Logging is underway for the Westside Project on two separate units, Slinkard and Walker Creek. Two more units, Salt Creek and Blue Mountain, have received a high bidder, although the units have not yet been awarded. There is good news too. Most timber sale units have not received high bids. Absent new bidders, these areas may be saved from the chainsaw and will continue to provide habitat for Pacific fishers and northern spotted owls.
To pump the brakes on logging and maintain the status quo until a more in-depth hearing on the merits could be had, plaintiffs submitted a request for a temporary restraining order to stop salvage logging. On Monday, Judge Maxine Chesney denied plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order. EPIC has not given up the fight. The Klamath National Forest is too precious a resource to waste through ill-conceived timber sales. EPIC will continue to push all legal avenues to protect our wild “Klamath Knot.”
Below are some images of the post-fire landscapes that EPIC is working to protect. We will keep you up to date on further developments.
- Grider Creek tributary of the Klamath River after the 2014 Happy Camp Complex. Photo by Kimberly Baker.
- Grider Creek above campground and fire supression. Photo by Rob DiPerna.
- Grider Creek Damage at crossing from fire supression. Photo by Rob DiPerna.
- Damage to Grider Creek at crossing .25 miles from campground in area of fire supression. Photo by Rob DiPerna.
- Stump of “hazard” tree in Grider Creek Campground. Photo by Rob DiPerna.
- Native lupine above Tompkins Creek after the 2014 Happy Camp Complex Fire. Photo by Kimberly Baker.
- Russian Wilderness after the 2014 Whites Fire on the North Fork Salmon River.
- Wild and Scenic North Fork Salmon River after the 2013 Salmon Fire and 2014 Whites Fire. Photo by Kimberly Baker.
- Hidden pond is recharged following the Happy Camp Complex Fire near Tyler Meadows on the Klamath National Forest. Photo by Kimberly Baker.
- Garden Gulch trail spared from Becoming a logging road after the 2013 Salmon River Fires. Photo by Kimberly Baker.
- Fire scared trees on the Pacific Crest Trail near Grider Creek Campground. Photo by Rob Diperna.
- Tributary to Music Creek in the North Fork Sallmon River watershed after the 2014 Whites Fire. Photo by Kimberly Baker.
- Wild tiger lily growing after 2009 Panther Fire on Klamath National Forest. Photo by Kimberly Baker.
- View of saved forest stand taken from the Garden Gulch trail post 2013 Salmon River Fires. Photo by Kimberly Baker.