Like many areas in the American West, the Klamath-Siskiyou region will be subject to more drought, increased wildfire occurrence, and conversion of habitats. Climate change necessitates that we adapt our communities and our landscapes as best we can. KS Wild is helping lead an effort to translate climate science to on-the-ground land management through education, advocacy, and public forest planning efforts.
KS Wild invites you to join them on March 23rd for a hike and discussion on 21st century fire management. They are co-hosting this presentation with retired Forest Service fire professional (and Applegate resident) Rich Fairbanks.
The event will start with a moderately easy hike into the public lands surrounding Yale Creek where BLM just performed a prescribed burn on 300 acres as part of a fuels reduction operation. After the hike we will be meeting at the Yale Creek Community Building to hear Richard present on historical fire and land management and how essential prescribed fire is as a tool to protect homes and communities while maintaining forest health and resiliency. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers and time to network with land owners and forestry workers.
Hike 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Lunch 1:00 – 2:00 pm
Presentation & DiscuYale Creek COmmunity Centerssion 2:00 – 4:00 pm
The event will start with a moderately easy hike into the public lands surrounding Yale Creek where BLM just performed a prescribed burn on 300 acres as part of a fuels reduction operation. After the hike we will be meeting at the Yale Creek Community Building to hear Richard present on historical fire and land management and how essential prescribed fire is as a tool to protect homes and communities while maintaining forest health and resiliency. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers and time to network with land owners and forestry workers.
KS Wild’s Fire & Climate campaign
As communities in southwest Oregon come off one of the most active wildfire seasons in recent memory, KS Wild is increasingly concerned with the national dialogue around wildfires and forest management. The Trump Administration is doubling down 
on its rhetoric to use wildfires as an excuse to hand over public forest management to the timber industry. Locally, this has translated into many local county commissions and elected leaders calling for aggressive, industrial public lands logging.
KS Wild is already starting to build the
framework for our emerging Fire & Climate campaign. One of the tenets of the campaign is to provide more educational resources for our local communities in southwest Oregon and northwest California. Since last summer, our new Fire Resources page is the most visited part of the KS Wild website. We will also be hosting more events like the one we’re having on March 23rd in order to give local residents an opportunity to learn from fire professionals like Rich Fairbanks.
With your participation and ongoing support, KS Wild’s Forest & Climate Initiative will create space for a) conversations about the role of fire; b) the need for forest management to be driven by restoration (rather than exploitation) of forests; and c) the need for community protection.
Beyond community outreach, KS Wild’s ongoing advocacy will have a significant impact well beyond our region, especially as there are efforts to transform management across 25 million acres of National Forests from California to Washington state. KS Wild is currently working with key allies to develop a Pacific Northwest focused campaign that will influence federal land managers to incorporate climate change adaptation into forest management plans.
