Looking ahead into 2010

The Obama Administration is surely a more ecologically receptive government than we have seen for nearly a decade, and the conservation movement now has a window of opportunity that we must eagerly engage and jump through. The growing threats that climate change poses to the earth and our communities are real and significant. The old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest provide one of the most important means for mitigating the damage of climate change, and yet powerful forces continue to push for their conversion to 2x4s and tree farms. The pendulum is swinging in the earth’s direction, but the hard work is really just beginning.

After eight years of staunchly defending our roadless areas, old-growth forests and sensitive species under a hostile administration, KS Wild is anxious to take our regional advocacy to the next level. We will continue to keep an eagle eye on projects that degrade our spectacular bioregion. Together, we will do great things for the earth in 2010 and beyond. Some of our activities will include:

Finishing off the Western Oregon Plan Revisions

For three years, KS Wild helped lead a coalition to stop this regressive management plan conceived by the Bush administration and a timber industry lobby firm. With the WOPR finally put to rest, KS Wild will rededicate our efforts to permanent legislative protection for our region’s old-growth forests, which serve as vital carbon sinks and habitat for iconic salmon species.

Closing roads, protecting fish

Our public forests are scarred with thousands of miles of old logging roads and user-created routes that are poorly maintained, if at all. These roads are a primary source of sediment - harming salmon and steelhead habitat and acting as vectors for invasive species. KS Wild is working on “travel management plans” for four National Forests whereby the Forest Service will determine which roads should stay open and which should be closed to motorized use. We are working to close roads in valuable roadless areas, in sensitive salmon-bearing watersheds and on popular hiking trails in the Klamath and Rogue River/Siskiyou National Forests.

KS forests need fire: Salvage logging in California

The Klamath-Siskiyou region has evolved with fire for millennia, and the Forest Service has been remiss in managing these ecologically important forests, choosing to see them as dollars rather than ecosystems. Lightning sparked more than a hundred fires in Northern California this year, and the Forest Service is already prepping to clearcut these burn areas, made even larger by federal fire suppression efforts such as back-burning. KS Wild will be using new and established fire science to challenge any such proposals and to encourage federal agencies to begin managing their forests in keeping with the growing body of knowledge on fire ecology.

Legislative opportunities unfolding

In addition to the Lower Rogue River and the Oregon Caves National Monument, we see doors opening ahead for permanently protecting special places in the Klamath-Siskiyou, such as the region’s old-growth forests and the Siskiyou Crest, which serves as an important wildlife corridor - increasingly important in a shifting climate.