Northern California's Forgotten Wildlands

Remote, diverse and treasure-laden, California's far northern public lands are relatively unknown compared to other areas of the state such as the Sierra Nevada, Joshua Tree and Lassen National Parks. As the southern range for the northern spotted owl, these lands contribute important habitat to Pacific Northwest forests and as such, are managed under the Northwest Plan.

Stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the southern tip of the Cascades, northern California’s Klamath Mountains contain wet, coastal redwood forests, alpine cirque basins, botanically rich meadows, dry pine forests, deep canyons and salmon-bearing streams.

KS Wild monitors proposed activities on public lands throughout the Klamath-Siskiyou region, which in California includes the Klamath, Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests.

Several major rivers flow through northwest California, including the Smith, Klamath, Mad, Eel and Upper Sacramento Rivers. KS Wild’s work primarily focuses on the management of the Klamath River watershed. The largest of the northcoast rivers, the Klamath runs 200 miles from its headwaters in Oregon to its mouth, 20 miles south of Crescent City, California.

Click on the following subtitles and links to learn more about our work in northern California:

Timber sales

KS Wild researches and performs public oversight on all timber sale proposals on the Klamath National Forest. Click here to read about one example of our effective advocacy in Northern California.

Off-Road Vehicles

KS Wild is engaged in the Travel Management Process for all National Forests in the Klamath-Siskiyou region to protect sensitive resources.

Cattle Grazing

KS Wild works to keep cows out of sensitive areas, including Wilderness and wet meadows. Click here to view a map of grazing allotments on the Klamath National Forest.

Fire Management

Klamath-Siskiyou forests have evolved with fire for millennia. KS Wild is watchdogging the Klamath National Forest's response to fire, including logging in the Marble Mountain and Trinity Alps Wilderness Areas in 2009.

Siskiyou Crest National Monument

Our Siskiyou Crest National Monument proposal includes portions of the Klamath National Forest, including the Beaver, Horse and Thompson Creek watersheds, which all flow into the Klamath River. The proposal also includes portions of the Indian Creek watershed, which overlaps with the ancestral territory of the Karuk Nation.

KS Wild is in communication with the Karuk Tribe in the hope that we can create a special designation for this portion of the monument that will increase the management authority and rights for traditional uses for the Karuk across this territory. KS Wild looks forward to continuing to explore how our conservation goals for this area can compliment and advance the goals of the Karuk people to play a greater role in determining the management of their homeland.

We support the work of our allies in the Klamath Basin, including Klamath Riverkeeper and the Karuk Nation.