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The Upper Applegate Watershed Restoration Project: Comment Now!

The Upper Applegate Valley within the UAW Planning Area.

For over three years, the Upper Applegate Watershed Restoration Project (UAW) has been collaboratively developed by ANN, Applegate Valley residents, other non-profit organizations, the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and the Medford District BLM. ANN and our many supporters have contributed hundreds of hours working and volunteering to create outcomes that are beneficial for the land and the people of the Applegate Valley.

ANN has supported prescribed fire in the UAW Project as the most effective form of community fire protection.

Many of the project proposals have been identified and supported by ANN and other community partners. Together we have been instrumental in developing the innovative prescribed fire and fuel reduction treatments designed to create a more fire safe community and fire resilient forest in the Upper Applegate Valley.  We have also strongly supported the focus on thinning existing tree plantations, which create the most unnatural fuel loads and are the highest priority for habitat restoration in the entire watershed.

Yet, despite the focus on fuel reduction and community safety, ANN has pushed to make the project much more than your average fuel reduction project. We have been striving to provide benefits to the local community and to advocate for a more holistic and ecological land management approach. The project also proposes new non-motorized trails, the decommissioning of illegal OHV trails, road decommissioning and pollinator/native plant restoration projects.

A field trip for the UAW Project.

Throughout the early stages of the planning process we created significant agreement around the values of conservation, restoration and community fire protection. Working from this place of common ground, partners created a broadly supported and ecologically beneficial project that many in the Applegate Valley could support.

After one and a half years of productive collaboration, and over the objection of many collaborative partners, the Forest Service and BLM suddenly changed the definition of restoration we had been working off of and inserted numerous off-road vehicle trails into the project’s Proposed Action. No longer working from a place of agreement, the agencies badly damaged the collaborative process by infusing the project with conflict and controversy.

The Forest Service and BLM originally proposed new off-road vehicle trails in the Boaz Mountain Roadless Area above McKee Bridge and Beaver Creek.

ANN and many Applegate Valley residents opposed the new OHV trails. We forced the agency to analyze the ecological impact of motorized trail development, and two off-road vehicle trails originally proposed in the Boaz Mountain Roadless Area were canceled. Recently, the Forest Service and BLM published the Upper Applegate Watershed Restoration Project Environmental Assessment (EA), and despite local residents’ opposition, the EA still proposes three new off-road vehicle trails in the Beaver Creek watershed.

Many Applegate Valley community members and ANN supporters attended UAW Planning Meetings.

Many collaborating partners believe the proposed off-road trails are inconsistent with the “Purpose and Need” (the official premise from which the project is planned), as well as project objectives that seek to restore habitat and water quality. We also think that including new OHV trails in the project does not reflect the common ground we had achieved in the first year and a half of planning meetings. Although many of the collaborative partners have supported the UAW Project and its restorative approach to land management, many are also concerned by the inclusion of off-road vehicle trails under the guise of “restoration.” It is a precedent setting action and contradiction that we simply cannot ignore.

The Upper Applegate River running through the Upper Applegate Valley within the UAW planning area.

The UAW Environmental Assessment (EA) defines the need for the project as follows: “The underlying need for the action is to restore ecological and social conditions and processes in the Upper Applegate Watershed to provide for landscape conditions resilient to disturbance and climate change” ( EA p. 4).

The EA describes the Purpose of the UAW Project as follows: “The Purpose of the action is to protect and enhance the important community and agency identified values through the attainment of the following goals:

Water and Aquatic Habitat – Improve watershed conditions and reduce road-related impacts to natural resources.

Terrestrial Biodiversity – Improve ecosystem resilience and function at the landscape scale in order to sustain healthy forests and watersheds for future generations.

Community and Culture – Provide protection to communities at risk from wildland fire, provide for sustainable recreation opportunities, and to improve community involvement for stewardship of the land to foster a respect for ecosystems and the processes that maintain them.”

Instead of providing restorative or fuel reduction benefits, new off-road trails will discourage attainment of the Purpose and Need of the UAW Project by creating additional ecological impacts. For example, the proposed Hanley Gulch OHV Trail will traverse a Riparian Reserve on a previously decommissioned road bed, degrading, rather than restoring or even maintaining water quality and aquatic habitat.

The rare Gentner’s fritillary (Fritillaria gentneri).

The proposed Cinnabar Lookout Trail would provide off-road vehicles access to the Beaver Creek-Little Applegate River divide by building new OHV trails through a Fritillaria Management Area, designated to protect the endangered and highly esteemed Gentner’s fritillary (Fritillaria gentneri) and it’s habitat.

New off-road vehicle trails will degrade connectivity and biodiversity values by spreading noxious weeds, damaging native plant habitats, and disturbing wildlife. Many other ecological values will be affected, including impacts to streams and riparian areas, increased soil erosion, and sedimentation. Nearby communities will also be impacted by increased engine noise in previously quiet forests near their homes. Increased off-road vehicle use will also introduce a new wildfire ignition source in the form of hot motorcycle mufflers in dry, summer conditions near Applegate residences.

The inclusion of off-road vehicle trails is controversial, counterproductive and undermines public support for restoration and the UAW Project. New OHV trails are a damaging distraction and create conflict when so much common ground has been found.  The inclusion of OHV trails in a restoration project tarnishes authentic efforts to restore native ecosystems.

The Little Greyback Roadless Area and the mountains of the Upper Applegate watershed.

The UAW Project should be focusing on fire safety, forest restoration, the restoration of aquatic habitats and the maintenance of biodiversity as the Purpose and Need requires.

Please consider commenting on this important project. Comments are being accepted until December 20, 2018. Consider signing our form letter, amend the form letter to reflect your specific concerns, or better yet, create a your own public comment identifying your concerns and perspectives in your own voice. The agencies need to hear from you that off-road vehicle trails should not be included in a habitat restoration project.

