We must do everything we can to halt climate change, including slowing down greenhouse gas emissions and fighting fossil fuel projects like the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas export project. But, that’s only half of the battle. We also have to admit that climate change is happening now and getting worse fast. We have to act to prepare the Klamath-Siskiyou region for a warming world. KS Wild has just assembled the best available science in a comprehensive report to help show the best path forward.

Imagine our rivers, forests, and wildlife in 2080. Summers could be up to 15° hotter. Winter snowpack will be pretty much zero. The Rogue Valley climate will be more like Sacramento than the climate we know today. How are we going to protect the forests and rivers, mountains and meadows in our region? The answers are critical.

But there are answers! We are blessed with landscapes, plants, and animals of stunning diversity. That diversity is a source of resilience if properly managed. Since those landscapes are mostly public lands, the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hold the keys to success.

Our new report, “Hotter, Drier, No Less Wild,” assembles 170 scientific studies to detail the changes we should expect and to direct land managers in the steps they must take to steer the region through the climate crisis. You can see a one-page summary of those conclusions here.

First and foremost, we have to stop abusing these landscapes, which are also now getting hit by climate change. That means rolling back clearcut logging, new road building, and other degrading activities. We also have to protect the special places that will be critical refuges for plants and animals in our warming world.

KS Wild and Rogue Riverkeeper will keep up our efforts to slow climate change through actions like stopping the Jordan Cove fracked gas pipeline project. But we are opening up a new front on climate change. We also going to ask our federal land managers to take the climate science serious and protect these landscapes to survive for future generations.