JULY 14-16, 2023

Celebrating the Siskiyou Crest:
A Festival of Arts, Culture, and Science

When

July 14, 2023 – Guided hikes and field trips throughout the Siskiyou Crest region

July 15-16, 2023 – FESTIVAL at Pacifica Garden

Where

Pacifica Garden
14615 Water Gap Road
Williams, Oregon

botanizing at Hinkle Lake Botanical Area
Friday, July 14

Guided Hikes and Field Trips

Free field trips led by ecologists and naturalists throughout the Siskiyou Crest region occurred on July 14th, 2023.

Big Red Mountain
Rachel Werling and Big Red Mountain

Guided by: Barbara Mumblo

Description: Big Red Mountain is part of the serpentine Siskiyous with unique geology and ultramafic soils hosting some beautiful endemic plants. This stretch of the PCT traverses outcrops of serpentinite and open ridgelines, meanders through alpine meadows and under canopies of Siskiyou Crest Abis hybrids. We will discuss the geologic history of this part of the Siskiyous and scout for some of the rare plants that make this place their home. With luck we will see showy Epilobium siskiyouense (Siskiyou willow herb), Lewisia leana (Lee’s Lewisia) in bloom, three types of sword fern: Polystichum lemmonii (Lemmon’s sword fern), Polystichum imbricatum, (imbricate sword fern, and Polystichum munitum (western sword fern), also Pinus monticola (western white pine), and dense fields of Xerophyllum tenax (bear grass), As well as classic montane denizens such as thickets of Prunus emarginata (bitter cherry), pollinator pleasing Agastache urticifolia (nettle leaved horsemint), and swathes of Veratrum californicum (California corn lily).

About Barbara Mumblo: In the summer of 1976 Barbara went on a wildflower fieldtrip to the Pacific Crest Trail at Mt Ashland with Dr. Frank Lang. This began her love of wildflowers and a BS in Biology (emphasis in botany) at Southern Oregon University (Southern Oregon State College at that time). Barbara worked at the Medford District BLM from 1981-1987, working primarily with Joan Seevers studying rare plants, often in the Illinois Valley. In 1987 she began her 28 year botanist career with the US Forest Service on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District. This was a dream job working in the Klamath-Siskiyous and it was close to her home of now 46 years at the base of Dutchman Peak. In 2018 she was recognized as a Fellow of the Native Plant Society of Oregon.

REGISTER HERE

Bigelow Lakes Butterflies
Bigelow Lakes with Dana Ross and Linda Kappen

Guided by: Dana Ross & Linda Kappen

Description: No two people are more familiar with the butterflies of this picturesque basin than Dana and Linda. Butterflies will be at near-peak abundance and diversity with as many as 40-50 species and several endemics in flight. How many might we see? Join us for a moderate 2-1/2 to 3 mile round-trip hike as we observe, net, show-and-tell, and release, examples of what we encounter. Don’t forget to wear quality shoes/boots, hat and sunscreen, and bring water, lunch, and any personal items. Please leave your canine companions at home for this field trip, thanks!

About Dana Ross: Dana is a freelance entomologist living in Corvallis, Oregon since 1981. He caught his first butterfly, a mourning cloak, at the age of 4 and has never looked back. His professional work involves rare butterfly conservation, butterfly and moth site inventories, and an annual butterfly course offered through the Siskiyou Field Institute. He regularly contributes his knowledge and skills towards the betterment of his alma mater (Oregon State University) as a volunteer Oregon State Arthropod Collection curatorial associate.

About Linda Kappen: Linda spent her childhood growing up west of Grants Pass exploring the banks of the Rogue River where her family lived for 19 years. Later years brought her to explore the Illinois and Applegate Rivers. Linda and her husband have been living in Applegate, Oregon for 43 years, where they raised their two sons. In Linda’s adult life her interest in butterflies began with the creation of butterfly habitat in 2001 with students at Applegate School where she works, and in 2012 when she studied and earned a Siskiyou Naturalist Certificate through Siskiyou Field Institute. With the help of mentors, she is a self-taught lepidopterist and naturalist. Currently Linda leads butterfly hikes and official butterfly surveys in the Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, Sampson Creek Preserve, Cascade Siskiyou National Monument and on land managed by Southern Oregon Land Conservancy. In her spare time, she can be found exploring backcountry meadows with her butterfly net in hand.

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Birds and Botany Near Oregon Caves National Monument
Romain Cooper & Bill Gray and meadow in the vicinity of Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve

Guided by: Romain Cooper & Bill Gray

Description: We will bird various high elevation Siskiyou Mountain habitats in the general vicinity of Oregon Caves National Monument. As the day progresses & birding slows, we will shift to an emphasis on the area’s rich plant life. We will identify and study the site’s trees, shrubs and wildflowers. Beginner to expert birders are welcome. Our party will leave the Cave Junction visitor center at 7am & return by 3pm.  Please bring binoculars, water, a lunch & snacks. No poison Oak up here.

About Bill Gray: Bill Gray is a botanist and wildlife biologist who has surveyed extensively for rare plants in the Illinois Valley (Josephine County, OR) and elsewhere and performed “point count” bird surveys for the Oregon Caves National Monument for 16 consecutive seasons.

About Romain Cooper: Romain Cooper is a long-time resident of the Illinois Valley, Josephine County, where he assists in the oversight of a 250-acre nature reserve where he also resides. Romain works as a biological consultant, biological technician and project supervisor for fish, wildlife and restoration projects mostly in Oregon. 

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Coho Snorkeling in the Williams Watershed
Rich Nawa collecting matsutake mushrooms and Coho salmon

Guided by: Rich Nawa

Description: Learn how to observe juvenile coho salmon in a local stream with ecologist Rich Nawa. With the aid of polarized sunglasses and binoculars participants will view juvenile coho from the streambank during the morning session. In the afternoon session, participants will utilize masks and snorkels, with optional wetsuit, to snorkel in the stream to learn what coho salmon need during the summer, and to learn to identify juvenile coho, rainbow trout and others via underwater observation. A few masks and snorkels will be available as loaners, but it’s best to bring your own if possible.

Two separate trip options:

(1) Morning juvenile coho viewing: Participants who do not want to snorkel may sign up for the morning session which will be seeing coho from the streambank with polarized sunglasses and/or binoculars. 

(2) Afternoon juvenile coho viewing: The afternoon session is for people who want to snorkel to see juvenile coho salmon, rainbow trout, and others. A mask and snorkel is required with wet suit optional. Some loaner mask/snorkel available but best to bring your own.