Click Here to Sign or Amend a Form Letter

  Check out the following suggested talking points and ideas that can help with the public comment process.
  • Focus the project on common ground built during the planning process such as prescribed fire, tree plantation thinning, and fuel reduction around homes and communities.
  • Support native plant and pollinator restoration projects proposed in the UAW Project.
  • The agencies should analyze off-road vehicle use through the appropriate planning process. Analysis in the UAW EA does not adequately account for cumulative ecological impacts. The BLM is required to inventory all off-road vehicle trails and conduct Travel Management Planning across the region by 2021. They should defer off-road vehicle designations until that process is completed. The Forest Service should conduct regular reviews of their Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), making decisions regarding off-road vehicle use through the appropriate public process.
  • Cancel all motorized/off-road vehicle trails currently proposed in the UAW EA. The proposed motorized trails will degrade habitat rather than restore or improve habitat and they are inconsistent with the Purpose and Need of the UAW Project.
  • Close existing unauthorized off-road vehicle trails and decommission unnecessary roads identified in the UAW EA.
  • Support the Tallowbox Trail (non-motorized) on BLM land. Currently the BLM have turned portions of the proposed non-motorized trail into an off-road vehicle route without adequate NEPA documentation or review. Ask the BLM to designate the entire Tallowbox Trail, as originally proposed, including those portions below Tallowbox Mountain as a non-motorized trail. (This will turn the old, decommissioned road on Tallowbox Mountain into a non-motorized hiking trail).
  • Support other non-motorized trails, including the Applegate Ditch Trail extending between Palmer Creek Road and the Applegate Dam, and the Brushy Gulch Ditch Trail below the Applegate Dam.
Send Comments to District Ranger Donna Mickley electronically at:

comments-pacificnorthwest-rogueriver-siskiyoumountains@fs.fed.us

or through mail to:

Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District

Attn: Upper Applegate Watershed Restoration Project,

6941 Upper Applegate Road, Jacksonville, Oregon, 97530.

Citizens in the Applegate Valley proposed the Tallowbox Trail on this decommissioned road at the edge of the Burton-Ninemile Lands with Wilderness Characteristics (LWC). The BLM has proposed to turn a large portion of the route into a motorized trail with no public disclosure and inadequate NEPA documentation. Let the BLM know you want the entire proposed Tallowbox Trail designated for non-motorized use.

 

 

2018: A Year of Conservation in the Applegate Valley

2018 was a big year for ANN. We started off in January by receiving official 501c3 certification. ANN is now an independent non-profit organization, focused entirely on the protection and restoration of wildlands, old growth forests and intact native habitats in the Applegate Watershed.

We also worked on numerous environmental campaigns in 2018 throughout the Applegate region to protect, defend and restore important natural habitats. Our campaigns extended from the headwaters of the Applegate River in the high country of the Siskiyou Crest, to the mouth of the Applegate River near Wilderville. We achieved considerable success in 2018 and look forward to more in the coming year. Please support conservation in the Applegate Valley with a year-end donation. Below are a few of the highlights from 2018.

The Black Mountain Preserve

Massive old trees were protected by Selberg Institute on the north slope of Black Mountain.

Located high on the slopes of the Siskiyou Crest in the Upper Applegate Watershed, on the heavily forested northern slope of Black Mountain, lies the beautiful Black Mountain Parcel. The Black Mountain Parcel is a 240-acre private parcel of land completely surrounded by the over 20,000-acre Condrey Mountain Roadless Area.  It was previously owned by the Fruit Growers Supply (FGS), an industrial logging company based in Hilt, California in the Colestin Valley.

The parcel contains extensive old-growth forests, one of the only stands of Pacific silver fir in the Siskiyou Mountains, numerous headwater streams, and beautiful wetlands, glades and rock outcrops. It is located at the headwaters of Dutch Creek, one of the wildest watersheds remaining in the Applegate River basin. The parcel maintains intact, wilderness-quality habitat at the heart of the Condrey Mountain Roadless Area and the Siskiyou Crest Connectivity Corridor.

The Black Mountain Parcel has been imminently threatened by logging in the past, and for decades the local conservation community has worked to protect the Black Mountain Parcel by working to secure a conservation buyout. Until this past summer, those efforts had been unsuccessful.

In 2017, the Miller Complex Fire burned through the Black Mountain parcel at low severity, burning beneath the massive old trees, creating habitat, reducing fuel loads and restoring fire to some of the most intact ancient forests in the Applegate River Watershed. Although the fire itself was beneficial, it became an excuse for FGS to clearcut the parcel under an “emergency” fire “salvage” permit.

ANN simply could not let that happen! We joined forces with the Klamath Forest Alliance and the Selberg Institute to secure a conservation buyout of the parcel, protecting its incredible habitat and conservation values for future generations. The Selberg Institute is now the proud owner of the Black Mountain Preserve and folks in the Applegate owe them a huge debit of gratitude for protecting some of our most beautiful old-growth forests in the Siskiyou Crest Connectivity Corridor. ANN was proud to help the Selberg Institute secure this incredible conservation victory for the Siskiyou Crest. May Black Mountain remain wild, forever! Stay tuned for more information about the new Black Mountain Preserve, the Applegate’s newest protected landscape!

Savage Murph Timber Sale

This beautiful stand of old, fire-adapted forest was withdrawn from the Savage Murph Timber Sale due to the monitoring and advocacy of ANN.

The Savage Murph Timber Sale was a portion of the larger Pickett West Timber Sale proposed by the Medford District BLM. In 2017, ANN organized with conservation partners across the region to oppose this egregious, old-growth logging proposal. Thousands of acres of old-growth forest were proposed for logging and local activists and community members throughout southern Oregon organized to cancel large portions of the sale on the Rogue River near Hellgate Canyon and in the mountains above Selma, Oregon.

A small subset of units from Pickett West were located in the mountains of the Applegate Valley, including forests outside Murphy, Wilderville and above North Applegate Road. This was called the Savage Murph Timber Sale — and savage, it would have been, if implemented as originally proposed. ANN successfully opposed numerous new roads and old-growth logging units, reducing the proposed timber sale from 2,229 acres to 192 acres, an 86% reduction in the total sale area. Due to the diligent and effective advocacy of ANN many new roads and old-growth logging units were excluded from the Savage Murph Timber Sale. This drastically reduced project was then approved for logging, but failed to sell at the federal timber auction. To date, no logging has occurred in the Savage Murph Timber Sale, and all of the most concerning proposals have not moved forward.

Post-Fire Logging on the Siskiyou Crest

The trees marked blue are proposed for logging to within 50′ of the Pacific Crest Trail near Cook and Green Pass.

