Remembering a Conservation Legend

The conservation community lost a beloved member with the passing of long-time activist Lou Gold on November 15, 2024.

Lou spent decades advocating for biodiversity and old-growth forests in southwest Oregon. He was among the early activists in 1983 blockading the Bald Mountain Road outside the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, and he was a founding member of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project (aka the Siskiyou Project). Lou eventually built a prayer circle and would camp at Bald Mountain for several summers, and it was a place many forest defenders made a pilgrimage to over the years.

Lou believed communities across the country needed to understand what was happening to the Klamath-Siskiyou’s old-growth forests in the 1980s and early 1990s, so he set off on several nationwide tours with his slide deck to showcase the ancient forests in our region. When KS Wild merged with the Siskiyou Project in 2011, Lou continued to support the work of staff and volunteers as tactics changed over the years to defend our old-growth forests.

We will miss Lou dearly, and we will carry his memory with us as we continue to advocate for the Klamath-Siskiyou’s forests, waters, and wildlife.