For immediate release: Contact: Luke Ruediger Klamath Forest Alliance Email: [email protected] Phone: 541-890-8974

BLM & ODF illegally bulldozed the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area without authorization during the 2018

The Klamath Forest Alliance recently published the 2018 Klamathon Fire Report, a detailed exploration of the 2018 Klamathon Fire which burned through the community of Hornbrook, and into important BLM conservation lands in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument and the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area.

Despite the tragic impacts to the community of Hornbrook and the extreme fire behavior demonstrated in the first few days of the fire, as the Klamathon Fire burned into the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area, weather conditions and wind directions shifted, pushing the fire back onto itself, limiting fire intensity and rate of spread. As the fire stalled out around the border, Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) fire suppression crews bulldozed approximately 30 miles across the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area. Fire crews bulldozed directly through streams, springs and riparian areas, as well as rare plant populations and Native American archeological sites. Crews bulldozed the Lone Pilot Trail and portions of the Boccard’s Point Trail, both popular hiking trails at the heart of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area. Crews also bulldozed large swaths both adjacent to and across the Pacific Crest Trail, damaging the scenic, recreational, biological and wilderness qualities of both the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area and Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

Luke Ruediger, conservation director for Klamath Forest Alliance’s Siskiyou Field Office and chief author of the 2018 Klamathon Fire Report states, “Both BLM and ODF essentially ignored the mandates of the 1964 and behaved as if wilderness designation was temporarily rescinded or simply did not exist. Fire crews bulldozed important recreational, scenic, historical and biological resources, built vehicle access roads, helicopter landing pads, and safety zones throughout the wilderness area, damaging many of the important values designated for protection in the Soda Mountain Wilderness and Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.”

In addition, these activities were implemented by ODF without official authorization from BLM officials. Although a wilderness exemption is required to allow bulldozing and other non- conforming uses within designated wilderness areas, ODF conducted fire suppression activities, including non-conforming uses, for six whole days without official authorization. On July 12, 2018 the BLM retroactively approved all ODF fire suppression activities implemented inside the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area.

“In the Klamathon Fire, both the BLM and ODF demonstrated that they are not qualified to manage fire in sensitive landscapes like wilderness areas or national monuments, where their discretionary fire suppression response often creates far more damaging and lasting impacts to the land than the wildfire itself, which in this case was ecologically beneficial,” said Ruediger.

Ironically, the bulldozer lines created inside the Soda Mountain Wilderness were by and large, not utilized for fire containment. In fact, most were built specifically to provide vehicle access deep into the heart of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area, and were utilized by suppression crews for at least three months, long after the fire had been contained and any claim of “emergency” access could be made.

According to Gary Macfarlane, a representative of Wilderness Watch, a national wilderness advocacy organization, the extensive use of bulldozers and the activities implemented during and after the Klamathon Fire are a direct violation of the Wilderness Act. “Not only were the actions taken inappropriate and contrary to policy but the bulldozed fire lines were used as roads to drive in members of the press on a post-fire tour. That is illegal in Wilderness. ”

Timothy Ingalsbee, former firefighter and executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology has concerns about not only the impacts of ODF and BLM fire suppression activities, but also their effectiveness. "The use of bulldozers to plow firelines across sensitive biological areas, scenic recreational trails, and sacred archaeological sites deep inside the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area was completely improper, especially since they were never intended nor used to contain the wildfire," said Ingalsbee.

The Klamathon Fire Report provides the public and the media with an opportunity to analyze the effects of the Klamathon Fire and the impacts associated with inappropriate and unauthorized fire suppression activities. It also demonstrates a need for reform of BLM and ODF fire suppression policies in designated wilderness, national monuments, and other protected areas.

To view the 2018 Klamath Fire Report:

2018 Klamathon Fire Report (Full Report) https://www.dropbox.com/s/6gbojr5r38hc84m/2018 Klamathon Fire Report .pdf?dl=0

2018 Klamathon Fire Report (Executive Summary) https://www.dropbox.com/s/5h3we1n8q68tnf5/2018 Klamathon Fire Report Executive Summary.pdf?dl=0