The 2017 Miller Complex Fire burned through over 36,000 acres of public land on the Siskiyou Crest, in both the Applegate and Klamath River watersheds. The fire burned in a beneficial mixed-severity fire mosaic through some of the most intact forests and wildlands in the region.

Cook and Green Pass, a high mountain saddle located on the Siskiyou Crest and traversed by the Pacific Crest Trail, is cherished by many local residents for its intact landscapes and natural, scenic qualities. Multiple Botanical Areas are located at Cook and Green Pass, adjacent to the Red Buttes Wilderness, the Condrey Mountain Roadless Area and the Kangaroo Roadless Area.

Cook and Green Pass and the surrounding area burned in the 2017 Miller Complex Fire. The Klamath National Forest responded by proposing a vast, clearcut logging proposal that would reach to nearly the Siskiyou Crest and the Pacific Crest Trail, east of Cook and Green Pass. Although located just outside the Applegate River watershed, ANN saw the proposed project as a threat to the connectivity, beauty and biodiversity of the Siskiyou Crest, so we went into action!

We conducted extensive field monitoring of proposed timber sale units and submitted detailed, site-specific public comments and administrative objections to the project. Although the project was approved, some of our field monitoring and issues identified in our public comment are being utilized by the Environmental Protection and Information Center (EPIC), Klamath Forest Alliance and KS Wild in their lawsuit to stop post-fire logging on the Siskiyou Crest. We will keep you posted on the results of that lawsuit.

Upper Applegate Watershed Restoration Project (UAW)

A view east from near the summit of Boaz Mountain and up Beaver Creek to Dutchman’s Peak. The Forest Service proposed to build new motorcycle trails through this beautiful clearing and across the Boaz Mountain Roadless Area. Due to pressure from ANN and local community members this OHV trail was canceled. 

For the last three years ANN has worked collaboratively with the Forest Service, the BLM and other interested stakeholders on the Upper Applegate Watershed Restoration Project (UAW). Although ANN has worked in a collaborative capacity on this project, we have also opposed some facets of the project and hope to see it move forward with an emphasis on truly restorative actions.

Most of the project will be beneficial, reducing fuel loads near local communities, while also restoring important habitats and ecological processes in the Upper Applegate Valley on both BLM and Forest Service land. ANN has been instrumental in ensuring this project provides both social and ecological benefits to the Applegate Valley. In that capacity we have supported numerous prescribed burning projects, plantation thinning, fuel reduction projects, pollinator and native plant restoration projects, some judicious commercial logging units with ecological sidebars and new non-motorized trails along old mine ditches and roads.

We have also opposed proposals to include new motorcycle trails in the Boaz Mountain Roadless Area and the Beaver Creek watershed. ANN and many in the local community have strongly opposed new motorized trail development in the UAW Project. Due to our efforts the motorized trail proposed through the Boaz Mountain Roadless Area has been canceled, but a few motorized trails remain in the project proposal. ANN will continue to oppose motorcycle trail creation in the UAW project and advocate for work that can truly be called habitat restoration and will have beneficial ecological outcomes.

ANN and our community supporters have continually attended public meetings and field trips advocating for conservation, restoration, and community values. Thank you to everyone in the Applegate Valley who has participated in this process. We have made a big difference!

The Environmental Assessment for the UAW Project will be coming out soon. Please join ANN in our opposition to new motorized motorcycle trails in the Applegate Valley and help us support those portions of the project that will benefit our forests, encourage biodiversity and maintain a high quality of life in the Applegate.

Our continuing programs

Wellington Wildlands west of Ruch, Oregon in the Applegate foothills.

ANN has been focusing on specific land management projects throughout the watershed, while continuing our ongoing programs that include our Timber Sale Monitoring Program, Off-Road Vehicle Monitoring Program and Wildland Protection Program.

Through our Wildland Protection Program, we worked with Applegate Valley neighbors and residents, Greeley Wells and Ed Keller, to help produce their new film, Saving Wellington. The film explores the Wellington Wildlands, west of Ruch, Oregon and highlights the beauty of the area, the threats to its ecology, and the community effort to protect it in perpetuity. Both ANN and Applegate Trails Association worked on this project. ANN hosted the premiere film showing of Saving Wellington this fall at Red Lily Vineyards in the Applegate Valley. We will also be hosting a film showing on Dec. 14 in Ashland.

Thanks to Greeley and Ed for their efforts, expertise and artistry in creating this beautiful film. We will release Saving Wellington online next spring, but for now come on out to one of our film showings and enjoy the beauty of the Wellington Wildlands on the big screen!

Looking forward to 2019

ANN looks forward to a productive year in 2019. We will continue attending many, many meetings with agencies and conservation partners, hosting events, leading hikes, walking hundreds of rugged off-trail miles for on-the-ground monitoring and field work, participating in community conservation efforts, and leading environmental action in the Applegate. Please consider making a year-end donation to ANN. Your support will help us continue our conservation efforts in the Applegate Valley. What is a wild Applegate worth to you? Support conservation in the Applegate!

https://ann.secure.force.com/donate/

 

Saving Wellington!

The Wellington Wildlands is an Applegate Valley gem. Located between Ruch and the Humbug Creek drainage, the area contains 7,527 acres of spectacularly intact forests, oak woodlands, chaparral, madrone groves, sweeping grasslands, beautiful wildflower displays, and incredible vistas across the Applegate Valley and the Siskiyou Mountains. The area is an important stronghold for wildlife and provides a incredible, wild backdrop for large portions of the Middle Applegate Valley.

Over the course of the last year, Applegate Neighborhood Network, Applegate Trails Association and Applegate Valley residents, Ed Keller and Greeley Wells have collaborated to create Saving Wellington, a 22-minute film exploring the Wellington Wildlands and the need to protect this incredible area from OHV use and BLM timber sales.

Wellington Wildlands and the native Western thistle.

We were lucky to have both Ed Keller and Greeley Wells on board to help with this unique project. Their professional cinematography and heartfelt, artistic expression of love for the Applegate Valley is evident throughout the film. We think it will give you a new appreciation for the Applegate Valley and the Wellington Wildlands.

ANN will be hosting the premiere film showing of Saving Wellington at the Red Lily Vineyard on October 13, 6:30 PM. The event will include live music from Emily Turner before the film showing. Dinner and wine from Red Lily and locally made desserts will also be available for purchase.

The event is free to the public! Please consider making a generous donation to ANN at the event and support conservation in the Applegate Valley.

