Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center

ForestWatch Program: KS Wild worked with local community groups in the Applegate Valley to address concerns with the Bureau of Land Management proposing to log old-growth forests near the community of Wiliams. KS Wild participated in the public commenting period and made numerous attempts to amend the plan, but the BLM moved forward with what we perceived as illegal steps. In 2024, a federal court sided with KS Wild, claiming the environmental impacts across 19,000 acres of old-growth forests were not sufficiently addressed. In California, KS Wild continued working with the Klamath National Forest to address post-fire restoration efforts in the footprint of the River Complex Fire that burned through 200,000 acres of public forests in 2022. KS Wild supported the agencys efforts to address roadside salvage and limited road reconstruction efforts outside the community of Cecilville. The agency amended many of their proposed actions due to our involvement and limited its work in older forest stands that did not see major impacts from the fire.

National Forest Land Management and Planning For the past three years, KS Wild has been working with national and regional partners to address national rule-making efforts that would conserve mature and old-growth forests across the county (including in our region). KS Wild was part of the national Climate Forest coalition, which set out to engage in a rulemaking effort called the National Old-Growth Amendment (NOGA). KS Wild helped deliver more than 1,000 local supportive comments during a comment period in 2024, which saw more than 1 million people nationwide write in support of protecting our mature and old growth forests from industrial logging. NOGA was an effort by the US Forest Service to address conservation priorities on every national forest across the country. KS Wild also worked closely with the Our Great Northwest Forests coalition to address the US Forest Services Northwest Forest Plan Amendment. KS Wild attended, and commented at, numerous Federal Advisory Committee meetings, where public comments were accepted on a proposed amendment to the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. This effort was intended to modernize the 1994 agreement that covers 18 million acres of national forests in the Pacific Northwest, where the Northern spotted owl calls home. The amendment was focused primarily on climate-smart forestry adaptation, mature and old-growth protections, as well as engaging Tribal communities and nations in decision-making. KS Wild wrote technical comments and submitted them during a 120-day public comment period, which launched in November 2024. Wildlife: As a member of the Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition, KS Wild worked in partnership with other groups to help secure funding for the first wildlife overpass in Oregon! The Mariposa Preserve Overcrossing received $33 million in federal funding from the US Highway Administration, which will benefit the construction of a wildlife overpass on Interstate 5 near the Oregon-California border. The planned construction would not start until 2027-2028, but we are working with partners to help host a semi-annual conference to address wildlife crossings and migration routes in the two-state region.

ALL OTHER CONSERVATION PROGRAMS & OUTREACH Our Public Lands and You (PLAY) projects focused on small volunteer restoration efforts across US Forest and BLM lands in the region. We hosted several stewardship events with more than 50 volunteers in attendance.. We were able to hone in on key areas of interest where our volunteers and collaboration with the USFS and BLM will make the most impact: Days Gulch Botanical Areas ,Alex Hole (proposed botanical area) , Cascade-Siskiyou National Monuments mardon skipper enclosures and the Mariposa Preserve,Siskiyou Crest meadows.