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
Read MoreUnlike 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.
Read MorePart 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.
Read MoreThe Bureau of Land Management administers the public forests that surround communities in Western Oregon. These are our backyard forests! Places like the Wild Rogue River, the Applegate Valley foothills and rare plant hotspots in the Illinois Valley deserve our best conservation efforts.
Read MoreWestern Oregon’s BLM lands support salmon, steelhead, and wildlife while delivering clean water and recreational values to the public. These forests are source-drinking watersheds for hun-dreds of thousands of Oregonians, they sequester large amounts of carbon, and they provide crucial ecological functions. The natural amenities found on these public lands are highly valued and sought after, from local residents to tourists from around the world.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreThe 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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