A view into Humbug Creek and Thompson Creek from the headwaters of the Balls Branch Humbug Creek in the Wellington Wildlands.

Hendrix Fire: Mixed-severity fire on the Little Applegate River

From the headwaters of Garvin Gulch looking north down Sevenmile Ridge and across the Hendrix Fire. In the distance is Bald Mountain in the Little Applegate River canyon.

With a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, the Hendrix Fire began on July 16, 2018. The fire was lit on Garvin Gulch, a small tributary of Glade Creek in the Little Applegate River watershed. It began on the lower flank of Sevenmile Ridge’s western face, at the boundary of Forest Service and clearcut, private industrial forest land.

A map of the Hendrix Fire showing the fire area in red. The x-hashed lines are bulldozed firelines, the “H” denotes handline, DP is a drop point and the blue circles are helipads built when suppressing the Hendrix Fire. The blue area is the Big Red Mountain Botanical Area.

Sevenmile Ridge is a prominent feature in the upper Little Applegate River watershed. It extends south from the Little Applegate River near Brickpile Ranch, to the broad, barren serpentine summit of Big Red Mountain on the Siskiyou Crest. Big Red Mountain contains incredible botanical diversity and numerous rare plant populations, protected in both the Big Red Mountain Botanical Area and Research Natural Area. Big Red Mountain is cherished by many people in southern Oregon and northern California as the most intact portion of the Little Applegate River watershed, and one of the most botanically diverse mountains on the eastern Siskiyou Crest.

A view south from Sevenmile Ridge within the 2001 Quartz Fire footprint with Big Red Mountain in the distance.

From the summit of Big Red Mountain, Sevenmile Ridge drops north, supporting dense fields of beargrass, sparse grasslands, low rock outcrops, serpentine pine forests and ancient mixed conifer forests. Unfortunately, these beautiful and intact forests are broken by swaths of clearcut, private lands that straddle the ridgeline. Much of the Hendrix Fire burned in this mixture of intact Forest Service land and recently logged private timberland. Large portions of the fire also burned within the 2001 Quartz Fire footprint.

The Hendrix Fire burned actively for only about six days. In fact, over one-third of the acres burned on July 17 alone, when 344 acres burned and the fire surged up Garvin Gulch and over Sevenmile Ridge. In total, 1,082 acres burned at mixed severity, leaving a complex mosaic of living green forest, freshly burned and now rejuvenated brushfields and burned snag forests of fire-killed trees.

Old growth pine underburned in the Hendrix Fire.

From the beginning, Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) crews began working to suppress the fire by preparing roads and building dozerlines in Garvin Gulch and near Hells Peak at the southwest and northwest fire perimeter. They also started bulldozing the old Sevenmile Ridge Trail through some of the most intact conifer forest in the area. They were heading north from the headwaters of Garvin Gulch, hoping to contain the fire at the top of Sevenmile Ridge with a long ridgetop dozerline; however, high winds pushed the fire east and it spotted over Sevenmile Ridge, becoming established in the headwaters of the Little Applegate River. At this point the dozerline on the spine of Sevenmile Ridge was deemed unnecessary and abandoned.

The fire then backed into the Little Applegate River and grew very slowly up Sevenmile Ridge towards Big Red Mountain. It was still quite early in the season and the higher elevation fuels were still very moist, helping to minimize both fire behavior and spread. The fire crept forward as crews began bulldozing south on the Sevenmile Ridge Trail into the Big Red Mountain Botanical Area.

The dozerline built without authorization in the Big Red Mountain Botanical Area.

According to Forest Service staff, portions of this dozerline were built without the permission of Forest Service officials, by either a renegade or poorly informed bulldozer operator. Either way, it was a lack of agency oversight that allowed this dozerline to be created within the Big Red Mountain Botanical Area. Roughly one mile of dozerline was built either on the boundary of the Big Red Mountain Botanical Area or within its protected boundaries, doing great damage to the otherwise intact native plant communities. Ironically, this fireline was never used for fire containment.

To their credit, Forest Service Resource Advisors (READS) working on the fire to protect natural resources, did steer crews around rare or unusual plant populations and stopped the unauthorized bulldozing before it continued further towards Big Red Mountain and the Pacific Crest Trail.

At this point, the Hendrix Fire was moving southeast, backing east off Sevenmile Ridge into dozerlines and roads on nearby private timberland, and south into a deep, forested drainage. The fire backed into this small, moist drainage, where it stalled out at the canyon bottom.  After July 25, the fire sustained no new fire growth and simply smoldered out in the moist drainage. Due to steep and rugged terrain crews did not build handline or actively fight the fire in this canyon. They simply monitored the fire, making sure it did not cross the small creek; ready to act if necessary, but allowing the fire to naturally extinguish itself in the moist little streambed.

Much of the serpentine pine forest on Sevenmile Ridge burned in a patchy, low-severity fire mosaic in the Hendrix Fire.

For much of the fire period heavy smoke inversions moderated fire behavior, leading to low-severity fire effects; however, the majority of the July 17 wind- and terrain-driven fire run burned at high severity. This uphill run accounts for over 1/3 of the fire area and burned through old-growth mixed conifer forest. The run began in upper Garvin Gulch and extended over Sevenmile Ridge, creating significant mortality and high-severity fire effects.

The mosaic of the Hendrix Fire is highly varied. While portions of the fire burned at low severity in stands of old-growth pine and fir, as well as in open serpentine woodlands, it also appears that significant portions of the fire did burn at relatively high severity. These high-severity fire effects are centered around the steep headwaters of Garvin Gulch and in the young plantation stands in adjacent private timberlands.

White headed woodpecker
Photo: Frank Lospalluto

The mature fire-killed forests will create important snag forest habitat and is already attracting a diversity of woodpeckers, including the beautiful, and locally uncommon, white-headed woodpecker. This interesting woodpecker is found mostly east of the Cascade Mountains in dry conifer forests. Here in the eastern Siskiyou Mountains white-headed woodpeckers have stable populations around Mt. Ashland and Big Red Mountain. They have congregated in the post-fire snag forests, happily pecking insects and vocalizing cackles and calls.  Research conducted following the 2001 Quartz Fire in the Little Applegate showed that high-severity snag patches create important habitat for song birds. They will also be important habitat for deer and elk, who will eat the nutritious regenerating grasses, herbs and shrubs. Black bears will come for berries, greens and bulbs. Even Northern spotted owl may forage in fire-killed snag patches for dusky footed woodrats in the newly opened, early-seral habitat.

