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The wild Siskiyou area in southwest Oregon and extreme northern California has the largest concentration of intact, roadless forests and watersheds on the Pacific Coast of the contiguous United States. The unusual soils and biological diversity in these wild lands has led the World Wildlife Fund to name it a "globally outstanding ecoregion requiring immediate protection or restoration."

In July of 2002, a fire sparked by lightning raged through this area, mostly through the Siskiyou National Forest. Known as the Biscuit fire, it burned for 120 days. It was the largest fire in Oregon's history, burning in a mosaic pattern across the vast area, much in designated wilderness areas. Significant portions of land within the fire perimeter, however, did not burn at all or only burned lightly.

Last spring, the Bush administration proposed "salvage logging" to remove burned but economically valuable trees throughout 20,000 acres of mostly roadless and ancient forest reserves within the Biscuit fire area. However, these trees have great ecological value for restoring the forest. Considerable scientific evidence shows that allowing a forest to recover naturally after a fire actually reduces the risk of a future fire and enhances wildlife habitat.

On September 8, 2004, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Forest Service not to allow logging of old-growth trees on 6,600 acres in the Siskiyou National Forest. The judges, acting on an emergency motion from Earthjustice, granted an injunction that a district court judge in Oregon previously had denied, indicating, in the Court of Appeals' view, that the seven proposed timber sales are likely to violate the Northwest Forest Plan and other federal laws protecting these forests and the public's right to have a say in how they are managed.

The photo above depicts sunrise over the southern end of the area burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire with Preston Peak and the Siskiyou Wilderness Area in the background. Six Rivers National Forest, Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion.