2020 ANNUAL REPORT
MID KLAMATH WATERSHED COUNCIL
We collaboratively plan and implement ecosystem restoration, promote community vitality, and involve people in land stewardship.
WE ARE FOR A WORKING WATERSHED
FISH RESTORATION FIRE COLLABORATION PLANTS RESILIENCE COMMUNITY CONNECTION
Photo by Stormy Staats
“The Karuk Tribe has enjoyed a productive and meaningful partnership with the Mid Klamath Watershed Council leading to multiple successful community based projects. MKWC’s leadership and staff expertise provides our Klamath River communities with additional energy that promotes the Tribe’s mission of preserving and restoring our ancestral homelands.” Joshua Saxon Executive Director Karuk Tribe
FISHERIES
Restoring riparian habitat in key tributaries In 2020, MKWC worked with the Karuk and Yurok
ies. In addition to implementing restoration projects,
Aikens Creek Coho Habitat Restoration Project with
Tribes, Klamath and Six Rivers National Forests,
MKWC continued to forward planning efforts for land-
the Yurok and Karuk Tribes, the Six Rivers National
Salmon River Restoration Council, CA Department of
scape scale fish habitat restoration, and collaborated
Forest and AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project.
Fish and Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife Service, NO-
with partners to conduct annual fisheries surveys and
27 wood structures were placed by excavator into a
AA Fisheries, Bureau of Reclamation, PacifiCorp,
monitor the effects of past restoration efforts.
0.6 mile reach of lower Aikens Creek. This section of
AmeriCorps Watersheds Stewards Project, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Siskiyou Resource Conservation District and many others to implement large- and small-scale fisheries restoration actions on the Klamath River and key anadromous tributar-
MKWC began our 2020 implementation season by partnering with the Siskiyou Resource Conservation District and the Karuk Tribe to design and construct our first off-channel pond on the main stem of the Scott River. And with the bumper year of returning Coho the Scott River is seeing right now, we’re hop-
Aikens Creek had been ditched after the 1964 Flood caused Bluff Creek to abandon this reach, and the floodplain was used as a campground and a fill storage area. The quality and quantity of juvenile and adult Coho habitat in this section of creek have increased dramatically post-project.
ing their offspring will ride the wave of snowmelt this
Closing out the construction season, MKWC and the
spring and find sanctuary in this pond through what
Karuk Tribe partnered to revisit our 2017 Seiad
is likely to be a brutal summer in the valley.
Creek Channel Reconfiguration Project. After moni-
2020 marked our first major helicopter wood loading project that added over 125 large logs to a 1.5 mile reach of upper Horse Creek. This project, funded by NFWF and the US Forest Service, with partners including Columbia Helicopters, the Karuk Tribe, and Fiori GeoSciences, restored large wood to a section of Horse Creek that has incredible fish habitat potential, but had been cleared of wood and used as a
toring this highly successful project for the last few years, we saw an opportunity to tweak a few things, and our funders and permitters allowed us to adaptively manage this project. Three large wood structures were installed at the top of the project reach, further spreading the flows across the floodplain while activating side-channels and relieving pressure on a bank adjacent to the landowner’s home.
haul route approximately 70 years ago. Since then,
MKWC is moving forward with designs for reach-
the creek had incised and disconnected from its
scale habitat restoration projects on Red Cap Creek,
floodplain. After project implementation, floodplains
Beaver Creek, Seiad Creek, as well as our first main-
are connecting to the creek again, forming off-
stem Klamath River project at Horse Trough Springs
channel habitats, scouring new spawning gravel into
that aims to reconnect the river to the floodplain in a
Fisheries Project Coordinator, Jimmy Peterson, takes
the creek, and creating complex rearing and holding
section of the Klamath River that continues to be im-
dissolved oxygen readings at a constructed off-channel pond.
habitat for juvenile and adult Coho salmon.
pacted by mine tailings over a century later. Keep an
Earlier in the summer, MKWC implemented the
eye out for this and other exciting projects in 2021!