High-severity, stand-replacing fire on Sevenmile Ridge in the Hendrix Fire. Although currently stark and desolate, the area is already full of life.

These complex, early-seral plant communities contain important wildlife habitat and extremely high levels of biodiversity. Although often underappreciated, these snag forests are an important piece of Siskiyou Mountain biodiversity.

Beargrass is already sprouting back in the Hendrix Fire.

ANN will work to protect the important habitat the Hendrix Fire is providing on public land. We will oppose any post-fire logging that might be proposed and continue fire ecology education efforts in the Applegate Valley and in the Siskiyou Mountains. Please consider supporting our work!

 

ANN: A Voice for Conservation in the Applegate Valley


The Applegate Neighborhood Network (ANN) is pleased to announce that we are now a fully independent 501c3 non-profit organization. Until recently, ANN operated as a loosely structured organization with minimal funds to support our work. We organized as was necessary to defend the values that make the Applegate Watershed so special to us all. Recently, the threats to our valley, and to public lands in general, have grown. These threats have highlighted the need for a non-profit organization dedicated full time to the specific needs of the Applegate Watershed and community.

ANN works to sustain the integrity of the environment in the Applegate Valley and surrounding areas through education, collaboration, community activism, stewardship and science. We promote community engagement in the public land management planning process. These efforts require consistent engagement with the local community; engagement with the BLM and Forest Service by attending many public meetings; submitting public comments and administrative appeals, and producing on-the-ground monitoring reports. We also organize educational events and provide the community with Applegate-specific conservation updates. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation. All donations will directly support ANN’s conservation efforts in the Applegate Watershed.

The quality of life in the Applegate is tied to the beauty and health of our local environment. We believe that by protecting our environment we are also protecting the quality of life we enjoy in the Applegate Valley.

ANN currently has three main programs:

  1. Wildland Protection: Our Wildland Protection Program strives to address immediate threats to unprotected wildlands throughout the Applegate River Watershed. We are also working to foster a movement to secure long-term protection of wildland habitats in our watershed.
  2. Timber Sale Monitoring: Our Timber Sale Monitoring Program works to protect the beautifully diverse forests of our region. We monitor proposed timber sales on BLM and Forest Service land and use our findings to inform public comments, appeals and campaigns to either stop or significantly alter damaging timber sale proposals in the Applegate Watershed.
  3. Applegate Valley OHV Monitoring: Our OHV Monitoring Program documents the impact of unauthorized or damaging OHV use throughout the Applegate Watershed. We create detailed monitoring reports that are submitted to land management agencies and are used to advocate for closure of damaging routes on both BLM and Forest Service land.

ANN has grown from a small coalition of Applegate Valley residents into the voice of conservation in the Applegate Valley. We work to educate our community, advocate for our wildlands, defend our ancient forests and protect the streams that flow through our communities. ANN is an expression of those who live in the Applegate Watershed and love its last wild places. We are longtime community members, new residents, and the next generation of Applegate Valley residents protecting our home. Please support conservation in the Applegate Valley by supporting Applegate Neighborhood Network.

Donate to ANN!

 

Birding Anderson Butte with Frank Laspalluto

When: June 2, 2018 8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Where: Meet at 8:00 AM at the top of Anderson Butte Road

Join expert ornithologist Frank Laspalluto for a hike on Anderson Butte. The hike will take place on the new Jack-Ash Trail. Frank will lead a leisurely birding exploration on the upper 4 miles of the Jack-Ash Trail. The hike is a fundraiser for ANN and will be limited to 10 participants.

To RSVP contact: annrespond@gmail.com
(directions will be given to participants after you RSVP)

Unsafe Target Shooting on BLM Land in the Little Applegate

Anderson Butte and the surrounding Dakubetede Roadless Area are well-loved by residents of the Rogue and Applegate Valleys. The BLM has allowed irresponsible recreational uses to badly degrade the mountain’s beauty. We want our mountain back!

The public deserves a safe, beautiful, natural experience on their public lands. The BLM has an obligation to provide this experience, yet in many places around the Applegate Valley they have failed to do so.

Lack of enforcement capacity and lack of motivation to responsibly deal with various irresponsible recreational activities has turned our spectacular backyard landscapes, such as Anderson Butte, into trashed-out playgrounds for unauthorized OHV users and irresponsible shooting. ANN believes this issue affects the quality of habitat on our public lands; we also believe it impacts the quality of life available to surrounding communities. Rather than beautiful vistas, gorgeous wildflowers and spectacular habitats, what we see are shot gun shells, shell casings, shot-up TVs and appliances, illegal dumping, damaging OHV trails and bullets whizzing by on hiking trails — this is what one remembers when visiting portions of our public land.   Many in the Applegate Valley have had enough. Have you?

Below is a letter submitted by ANN to the Medford District BLM regarding unsafe and irresponsible target shooting near Anderson Butte. This issue is becoming increasingly dangerous and is displacing other forms of public use, such as hiking on the nearby Jack-Ash and Sterling Ditch Trail systems, botanizing, birding, mountain biking, driving for pleasure, etc.

If you are a landowner in the area or spend time in the area, please contact Medford District BLM, District Manager, Elizabeth Burghard, and share your concerns regarding unsafe target shooting, unauthorized OHV use, illegal dumping, and other forms of inappropriate and impactful public use in the Anderson Butte area.

Ms. Elizabeth Burghard
District Manager
Medford BLM
3040 Biddle Rd
Medford, OR 97504

eburghar@blm.gov

Dear Elizabeth,

Applegate Neighborhood Network (ANN) would like to provide input on the management of our public lands in the Applegate Valley. More specifically, we would like to provide input on long-standing problems associated with unsafe target shooting and tannerite use in the Anderson Butte area. In recent years, unsafe target shooting has become an increasingly dangerous and damaging use of our public lands around Anderson Butte. Target shooting and illegal dumping seem to be closely associated in the area. The vast majority of old log landings, quarries, and pullouts along the road system have become illegal dumping and target shooting sites.

