Following decades of fire suppression and logging that created dense young forests, a return to ecosystem resiliency requires thinning second-growth plantations, retaining large trees and forest canopy, and returning the role of fire to these fire-dependent forests.

Land of Wild Rivers

Few experiences are more evocative of the Pacific Northwest than the sight of a salmon leaping a waterfall. People gather to watch as they make their way to ancestral spawning grounds each year at Rainie Falls on the Rogue River or the mouth of Wooley Creek on the Salmon River. Some rivers of the Klamath-Siskiyou are strongholds for wild salmon, including the federally listed Northern California/Southern Oregon Coho Salmon

Water, Wild Rivers, Rogue Riverkeeper, WildlandsKlamath SiskiyouApril 4, 2017environment, ecosystem, klamath-siskiyou, ks wild, biodiversity, water, wild rivers, rogue riverkeeper, rogue river, watershed, klamath river, illinois river, trinity river, upper sacramento river, smith river, chetco river, coho salmon, chinook salmon, steelhead, rainbow trout, green sturgeon, pacific lamprey, cutthroat trout, imperiled species, oncorhynchus, Acipenser medirostris, Oncorhynchus mykiss, Oncorhynchus kisutch, Oncorhynchus clarkii, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, western siskiyou mountains, siskiyou mountains, southern oregon, oregon, wild and scenic rivers, national forest, rough and ready creek, baldface creek, dams, mining, toxic runoff, gold, pollution, riparian, urban development, logging, road-building, clean water, west coast, pacific northwest, rainie falls, wooley creek, salmon river, northern california/southern oregon coho salmon, wildlands, clean water act, kalmiopsis, nickel strip mining, strip-mining, 1872 mining law, bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, federal energy regulatory commission, pacific connector pipline, rogue climate, climate, conservation, Lampetra tridentata, Entosphenus tridentatus

The Big, Wild 5

Unlike most of North America, we are extremely fortunate to live in a region in which five major wildland complexes have thusfar survived the pressures from logging, mining and road construction. It is our job and responsibility to protect these special places for the those who come after us and for their intrinsic value.

Wilderness, WildlandsKlamath SiskiyouMarch 28, 2017conservation, environment, ecosystem, klamath-siskiyou, ks wild, biodiversity, big 5, big five, major wilderness complexes, forests, logging, mining, road-building, kalmiopsis, west coast, kalmiopsis wildlands, kalmiopsis mountains, serpentine, soil, serpentine soil, geology, plate tectonics, forest service, clearcutting, nickel strip mining, strip-mining, smith river, biscuit fire, wildfire, forestfire, roadless areas, illinois river, chetco river, north fork smith river, high siskiyous, east fork illinois, siskiyou fork smith, clear creek, dillon creek, blue creek, klamath river, high siskiyou wildlands, watershed, water, wild rivers, refuge, transition zones, climate, salmon, salmonidae, oncorhynchus, steelhead, rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, red buttes, siskiyou crest, mountians, corridor, klamath mountians, oregon coast range, cascade mountians, land bridge, wildlife, cattle, grazing, marble mountains, old-growth forest, alpine meadows, limestone, marble, tribes, tribal governments, native americans, fire dependant, fire resilient, fire suppression, clean water, wooley creek, shackleford creek, salmon river, scott river, trinity alps, water quality, wildflowers, fire management

Kalmiopsis and Wild Rivers Coast Protected from Mining!

We are celebrating the recent victory to protect some of our most prized rivers from proposed industrial strip mining for a period of 20 years. We are hopeful that this victory will stand, even in the Trump administration.

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A Closer Look: Kalmiopsis Rivers

Regularly visited by botanists, it boasts the highest wildflower diversity in Oregon. Fisher folk appreciate the habitat it provides for steelhead and cutthroat trout, and it is well known by locals for always running clear. Before entering the Wild and Scenic Illinois River, it flows through a rugged, beautiful wilderness landscape. Part of this area, the South Kalmiopsis Roadless area was recommended as an addition to the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in 2004.

Wild Rivers, Water, Wilderness, WildlandsKlamath SiskiyouSeptember 1, 2015conservation, environment, ecosystem, biodiversity, klamath-siskiyou, ks wild, wildlands, wilderness, wild rivers, water, mining, kalmiopsis wild rivers, kalmiopsis rivers, rough and ready creek, botanticals, wildflowers, oregon, fishing, fish, steelhead, rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, Oncorhynchus clarkii, wild and scenic rivers, illinois river, south kalmiopsis roadless area, kalmiopsis wilderness area, nickel mining, strip-mining, nickel strip mining, north fork smith river, tributary, national wild and scenic smith river, smith river, smelters, gasquet, crescent city, hiouchi, california, red flat nickel corp, baldface creek, hunter creek, pistol river, wild rivers coast, chinook salmon, coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, winter steelhead, costal cutthroat trout, watershed, clean water, community, north fork pistol river, headwaters

Kalmiopsis Wilderness

The mountains of the Kalmiopsis emerged from the ocean floor as result of geological uplift (rather than volcanism) and have been subject to folding and faulting ever since. As a result, the unique soils are packed with heavy metals including nickel, iron, chromium, and magnesium that make life hard for most plant life. To survive in this environment plants have had to evolve and adapt to get by in circumstances that would normally kill most flowering species. More than any other wilderness in the region, the Kalmiopsis is the home of oddball survivors.

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Smith River National Recreation Area: Off-Road Vehicle Playground or Botanical Wonderland?

The public lands in the Smith River Watershed are legendary for their unique botanical diver- sity and for providing clear, cold water to the largest un-damned river system on the West Coast. It is a stunning and spectacular part of America’s natural heritage that is literally like nowhere else on Earth.

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