This August 4th to the 13th, scientific and conservation leaders convened by the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center are embarking on a 90 mile hiking expedition to transect the proposed Siskiyou Crest National Monument along the rugged border of Oregon and California.
We will use multimedia coverage and an interactive, online map to provide the public with an ecological snapshot of what we discover, while broadcasting images from motion detector cameras hidden in remote locations to detect elusive forest carnivores. We will provide updates every couple of days containing educational information about the peaks, botanical areas and trails we pass through, as well as interviews and ecological observations about this remote, little known area.

We will be joined by a documentary film crew, a photographer and specialists in the fields of climate science, botany, mammalogy and conservation biology who will offer their expertise in documenting the myriad reasons this area is proposed for permanent protection. There will be support staff staying in town to provide members of the media with background information about the proposed monument and the special features we will be highlighting during our trek. There will also be a public reception potluck gathering and press conference at the Grouse Gap shelter behind Mount Ashland on the Siskiyou Crest on Wednesday, August 12th.

We will start our journey at the Oregon Caves National Monument to coincide with the 100th anniversary celebration of the monument and the current bill in congress that will result in a tenfold expansion of the monuments borders. Our crew will hike up to Bigelow Lakes and into the Red Buttes Wilderness where we will ascend to the Siskiyou Crest itself. Our route will weave in and out of Oregon and California, joining the Pacific Crest Trail and following it over 60 miles as it bisects the boundary of the proposed national monument.

Along the way we will be photo-documenting the area under consideration for protection, as well as collecting tapes from motion detector cameras placed in strategic locations beforehand by conservation biology graduate students in an attempt to document the presence of rare and reclusive mammals rarely seen by humans.

Our interactive, online map will be updated as we progress along our journey allowing the public to follow in our footsteps and see what we see. The map will remain up as a virtual tour of the crest once the transect is completed.

This is a new and exciting campaign already creating a buzz across our geographic region, and we are working hard to bring national exposure to the proposal for a Siskiyou Crest National Monument.
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For more information or to ask any questions, please contact Laurel Sutherlin at laurel@kswild.org or call the KS Wild office at (541) 488-5789.

Organizations associated with this endeavor:

KS Wild
Pacific Crest Trail Association
Center for Biological Diversity
National Center for Conservation Science and Policy
EPIC (Environmental Protection Information Center
Red Buttes Wilderness Council
Rogue Farm Corps
University of Vermont
Rogue Group Sierra Club
Audubon Society
Klamath Bird Observatory
Dakubetede Environmental Education Programs (DEEP)
Native Plant Society
Klamath Riverkeeper
and more. . .