Author: Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument

Gorgeous poetic images of Oregon’s wild landscapes revealed vulnerable treasures. Andy Kerr, featured speaker for Wilderness 50 Celebration held at Southern Oregon University, told about lessons learned in championing conservation since the 1964 Wilderness Act. He counsels to always be ready—there’s a vast portfolio such as Valley of the Giants, Oregon Dunes to the Owhyee Canyons, and Oregon’s wild scenic rivers. It’s hard to think why he was once considered the “most hated man in Oregon” when he reasons about the long-term economic benefits of clean drinking water, air, and wildlife habitat, resulting from protected wilderness. Oregon’s wilderness lands are a finite resource, and Andy presses for the connectivity of these large expanses that springs forth the biodiversity of life. Andy Kerr, a 5th generation Oregonian, knows that conservation also demands a diversity of participants and ways to work together.

Our next generation of conservation leaders was working the booths at Wilderness 50. Representatives from over a dozen public lands agencies, nature and outdoor recreation groups introduced the SOU community and public to what our local area offers. The film Wild By Law documented the hard-fought struggle towards the signing of the 1964 Wilderness Act. Looking back is our future in the hands of young people moving onward. Andy wrote this dedication in his book, Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness: “To all who have ever raised a voice, a hand or some hell to save Oregon’s remaining wilderness. And to all those who will.”

Many thanks to Wilderness 50 Celebration 2014 participants at SOU campus.

Read The Siskiyou SOU Celebrates 50 Years of the Wilderness 

SOU Bird Club; SOU Ecology Center of the Siskiyous; SOU Environmental Education Program; BLM, Medford District, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument; Applegate Trails Association; Coyote Trails; KS Wild; National Park Service, Klamath Lava Beds; Pacific Crest Trail Association; Siskiyou Field Institute; Siskiyou Mountain Trail Club; US Forest Service, Medford District, and to event coordinators Jill Smedstad, Environmental and Community Engagement Coordinator, ECOS; Katherine McCredie, ECOS student co-director, ECOS; Gabe Howe, Executive Director, Siskiyou Mountain Trail Club and Justin Glasgow, BLM Medford District, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument along with Terry Dickey, Chair, Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

Hiking up to Pilot Rock is no longer the mad scramble up! Thanks to the work of Siskiyou Mountain Club and a Bureau of Land Management Grant to redesign and make an authorized new trail.

Upon seeing Pilot Rock, Mackenzie Banta shouted out, “Happy National Public Lands Day! Mackenzie, from the Conservation Lands Foundation, was here in Ashland to provide consultation to the board members of Friends of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. As we near our 15th year anniversary, she advised us how we can garner community participation to care for our public lands.

Up and down the trail we met enthusiastic hikers from first time local visitors, international travelers, parents hurrying after their energetic youngsters, to seasoned residents leading their friends.

This trail begins a new vista for each of us–visitors, volunteers, policymakers or donors to our national public lands. Take time to bring someone to experience this place. Reflect for a moment to see and appreciate the hard work of this newly handcrafted path; and then follow through to support and strengthen the care and conservation of our National Public Lands throughout the year.

Information about wildfire locations in Oregon can be accessed at these sites.
Twitter – www.twitter.com/swofire/
Southwest Oregon District Blog – www.swofire.com/
Smoke Information – oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/
DEQ – www.deq.state.or.us/AQ/burning/wildfires/index.htm
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office – www.facebook.com/JacksonCountySheriff
Inciweb – inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4034/
NWCC – www.nwccweb.us/information/firemap.aspx
CAL FIRE Ready, Set, Go – www.readyforwildfire.org/
CAL FIRE – www.fire.ca.gov
Siskiyou County Pollution Control District – tinyurl.com/ljzak8a

At the front lines of protecting our Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument during the Oregon Gulch Fire were more than 1500 men and women from state and federal cooperating agencies. Two hundred acres of Monument land were part of the 35,129 acres (as of August 11, 2014) that burned in this fire, which straddled Oregon and Northern California. Lightning strikes and a long drought caused this fire, and these conditions continue to be a serious problem for Southern Oregon.