Manually treated 34 tributaries to
Added approximately 200 pieces of
5,000-10,000 juvenile Coho utilized
maintain fish passage to over 100
large wood to three low gradient Coho
MKWC's constructed off-channel
miles of Coho habitat.
bearing streams of the Mid Klamath,
habitats.
totaling 2 miles of stream augmented with wood structures.
Facilitated the implementation
Provided critical support for
Engaged with regional, state
of 1,042 acres of manual fuels
wildfire response during the
and national planning efforts to
reduction and 551 acres of
2020 Slater and Red Salmon
dramatically increase funding
prescribed burning on public
Fires, including personnel,
for restoring fire regimes in the
and private lands.
supplies and equipment.
Western U.S.
FIRE AND FUELS
Collaborating to restore fire processes across the region MKWC’s Fire and Fuels Program had both an excit-
Western Klamath Restoration Partnership (WKRP) to
egies show the best results for protecting communi-
ing and humbling year in 2020. Our fuels reduction
recommend collaboratively developed post-fire man-
ties and forests from future high severity wildfires.
crews in Happy Camp and Orleans/Somes Bar com-
agement actions in the wake of the Slater and Red
pleted 165 acres of manual fuels reduction around
Salmon Fires.
homes and along critical access routes. Contracts for brushing work to the Karuk Tribe and other contractors, including two new local tribally owned companies, resulted in another 879 acres being treated on the Somes Bar Integrated Fire Management Project and adjacent private lands. MKWC and Klamath TREX partners also planned and implemented broadcast burning on 155 acres and pile burning on 396 acres of public and private lands. This has been by far our biggest year yet for acres treated, thanks to funders including CALFIRE, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, CA Fire Safe Council and many others. While MKWC and partners are increasing the scope and scale of fuels treatments, wildfires are also increasing greatly in size and severity. The Slater Fire that began on September 8, 2020, and burned nearly 200 homes and over 90,000 acres in the following 24 hours, opening our eyes to our increasing fire risk as a century of fire exclusion collides with climate change. Two Happy Camp residents died in the Slater Fire, two MKWC board members lost their homes, and the community of Happy Camp is still reeling from this incredible loss. We are working with the
While the pandemic has limited community-based educational fire events, MKWC and partners have
MKWC is working with regional partners to form an
been busy developing engaging fire curriculum for
All Hands All Lands (AHAL) network of prescribed
local schools, mobilizing our Community Liaison Pro-
fire practitioners, allowing us to mobilize resources to
gram to respond to wildfires and the COVID-19 pan-
take advantage of more burn windows as they arise.
demic, and organizing workdays to reduce fuels
This year’s Klamath TREX burning in Orleans includ-
around homes threatened by wildfires. Funding from
ed only local and regional AHAL resources, and we
CALFIRE was used to purchase Type VI engines for
still had over 50 participants. Once again, TREX
MKWC and the Karuk Tribe to both implement pre-
partners worked to obtain permits and successfully
scribed burns and respond to wildfire events. We
implemented several large burns in the Orleans
continue to expand our local fire cache to both sup-
wildland urban interface, even while wildfires were
port cultural and prescribed burns, as well as protect
still burning nearby. Check out videos from 2020’s
homes during wildfires. MKWC and WKRP partners
1
Klamath TREX here . MKWC has also engaged with the North Coast Resource Partnership and experts from all over the West Coast to develop a draft map of strategic fuel breaks from Sonoma to Siskiyou Counties (11+ million acres). This work will help ensure available funds are put into fuel reduction projects that will make the most impact protecting communities and allowing for
were ranked in Tier 1 nationally for $40 million in Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program funds for the next 10 years through the US Forest Service, and worked with the Karuk Tribe and partners to substantially increase state funding for crossboundary fuels reduction. As we look to 2021, building our local fire and fuels workforce will be critical to support this landscape-scale work.
