A bird’s-eye view of the Klamath dam removals

KS Wild’s Executive Director recently visited the Irongate Dam, one of four dams set to be removed by 2024 to create a free-flowing Klamath River. Read more about his experience here.

Water, Wild RiversKlamath SiskiyouOctober 19, 2023klamath river, dams, dam removal, klamath dam removal, california

Oregon’s Untapped Climate Solution

We need to protect Oregon lands from climate extremes and harness their potential as a climate solution. The Senate Committee on Natural Resources has scheduled a hearing on SB 530, common-sense legislation that will help increase carbon sequestration on our forests, agricultural lands, and wetlands and improve the resilience of our water, wildlife, and communities. Learn more about SB 530 and action you can take for natural climate solutions in this blog.

KS Wild Works for the Illinois Valley!

The Illinois Valley and the Wild Rivers Ranger District are at the very heart of KS Wild’s mission to protect wildlands, wildlife and watersheds. From botany to mining to logging, read about KS Wild’s recent conservation efforts in the Illinois Valley.

Letters of support for the Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act and Smith River National Recreation Area Expansion Act

While Senators and the White House determine a path forward on infrastructure and other climate-related bills, efforts to expand protections for wildlands and wildlife continue on the side with Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

Campaign, Wild RiversGuest UserNovember 3, 2021top story, legislation, senator wyden, senator merkley

The Year Ahead: KS Wild's Priorities for 2020

To be the eyes and ears of public lands defense requires KS Wild’s ForestWatch staff to be diligent in how we approach the scope of our work. Read about our plans for 2020, which defending public lands in a number of vital ways.

Back to the Source

For five days in May, KS Wild leads a raft-supported hike along the Rogue River. This guest post by Tuula Rebhahn details the journey along the river and the adventure that awaits you!

Wild Rivers, Water, Public LandsKlamath SiskiyouJuly 9, 2019rogue river, wild rogue river, rafting, hiking, history

Wyden Champions Wildlands Protections

Senator Wyden learned from the crowd at his Josephine County Town Hall that protecting the Rogue, its tributaries, and all of the wild places in Oregon, is of utmost importance to Oregonians. He also heard that his constituents here in southern Oregon see and appreciate the hard work he is doing in the nation’s capital to keep our lands and rivers pristine and protected.

Wildlands, Wild RiversGuest UserMay 29, 2019town hall, senator wyden, rivers, wildlands

Special Places Protected by the Oregon Wildlands Bill

With the passage of a public lands bill, Oregon will build on its Wild & Scenic River legacy and KS Wild will achieve some long sought after conservation measures. The Oregon Wildlands Act adds 250 miles of new rivers and streams to the National Wild & Scenic River system, protecting southern Oregon streams from mining!

Water, Wild Rivers, Wilderness, Wildlands, WildlifeGuest UserFebruary 28, 2019

Oregon Wildlands Passes Senate!

The U.S. Senate passed the Natural Resources Management Act (S. 47), including the Oregon Wildlands Act (S. 1548), the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Act (S. 513/H.R. 1308), and the reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund,. The package now heads to the U.S. House where we are hopeful it will pass and be signed into law.

Public Lands, Wild Rivers, Wilderness, WildlandsGuest UserFebruary 12, 2019wild and scenic rivers

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

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.

Wild Rivers, Water, WildernessKlamath SiskiyouJanuary 20, 2017conservation, environment, ecosystem, klamath-siskiyou, ks wild, water, wild rivers, mining, wilderness, southern oregon, northern california, strip-mining, kalmiopsis wild rivers, southwest oregon, josephine county, curry county, kalmiopsis wildlands, kalmiopsis, kalmiopsis wilderness area, smith river, illinois river, hunter creek, watershed, wild rivers coast, clean water, water quality, pacific ocean, serpentine, 1872 mining law, air pollution, smelters, toxic runoff, fishing, gold beach, cave junction, crescent city, salmonidae, salmon, oncorhynchus, native americans, friends of the kalmiopsis, kalmiopsis audubon, native fish society, american rivers, american whitewater, wild and scenic rivers, smith river alliance, off-road vehicle, steelhead, rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, smith national recreation area, ORV, forest service

Kalmiopsis Tales: Rugged Mountains, Long fights & Wild Women

Long fights with no reward can feel tiresome and unrewarding after awhile. That’s why this May we held the first annual Return to the Wild, a rustic retreat along the Illinois River for female activists from around Southwest Oregon. Elders told stories of past trials and triumphs, we bonded and benefited from the therapy of nature, and were reinvigorated for our work ahead.

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

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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