We give thanks to our firefighters who risked their lives. Even during their time off, they showed kindness and compassion to all our community members, especially to those who lost their homes and possessions.

A wildfire makes us vividly aware of the fragility of our homes, community, and natural resources. When they are lost, either through carelessness or by lighting strikes, it takes a long time for the homes and forests ecosystems to rebuild.

A wildfire urgently reminds us to learn, communicate, and work together as community to protect and conserve our lands—the loss of biological diversity and ecological integrity is real. As a result of this fire, we’ve learned how vital and vast our social network needs to be in an emergency. Timely and well-defined communications helped to coordinate well-trained personnel and equipment across local, states and federal agencies. It also gave up-to- minute data through digital media, including Facebook and Twitter, which was widely accessible.

As the final mop-up proceeds on the Oregon Gulch Fire, take time to appreciate what our Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument offers—learn why this place is worthy of protection through our Hike and Learn series that continues through September 2014 (see Calendar of Events). Then when you see firefighters, tell them thanks for protecting our lands.

—Terry Dickey, Chairman
Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument

Thanks to agencies in the Oregon Gulch Fire:
Greensprings Rural Fire Protection District; Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office, CALFIRE, Oregon Air National Guard, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Klamath County Sheriff’s Office, Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson County Emergency Services, Klamath County Emergency Management, Siskiyou Office of Emergency Management, Oregon Department of Transportation, Keno Rural Fire District, Jackson and Josephine County Fire Defense Boards, Bureau of Land Management, Pacific Power and Light, and private landowners.

Our donors know the importance of our Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument and what knowledge and joy these wide-open spaces can bring. Recently our friend Christine Smith wrote:

“It was such a pleasure to be able to make a donation to the Friends of the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument in my mother’s name. Myrtle Young Smith loved the outdoors and welcomed every opportunity to explore the beautiful areas in and around Ashland.

Myrtle was born in a remote area of interior Alaska in 1917 and lived most of her life in Fairbanks before moving to Ashland in 2005. Those years in Alaska were lived close to the natural world. She camped, fished, trapped, and gardened in her younger days. And well into her seventies, we combed the bogs and hills of the Tanana Valley picking cranberries and blueberries. She had her special places to pick, allowing only family members to know.

My parents both loved to go for long drives and look at the scenery. I continued to take Myrtle for those drives and we explored parts of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument that were accessible with a walking stick until just a couple of years ago. Even at age 96, Mom loved being able to walk outdoors winter months.

Myrtle loved the wilderness and the woods, the lakes and creeks. Most Mother’s Days were celebrated with a picnic near a creek or river, in Fairbanks and in Ashland. Her love of nature is a wonderful legacy passed on to her four children, their children and grandchildren.”

Your gifts to the Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument help to advocate, protect and conserve our national monument, ensuring that many generations will continue to learn, support and enjoy our National Conservation Lands.

We take a moment to give thanks to our private-public partnerships that continue to help protect and conserve the biodiversity of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
The Conservation Fund has transferred 930 acres of former Hancock Timber Resource Group Lands to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for protection as part of the Monument, including a stretch of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.

With the leadership of U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, the U.S. Congress approved funding in Fiscal Year 2012 for the purchase through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a federal land protection program that receives funds from the development of federally-owned offshore oil and gas resources. No taxpayer dollars are used to support the LWCF, which has been protecting forests, natural resources, state and local parks and recreation areas since 1965.

“We are very pleased with the progress being made to place these important conservation lands at Cascade-Siskiyou into public ownership,” said David Kimbrough, Manager, Hancock Timber Resource Group.  “With our Sensitive Lands program and through our strong partnership with The Conservation Fund and the Bureau of Land Management, we are more than halfway there, and look forward to continuing to work together to ensure that the rest of the sensitive lands in this biologically-rich landscape are conserved forever.”
These everyday efforts over the longterm, with our partners can result to enhance habitat connectivity for wildlife and expanding public recreational access. We are grateful for what more we can learn from this area that is considered Oregon’s “ecological wonder.”  Learn more about the transfer.