KS Wild Side: “(The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument) contains an extraordinary array of plants, animals, and distinct ecoregions, all with increasing needs for protection.”
KS Wild Side: “Middle Rogue tributaries like Bear Creek flowing through Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Medford and Central Point often have Chinook spawning through the end of October into the beginning of November.”
KS Wild Side: “States and local municipalities need to start addressing issues facing home and business owners in the Wildland-Urban Interface by imposing tighter restrictions on future development to ensure greater protections for communities against wildfire when it does arrive. These restrictions might include mandatory “defensible space” and updating building codes.”
KS Wild Side: “KS Wild’s Public Lands And You Stewardship Program has built a strong seven-year partnership with the USFS’s Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest to help protect Alex Hole, a proposed botanical area at a wetland meadow nestled into the mountains of the Klamath-Siskiyou range at around 7,100-foot elevation.”
KS Wild Side: Rogue Riverkeeper works with volunteers and partner organizations to collect water samples weekly from more than 15 recreation sites and other locations where people commonly enjoy streams, rivers, and lakes, and posts results on the Swim Guide webpage and on the Swim Guide app.
Nicknamed the “Klamath knot,” the Klamath-Siskiyou region ties together many major and diverse ecosystems of the West: Cascadia to the north, deserts to the east, coastal redwoods to the west, and California’s Central Valley to the south. Whether you were already aware of the special biodiversity of the Klamath-Siskiyou or you are feeling newly inspired to get out and explore, consider visiting these four of KS Wild’s favorite spots.
Joseph Vaile: “Currently the USFS and BLM in southwest Oregon are planning timber sales that threaten our old-growth forests. One example is the Medford District BLM. They are about to implement Poor Windy, which targets old-growth trees near Grants Pass along the I-5 corridor. Trees well over 100 years old are marked to be logged.”
To catch a glimpse of the rare Green’s Mariposa Lily in bloom, you can visit the Mariposa Preserve in the early summer around mid-June to the beginning of July. It’s just a short drive south from Ashland to the 222-acre Mariposa Botanical Area, a designated conservation area within the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
“Our waterways and the vegetation that makes up the riparian corridors around them need increased protections now more than ever. Rogue Riverkeeper is advocating that stronger setback requirements be added to municipal ordinances to protect these important ecosystems.”
America’s road network, as currently designed, is a major impediment to migration. Fragmentation of habitat caused by roads prevents animals from accessing food and water. For animals both large and small, roads also reduce a species’ long-term viability.
The Havurah Synagogue will host a benefit concert featuring renowned pianist Alexander Tutunov, the Siskiyou Violins, and concert violinist Faina Podolnaya on Thursday, Dec. 15. Proceeds will benefit Ukrainian refugees now living in the Rogue Valley.
The authors of a natural history book about the Klamath Mountains will discuss the geological feature at a free talk from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Southern Oregon University Science Building, 1250 Ashland St., Room 151.
Leda Shapiro: “Eric Hansen’s proposed new time for the Ashland City Council meeting is described as ‘pragmatic,’ and Eric describes it as being more accessible. My question is: more accessible to whom?”
Review: Depression and suicide, unwieldy topics themselves, paired with humor might sound like an unlikely, even uneasy combination, but the play “Every Brilliant Thing” handles it quite successfully. The Rogue Theater Company production runs through Dec. 10 at Grizzly Peak Winery.
Ashland City Council candidates Bob Kaplan and Jill Franko have commended each other on clean, proactive campaigns following the Nov. 8 election, though Franko has taken issue with a Political Action Committee (PAC) formed to oppose local measures.
A local transient with a history of physically and verbally harassing local residents has been deemed unfit to stand trial in a Measure 11 assault case. Mathew David Todd, 39, of Medford, was ordered to undergo mental health and substance abuse evaluation and treatment at the Oregon State Hospital.
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