About Rich Nawa: Rich Nawa was raised in a family that hunted, fished, gardened, and gathered wild foods. In retirement he now enjoys these same hobbies. He pursued his interest in wildlife with a BA and MA in zoology at Southern Illinois University where he did research on white-tailed deer. Rich then worked as a federal Wildlife Biologist in Nevada and Oregon. Fishing in areas devastated by logging caused him to seek a career that would protect fish and forests. He worked as a fisheries research assistant at Oregon State University and studied everything he could about salmon and salmon habitat. He surveyed dozens of streams in Oregon and Washington while also working as Staff Ecologist with the Siskiyou Project. He has derived much satisfaction and fulfillment being a participant in successful efforts over the past 35 years to protect forests and fish. 

REGISTER HERE

Hinkle Lake Botanical Area
Matt Dybala and Hinkle Lake

Guided by: Matt Dybala

Description: Hinkle Lake botanical area is a 4-mile out and back hike, located at the headwaters of Steve Fork in the Applegate river watershed.  Come join us to learn about the unique Siskiyou mountain plants and vegetative communities that inhabit this federally designated botanical area.  The 425-acre shallow lake and surrounding wetlands have been described as one of largest open meadow habitats within the Red Buttes region.  We will meet at the Applegate store parking lot at 9am and caravan together to the trailhead.  Please come prepared with plenty of food, water, and suitable footwear.

About Matt Dybala: After completing an Environmental Studies degree at the University of Oregon in 1998, Matt has worked as an environmental educator and organic farmer with a primary focus on relationships between plants and people.  An early career opportunity to interpret the unique plant communities of Table Rocks sparked a lifelong passion for our Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion.  Matt and his family reside in Williams, Oregon, cultivating a diversity of medicinal plants as Herb Pharm’s agricultural director.  He is also a post baccalaureate student in the botany department at Oregon State University.  And volunteers on weekends to help organize free, public hikes for beginner and novice botanists, sponsored by our local Siskiyou Chapter, Native Plant Society of Oregon

REGISTER HERE

Mt. Ashland and Siskiyou Peak Bird Walk
Frank Lospalluto, Swainson's thrush & Mt. Ashland

Guided by: Frank Lospalluto

Description: We will start at first light near the Mt. Ashland Ski Area heading west. We’ll end the morning near Siskiyou Peak and the Meridian overlook. A combination of driving and walking along Rd. 20 and the PCT, we’ll look and listen for the mountain summer breeding birds. Birds we may encounter include: Sooty Grouse, White-headed Woodpecker, Rufous Hummingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Mountain Bluebird, Cassin’s Finch, Green-tailed Towhee,

Thick-billed Fox Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow and possibly Brewer’s Sparrow. We will also take time to admire the flower gardens, butterflies and bees. This spring’s snowpack (2023) promises to make this trip a delight.

About Frank Lospalluto: Frank has worked for the last few decades as a field biologist primarily working on bird projects, including songbird surveys and Northern Spotted Owl surveys. He has also surveyed terrestrial mollusks, butterflies and plants, working as a contractor for the alphabet soup of Federal agencies. Frank is a longtime associate of Klamath Bird Observatory and lives near Siskiyou Summit south of Ashland, spending time with his dog and taking photos.

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Observation Peak Plant Walk

Guided by: Kristi Mergenthaler

Description: Observation Peak is a little bit mantle rock and a little bit granitic and supports a number of endemic plants. We will walk the Pacific Crest Trail and then hike cross-country to the summit through a rock garden of delightful flowers. From the summit, soak in the beautiful viewshed of a dramatic glacially-scoured landscape.

About Kristi Mergenthaler: Kristi is the stewardship director with Southern Oregon Land Conservancy and a botanist. She has conducted vegetation surveys in the region for 20 years and conducted a flora of portions of the eastern Siskiyou Crest. The Crest is her favorite place in the world.

REGISTER HERE

Red Buttes Wilderness: PCT at Cook and Green Pass to Lilypad Lake
Red Buttes and Lilypad Lake with Luke Ruediger and Suzie Savoie

Guided by: Luke Ruediger & Suzie Savoie

Field Trip Description: The Cook and Green Pass Botanical Area is considered one of the most botanically diverse locations in all of California. Botanists and native plant enthusiasts come from around the country to botanize at Cook and Green Pass due to the high concentration of species in the area (upwards of 300 species), and the unique serpentine geology. We will see endemic, rare and uncommon species, including serpentine associated species, and enjoy views of the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains while hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail.

About Luke Ruediger: Luke Ruediger grew up in southwestern Oregon and has lived on an off-grid homestead at the headwaters of the Applegate River, and at the foot of the Siskiyou Crest, for over 20 years. He began advocating for the Siskiyou Mountains and exploring the region at a young age, and has spent his life working to protect, restore, rewild and maintain the biodiversity of the Siskiyou Crest. He is a naturalist with over 20 years of experience in the region ranging from fire ecology, forest ecology, botany, restoration ecology, and environmental activism. In 2013, he authored the Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, History & Ecology, a hiking and natural history guide for the Siskiyou Crest region. Luke is currently the Executive Director for Applegate Siskiyou Alliance, Siskiyou Conservation Director and director of the Klamath-Siskiyou Fire Reports program for the Klamath Forest Alliance. He is also co-owner of Siskiyou Ecological Services and Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds.

About Suzie Savoie: Suzie Savoie is co-owner of Siskiyou Ecological Services and Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds. She was co-author of Native Pollinator Plants for Southern Oregon and an editor of The Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, History & Ecology. Suzie provides native seed collection services, online native seed packet sales, native nursery plants, and native plant consultation. She also helped create the local film, Sagebrush to Sea: A Journey Across the Siskiyou Crest. Suzie is an avid hiker, backpacker, gardener, native plant enthusiast, and off-grid homesteader.

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Sturgis Fork Trail to Mt. Elijah
Mt. Elijah and Janeen Sathre

Guided by: Janeen Sathre

Description: Janeen is excited to show you one of her most favorite hikes to the top of Mt. Elijah. On this hike you will see old growth forest, alpine meadows, wild mountain streams, pristine lakes, and the Pacific Ocean. Hike with Janeen to talk about the history, smell the flowers, and refresh your mind with the dark forest and spectacular views.

About Janeen Sathre: Janeen Sathre, 5th generation Applegater, grew up traipsing all over the upper Applegate area. Over the years she has led many organized hikes into the Red Buttes Wilderness, on sections of the Pacific Crest Trail, and the trail systems from Grayback Mountain to the Oregon Caves. 

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Saturday, July 15
Pacifica Butterfly Walk at Pacifica Garden
Linda Kappen

Guided by: Linda Kappen 

Description: Linda will take participants on an easy walk at Pacifica to view and identify butterflies nectaring on flowers along the way. She will use a butterfly net to carefully net butterflies for a brief stay in a viewing jar for participants to view the butterfly up close to better learn butterfly identification, and then butterflies will be quickly released.

