Environmental Education
Environment
Bioregion
“The Klamath-Siskiyou Forests ecoregion is one of Earth’s most extraordinary expressions of temperate biodiversity.” – NationalGeographic.com
Steep mountain ranges, towering volcanoes, wild rivers, and the rugged Pacific Coast make southern Oregon and northern California an ideal place for immersion study in ecology, environmental education, and land use in the rural West.
The Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains form a forested and craggy core of biodiversity which connects the southern Cascades to the Coast Ranges along the California/Oregon borderline. Known by proud locals as the State of Jefferson, and by devoted naturalists as the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion, the area offers the largest complex of wilderness and unprotected roadless areas along the entire Pacific Coast.
The Klamath-Siskiyou’s ancient, diverse landscapes have been forged by unique interactions among climate, topography and natural processes over many millenia. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified the Klamath-Siskiyou as one of seven areas of global botanical significance in North America. With 30 distinct conifer species within its boundaries, it is also one of the four most diverse coniferous forests in the world.
Boaters, fisherpeople and scientists revel in the Klamath-Siskiyou’s rushing waterways. Forming the largest core concentration of federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers in the nation, the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area is at the heart of the most productive wild salmon and steelhead fishery outside of Alaska. A global hotspot for lamprey diversity, the neighboring Klamath River system is in the national spotlight as it learns how to share water among fish, farmers, dams and tribes. The Klamath-Siskiyou's steep river valleys also possess 38 species of amphibians, making them home to the most species-rich herpetofauna of any similarly sized mountain range in the Pacific Northwest.
The Josephine ophiolite, the largest formation of exposed serpentine rock in North America, supports unique Jeffrey pine savannas, rare plants, native bunch grasses and serpentine fens. These serpentine ecosystems combine with coastal redwoods, mixed conifer and hardwood forests, prairie grasslands and subalpine meadows to give shelter to some 3500 plant species, 168 of which are endemic to the region.
More about the bioregion:
World Wildlife Fund – Klamath-Siskiyou
National Geographic Terrestrial Ecoregions – Klamath Siskiyou Forests
Klamath-Siskiyou Photo Tour
Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center
Siskiyou Wild Rivers -- The Siskiyou Project
Community
Ashland and the Bear Creek Watershed
The town of Ashland, population 20,000, offers easy access to the outdoors as well as the world-class Oregon Shakespeare Festival and a thriving arts community. The community of Ashland supports a natural foods co-op and open air farmer’s market, as well as a wealth of resources for healthy living, including the Ashland Yoga Center, the YMCA and a variety of natural health care practitioners.
Drinking water comes from the 16,000 acre Ashland Watershed reserve, a protected area accessible by foot or bike from downtown and the SOU campus. Opportunities for the skier and naturalist abound along the 7000 ft. Siskiyou Crest, which forms the rim of the watershed, a 40-minute drive from town. An epicenter for cyclists of all kinds, Ashland offers safe bike commuting, accessible trails for cross country and downhill mountain biking, as well as opportunities for road rides in the adjacent Cascade and Siskiyou foothills.
As with many popular Western towns, Ashland faces hard questions about how and where to grow, with preservation of affordable housing and open space remaining top issues for Ashland residents. The city is also part of the rapidly urbanizing and multicultural Bear Creek Valley, a watershed of over 100,000 residents in which human development threatens native species like Coho salmon. Though our courses take students into the heart of the region’s wildlands, some EE students remain focused on education and monitoring of urban ecosystems.
