Your Voice Matters! How your public involvement helps protect public lands.

Have you ever wondered if civic engagement is even worth it when it comes to protecting the forests and rivers you love? The extractive industries are so powerful, the land management agencies are so bureaucratic, the court system is so difficult to navigate, and climate change is so daunting that submitting a heartfelt public comment about a timber sale can feel like an act of futility. Yet it is persistent involvement from everyday people that makes a real difference for wildlife and watersheds.

Forests, Public Lands, Stewardship, WildlandsHaleigh MartinOctober 16, 2024activism, take action, forest watch, forestwatch, rally, wildlands, Public lands

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

Diversity Follows Fire

Fire is so important to the world-renown forest diversity of the Klamath-Siskiyou that it is recognized as the keystone ecological process. Here in the KS, forests with fire are healthy forests!

Forests, Public Lands, Wilderness, WildlandsKlamath SiskiyouOctober 12, 2017forestfire, fire resilient, wilderness area, wildlands, kalmiopsis wildlands, biodiversity, trees, fire, wildfire

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

Cascade-Siskiyou Monument Expanded

After four local public hearings and thousands of letters to elected officials, support for the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument has been heard! On Thursday, January 12, 2017, President Obama used his authority under the Antiquities Act to expand the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon.

Cascade-Siskiyou, WildlandsKlamath SiskiyouJanuary 12, 2017conservation, environment, ecosystem, klamath-siskiyou, ks wild, biodiversity, cascade-siskiyou, cascade-siskiyou monument, monument, cascade-siskiyou national monument, antiquities act, southern oregon, wildlands, logging, salvage, forests, forestfire, wildfire, watershed, public lands, oregon-california border, north america, wildlife, great basin, sierra nevada, siskiyou mountains, cascade mountians, corridor, climate, pilot rock, horseshoe rance, lower jenny creek, california, oregon, northern california, rogue valley foothills, casacade mountain range, little hyatt lake, moon prairie, hoxie creek, upper jenny creek, grizzly peak, surveyor mountain, tunnel creek wetlands, wetlands, tunnel creek, public land, department of interior, ashland, talent, clean water, old-growth forest, soda mountain wilderness council, rogue valley audubon society, wilderness society, conservation lands foundation, friends of the cascade-siskiyou national monument

Wildlife Advocacy

Part of our work at KS Wild is to track management decisions by the US Fish and Wildlife service to list at-risk species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. In continuing a 22-year battle to protect their declining populations, we filed lawsuit with three of our conservation allies to list the Pacific fisher. Other species we continue to fight for include the Siskiyou Mountain Salamander, the Wolverine and four species of Lamprey.

Oregon Spotted Frog, WildlifeKlamath SiskiyouJanuary 1, 2017conservation, environment, ecosystem, klamath-siskiyou, ks wild, biodiversity, wildlife, oregon spotted frog, spotted frog, Rana pretiosa, northern spotted owls, birds, amphibians, Strix occidentalis caurina, pacific fisher, mammals, madrones, Arbutus unedo, oak, quercus, trees, botanticals, salmonidae, salmon, forests, salvage, forestfire, wildfire, endemic, appalachia, southern appalachia, migration, mexico, central mexico, southern oregon, northern california, oregon, california, protection, at-risk species, us fish and wildlife, threatened species, endangered species, endangered species act, siskiyou mountain salamander, Plethodon stormi, wolverine, Gulo gulo, lamprey, petromyzantiformes, fish, wildlands, gray wolves, gray wolf, wolves, wolf, western wolf, timber wolf, american wolf, Canis lupis, animals, source habitat, hotspots, kalmiopsis, siskiyou crest, marble mountains, trinity alps, cascade range, road-building, northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis, marbled murrelet, Brachyramphus marmoratus, red tree vole, Arborimus longicaudus, western pond turtle, Actinemys marmorata, Emys marmorata, green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, game management, wildlife conservation, hunting, fishing, department of fish and wildlife, oregon department of fish and wildlife, funding, climate, jack creek, fremont-winema national forest, cattle, grazing, drought, forest service, wetlands, jack creek wetlands, riparian, groundwater, logging, Martes pennanti

Fire on the Land: A Keystone Ecological Process

A suite of species depend on fire for their life cycles. Healthy stands of white and purple Ceanothus burst forth after fire and provide for a suite of pollinators. Knobcone pines love the heat that enables their cones to release seeds. Black- backed woodpeckers thrive by foraging amongst blackened snags. Fire is as necessary as water is to the local forest ecosystem.

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.

Public Lands for All

While most Americans cherish the idea that public lands belong to and benefit all of us, corporate timber, mining and grazing interests have long sought to privatize public lands in order to maximize profits to their respective industries. While subsidized logging, mining and grazing occur on the vast majority of public lands, these extremists bristle at the idea of there being any rules regarding their exploitation of our forests and rivers.

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

Wilderness in the Klamath-Siskiyou

The Klamath-Siskiyou region is home to the largest expanse of wildlands on the West Coast. Some of these pristine wild areas are protected under the Wilderness Act as Wilderness Areas, but many other wilderness-quality lands are unprotected and face a variety of threats including logging, road-building, over-grazing, and irresponsible off-road vehicle use.

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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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A Wilderness Celebration

But what is more important is that wilderness offers something more than just its value to humanity. In wilderness is the essence of all life; it is where complex biological systems continue to function in ways that humans are only beginning to understand. Saving the remaining pieces of wild nature is part of our duty to ourselves, our children, and for all life on the planet.

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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