About Linda Kappen: Linda spent her childhood growing up west of Grants Pass exploring the banks of the Rogue River where her family lived for 19 years. Later years brought her to explore the Illinois and Applegate Rivers.

Linda and her husband have been living in Applegate, Oregon for 43 years, where they raised their two sons. In Linda’s adult life her interest in butterflies began with the creation of butterfly habitat in 2001 with students at Applegate School where she works, and in 2012 when she studied and earned a Siskiyou Naturalist Certificate through Siskiyou Field Institute. With the help of mentors, she is a self-taught lepidopterist and naturalist.

Currently Linda leads butterfly hikes and official butterfly surveys in the Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, Sampson Creek Preserve, Cascade Siskiyou National Monument and on land managed by Southern Oregon Land Conservancy. In her spare time, she can be found exploring backcountry meadows with her butterfly net in hand.

REGISTER HERE

Art Show and Performances

Paintings, photography, tapestries, sculpture, mosaics, video, and other visual arts, plus short performances of poetry, music, and dance, each entry depicting the beauty and inspirational quality of the Siskiyou Crest region.

Siskiyou Crest Art Show

Among the visual arts on display were:

Photographs, by Matt Witt and others

Sculptures, by Ela Lamblin and others

Weavings, by Louann Faist and others

Also paintings, quilts, botanical drawings, mixed media, and calligraphy.

Videos were shown on a continuous loop, with a schedule of showings during the day. The showings included Kevin Peer’s video of Pipe Fork creek in Williams, Oregon.

Performances included original compositions inspired by the wild nature of the Siskiyou Crest: readings by eleven local poets, among them Amy Miller, Lisa Baldwin, Diana Coogle, and Dan Kaufman; a dance about water; and music by flutist Geri Littlejohn and others.

Scupture — Smaloptera by Ela Lamblin

Textiles — Rhododendrons by Louann Faist

Visual Art — Sunset in the Red Buttes Wilderness by Matt Witt

Art Show Jurors

Ceramics and Mosaic: Nancy Yturriaga Adams
Nancy Yturriaga

Nancy Yturriaga Adams’s exquisite ceramic art—teapots, vessels, boxes, and sculptures— is influenced by Greco-Roman and Egyptian mythologies, but, she says, the Native American interpretation of life through totem plants and animals is the most comfortable association for her. Her ceramics have been shown at the Everson Museum of Art, in Syracuse, New York; the Newark Museum of Art, in New Jersey; the Renwick in Washington, DC; and the Racine Museum of Art, in Racine, Wisconsin. She did the Philadelphia Museum of Art show for seven years and was awarded the Tuttleman Award of Excellence in Ceramics in 1992. Her work has been exhibited in the Smithsonian Craft Show and in galleries in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. She lives on a ranch in the Applegate, where she enjoys horseback riding as much as she does the hours in the studio.

Sculpture: Ela Lamblin
Ela Lamblin

Ela Lamblin’s 30- to 40-foot-high, interactive, sound-producing sculptures of creatures in the natural world have been featured twice at Burning Man, in 2019 and 2022. Previous to that he invented and built sound sculptures that served as sets and musical instruments for Lelavision, the performance troupe he founded with his wife, Leah Mann, a choreographer and dancer. Lelavision has performed on and with those sculptures in Germany, Canada, Singapore, Israel, Scotland, Japan, Italy, and in numerous cities throughout the United States. Ela’s public-art sculptures can be found in Seattle and on Vashon Island, Washington; his large-scale sculptures have been used in both places as centerpieces of art-and-science festivals. He was the Grand Prize Winner of the Chloroform Video Competition and has received numerous grants, internships, and fellowships for his sculptures. He lives on Vashon Island with Leah and their teenager.

Textile Arts: Chris Carpenter
Chris Carpenter

Chris Carpenter’s career began with constructions in fabric that told a story, particularly sewn, stuffed, and painted figures in boxes. Deborah Dryden’s book, Fabric Painting and Dyeing for the Theater, set her onto a career of dyeing and painting costumes for theater. She has worked in theaters around the country, including the San Francisco Opera, the Guthrie, the Old Globe Theater, Seattle Opera, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She has had exhibitions of her textile arts (dyeing and painting fabric and the development of fabric treatments) in Moscow, Russia, and at the Lincoln Center in New York City. She has had solo and group shows in numerous of the United States. She has received grants from the Oregon Arts Commission and the Ford Family Foundation, among others, and has had her work published in numerous publications. She lives in Ashland, Oregon.

Visual Arts: Hyla Lipson
Hyla Lipson

As a teenager, Hyla knew she wanted to do “something” in the art world. As a college student, she spent a summer at an art academy in Aspen, Colorado. Years later, as a single, divorced mom, she studied museology (how to run a museum) and took art classes (to understand the different media) at the University of Oregon. After years as a non-art-related business owner, she became, in 2015, the executive director of the Grants Pass Museum of Art, her dream job. Hyla has served as a trustee for the Carpenter Foundation, a trainer for the Ford Family Foundation, and a board member of the Women’s Crisis Support Team, Barnstormers, and the Asante Foundation. She is currently a field representative of the Oregon Community Foundation. Hyla lives in Grants Pass, Oregon. (And she still owns her college copy of Jansen’s History of Art, with her notes.)

Visual Arts: Mabrie Ormes
Mabrie Ormes

Mabrie Ormes’s resume is full of grants, prizes, and commissions she has received, including three grants from the Haines and Friends Foundation for three different visual arts series. She has been awarded artist residencies, public art commissions, and/or solo shows in Oregon, California, Oklahoma, Maryland, Colorado, and Idaho. Her portrait installations are archived at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. As a full-time artist for nearly 40 years, she has worked in watercolor, pastels, acrylic, printmaking, and drawing, and currently uses oil paint, enjoying that medium’s rich color range, textural adeptness, and finished beauty. She likes working outdoors, using photographic sources, and exploring the visual interpretation of music. Her intention is to celebrate painting, creativity, nature, and life itself. She has a special interest in developing the concept of the female point of view as it differs from that of the male. She lives in Ashland, Oregon.

Video: Kevin Peer
Kevin Peer

Kevin’s 40-plus years in the documentary film world have included films for National Geographic Television and the US National Park Service. His subjects have ranged from Zen archery to the nuclear testing program in the Bikini Atoll, from Navajo spiritual healing practices to the wilderness of Alaska. His films have won over 40 national and international film festival awards, including two national Emmy nominations. As a teacher of documentary filmmaking, Kevin has led workshops and retreats across the country, and at Naropa University-West he developed a graduate-level course track in what he calls “Sacred Cinema.” Kevin regards documentary filmmaking as a path of seva, or service to all beings, motivated by deep and abiding love for the world. He is happy to call Williams his home.

