Klamath-Siskiyou eNews #153

In This Issue:

Help Improve Applegate Water Quality - Send an Automatic Letter to the Forest Service Today

Many of the tributaries of the Applegate River (that still support struggling salmon and steelhead populations) located below the Applegate dam have been listed as "water quality limited" under the Clean Water Act due to chronic sediment produced by the vast network of logging roads.

KS Wild is encouraged that the Forest Service is beginning the process of "right-sizing" this network of logging roads and improving water quality through the Applegate River-McKee Bridge Legacy Roads Project.

Please take advantage of this window of opportunity to advocate that the Forest Service secure Legacy Roads Initiative funds necessary to improve the water quality and salmon habitat in the Beaver Creek and Palmer Creek tributaries of the Applegate River by closing and decommissioning unnecessary logging roads.

Both Beaver Creek and Palmer Creek are designated as "key watersheds" for salmon recovery under the Northwest Forest Plan. Please click here to send an automatic letter urging the Forest Service to implement Alternative B in the Legacy Roads Project Environmental Assessment.

Alternative B would better reduce the Forest's daunting road maintenance backlog, reduce sediment that is limiting salmon production, and improve the health of riparian reserves in these key watersheds.

Common Ground and Forest Management - a KS Wild Opinion Editorial

As printed in the Siskiyou Daily News in October 2009

I work for the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild), an environmental group that values healthy forests and healthy watersheds on the public lands of the Klamath Mountains. I know that tree-huggers like myself are never going to win any popularity contests in Siskiyou County, but we do want to work with people of goodwill towards the shared goals of healthy forests and fire-safe communities.

Perhaps the most important opportunity for collaborative approaches to forest management in the Klamath National Forest involves forest thinning to reduce fire hazard. The Klamath has enjoyed significant buy-in from everyone from local environmental groups to the timber industry supporting timber sales designed to thin small-diameter ground and ladder fuels from below in order to reduce fire hazard and move forests back towards a more natural density and species composition.  

A number of small-diameter timber sales on the Klamath National Forest have been endorsed by environmental groups, including two recent projects planned under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA).  One of these projects, the Mt. Ashland timber sale on the Oak Knoll Ranger District, will treat 4,468 acres of second growth forests through thinning and follow-up burning. Another project, the Happy Camp Phase II timber sale, will thin and underburn 1,343 acres to reduce ladder fuels and tree density and promote the development of large trees and fire resiliency around Happy Camp. These projects, and many others, properly use the expedited planning process of HFRA to facilitate collaborative fuels reduction efforts.

If you had told me 10 years ago that environmental groups would be supporting timber sales on the Klamath National Forest I would not have believed you.  At the time it seemed like we were locked in an intractable fight about old-growth logging that had no end in sight. But now there is an emerging common ground as stakeholders work together to address the effects of decades of fire suppression and clearcut logging on tree density and fire hazard through responsible thinning projects.

Click here to continue reading this article.

Upcoming Events: Wild and Scenic Film Fest Nov 19/20th and Get to Know the Clean Water Act Dec 2nd

November 19th and 20th:

Join us once again for two evenings of dynamic film screenings selected from America's largest environmental film festival! This two-day event will be held in two locations, beginning Thursday night at the Ashland Congregational Church and concluding Friday at the Medford Congregational Church. Each screening will include brief speakers from KS Wild along with progressive civic and environmental leaders from the region.

Click here for a list of films to be shown and more details on these events.

December 2nd:

Join Rogue Riverkeeper for a primer on the Clean Water Act and learn how you can help implement this keystone environmental law in the Rogue Basin. This is a free event that will outline the framework of the Clean Water Act and explain how community members can activate to ensure swimmable, drinkable and fishable public waters. There will be a brief overview KS Wild's Rogue Riverkeeper program, including monitoring of the Clean Water Act, mining oversight and the Liquefied Natural Gas proposal in southwest Oregon.

"The Clean Water Act, in and of itself, doesn't ensure clean water any more than the Civil Rights Act guarantees full civil rights. Both depend on federal and state governments committed to them. Even more importantly, both depend on an informed, involved, committed and courageous citizenry. When people don't speak up and organize for clean water, it cannot be guaranteed - even by the most progressive state and federal agencies working under the most enlightened administrations." - U.S. President Jimmy Carter