more managed wildfire and larger prescribed burns. This funding will also be used to develop a REBURN
Photo (opposite page, top): Klamath TREX participants conduct
model for the 1.2 million acre WKRP area that will
a prescribed burn to train participants on burning grassy fuel
allow us to better understand historic vegetation pat-
types. Photo by Stormy Staats.
terns, the effects of fire exclusion and climate change, and what treatments and management strat1
https://vimeo.com/482162072/3085b39376
PLANTS
Increasing ecosystem resiliency one plant at a time The MKWC Plants Program work is seasonal, following the patterns of the plants. We pull weeds in the spring before flowers, collect seeds after flowers, and plant with the fall rains. In 2020 the MKWC Plants fieldwork started as usual, with gusto in early March. As the pandemic emerged, the gusto faded, replaced with confusion. But spring marched on, and so did we. The work was different this year, and lonely at times. We replaced volunteer workdays with distanced staff and remote communication. We couldn’t share food or help each other on the weed wrench as we wrestled with invasive brooms, and we used more disinfectant than ever before. We found solace in pushing past early pandemic uncertainty and continued to do the good work of ecological restoration and pulling wild weeds. Weird year that it was - we got a lot of work done. MKWC removed invasive plants from 263 important places - most ever locations to be visited in a year in the history of our organization! We continued to prioritize weeds that are new introductions, and small patches that can be eradicated by our four-woman Plants Program team. We pulled all the oblong spurge at Tishanik, an important site that we have been working on for years. One crew member single-handedly removed goathead from every river access around Orleans, and we will be thanking her as we walk barefoot without injury on the river beaches in 2021. We hiked into wilderness areas to find fewer weeds than the year before, and sometimes we found none at all. MKWC also took on large patches, mowing down starthistle and pulling broom at Aikens Creek to keep those weeds out of the riparian area and the path of excavators doing fisheries improvement work. Beyond controlling weeds, we put down locally collected native plant seeds - grasses and flowering perennials - and planted locally propagated trees and shrubs. 2020 marks the first year that we directly applied our collected seed to restoration projects. In previous years we collected seed for nursery grow out and purchased grass seeds. We are looking forward to this new beginning, watching our hand-collected seeds grow into thriving plants and in a diverse, resilient ecosystem. Photo (left): Collecting native seeds for habitat improvement projects.
Pulled 57,164 priority
Sowed 45 pounds of
Planted 300 trees,
invasive plants over
local native plant seed
shrubs, and perennial
34 acres.
to restore habitat.
herbs for riparian restoration.
“Our partnership with MKWC plays a crucial component in our invasive species management program. This was clearly demonstrated during the 2020 field season which was severely compromised by low staff levels and pandemic mitigations. With MKWC’s support, high priority noxious weed sites were treated and essential early detection/rapid response surveys were conducted. None of this would have been possible in 2020 without MKWC’s continued commitment to restoring our native landscapes.” Erin Lonergan, Klamath National Forest Botanist
MKWC heads to the Siskiyou Wilderness every
Elben Andrews pulls up puncturevine (aka goat-
Polanisia dodecandra, cutely known as redwhisk-
summer seeking out harmful invasive plants -
head) from the banks of the Klamath River.
ered clammyweed, and desirable to bees, is as
happily we see very few weeds and many more of
Photo by Elben Andrews .
tough as it is lovely. We collected seed from
these - Dalingtonia californica, a carnivorous plant
riverbars in late summer to bring some bloom to the
endemic to the Klamath Mountains.
Aikens Creek restoration project.
Photo by Amanaka Yancey.
Photo by Elben Andrews.
COMMUNITY & STEWARDSHIP
Finding connection during challenging times Though MKWC’s Community & Stewardship Program activities were reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MKWC staff continued organizing and implementing activities with local schools, and moved forward Panamnik Building improvement projects. Instead of coordinating field trips, we created a 10-week “Adopt-A-Site” curriculum, encouraging students to find a special spot close to home and observe the sites and sounds using their nature journals. Instead of in-class climate and weather lessons, we provided six families with their own rain gauges to install at home, as well as materials to get these young weather observers trained to report daily precipitation to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network.