Irresponsible target shooting is currently a significant public safety risk with shooting enthusiasts firing across open BLM roads, off steep hillsides, towards hiking trails, and towards residences along Griffin Lane, Sterling Creek Road, Little Applegate Road and in the few private residential inholdings in the area.

This sign is located on a ridge above the residential community on Griffin Lane. A stray bullet from this site lodged in a neighbor’s door in the community below. Instead of closing the site, BLM responded by installing this sign that encourages continued shooting at this unsafe location. The sign should read: “Caution Homes Below, No Shooting.”

In January of 2016, residents on Griffin Lane had a bullet from the Anderson Butte area lodge in their front door. Nearby homeowners are subjected to daily safety risks on their own property due to unsafe target shooting on BLM lands. In fact, BLM signage is currently encouraging unsafe target shooting in the area. For example, on an exposed ridge above Grub Gulch, the BLM has posted a sign stating, “Caution, Homes Below, Know Your Backstop.” The sign encourages shooting enthusiasts to utilize the exposed ridgetop for shooting and draws attention to the site. Ironically, no safe backstop exists on the ridgeline and homes are located directly below, in range of stray bullets.

Hikers, mountain bikers, recreational drivers, botanists, mushroom pickers, hunters and other forest users are routinely put at risk due to unsafe target shooting. Major BLM recreational improvements and trailheads for the Wolf Gap Trail, Jack-Ash Trail, and Sterling Ditch Trail have become target shooting areas, putting non-motorized trail users at significant risk. The BLM must act before someone is hurt or killed. Currently, other public land users are abandoning premiere recreational facilities, including the only Oregon State Scenic Trail, the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, due to valid safety concerns.

A shooting site on the ridgeline above the residential community on Sterling Creek Road.

Much of the current problem comes from a complete lack of management and law enforcement. For many years, the Anderson Butte region has been a free-for-all, with blatant unauthorized OHV use tearing up the hillsides, unsafe target shooting, illegal dumping, and other forms of inappropriate use degrading public lands and spilling out into nearby communities. BLM land managers have refused to address these issues with appropriate action and have set a precedent of impunity and inaction. As a direct consequence, one of the region’s most cherished backyard recreational opportunities is being abandoned by responsible recreational users and destroyed by a combination of inappropriate public use and BLM inaction.

Unsafe and irresponsible target shooting is not only threatening public safety, but it is also damaging public resources. This tree was killed by a combination of excessive shooting and tannerite explosions.

According to the RMP, the Sterling Mine Ditch Trailheads and Jack-Ash Trailheads are “closed to shooting.” Likewise, the entire Anderson Additions Extensive Recreational Management Area is under a firearms restriction, including buffers along “trail corridors and trailheads to provide public safety.” The BLM has an obligation to immediately implement these management directives in the Anderson Butte area, before someone is killed.

The BLM must close the entire Anderson Butte area to target shooting. The 2016 RMP gives the BLM the authority to immediately take action, close and post the trailheads for the Sterling Ditch Trail and Jack-Ash Trail, “Closed to Target Shooting.” Our immediate concern is the safety of the public who uses these lands and the nearby residents. The current status quo at Anderson Butte is unacceptable.

We urge the BLM to consider an area-wide closure to target shooting on all BLM land between Wagner Creek Road, Griffin Creek Road, Griffin Lane, Sterling Creek Road and Little Applegate Road. The BLM should also increase law enforcement patrols to limit violation of the target shooting closure and reduce illegal dumping. The public deserves a safe space to recreate on Anderson Butte and enjoy their public lands.

Thank you for your time,

Luke Ruediger/Program Coordinator
Applegate Neighborhood Network

2017: A Year of Wildfire, Administrative Protests & On-the-Ground Monitoring

Throughout the past year Applegate Neighborhood Network (ANN) has worked on numerous major campaigns to protect, restore and rewild the Applegate Valley and Siskiyou Crest.  We are proud of our achievements in 2017 and look forward to doing even more in 2018.

Pickett West Timber Sale

Forests like this one were proposed for logging under the original Pickett West Timber Sale proposal. Over 1,500 acres of forest, including this beautiful unit, have been withdrawn due to the work of ANN and other conservation allies. Despite this significant victory, the BLM is still working to log the Applegate Valley portions of the Pickett West Timber Sale.

The BLM’s Grants Pass Resource Area proposed the Pickett West Timber Sale in late 2016. The project proposed extensive old-growth forest logging, with nearly half the timber sale involving units between 150 and 240 years old. The BLM also proposed new road construction, riparian logging and severe impacts to the proposed Applegate Ridge Trail.

The massive timber sale became a major focus of our work in 2017. The Pickett West Timber Sale extended across a 200,000-acre planning area, from the Wild and Scenic Rogue River near Galice and Hellgate Canyon, to the mountains surrounding Selma, Oregon, and large portions of the Applegate Valley near Wilderville, Murphy and North Applegate Road.

ANN took a leading role by monitoring units in the Applegate Valley, Illinois Valley and the Rogue Valley. We worked with Klamath Forest Alliance and the Deer Creek Association to coordinate monitoring efforts across southern Oregon. ANN documented high priority red tree vole habitat on the Rogue River and outside Selma, Oregon in beautiful old-growth forest proposed for logging. We also documented road construction and old forest logging that would irreparably alter the proposed route of the Applegate Ridge Trail.

We publicized our findings and advocated for withdrawal of problematic units. We also utilized our monitoring efforts to write detailed public comments and administrative protests. We provided reports to Fish and Wildlife detailing our monitoring results and documenting inaccurate Northern spotted owl habitat designations. In many units we documented unacceptable impacts to the Northern spotted owl’s main food source, the red tree vole.

The BLM canceled numerous of the worst Pickett West units on the Rogue River, dropping a few hundred acres from the project. Unfortunately, the BLM then sold a reduced timber sale in the Rogue River area, called Pickett Hog. This sale is currently on hold until ANN’s administrative protest, and the 28 other administrative protests they received for the original Pickett West Timber Sale, are resolved. ANN will keep you posted on the administrative protest process.

