Steward's Fork: A Sustainable Future for the Klamath MountainsA compelling story of place, Steward’s Fork explores northwest California’s magnificent Klamath Mountains—a region that boasts a remarkable biodiversity, a terrain so rugged that significant landscape features are still being discovered there, and a wealth of natural resources that have been used, and more recently abused, by humans for millennia. James K. Agee, a forest ecologist with more than fifty years experience in the Klamaths, provides a multidimensional perspective on this region and asks: how can we most effectively steward this spectacular landscape toward a sustainable future? In an engaging narrative laced with personal anecdotes, he introduces the dynamics of the Klamath’s ecosystems, including its geology and diverse flora and fauna, and then discusses its native cultures and more recent inhabitants, laying out the effects of industries such as logging, mining, water development, and fishing. Assuming that people will continue to have a close tie to the Klamaths, Agee introduces the principles of restoration ecology to offer a vision of how we can responsibly meet the needs of both people and natural organisms, including plants, fish, and wildlife. This debate over the future of the Klamath’s rich landscape widens into a provocative meditation on nature, culture, and our relationship with the earth itself. |
Contents
| 1 | |
2 The Physical World | 9 |
3 Forest Mélange | 19 |
4 A Rose by Any Name | 31 |
5 My Botanical Contest with Miss Alice Eastwood | 41 |
6 Wild Creatures of the Klamaths | 56 |
7 Change Is the Only Constant | 71 |
8 First Peoples of the Rivers | 106 |
12 Modern Myths and Monsters | 180 |
13 Principles of Future Sustainability | 198 |
14 Hard Times for Hardrock | 206 |
15 Forests for the Future | 215 |
16 Restoring the Rivers | 233 |
17 Stewards Fork | 246 |
Biota Mentioned in the Text | 255 |
References and Further Reading | 261 |
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Common terms and phrases
acres active bark beetles Bigfoot burned cabin Canyon Creek Cathy Schwartz channel climate coast Coffee Creek conifers created deposits disturbance Douglas-fir downstream dredge eastern Klamaths ecological ecosystem effects elevation feet figure fire fish flood flow Forest Service Geological gold gravel habitat harvest Hayfork Hupas hydraulic mining Indians Karuk killed Klamath Mountains Klamath region Klamath River landscape logging meadows Merriam miles million miners Miss Eastwood Mount Shasta National Forest native natural North occur operations Oregon Pacific peak percent plant ponderosa pine Ranch red fir Redwood Creek ridges road rocks salamander Salmon River sediment shrubs Sierra Nevada Siskiyou slopes species stream Stuart Fork sudden oak death sustainable tanoak timber tion today’s trail trees tribes Trinity Alps Trinity County Trinity County Historical Trinity Dam Trinity Lake Trinity River upstream Valley vegetation Washington watershed Weaverville western white fir wilderness wildlife Yurok zone