Music: Dennis Kambury
Dennis Kambury

Dennis Kambury is a voice actor, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He has been a voting member of the Recording Academy (Grammy Awards) since 1982. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston, with a major in arranging and composing, he moved to Oregon to be the string arranger for a regional rock band’s forthcoming album. Following that, he became involved in theatrical sound design and music. He worked in those fields at live theaters in Seattle and ultimately at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. He has frequently been a live performer in various bands and an arranger, producer, engineer, and performer on numerous studio albums. Dennis does voice-over work globally for everything from YouTube ads to video games to guided meditation and audiobooks. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Dance: Suzanne Seiber
Suzanne Seiber, photo by Christopher Briscoe

Suzanne Seiber has danced, acted, and choreographed at many venues, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Brava Opera, Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival, Rogue Music Theatre, the Craterian Theatre, and Southern Oregon University.  She received her MA in dance from the University of Oregon and has been teaching dance (tap, ballet, jazz, social dance, and musical theatre dance) at SOU since 1991. She relished her years performing Renaissance dance at OSF and has continued to study and teach workshops in the historical dances from 1500 to the 1940s. She has choreographed more than 20 plays and musicals at Ashland High School, starting with their OSF partnership, and enjoys teaching tap and private lessons at the Grove in Ashland, where she lives.

Poetry: Amy Miller
Amy Miller

Amy Miller’s Astronauts won the 2022 Chad Walsh Chapbook Prize from Beloit Poetry Journal, and her full-length collection The Trouble with New England Girls won the 2017 Louis Award from Concrete Wolf Press. Her poems have appeared in Barrow Street, Copper Nickel, Narrative, RHINO, Terrain, Tupelo Quarterly, ZYZZYVA, and numerous anthologies. In 2021 she received an Oregon Literary Fellowship. She is a 2023 finalist for the Stafford/Hall Oregon Book Award for Poetry. Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and Western Massachusetts, she lives in Ashland, Oregon, where she works for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and serves as poetry editor for the Jefferson Journal, the magazine of Jefferson Public Radio.

Keynote Speakers

Saturday, July 15 (afternoon): Joe Scott
Joe Scott

Joe Scott: Traditional Ecologist and Practitioner

Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

Presentation Description:

Good fire: Cultural burning and the beauty of Indigenous fire science

The Tribes and Bands of what is now known as Southwestern Oregon have been living, working and collaborating with fire since Time Immemorial. Tribal practitioners are working with good fire to support the health and well-being of the whole community — the human people, the land, and all the relatives. Tribal fire traditions are part of a deep connection to the land, an ancestral understanding of the role of fire in a healthy ecosystem, and a rich and diverse material culture. Learn more about the historic and current role of fire in Indigenous ecological practice, the importance of fire in Tribal traditions, and the high art of fire-adapted culture.

About Joe Scott: Joe Scott is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, a descendent of the Rogue River Tribes of what is now Southwestern Oregon. He currently lives and works on Kalapuya Illahee as Director of the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program, collaborating with regional land stewards to support Tribal environmental engagement, promote food sovereignty, and explore traditional ways of knowing, focused on Indigenous ecological science and traditional fire. He is a fire practitioner, cultural ecologist, traditional artist, and a lifelong Tribal teacher and learner.

Saturday, July 15 (evening): Michael Kauffmann & Justin Garwood
Justin Garwood

The Siskiyou Crest: Relationships, Biodiversity & Connectivity

Take a journey through the biotic and abiotic wonders that define the Klamath Mountains and one of the most unique mountain ranges in North America. Ecologists and authors Michael Kauffmann and Justin Garwood will take us on a journey across the range based on their new book The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History. They will explore a variety of features that make the Klamath Mountains and the Siskiyou Crest unique, including climate, geology, water, fire, plants, and animals — all of which, when taken together, define one of the most biodiverse temperate mountain ranges on Earth. Luke Ruediger will discuss the connectivity of the region, its influence on regional biodiversity, climate resilience, and the need for additional habitat protections throughout the Siskiyou Crest region.

About Michael Kauffmann, author of Conifer Country & Editor of The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History: Michael Kauffmann is a kindergarten through college educator in Humboldt County where he lives with his wife and two boys. He is also an ecologist mapping vegetation communities across California, founder of the Bigfoot Trail Alliance, and is the author of Conifer County and Conifers of the Pacific Slope and co-author of Field Guide to Manzanitas, California Desert Plants, and The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History.

About Justin Garwood, Biologist and Editor of The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History: Justin Garwood is a life-long naturalist and Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. He focuses on monitoring and managing fish, amphibian, and reptile populations across northern California wetlands and is an author and co-editor of The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History. Justin grew up in Trinity County and now lives in Humboldt County with his wife and 2 kids.

Saturday, July 15 (evening): Luke Ruediger

The Siskiyou Crest: Relationships, Biodiversity & Connectivity

Take a journey through the biotic and abiotic wonders that define the Klamath Mountains and one of the most unique mountain ranges in North America. Ecologists and authors Michael Kauffmann and Justin Garwood will take us on a journey across the range based on their new book The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History. They will explore a variety of features that make the Klamath Mountains and the Siskiyou Crest unique, including climate, geology, water, fire, plants, and animals — all of which, when taken together, define one of the most biodiverse temperate mountain ranges on Earth. Luke Ruediger will discuss the connectivity of the region, its influence on regional biodiversity, climate resilience, and the need for additional habitat protections throughout the Siskiyou Crest region.

About Luke Ruediger:  Author of The Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, History & Ecology

Luke Ruediger grew up in southwestern Oregon and has lived on an off-grid homestead at the headwaters of the Applegate River, and at the foot of the Siskiyou Crest, for over 20 years. He began advocating for the Siskiyou Mountains and exploring the region at a young age, and has spent his life working to protect, restore, rewild and maintain the biodiversity of the Siskiyou Crest. He is a naturalist with over 20 years of experience in the region, ranging from fire ecology, forest ecology, botany, restoration ecology, and environmental activism. In 2013, he authored the Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, History & Ecology, a hiking and natural history guide for the Siskiyou Crest region. Luke is currently the Executive Director for Applegate Siskiyou Alliance, and Siskiyou Conservation Director for Klamath Forest Alliance, where he leads the Klamath-Siskiyou Fire Reports program. He is also co-owner of Siskiyou Ecological Services and Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds.

Sunday, July 16 (evening): David Rains Wallace
David Rains Wallace

The Klamath Knot and Conservation in the Klamath Mountains

A presentation about the relationship between The Klamath Knot and conservation in the Klamath Mountains, past and present.

About David Rains Wallace, author of The Klamath Knot: Wallace was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1945 and grew up in New England.  He attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut (B.A. cum laude 1967) and Mills College in Oakland, California (M.A. with honors 1974).  He lives in California with his wife, the painter Elizabeth Kendall.

Wallace’s first published writing on natural history and conservation appeared in Clear Creek Magazine in 1970.  Since then he has published over twenty books, and his work has appeared in many anthologies and periodicals, including The Norton Anthology of Nature Writing, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Examiner, Zyzzyva, Harpers, Mother Jones, Greenpeace, Sierra, Wilderness, Country Journal, Backpacker, and Bay Nature.

Wallace received the 1984 John Burroughs Medal for Nature Writing for his third book, The Klamath Knot: Explorations in Myth and Evolution, which also won a 1984 Commonwealth Club of California Silver Medal for Literature.  The San Francisco Chronicle and Chicago Tribune included it in their lists of the best books of 1983.  In 1999, the Chronicle included The Klamath Knot in its list of the twentieth century’s 100 best non-fiction books west of the Rockies. The eminent botanist, G. Ledyard Stebbins, called it “a classic of natural history which will take its place alongside Walden and A Sand County Almanac.”

Other awards include a 1979 Commonwealth Club Silver Medal for his first book, The Dark Range: A Naturalist’s Night Notebook, Ohioana Library Association Medals for Literature for Idle Weeds in 1981 and Bulow Hammock in 1990, and a 2012 Commonwealth Club Gold Medal for his nineteenth book, Chuckwalla Land: The Riddle of California’s Desert.

Wallace received a U.S. National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in 1979, and a Fulbright Foundation Creative Writing Fellowship in 1990.  The Fulbright was awarded to research a book on the Costa Rican National Parks, published in 1992 as The Quetzal and the Macaw.  Biologist Daniel Janzen called it “a major contribution to tropical conservation.”  Another book on Central American natural history, The Monkey’s Bridge, was a New York Times Notable Book for 1997.  

Wallace’s other books include two novels, The Turquoise Dragon (1985) and The Vermilion Parrot (1991); the companion volume to a National Audubon Society-PBS film series, Life in the Balance (1987); and a 1986 essay collection, The Untamed Garden. He has worked as a writer for numerous organizations, including the Columbus Ohio Metro Parks, the Nature Conservancy, the Oakland Museum, the Sierra Club, the National Geographic Society, the U.S. National Park Service, and the California State Parks Foundation.  The Wildlife Conservation Society employed him to write an ecotourism guide to Central America, published as Adventuring in Central America (1995).  Other conservation related publications include official Park Service handbooks to Redwood, Yellowstone, Mammoth Cave, and New River Gorge national parks.

His recent books are: The Bonehunters’ Revenge: Dinosaurs, Greed, and the Greatest Scientific Feud of the Gilded Age (1999), a finalist for a 2000 PEN West book award; Beasts of Eden: Walking Whales, Dawn Horses, and Other Enigmas of Mammal Evolution (2004), a New York Times Notable Book of the Year ; Neptune’s Ark: From Ichthyosaurs to Orcas (2007); Chuckwalla Land (2011); Articulate Earth: Adventures in Ecocriticism (2013); Mountains and Marshes: Exploring Bay Area Natural History (2015); Shakespeare’s Wilderness (2017); and Freud and Shakespeare: A Lost Expedition (2020).  He also recently contributed an essay, “Redwood Time,” to the Save the Redwoods League’s 100th anniversary anthology, The Once and Future Forest (2018).

Wallace has taught, lectured, or read at many colleges, including the University of California as an instructor at the Berkeley Extension from 1988 to 1992:  Ohio State University in Columbus as a visiting lecturer in Spring 1993; and Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, as the Fall 2008 Headley Distinguished Visitor in Residence.

Panel Speakers

Botany Panel

Barbara Mumblo

Barbara Mumblo: Rare Plants of the Siskiyou Crest

Presentation Description: From the delightful Mt. Ashland lupine that grows nowhere else on earth, to charismatic conifers like Brewer’s spruce, the Siskiyou Crest has world-class botanical diversity with a unique blend of rare and endemic species. This presentation will highlight many of the intriguing rare plants of the region and discuss why the Siskiyou Crest has such incredible botanical diversity.

About Barbara Mumblo: In the summer of 1976 Barbara went on a wildflower fieldtrip to the Pacific Crest Trail at Mt Ashland with Dr. Frank Lang. This began her love of wildflowers and a BS in Biology (emphasis in botany) at Southern Oregon University (Southern Oregon State College at that time). Barbara worked at the Medford District BLM from 1981-1987, working primarily with Joan Seevers studying rare plants, often in the Illinois Valley. In 1987 she began her 28 year botanist career with the US Forest Service on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District. This was a dream job working in the Klamath-Siskiyous and it was close to her home of now 46 years at the base of Dutchman Peak. In 2018 she was recognized as a Fellow of the Native Plant Society of Oregon.


Susan Harrison

Susan Harrison: Serpentine Ecology

Presentation Description: Susan will talk about serpentine ecosystems: their unique rocks, soils, flora, fauna (not so much!), the ecological and evolutionary discoveries people have made by studying them, and some of their interesting human dimensions.  She’ll also talk about some of the research that she and her collaborators did in the Siskiyous, in which they tried to understand how climate change and other factors have affected serpentine ecosystems over time.

About Susan Harrison: After completing an undergraduate degree at UC Davis (Zoology, 1983), Susan researched plant-insect interactions for a Master’s degree also at UC Davis (Ecology, 1986), and then studied the metapopulation dynamics of a butterfly for a doctorate at Stanford (Biology, 1989). Following a postdoctoral fellowship studying insect communities in England (Imperial College, 1990-1991), Susan returned to UC Davis as a faculty member and has worked there ever since. Beginning in the mid-1990s, her main research interest has been in plant community diversity and the processes underlying it, with most of her field work taking place in the native-rich communities found on outcrops of serpentine soil in California and southern Oregon. Since the mid-2000s Susan has begun observing diversity changes linked to climate and has increasingly made these changes the focus of her research.  

Susan’s publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AJbk-A4AAAAJ&hl

Susan’s department webpage: http://desp.ucdavis.edu/people/susan-p-harrison


John Villela

John Villella: Non-vascular Plant Diversity

Presentation Description: This presentation will explore the complex community of lichens and bryophytes living throughout the region. We will focus on the ecological roles and habitat affinities for different groups of non-vascular plants and then discuss in some detail a number of the charismatic rare and endemic or near endemic species in the Siskiyou Mountains.

About John Villella: Senior Botanist, Siskiyou BioSurvey

John has spent over twenty years as a non-vascular plant botanist focusing on the rare species of the Pacific Northwest and California. His recent work has focused on the effects of changing fire conditions on lichen communities in chaparral and forest.