“We love the rain gauge we received from MKWC! We set our alarm to check the gauge every morning at 8am so we don’t forget. For a long time
2020 Intern, Tashawna Brink, poses at the mouth of Horse Creek after diving to look for signs of Coho salmon. Photo by Rachel Krasner.
we just had 0.00 every day, but lately we’ve had actual amounts to report,
Instead of the Klamath-Siskiyou Outdoor School and summer raft trips, we hosted a
which is exciting. The most rain we’ve measured in the gauge over a 24
regional youth art contest, calling on students to seek inspiration from the resilience
hour period so far is 2.06” on December
of the natural world in their art pieces. Instead of hosting large school garden
17. We hope to get a lot more rain this
workdays, we hosted small school garden workdays, and though there weren't always kids to trellis peas and harvest pumpkins, staff continued the work and peas
winter, and are also hoping for some
ended up in school lunches and squash were distributed to families with
snow to melt and measure! The rain
accompanying squash-y activities. We were still able to offer youth internships this
gauge has been so much fun for our
summer and fall, employing four young professionals in salmon surveys, fish
whole family. Thank you for the
passage enhancement, native seed collection, invasive plant removal, and school garden maintenance. Interns attended a virtual accredited course through Humboldt
opportunity to learn more about weather
State University’s (HSU) Indian Natural Resources, Science and Engineering Pro-
monitoring!”
gram titled “Fish, Forests, and Fire”, which marks the first accredited partnership
Ivan D. Rickwalt and Family, Somes Bar Citizen Scientists
between MKWC’s internship program and HSU. This year’s challenges provided opportunities for creativity, solidarity, and reflection. We look forward to increasing in-person activities as the pandemic allows, and using the lessons learned during 2020 to inform our future work.
The Panamnik Building: keeping the lights on and unexpected opportunities MKWC installed a 14,000 watt propane powered backup generator for the Panamnik Building in 2020. It powers the entire building including the post office and the Áan Chúuphan wireless internet antenna. We had a local fabricator construct a dry secure steel enclosure for the generator and installed it on a concrete slab to protect our equipment and provide reliable backup electricity for many years. Our remote and rural area typically experiences at least twenty days per year of power outages. Having a reliable source of electricity allows all the building’s users to keep working and keeps the internet antenna functioning for all of downtown Orleans. The Panamnik Building Capital Campaign raised $76,087 towards improvements on our building and its surrounding grounds. Interestingly, the pandemic encouraged us to begin our remodeling plans sooner rather than later. During the pandemic, we are not holding any regular events in the Panamnik Building so it feels like the right time to begin the next step of our remodeling project. We are finishing up our floor plans for new offices and plan to begin construction in 2021.
Provided 454 hours of
Involved over 120 students in
Supported 4 school and
workforce development through
in-person and remote learning
community gardens, which
4 paid internships.
activities at 4 schools.
provided fresh produce to the community.
WESTERN KLAMATH RESTORATION PARTNERSHIP
Maintaining resilient Klamath ecosystems, communities, and economies The Western Klamath Restoration Partnership (WKRP) seeks to build trust and a
WKRP is taking both the short- and long-view to change the paradigm of forest
shared vision for restoring fire resilience at the landscape scale. The past century
management to demonstrate what forest resiliency methods looks like. This was
of fire exclusion has severely impacted water supplies, forest health, communities,
done in a myriad of ways this year from accomplishments in the Somes Project
cultural resources, and threatened species throughout the Klamath Mountains and
and surrounding community to long-term research and planning. Current research
beyond.
is underway among partners and west coast experts to develop a strategic prioritization project map for the entire region between Sonoma and Siskiyou Counties
The year 2020 will be known for many exceptional events, one of those may be
(11+ million-acres). We also drafted a 10-year plan, and are developing another
the worst fire season in California history. One thing became abundantly clear this
10-year agreement with the Klamath National Forest. These are our current, tangi-
year - the fire management system is broken and people want to know what our
ble efforts toward reaching our primary goal of restoring fire regimes and their cas-
alternatives are. Overwhelming media attention on WKRP for our approach, and recognition of Indigenous-led land management and cultural burning knowledge of the Karuk Tribe were heartening. It brought sharply into view an example of a valid
cading socioecological benefits back to the Western Klamath Region. We’re looking forward to the coming year and continuing perseverance for a better future.
alternative to address the tragic losses suffered by countless families and forestland acres every year. It also brought into focus, again, some of the major barriers that if overcome could offer real solutions.
"We know the solution is to burn like our Indigenous ancestors have done for millennia. But too often we are told we can’t burn … either because we don’t have the proper environmental clearance for burning under the National Environmental Policy Act, because of liability or because there aren’t enough personnel available to supervise the burn. These are [impeding] solutions." Bill Tripp, WKRP Co-lead, The Guardian
The 2020 Slater Fire in Happy Camp, CA. Photo by Will Harling.
Board of Directors
Funding Partners Bella Vista Foundation California Coastal Conservancy
Heather Foust, President
California Department of Fish and Wildlife California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
Dean Davis, Vice President
California Fire Foundation California Fire Safe Council Cereus Fund at Trees Foundation
Molli Jane Myers, Treasurer Jon Grunbaum, Secretary
County of Humboldt First 5 Humboldt Harper Family Foundation J. Vance Huckins Fund at Tides Foundation Jewish Community Federation
Blythe Reis, Board Member
Carol Sharp, Board Member
Karuk Tribe Krall Giving Fund Mary A. Crocker Trust McConnell Fund at Shasta Regional Community Foundation National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
Jeanerette Jacups-Johnny, Board Member
National Forest Foundation North Coast Resource Partnership Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
Kathy McCovey, Board Member
PacifiCorp Salmon River Restoration Council
Mark DuPont, Board Member
Shasta Valley Resource Conservation District Siskiyou Resource Conservation District Smith River Alliance
Michael Stearns, Board Member
Somes Bar Arts Council The Nature Conservancy
Sinéad Talley, Board Member
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service University of California Davis USDA Forest Service - Klamath National Forest USDA Forest Service - Six Rivers National Forest USDA Pacific Southwest Research Station Watershed Research and Training Center
Behind the Scenes: Organizational Finances Income by Funding Source
$2.6 Million Back into the Community in 2020
Though the Covid-19 pandemic changed the way we work, we continued activi-
office schedules, set up pop-up desks outside the office building, or worked from
ties as an organization that provides essential services. We implemented Covid-
home. The creativity, resiliency, diligence, and patience displayed by staff in
19 prevention procedures and worked with regional partners to establish best
2020 allowed for MKWC to continue landscape scale restoration work throughout
safety practices specific to our collaborative work. Field staff were able to work
much of this challenging year.
safely outside, distanced from other crew members. Others worked staggered
Employed 70 people across
Executed 36 contracts, of
Managed 59 grants and contracts from
the Mid Klamath region.
which 94% went to
non-profits, corporations, foundations, and
local contractors.
county, state, federal, and tribal agencies.
