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Klamath Tributaries Need Your Help
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Speak up for "impaired watersheds," public comments due March 7.
Seiad Creek, and other Klamath tributaries, need restorative action, not more logging roads that bleed sediment into the river.
A Special Place That Has Seen Hard Times
Located on either side of the Pacific Crest Trail in between the Marble Mountain and Red Buttes Wilderness areas, the Thompson, Seiad and Grider Creek watersheds are justifiably famous for fish and for spectacular backcountry wilderness. Thousands of forest visitors appreciate the cold water refugia that these watersheds provide for at-risk salmonids and the recreational values of the remaining old-growth forests.
Unfortunately, decades of misguided Forest Service policies have resulted in “impaired watersheds” that have been extensively logged, criss-crossed by sediment-producing roads, and subjected to misguided fire suppression activities. These activities have had the synergistic effect of increasing sedimentation to the creeks, reducing the amount of old-growth forest habitat, and increasing the number of ground and ladder fuels in the project area.
The Thom-Seider Timber Sale: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
The Forest Service is proposing a large-scale 30,000-acre project designed to address some the past abuses of these fragile watersheds.
The Good:
• The Thom-Seider project would authorize 22,000 acres of much-needed underburning in fire-suppressed stands so as to reintroduce fire into this fire evolved ecosystem.
• The project would thin hundreds of acres of densely-packed previously-logged tree plantations.
The Bad:
• Several older forest stands on extremely steep slopes in the Walker and O’Neil sub-watersheds are targeted for unnecessary logging.
The Ugly:
• Despite the massive damage that logging road construction has caused in these watersheds, the agency is proposing to build an additional 2.6 miles of new “temporary” logging roads as part of the timber sale.
What Does the Science Say?
“Pure cool water from the Thompson/Seiad/Grider subwatersheds is important, and may be critical, in maintaining water quality in the Klamath River and improving thermal refugia for fish.” -Thompson/Seiad/Grider Ecosystem Analysis. USDA Forest Service. 1999. Page 3-22.
“Road surfaces are the major controllable source of chronic sediment production…Without roads and hydrologic mine tailings, the prehistoric rate of sediment production was about half of the modern rate.” -Id, at 5-3.
“Roads also permanently alter habitat within the road way itself, they divide larger blocks of forest into smaller fragments which impacts species of low mobility by splitting habitat and making portions of the habitat inaccessible.” -Id, at 5-25.
“High amounts of instream fine sediments are reducing habitat quality for many aquatic species. Streams most highly affected are Grider, Walker, Thompson and Seiad.” - Id, at 6-3.
Please send a letter to the Klamath National Forest before March 7.
Click here for a sample letter.