Wildlife Panel

Dana Ross

Dana Ross: Butterfly and Moth Diversity

Presentation Description: The Siskiyous offer a rich assemblage of butterflies and moths with notable endemic species and subspecies that are closely tied to the unique plants and habitats of the region. The presentation will introduce a number of these special insects accompanied by the outstanding photographs of Rob Santry and others. A number of area “butterfly and moth events” will also be mentioned for those wanting to learn more about these exquisite pollinators.

About Dana Ross:

Dana is a freelance entomologist living in Corvallis, Oregon since 1981. He caught his first butterfly, a mourning cloak, at the age of 4 and has never looked back. His professional work involves rare butterfly conservation, butterfly and moth site inventories, and an annual butterfly course offered through the Siskiyou Field Institute. He regularly contributes his knowledge and skills towards the betterment of his alma mater (Oregon State University) as a volunteer Oregon State Arthropod Collection curatorial associate.


Romain Cooper

Romain Cooper: Mammals and Birds of the Siskiyou Crest Region

Presentation Description: This presentation will explore the avifauna and mammal diversity of the Siskiyou Mountains. We’ll deal with what’s different and what’s similar to other Pacific western ecoregions. And we’ll discuss some particular species that are unusually interesting and/or at high risk. 

About Romain Cooper: Romain Cooper is a long-time resident of the Illinois Valley, Josephine County, where he assists in the oversight of a 250-acre nature reserve where he also resides. Romain works as a biological consultant, biological technician and project supervisor for fish, wildlife and restoration projects mostly in Oregon. 


Justin Garwood

Justin Garwood: Amphibians

Presentation Description: Amphibians are a fascinating group of vertebrates that have complex life-cycles and are strongly associated with streams, wetlands, and moist forests. The Siskiyou Crest region hosts many unique and regionally endemic amphibians. This discussion will highlight the region’s exceptional amphibian diversity and their fascinating life histories.

About Justin Garwood: Justin Garwood is a life-long naturalist and Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. He focuses on monitoring and managing fish, amphibian, and reptile populations across northern California wetlands and is an author and co-editor of The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History. Justin grew up in Trinity County and now lives in Humboldt County with his wife and 2 kids.

Biodiversity Panel

John Roth

John Roth: Oregon Caves Endemism & Biodiversity

Presentation Description: With the help of PowerPoint, John Roth will peer at three decades of discoveries at Oregon Caves, a globally significant cave with more endemics and possible cave/surface pairs in a single cave than most anywhere else in the continent. DNA, body shapes, and cave ages triangulate taxa origins from limited gene flow and choosy females. Animals are not perfectly adapted to each cave, as would be expected if they were designed. Instead, cave species most resemble their nearest soil or surface sisters, much as how native cave lore resembles surface wisdom.

About John Roth: After an M.S. in cave geology in 1975, John Roth spent the next ten years working across the US in six parks from Alaska to the Everglades before becoming a ranger at Carlsbad. In 1989 he moved to Oregon Caves where he worked as an oxymoronic resource specialist until retiring several years ago. He is author of American Elves and editor/author of Klamath-Siskiyous, Timely Treasures of an Iconic Bioregion, its most comprehensive biology book. He is finishing a ~90 page, richly illustrated park history (natural is redundant) and how regional lore works with the more-than-human, beyond harvesting and fire use.


Dr. Dominick DellaSala

Dr. Dominick DellaSala: From Global to Local: What does it mean to be tops in your ecoregion class?

Presentation Description: The KS ecoregion was identified as a global 200 ecoregion by WWF in 1999, meaning few temperate coniferous regions on the planet can match its extraordinary biodiversity. What have we learned over the decades, how far have we moved the conservation needle, and what’s in the way of getting the protections the region deserves? Top opportunities for protecting biodiversity in the Siskiyou Crest region include the 30 x 30 initiative, large-scale buyouts of private timberlands, the federal mature/old growth inventory, and the removal of the mainstem Klamath dams, providing a glimmer of hope that thinking globally and acting locally can still work. 

About Dr. Dominick DellaSala: Dr. Dominick A. DellaSala is Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage (www.wild-heritage.org), and former President of the Society for Conservation Biology, North America Section. He is an internationally renowned author of over 300 science papers and books on forests, climate change, and endangered species. Dominick has given plenary and keynote talks ranging from academic conferences to the United Nations (UN) Earth Summit, and international climate change and biodiversity summits of the UN. He has appeared in National Geographic, Science Digest, Science Magazine, Scientific American, Time Magazine, Audubon Magazine, National Wildlife Magazine, High Country News, Terrain Magazine, NY Times, LA Times, USA Today, Jim Lehrer News Hour, CNN, MSNBC, “Living on Earth (NPR),” several PBS documentaries and even Fox News! Dominick has served on numerous committees, including White House Council task forces on forests and the Oregon’s Global Warming Commission carbon task force reporting to the governor. He is editor of numerous scientific journals and has published award-winning books on climate change, forest policy, and scientific integrity. Dominick is motivated by his work to leave a living planet for his 2 daughters, 4 grandkids and all those that follow.


Scot Loring

Scot Loring: The Little Things Matter: Contributions of Cryptic Fungi and Plants to the Biodiversity of the Siskiyous

Presentation Description: While botanizing our natural world, it is easy to give our attention to the larger, showier organisms – majestic trees, beautiful wildflowers. Small and/or hidden species of plants, fungi, and lichens often go unnoticed. We will discuss how these organisms make a big difference in our overall understanding of biodiversity in the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion, why they can be difficult to locate and study in the field, what can be done to overcome those difficulties, and recent local research and discoveries relating to these fascinating forms of life.

About Scot Loring: Scot has worked as a biologist in the Pacific Northwest for twenty-eight years, focusing primarily on fungi, plants, and the things in between (lichens). He is a founder and owner of Pacific Crest Consulting LLC, an environmental consulting company that has carried out extensive biological work in the Siskiyous. He has discovered species new to science that include two new genera, co-authored two books, served on multiple IUCN Species Survival Commission Specialist Groups, worked with truffles at the Corvallis PNW Research Station for many years, and performs truffle identifications for Region 6 USFS and OR/WA BLM.       

Recreation Panel

Michael Kauffmann

Michael Kauffmann: The Bigfoot Trail

Presentation Description: The Bigfoot Trail is a long distance hiking trail that uses existing trails and roads to traverse the Klamath Mountains. Promoted by the Bigfoot Trail Alliance, the 360 mile trail was originally proposed in 2009 as a route to navigate the Klamath Mountains from south to north, including a 104-mile section through the Siskiyou Crest region. The goal is to highlight and introduce nature lovers and backcountry hikers to the biodiversity of the Klamath Mountain Region. The trail has been proposed as a National Recreation Trail, and if designated, would add an additional nationally recognized trail system to the Siskiyou Crest region. In addition to supporting grass-roots trail work adventures every summer, the Bigfoot Trail Alliance also works toward developing and implementing place-based curriculum for youth across the region through the Bigfoot Trail Youth Stewardship Program. 

