Program Updates
Forest restoration on-hold while BLM accelerates logging
 There have been seismic changes to public lands management in response to COVID-19: Crater Lake National Park is closed; county, state and federal campgrounds are closed; Table Rocks are closed; Forest Service and BLM offices are closed; planning for fuels reduction and restoration projects are on-hold; and restoration burning has been halted.
Yet the BLM continues to push controversial old-growth timber sales out the door like there is no tomorrow. The BLM is so committed to meeting arbitrary timber targets that it doesn't even care if the timber industry wants to purchase and log our old-growth forests. Look for the BLM to start dropping the prices for the priceless old-growth forests that comprise its timber volume targets.
Check out ways to take action on this, and other issues, on the Take Action section of our website. You'll find easy ways to send letters to your representatives, along with our Activist Toolkit and tips for writing a letter to the editor of your local publication. If you want to really flex your activist muscles during this time, join our outreach team for the Digital Activist Training later this month.
Connect with your neighborhood creeks & streams
 On April 21st, the Trump Environmental Protection Agency finalized a new rule that would strip protections from small streams and wetlands under the Clean Water Act. Streams that flow seasonally, irrigation ditches, and so-called “isolated” wetlands and waters would lose protections under the Clean Water Act. This means that polluters would not be required to have a permit that places limits on pollution that can be discharged into those waters. This final rule leaves the entire Rogue watershed more vulnerable to pollution. If this rule is enacted, local waterways like Bear Creek will see less protections and face even more pollution like it did in 1996 when 100,000 juvenile steelhead died because of herbicides that flowed into the creek from an local irrigation canal. Read more about the importance of your neighborhood waterways on Rogue Riverkeeper's blog, and ask your legislators to stop this rule from going into effect!
Fire & Climate Summit - join in webinars throughout May
If this time has shown us one thing, it is that together we can make dramatic changes for the common good. Please join us to learn how we can take action and become resilient in the face of climate change. Join KS Wild and partnering organizations as we learn from fire experts, ecological restoration professionals, and indigenous eco-cultural specialists and practitioners at four panels throughout May.
 May 5 - Preparing for Wildfire During COVID-19
An overview from experts of the history, practices, and policy of wildfire in southern Oregon and northern California, and learn how social distancing is influencing fire season preparations.
Panelists: Representative Pam Marsh (State of Oregon), Dr. Chris Dunn (Oregon State University), Chris Chambers (Ashland Chief of Forestry)
May 12 - Climate Smart Conservation
Panelists will speak to the need for climate adaptation strategies to drive conservation and land management decision-making in this time of rapid environmental change.
Panelists: Dr. Jessica Halofsky (U.S. Forest Service), Dr. William Kuhn (U.S. Forest Service), Dr. Alan Journet (SOCAN)
May 20 - The First, Best Stewards: Aboriginal Fire and the Klamath Siskiyous
Learn how ecological restoration partnerships in the region are working closely with Native American tribes and tribal communities to incorporate traditional knowledge and ecocultural restoration practices into landscape-scale planning and implementation, while returning carefully applied, controlled fire to manage dry forests.
Moderated by Belinda Brown (Lomakatsi)
Panelists: Dan Wahpepah (Red Earth Descendents), Margo Robbins (Cultural Fire Management Council, Yurok Tribe), Elizabeth Azzuz (Cultural Fire Management Council, Yurok Tribe), Richard O’Rourke (Cultural Fire Management Council, Yurok Tribe), and Dr. Doug Bird (Penn State).
May 28 - Reducing Fire Hazards in the Wildland Urban Interface
In our final panel, we focus on defensible space and available resources to help landowners minimize fire threats in the Wildland Urban (or Rural) Interface.
Panelists: Rich Fairbanks (Retired Firefighter USFS), Janet Lancaster (Firesmart Merlin), David Ferguson (NRCS)
 Online Activist Training
Friday, May 15th, 12pm - 1pm: Join the outreach team at KS Wild and Rogue Riverkeeper for a live online lunchtime training on how to speak up for our forests and clean water during these unusually circumstances. Take a deeper dive into top priority campaign details and discuss which activist tools you can use to take immediate action from home.
 KS Wild Brunch Concert Series
Sunday, May 31st, 12pm - 1pm: Join KS Wild and Alice DiMicele for a brunch concert series. Celebrate the biodiversity of the Klamath Siskiyou region in a unique way with a live benefit concert for KS Wild with our first guest of the series, folk goddess Diane Patterson. Join us on Facebook Live as we sing the world awake with strong voice, rocking guitar, sweet ukulele, and revolutionary lyrics!
Stay home and stay safe!
For the Wild,
Jessica Klinke, Communications Manager
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