In the meantime, Fish and Wildlife ordered the BLM to review many of the Pickett West units ANN identified as problematic in the mountains around Selma, and the BLM ended up withdrawing the entire Selma portion of the Pickett West Timber Sale, including 1,584 acres of old-growth forest. Although a spectacular victory for local environmentalists, rural residents, and scientists who opposed this sale, BLM has, unfortunately, initiated a Scoping Notice on a greatly reduced and new timber sale in the Selma area called Clean Slate. Although reduced in size, the Clean Slate Timber Sale still has units containing old-growth forests. The BLM is accepting public comments about the Clean Slate project until December 8, 2017.

Finally, in the Applegate Valley, the BLM is proposing to move forward with the original Pickett West Timber Sale planning by implementing what they are calling the Savage Murph Timber Sale near Wilderville, Murphy and North Applegate. ANN will continue working to stop the old-growth logging and road building proposed in the Savage Murph Timber Sale in 2018. We are committed to detailed, site-specific, on-the-ground timber sale monitoring and documentation of what is truly at stake should these projects go through.

Siskiyou Crest Post-Fire Logging

ANN and Klamath Forest Alliance joined forces as the only environmental organizations to conduct on-the-ground field monitoring of units proposed for post-fire, clear-cut logging by the Klamath National Forest following the 2016 Gap Fire on the Siskiyou Crest. Beautiful, fire-affected forest and high mountain meadows were proposed for road construction and clear-cut logging. Fortunately, conservation groups were able to successfully oppose these logging units and over 450 acres were withdrawn from the timber sale.

The Gap Fire burned over 30,000 acres on the southern slopes of the Siskiyou Crest in the summer of 2016. The Gap Fire burned through the Klamath National Forest (KNF) to the spine of the Siskiyou Crest, near Condrey Mountain. In the high country around Condrey Mountain the fire burned in a natural, mixed-severity fire mosaic, leaving green forests, lush high mountain meadows, headwater springs, and burned snag forests interspersed in a diverse patchwork of habitats.

On the south slope of Condrey Mountain, near the summit of the Siskiyou Crest, the KNF proposed to log fire-affected, old-growth forest at the headwaters of Buckhorn and Middle Creek. Although just barely outside the Applegate Watershed, the proposed clear-cut, post-fire logging would have impacted the Siskiyou Crest and the important habitat connectivity corridor that connects the Coast Range to the Cascade Mountains and the Great Basin. This connectivity corridor feeds and maintains the continued outstanding biodiversity of the Applegate Valley.

ANN worked with the Klamath Forest Alliance as the only environmental organizations to conducted on-the-ground field monitoring of the eighteen, high-elevation logging units and new road construction proposed near Condrey Mountain and Dry Lake Mountain.

We publicized our findings and utilized our monitoring results to inform our extensive public comments on the project, and four units near Dry Lake Mountain were immediately withdrawn.  The KNF approved the remaining fourteen units and new road construction around Condrey Mountain. ANN, Klamath Forest Alliance and others responded with detailed administrative protests, putting the project on hold. The KNF resolved our administrative protest by withdrawing the remaining fourteen units and 450 acres of high elevation forest on the Siskiyou Crest from the timber sale proposal. We are very proud of this victory for the Siskiyou Crest!

Upper Applegate Watershed (UAW) Restoration Project

Over the last two years ANN has worked on a large, collaborative project in the Upper Applegate Watershed with both the BLM and Forest Service called the Upper Applegate Watershed (UAW) Restoration Project. The project is being implemented through the Applegate Adaptive Management Area and has included extensive public involvement. Members of ANN have been at all of the many public meetings and field trips associated with UAW project planning. We have attended these workshops, field trips and planning meetings to ensure conservation issues are addressed in the project. We also provided detailed public comment during the scoping period.

The UAW collaborative project is working towards the development of an Environmental Assessment (EA) before a final project is approved. Currently, ANN supports many of the proposals and has steered the agencies away from ecologically sensitive areas and towards responsible land management practices. Proposals we support include: new non-motorized trail development, large-scale prescribed fire, fuel reduction maintenance around rural residential communities, pollinator habitat restoration, ecologically-based commercial thinning in managed stands and noxious weed removal. We are opposing a handful of commercial logging units located within roadless areas, and we are strongly opposing numerous new OHV trails also being proposed in roadless areas. If new OHV trails are approved through this project it will no longer meet the intended “purpose and need” of the project, which has been focused on habitat restoration. New OHV trail construction in roadless areas is the antithesis of habitat restoration.

Middle Applegate Timber Sale

ANN has participated in the early stages of project planning with the BLM on their proposed Middle Applegate timber sale. The project area extends from Bishop and Forest Creeks, to Thompson Creek and across the Middle Applegate watershed, over to Slagle Creek. ANN has attended numerous community meetings and coordinated with local community members to advocate for implementation of the Applegate Adaptive Management Area and meaningful community involvement in the planning process. We are advocating for protection of the Wellington Butte Roadless Area, old forest habitats, and the proposed Applegate Ridge Trail corridor. We appreciate the efforts of Applegate community members who have attended the meetings and voiced their support for conservation during the early planning stages for the Middle Applegate timber sale project. ANN will keep you posted if there are any further developments.

OHV Monitoring

ANN is working hard to protect places like Anderson Butte and the Dakubetede Roadless Area from unauthorized OHV use.

ANN has continued to monitor unauthorized and damaging OHV activities in the Applegate Valley and on the Siskiyou Crest. Over the course of the last year, ANN has successfully advocated for the obliteration of one OHV trail on BLM land near Anderson Butte. We have also worked to include one unauthorized OHV trail obliteration project into the UAW Restoration Project.

OHV Categorical Exclusion

In April 2017, the Medford District BLM approved a Categorical Exclusion to avoid environmental analysis and public comment on the “maintenance” of 65 miles of unauthorized OHV trails in the Forest Creek, China Gulch and so-called Timber Mountain/John’s Peak area. BLM’s goal is to legitimize these illegally created, unauthorized OHV routes, mask the environmental impacts for upcoming environmental analysis, and cut the public, including residents of the Applegate Valley who are negatively impacted by the project, completely out of the process. The Categorical Exclusion excludes the requirement that land managers conduct a thorough review of the cumulative environmental and social impacts. It also excludes the requirement that land managers provide a public comment period and address the concerns, science, and information identified in the public comment process.

The 65 miles of OHV trails in question are highly erosive, user-created routes that have never been subjected to environmental review or approved through a legal NEPA process. The unauthorized trails impact rare plant habitat, wildlife habitat, hydrology, water quality, soils and a myriad of other forest resources. They also encourage and facilitate private land OHV trespass by officially maintaining routes that include or continue onto adjacent private lands. These private lands include the homes and backyards of many Applegate Valley residents.