About Michael Kauffmann: Michael Kauffmann is a kindergarten through college educator in Humboldt County where he lives with his wife and two boys. He is also an ecologist mapping vegetation communities across California, founder of the Bigfoot Trail Alliance, and is the author of Conifer County and Conifers of the Pacific Slope and co-author of Field Guide to Manzanitas, California Desert Plants, and The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History.


Paul Murdoch

Paul Murdoch: Paragliding

Presentation Description: The Applegate Valley provides world-class conditions for foot-launched flight. Woodrat attracts paragliding and hang gliding enthusiasts and competitors from around the nation and globe. Paul will walk you through what makes flights in this area especially challenging and rewarding. He will also discuss what it is like to experience three dimensional navigation from Woodrat to Grants Pass and back.

About Paul Murdoch: Paul grew up in the Rogue Valley, leaving shortly after college to work for Apple Computer. Only after experiencing life elsewhere did he grasp how unique and special this region is. During one visit home he was able to fly a paraglider from Woodrat Mountain to his family home in the Rogue Valley. Twice. Buying the family business in Jacksonville facilitated his family’s return to the valley and a love of paragliding.


Nathan Dwyer

Nathan Dwyer: Siskiyou Crest Recreation

Presentation Description: Nathan will present stories coupled with photos taken on the Siskiyou Crest while hiking, biking, and skiing on personal trips and with clients, as well as explorations of the beautiful high-country meadows with his family. He will illustrate and describe some of the awesome ways to access the Siskiyou Crest backcountry, utilizing the Pacific Crest Trail, backcountry roads, and off-trail adventure. Nathan will tie in some of the local lore and the benefits of having such amazing recreational possibilities nearby world-class vineyards and wine country, creating burgeoning ecotourism opportunities.

About Nathan Dwyer: Nathan Dwyer was seventeen when he saw the Oregon Coast, the Cascades and the Siskiyous for the first time. He’s been exploring the wild, high places ever since. Traveling the world, from Alaska to Norway to the Italian alps, he has collected many stories along the way. His favorite way to travel is by bicycle and he has pedaled across four continents. A collector of stories, he now passionately shares these stories with his clients as owner/operator of Main Street Tours, an Ashland based guide outfit. Both on and off the job, his time is now spent sharing the high Siskiyous and Cascades with his three children, his clients and others. His work is never finished; all the while he collects the ingredients for more stories.  


Mark Hamlin

Mark Hamlin: Plans for a 90-Mile Trail from the California Border to Grants Pass

Presentation Description: WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU COMBINE THESE TRAILS? Jack-Ash + Applegate Ridge Trail (ART) + Wagner Butte + Split Rock Answer: A 90-mile Oregon Signature Trail from the PCT near the California border to Grants Pass. And the trail needs a name, just like the PCT is made of many shorter trails. Suggested names are invited and he’ll tell you how to submit and vote. Mark will provide updates on some exciting progress for this trail, as well as some recent State and National recognition. This is the backbone or artery trail for a whole network of trails. Connectors into Ashland and Grants Pass, as well as 3-5 miles loops for day hikers are also planned.

About Mark Hamlin: Mark holds an M.S in Wildland Resource Science. He was a carpenter before going on to an MBA by the time he was 30. Pursuing a career, he first worked for very large companies, but subsequently owned and ran two small businesses over the next 25 years. The first business had a technical computer mapping twist. The second business was different, Mark and his wife Gayle developed and ran a luxury Bed and Breakfast in the Sierra Foothills where they lived for 32 years. In 2017 they sold the B&B and retired to southern Oregon. Mark has always loved hiking and backpacking, an interest that started with his first 50 miler as an 11-year-old boy scout. Mark is currently the Chair and Treasurer of Applegate Trails Association.

Threats Panel

Luke Ruediger

Luke Ruediger: Environmental Issues

Presentation Descripton: This presentation will focus on the current threats to public lands on the Siskiyou Crest from commercial logging, post-fire logging and inappropriate vegetation management to off-road vehicle abuse, heavy handed fire suppression tactics and public land grazing. Informed by years of on-the-ground public land monitoring activities in the Siskiyou Crest region, Luke will explore the threats to the Siskiyou Crest and potential solutions.

About Luke Ruediger: Author of The Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, History & Ecology

Luke Ruediger grew up in southwestern Oregon and has lived on an off-grid homestead at the headwaters of the Applegate River, and at the foot of the Siskiyou Crest, for over 20 years. He began advocating for the Siskiyou Mountains and exploring the region at a young age, and has spent his life working to protect, restore, rewild and maintain the biodiversity of the Siskiyou Crest. He is a naturalist with over 20 years of experience in the region ranging from fire ecology, forest ecology, botany, restoration ecology, and environmental activism. In 2013, he authored the Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, History & Ecology, a hiking and natural history guide for the Siskiyou Crest region. Luke is currently the Executive Director for Applegate Siskiyou Alliance, Siskiyou Conservation Director and director of the Klamath-Siskiyou Fire Reports program for the Klamath Forest Alliance. He is also co-owner of Siskiyou Ecological Services and Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds.


Rich Nawa

Rich Nawa: Fish Biodiversity & Threats

Presentation Description: An important but often overlooked fundamental function of forests is in regulating the hydrologic cycle. Aquatic species have the best chance of surviving climate change when intact older forests maintain summer low flows and moderate winter flooding. Although logging agencies such as BLM and the Forest Service are required by law to regulate and maintain flow regimes, this management responsibility has been ignored for decades with clear-cut logging and heavy thins. The result is depleted summer flows and increased flooding which are major threats to all aquatic species.

About Rich Nawa: Rich Nawa was raised in a family that hunted, fished, gardened, and gathered wild foods. In retirement he now enjoys these same hobbies. He pursued his interest in wildlife with a BA and MA in zoology at Southern Illinois University where he did research on white-tailed deer. Rich then worked as a federal Wildlife Biologist in Nevada and Oregon. Fishing in areas devastated by logging caused him to seek a career that would protect fish and forests. He worked as a fisheries research assistant at Oregon State University and studied everything he could about salmon and salmon habitat. He surveyed dozens of streams in Oregon and Washington while also working as Staff Ecologist with the Siskiyou Project. He has derived much satisfaction and fulfillment being a participant in successful efforts over the past 35 years to protect forests and fish.


Dr. Dominick DellaSala

Dr. Dominick DellaSala: It’s the Climate and It’s Changing!

