This month's featured organization in the new Change for Good register round-up program is KS Wild (short for Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center). 

KS Wild is one of the most prominent land conservation and stewardship organizations in the region. They focus on the Klamath-Siskiyou region, which includes large swaths of Southern Oregon and Northern California (inculding the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument). This bioregion is one of the most diverse in the country, home to populations of wolves, rare plants and unique geographic formations.

KS Wild is also the parent organization of Rogue Riverkeeper, an advocacy group for local waterways and member of the international Waterkeeper Alliance. 

Below are many of the programs that KS Wild works on - and some campaigns you can take action on. And put KS Wild's annual dinner & auction on your calendar for September:

Join KS Wild's 2020 Annual Dinner & Auction: At Home in the Wild
Silent Online Auction: open bidding September 21st - 25th
Live Online Event: September 26th, 6:30-8pm
More information here: https://www.kswild.org/annual-dinner-2020

Forests:
ForestWatch monitors and influences public land management across seven forest districts and two federal agencies, across the 8 million acres of public lands in the Klamath-Siskiyou region of southwestern Oregon and northwestern California. It is at the heart of KS Wild's conservation mission and advocacy.
Learn more here.

Climate:
KS Wild’s Climate Program engages policy makers and land managers at the local, state, and federal levels to take bold action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, while also advancing on-the-ground projects that prepare our region for coming changes. 
Learn more here.

Waterways:
KS Wild protects rivers and their fish by opposing projects that harm salmon and water quality while advocating for actions that help restore riparian health. Along with our Rogue Riverkeeper program, KS Wild works to retain streamside forest canopy cover, prevent destructive in-stream mining activities, and reduce the impact of poorly maintained logging roads on streams and creeks are continuing priorities.
Learn more here.

Wildlife:
The forests, wildlands, and rivers of the Klamath-Siskiyou provide refuge for a remarkable variety of wildlife. By preventing the logging of our old-growth forests we are protecting many species, but especially sensitive, at-risk species. KS Wild also collaborates with our conservation allies to petition the US Fish and Wildlife service to list at-risk species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act including the Siskiyou Mountain Salamander, Pacific Fisher, Wolverine, and Lamprey.
Learn more here.

Stewardship:
As part of our mission to protect wild places, roadless areas, wildlife habitat, and watersheds, KS Wild collaborates with agencies and community members to restore natural areas through land stewardship projects. Public Lands and You (PLAY) is our volunteer-based stewardship program that protects important wildlife and botanical habitat from further degradation on public lands. Many of these areas are threatened by unauthorized off-road vehicle use, cattle grazing, and irresponsible recreation.
Learn more here.

Specific Campaigns & Actions:

Monitor Grazing
For decades the Klamath National Forest has authorized and encouraged extensive grazing of the Siskiyou Crest that damages meadows and springs in the backcountry. The Klamath National Forest believes grazing public lands for private profit trumps all other values of these special places. Every year the cows released by the Klamath on the drier south side of the Siskiyou Crest trespass onto the wet meadows and headwater streams on the north side of the Siskiyou Crest in the Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest. The private cattle ranchers benefit from this trespass grazing while botanical hotspots, meadows, and watersheds pay the price. It's easy to get involved by simply documenting what you see during hikes in sensitive areas. Click here for our grazing manual and impact report form, which includes a how-to guide, where to go and park along the Siskiyou Crest for monitoring, and a form to submit a report if cows are evident.

Climate Executive Order
Oregon's forests are a powerful tool for carbon storage and slowing climate change. Unfortunately, we are not using the tool to its fullest potential. If we take action, Oregon's forests could make a far greater contribution to the global climate effort by storing far more carbon. Take action to demand that ODF work with the Oregon Global Warming Commission to take Oregon's Climate Executive Order seriously and reform Oregon's forest practices to store carbon, protect water quality, and prevent air and water pollution. 
Take action here.