Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild) press conference and public reception

Aug 12, 2009 from 4:30pm to 6:00pm UTC-07
Location: Grouse Gap Shelter on the Crest above Ashland
Latest Activity: Nov 8, 2022

Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center Steps Up National Monument Campaign with Multimedia Expedition Transecting the Siskiyou CrestSeries of press releases and video dispatches to be released from the backcountry of the proposed monument during the next two weeks; new website launched to track growing campaignWhat: The Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild) is ramping up their campaign to create a Siskiyou Crest National Monument with an ambitious expedition through the heart of the landscape proposed for protection. This innovative outreach effort includes the launch today of a new website (www.siskiyoucrest.org) that contains an interactive, online map offering real time updates from the journey and a virtual tour of the region, a Twitter feed and a video portal that will feature regular edited updates from the remote backcountry along the Oregon/California border.Four press packets will be ferried out by support vehicles over the duration of the trek. Dubbed ‘dispatches from the field’, each will include edited short videos containing images from motion detector cameras documenting elusive wildlife, interviews with scientific experts and conservation leaders and the final installment will contain aerial footage from a small plane documenting the landscape from above.When/Where: The expedition will depart from Bigelow Lakes adjacent to the Oregon Caves National Monument in the early afternoon of Aug 4th and will arrive 9 days and 90 miles later for a press conference and public reception gathering at the Grouse Gap Shelter on the Crest above Ashland, OR on Aug 12th. The route traverses steep and rugged backcountry along the CA/OR border including the Red Buttes Wilderness and approximately 60 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail.Who: The team of hikers transecting the proposed monument includes a professional documentary filmmaker, a photographer, a former wilderness ranger for the region, a naturalist, a botanist and conservation staff from KS Wild. This core crew of through-hikers will be joined for shorter sections of the trek by climate scientists, fire ecologists, hunters and representatives from the recreation industry. All of these individuals are available for interviews.Why: This project is aimed at calling public attention to the world-class epicenter of biodiversity contained on the Siskiyou Crest and the efforts to protect this amazing place permanently. Very few places can claim so many exceptional ecological values or provide such an array of social benefits through its protection. The unique geography of the Siskiyou Crest instills it with a disproportionate importance for wildlife and regional climate resiliency. The region is also a recreationalist’s paradise and its preservation as a destination for visitors from near and far stands to benefit local and regional economies for decades to come. The Siskiyou Crest National Monument is an idea whose time has come."The idea of a Siskiyou Crest National Monument has been gaining momentum very quickly, and we are excited to use this outdoor adventure to raise the profile of the campaign and highlight this world class area right in our backyard", said Laurel Sutherlin, outreach director for KS Wild.

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Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild) press conference and public reception

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