmon river system in the United States. Today, thanks decades of mismanagement, the once abundant Klamath salmon runs have now been reduced to less than 10% of their historic size. Some species, such as Coho salmon, are now in such low numbers in the Klamath River that they are listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Poor management caused the death of over 34,000 adult pre-spawning salmon and steelhead in 2002, the largest loss of pre-spawning adult salmon ever recorded in the Klamath River, and one of the worst fish kills ever seen in this country. Click here to read a recent Washington Post article on Dick Cheney’s contributions to this crisis.

Watersheds, even those as large as the Klamath River Basin, need to be seen as a whole.  Harmful water diversions, dams, timber harvest, pesticide use, and cattle grazing all affect water quality. The Klamath River cannot be healthy until all its tributaries are healthy, which is why KS Wild is working to protect and restore the forests that anchor soils and shade streams throughout the watershed. Click here for more information on proposed Klamath dam removal, and work to restore the Klamath National Wildlife Refuges.

Logging Kills Fish

The Klamath Basin fisheries issue cannot be solved without protection of its wild forests.  It is the quality of the clear creeks within the Klamath watershed that have allowed salmon to thrive here. And while water quality is dependent on the health of the surrounding forest, commercial logging rarely enters the debate in the Klamath Basin. That was until a report from the National Academy of Sciences was released in 2004. The report called for the restriction of logging on the Salmon, Trinity, and Scott Rivers to preserve cool water for Coho salmon.

The National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Endangered Fishes in the Klamath River Basin report recommended a, “prescription of land-use practices for timber management, road construction, and grazing that are sufficiently stringent to prevent physical degradation of tributary habitat for Coho, especially in the Scott, Salmon, and Trinity river basins as well as small tributaries affected by erosion.”

Off-Road Vehicles

Nationwide the Forest Service is beginning the long-overdue process of designating where ORV use is allowed, and where it must be restricted in order to protect sensitive areas. KS Wild is participating in that designation process by encouraging local National Forests to protect rare plant species, sensitive wildlands and riparian areas while allowing ORV use on many existing logging roads and motorized trails. We are currently participating in the route designation process on the Six Rivers and Klamath National Forests.

Cattle Grazing

KS Wild works to change grazing practices to protect meadows, lakes, rare plants and creeks from unsuitable grazing. We are currently working on the grazing allotments in the Marble Mountain Wilderness.

Click here for a brief review of recent KS Wild activities in northern California.

For more information on each National Forest, click on the following links: