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 Private Forest Accord is a huge deal for Oregon’s forests. It is a giant step forward to better protect Oregon’s forests and streams. Forests — the lungs of the planet — can breathe a little easier if the Accord passes the Oregon legislature.
As of Nov. 3, Ashland Community Food Bank has a new director at the reins. Catie Mahoney will serve in the role with guidance from outgoing director Amey Broeker, who will officially retire on Dec. 31 after serving in the food bank role since 2022.
The Ashland City Council will review a proposal from a potential provider to oversee its extreme weather shelter during its regular business meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
The Ashland Independent Film Festival has added a second screening showcasing Indigenous filmmakers on Sunday, Nov. 23.
Three and a half years into the war with Russia, Ashland violinist and longtime music teacher Faina Podolnaya is still finding ways to help Ukrainian refugees.
Herbert Rothschild: As the number of ads in The New Yorker has shrunk, it seems as if the wealth of its readership has concentrated, just as one might concentrate the flavor of a sauce by reducing it on the stovetop.
Local artist MaryAnn Shank will share the thoughts behind her newest novel “Sor Juana, My Beloved” at Bloomsbury Books Jan. 26. Shank is a finalist of The Isabel Allende Most Inspirational Book of the Year 2025 award, awarded by the International Latino Book Association.
(It’s free)