Donors Aaron David & Michelle Krall
Donald Flickinger
Joshua Asarian Riverbend Sciences
Randall Frick & Susan Maiyo
Alvin (Dee) Tolson
Donna Allen Calimpong Trust
Kale Williams
Renee Stauffer
Andrew & Vicki Philips Family Trust
Ebba Fournier
Karen Aldous
Robert Hatcher
Andrew Deckert
Efrem Korngold
Karen Young-Lenk
Robert Pagliuco
Ann Buma
Elizabeth Carlyle
Karuna Greenberg
Russell & Janet Sutton
Anna Chinchilli
Elizabeth K. Smith
Kathryn Wild
Anne Baker
Emily Sinkhorn
Kay & Paul Schulz
Ruth Stearns
Eva Mindlin
Klamath River Lodge
Salmon River Outpost
Arno Kohler
Felice Pace
Larry Lestelle
Sandy Bar Ranch
Barbara Thrasher
Fred Mindlin
Laura Jaffe-Stender
Sarah Springfield
Bari Talley
Friends of Butte Creek
Laura Sue King
Scot Steinbring
of the Klamath Basin working
Barry & Janet Morehead
Galal Alalas
Leslie Burkhardt
Scott Arrants
together to restore and sustain a
Betty Ann & Creek Hanauer
Galena Seeger
Libation
Shaunna McCovey
resilient watershed, economy, and
Betty Fayette
George Sexton
Lindsey Holm
Sibyl Driver
Bob-O Schultze
George Stevens
Lissa Englert
Stephen & Teri Virostko
Bonnie Dong & Michael Gilpin
Gregory & Carol Conners
Lynn Decker
Stephen Robinson
Brenda Goodman
Gregory & Patricia Gerber
Mark Dondero
Stephen Saunders
Mark Motyka
Stuart Nelson
Thank You. We envision the diverse communities
community. Supporting the Mid Klamath Watershed Council with a donation,
(in honor of Randy H & his family)
Brian Boeing
(in memory of Tony Dennis)
(in memory of Tony Dennis)
Carl Skinner
Hansen Trust
Martha Earnest
Susan Cardiff
Carl Wilmsen & Patricia Fujiwara
Harriet Beinfield
MaryHelen Seeger
Susan Gail Greenberg
volunteer time, or service, is a
Carol & Dennis Lawrence
Helen Forbes
Max Creasy
Susan Penn
meaningful way to contribute to this
Carol Sharp
Janine Siatkowski
Maya Williams
Susan Robison
Melinda Groom
Suzanne Jennings
Melissa Shockey
Sylvia Van Royen
vision for the present and future. Thank you to all that contributed. You make this work possible.
Cheri Henry Chris Magarian
(in memory of Philip Paul Malecki) Jazz Piano StudyLetter
Christina Godfrey & Nicholas Loizeaux Jeffrey Stone
Michael & Donna Strong
Teri Chanturai
Jennifer Ford
Michael Kauffmann
Tesilya Hanauer
Clayton Creager
Jennifer Rice
Michael Seeber
Thomas Browning
Crescent Calimpong
Jennifer Sowerwine &
Miriam Morrill
Tina & Russel Marier
Monica Fletcher & Stephen Evans
Tina Glaessner
(in memory of Woody Watson)
Duane Armbruster
Thomas Carlson
Dan & Bunny Krall
Jim Noble
Naja Luz Tepe
Tracy Katelman
Daniel Finkel
Joan Schirle
Nancy & Joe Earnest
Trenton Peterson
David Wallace
Joe Gillespie
Nathan McCanne
Will Harling
Dean & Karen Davis
John Bowman
Nieves Rathbun
Wilverna & Frank Reece
DeLuca/Etchberry Family Trust
John Livingston
Pamela Rentz & Robert Hughes
Winifred & Harry Allen Foundation
Dennis Sullivan
Jon Grunbaum
Paul & Nancy Rickard
Yeshi Neuman
Diana Hartel
Jonathan & Terri McClelland
Pauline R. Robinson
Yvonne Everett
Dianne Platner & Ron Clark
Jonnel Covault
Phillip Detrich
Dixie Morgan
Joseph Stoltz & Carol Earnest
Picky, Picky, Picky
Orleans Office 38150 Highway 96 | PO Box 409 Orleans, CA 95556 Happy Camp Office 35 Davis Road | PO Box 50 Happy Camp, CA 96039 (530) 627-3202 mail@mkwc.org www.mkwc.org
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