Presentation Description: The KS ecoregion escaped Pleistocene glaciation by serving as a climate sanctuary and birthing place for new species to evolve. Since at least the 1980s, the climate change clock has been speeding up and acting in concert with logging and development to cumulatively impact the region’s unique biodiversity with some 10% (thousands of species) at-risk to extinction given dire climate projections. Some notable effects include heat domes and droughts, reduced snowpack and stream flow, longer fire seasons and larger fires, and fewer places for wildlife to find sanctuaries due to ongoing logging. The region’s older forests, riparian corridors, and varied topography (especially the Siskiyou Crest to the Coast) provide unique opportunities for species to find climate refugia but only if protected. One of the main threats is federal agencies and some NGOs have been misapplying climate change models to push through massive logging projects in the name of climate “resilience.”  Countering those threats is essential in climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience strategies as functionally intact ecosystems already have built in climate resilience compared to logged areas.

About Dr. Dominick DellaSala: Dr. Dominick A. DellaSala is Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage (www.wild-heritage.org), and former President of the Society for Conservation Biology, North America Section. He is an internationally renowned author of over 300 science papers and books on forests, climate change, and endangered species. Dominick has given plenary and keynote talks ranging from academic conferences to the United Nations (UN) Earth Summit, and international climate change and biodiversity summits of the UN. He has appeared in National Geographic, Science Digest, Science Magazine, Scientific American, Time Magazine, Audubon Magazine, National Wildlife Magazine, High Country News, Terrain Magazine, NY Times, LA Times, USA Today, Jim Lehrer News Hour, CNN, MSNBC, “Living on Earth (NPR),” several PBS documentaries and even Fox News! Dominick has served on numerous committees, including White House Council task forces on forests and the Oregon’s Global Warming Commission carbon task force reporting to the governor. He is editor of numerous scientific journals and has published award-winning books on climate change, forest policy, and scientific integrity. Dominick is motivated by his work to leave a living planet for his 2 daughters, 4 grandkids and all those that follow.

Music

Windsong

Windsong

Windsong Martin is a singer songwriter currently residing in Williams, Oregon. She lives with her family on a beautiful piece of land, at the foot of Grayback Mountain, graced by a rushing mountain creek, blessed by a freshwater spring and beautiful forest in the Siskiyou Mountains. Windsong accompanies herself with a variety of instruments including the guitar, dulcimer, and rattle. Her style ranges from folk ballads, to tribal rhythms, to reggae beats. Her lyrics evoke images of the power and beauty of nature and the vision of a compassionate humanity. Through the years she has become a voice for the preservation and appreciation of the natural world as she shares her songs at ceremonies, benefits, concerts, festivals, and rallies, teaching songs to many and inspiring unity and hope in a time of uncertainty.

Pozitronics

Pozitronics

The Pozitronics play R&B, blues, and classic rock spanning the decades, and are a dance band that will lift your spirits!

Alice DiMicele

Alice DiMicele

Originally from New Jersey, Alice DiMicele grew up singing—in school choirs, on the way to school, on the way home from school. For her twelfth birthday her grandmother gave her Stevie Wonder’s album Songs in the Key of Life. She learned “every word, every note, and every nuance. At age 17 she started playing the guitar. Before moving to southern Oregon in 1986, she played in coffeehouses in upstate New York and New Jersey. She released the first of sixteen albums, Make a Change, in 1988. The title track of her latest release, Every Seed We Plant, was written on the way to the memorial service for her dear friend, Takelma tribe elder Agnes Pilgrim Baker. Alice has shared a stage with Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, JJ Cale, the David Grisman Quartet, Steve Winwood, Ferron, Peter Rowan, Richie Havens, Bob Weir, and Mickey Hart, among others. She has performed at the Strawberry Music Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, Oregon Country Fair, Joshua Tree Music Festival, Britt Festivals, and Kate Wolf Music Festival. Her work is deeply rooted in nature and in inspiration from the Siskiyou Mountains

Festival Sponsors

With a generous grant from

The Carpenter Foundation

Patrons

Mark Newberger

Benefactors

Pacifica: A Garden in the Siskiyous
Troon Vineyard
Jim and Kathy Gurley
Selberg Institute
Wild Heritage

Sponsors

True South Solar
Oshala Farm
Rise Up! Bread
Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds
Peach Rock Farm
Dancin Vineyards
Liza and Tim Crosse
Diana Coogle
Joe and Carol Neil
Applegate Siskiyou Alliance
Wellington Wildlands Council
Williams Community Forest Project
Southern Oregon Land Conservancy
Plant Oregon Nursery
KS Wild
Crooked Barn Winery
Siskiyou Field Institute
The Pollinator Project Rogue Valley
Native Plant Society of Oregon, Siskiyou Chapter
Applegate Trails Association
Red Barn B&B
Christina Ammon
Rogue Web Works
Pacific Forest Trust
A Greater Applegate
Moonstone Midwifery
John Villela
Applegate Partnership & Watershed Council
Rebelheart Books

Supporters

Doranne Long
Sympatico Clothing
White Oak Farm
Forestfarm Nursery
Cheryl Bruner
Yoga With Cassidy
Wedding Flora Farm
Wild Wines
Williams General Store
Sharon Coogle
Lauri Dobbs
Marion Hadden
Jeanette LeTrouneux
Conny Lindley
John McKenzie
Andrew Schwartz
Niki Zarcades
Athina Zarcades

Nonprofit Booths

Nonprofit sponsors of the Festival had booths at the Festival to provide more information about their work.

Siskiyou Crest Coalition
Applegate Siskiyou Alliance
Williams Community Forest Project
Wellington Wildlands Council
Pollinator Project Rogue Valley
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center
Siskiyou Field Institute
Applegate Trails Association
Siskiyou Upland Trails Association
A Greater Applegate
Backcountry Press
Bigfoot Trail Alliance
Native Plant Society of Oregon, Siskiyou Chapter
Forestfarm

Venue Information

Pacifica Garden

14615 Water Gap Rd, Williams, OR

Pacifica: A Garden in the Siskiyous is near the town of Williams, south of Grants Pass. It is 25 minutes from Grants Pass, 45 minutes from Medford, and 1 ¼ hours from Ashland. The mission statement for this non-profit organization is:

A unique 400 plus acre natural reserve dedicated to education and to the celebration of the environment, plants, the arts, and community.

The grounds are open to the public during the day for hiking, fishing, disc-golf, and horseback riding and include a developing botanical garden and a plant nursery, Forestfarm Nursery. Pacifica holds environmental education programs on site and operates the Caterpillar, an adorable mobile educational unit. It is also home to the Pacific Arts Guild. The festival will be held in the cedar-lined Great Hall with vaulted ceilings and views of the Siskiyous.

Pacifica offers unlimited tent and vehicle-based camping for participants as well as four RV hookups with electricity and water.

Get Involved

If you would like to get involved and/or make a contribution, please contact us.

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