Although the BLM approved the project with no public comment, ANN promptly filed an administrative protest, demanding the project be withdrawn and that BLM conduct Travel Management Planning as required in the 2016 Resource Management Plan.

Unfortunately, BLM denied our protest and intends to move forward with OHV trail maintenance in the area. ANN will continue to watch the BLM, document the impact of OHV use and advocate for closure of damaging OHV trails. For now the BLM can maintain these user-created trails but they have not been officially authorized. We are gathering evidence and stand ready to oppose these illegal OHV trails as soon as BLM proposes them for approval in the future.

Applegate Grazing Complex

ANN has been monitoring grazing allotments on the Siskiyou Crest throughout the summer of 2017. We are documenting the ecological impact of public land grazing in preparation for the upcoming Applegate Grazing Complex allotment renewal in 2020.

The Forest Service will be updating management plans for grazing allotments in the Applegate watershed, a task that has been neglected for many decades. Some of these grazing allotments have not had an updated management plan since 1956! Our goal is to document impacts to water quality, soils, wildlife habitat, pollinator habitat, botanical resources, and designated botanical areas to inform the planning process. We are monitoring four grazing allotments that cover large portions of the Siskiyou Crest from Dutchman’s Peak to Carberry Creek.

ANN coordinates grazing allotment monitoring on the Siskiyou Crest with our conservation allies at the Project to Reform Public Land Grazing in Northern California. To learn more about public land grazing issues on the Siskiyou Crest check out this summer’s report: The Project to Reform Public Land Grazing in Northern California: 2017 Siskiyou Crest Monitoring Report

Fire Monitoring, Education & Advocacy

A view into the Abney Fire from Cook and Green Butte.

The Miller Complex Fires defined the summer of 2017. Combined, the fires burned nearly 40,000 acres in the Applegate watershed from mid-August to the first fall snow. The fires burned in a natural, mixed-severity fire mosaic and provided significant ecological benefit to the forests and wildlands of the Applegate watershed

While the fires were burning, ANN tracked their progress and informed fire managers of important ecological considerations within the fire area. We also advocated for responsible fire management, effective community protection and the protection of roadless habitats from fire suppression impacts.

ANN has been monitoring the fires and fire suppression activities in the Miller Complex. We are currently preparing the Miller Complex Fire Report in order to share our findings with local conservationists, residents, scientists, politicians and land managers. This report will explore the fire effects, fire suppression impacts, and long-term implications of the Miller Complex Fire.

ANN worked hard in 2017 to educate the public about the important role fire plays in the Siskiyou Mountains. We are using the Miller Complex Fire to explore the region’s fire ecology and pyrodiversity.

Thankfully, the Forest Service is not proposing post-fire logging in the Applegate Valley portions of the Miller Complex Fire. This is a huge victory for our diverse, fire-adapted Siskiyou Mountain forests and the post-fire environment, and it will provide an opportunity to research and monitor the natural process of renewal following wildfire. ANN intends to utilize the Miller Complex Fire area as a living laboratory. We hope to educate both the public and federal land managers regarding the benefits of wildfire in the Siskiyou Mountains.

What lies ahead for 2018?

In 2018, ANN will continue working for the community and the environment of the Applegate Valley. We will continue our on-the-ground monitoring efforts and will advocate for conservation in federal land management planning. We expect the Savage Murph and Middle Applegate Timber Sales will be a high priority in 2018, along with ongoing OHV monitoring, monitoring of grazing allotments and collaboration in the UAW Restoration Project. On the Siskiyou Crest, ANN will oppose any post-fire logging proposed in the Abney Fire on Klamath National Forest lands. We will also continue providing information to the public regarding fire ecology and wildfire management. ANN is the only conservation organization focused solely on the needs of the Applegate Valley, the Siskiyou Crest and the important connectivity habitat that the region provides. Please consider supporting our work with a generous donation. Your support is vital to the wildlife and wildlands of the Applegate Valley!

Old-Growth Logging Proposed in the Massive Pickett West Timber Sale

The Grants Pass District BLM has released an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Picket West Timber Sale and will be accepting public comment until June 29, 2017.

The Pickett West Timber Sale is huge, with units extending across southwestern Oregon, from Merlin and Galice on the Rogue River, to Selma in the Illinois River watershed, and in the Lower Applegate River watershed around Wilderville, Murphy and North Applegate Road.

The project proposes to commercially log over 6,000 acres of BLM land and build 14 miles of new road. 48% of the units proposed for logging are between 150 and 240 years old, making them old-growth by any credible definition. The BLM is proposing to log these old-growth stands to as low as 30% canopy cover with no upper diameter limit, meaning any size tree can be logged.

The Siskiyou Crest Blog has published a new blog post on the Pickett West Timber Sale: Pickett West Timber Sale: Old-Growth Logging and the Restoration Facade in the Trump Era.

Fireside Native American Storytelling with Tom Doty

Join ANN and Tom Doty on July 15, 2017 for an evening of Native American storytelling around the campfire. Tom will share stories from local Native American tribes about the Rogue River and Applegate Valleys.

Tom Doty was born in southern Oregon. His family background is Irish, English, Taklema and Shasta. His Takelma and Shasta ancestral village is at Coyote’s Paw on the Klamath River. He studied writing and theater at Southern Oregon University and Reed College in the 1970s. He began storytelling when he returned to Southern Oregon in 1981, learning the craft from tribal elders. Tom is the author of a series of Doty & Coyote books and many of his stories have been broadcast on Public Radio. In 2001 he wrote and directed a play titled, Two Sisters, Two Brothers and a Journey, a story of the Takelma people of southern Oregon. Tom travels around the region telling his stories and keeping the tradition of Native American storytelling alive. Join us!

For more information on Tom Doty: http://dotycoyote.com

The event will be located at Flumet Flat Campground on Palmer Creek Road. We will have 50 camps available for overnight camping. We will also have an evening of fun, listening to bioregional stories and socializing with neighbors. The event will be free, but please consider a generous donation to ANN. More information will be announced soon. Please join us.

When: July 15, 2017 (time to be announced)
Where: Flumet Flat Campground on Palmer Creek Road