Rivers and Fisheries

The proposed Siskiyou Crest National Monument would protect hundreds of miles of important tributary streams that provide essential cool, clean water to two of the West Coast’s most important salmon bearing rivers, the Klamath and the Rogue. The headwaters of Ashland Creek, the source of the City of Ashland’s Municipal Drinking Water, would also be protected.

The Rogue and Klamath Basins are home to several important salmon species, including Coho, Chinook and steelhead. Other native freshwater fishes include Cutthroat trout, Pacific lamprey and green sturgeon among others. Coho are listed on the Endangered Species Act and in severe decline.

The proposal encompasses nine watersheds (in their entirety or portions of) that have been designated under the Northwest Forest Plan as “key” to salmon recovery.

The majority of headwater tributaries of the Applegate River are included in the proposal, including the Little Applegate River (key watershed), the Middle Fork Applegate and the Sturgis and Steve Forks of Carberry Creek. Also on the northern portion of the proposed monument, the upper reaches of Williams Creek, which provides water to the farms and residential community of Williams would be protected. To the west, the headwaters of Sucker Creek (key watershed) and the Upper Illinois River are within the proposal area.

“Sucker Creek is a high value salmonid fish watershed...Sucker Creek is a very high priority for protection and restoration, one of the most important anadromous fish watersheds in the Rogue River basin.”

- Sucker Creek TMDL and Water Quality Management Plan, page 13.

To the South, Indian, Clear, Thompson and Beaver Creeks are among the many tributaries to the Klamath that would be protected.

“The LSR is comprised of highly unstable granitic and schist soils subject to high rates of erosion and landslides. Where extensive road development and timber harvesting has occurred, sediment production has been accelerated. Aquatic systems in many areas of the LSR were identified through Watershed Analysis to have been impacted by timber harvesting and road building, resulting in degraded riparian zones, increased sediment produced to stream channels, and simplified aquatic habitat. There is a concern for riparian dependent late-successional species in these areas. Sedimentation and habitat simplification are identified as the main limiting factors for salmonid reproduction in the Beaver and Bear Creek Watersheds.”

- Mt. Ashland Late Successional Reserve Assessment, page 37.

Many of the streams in the Rogue and Klamath Basins are listed as water-quality impaired under the Clean Water Act. On the Rogue Basin side of the Siskiyou Crest proposal, streams are currently in violation of water quality standards for temperature, habitat modification and flow. On the Klamath Basin side of the Siskiyou Crest proposal, streams are currently in violation of of water quality standards for nutrients, dissolved oxygen, temperature and water.

Click here for a list of watersheds and subwatersheds included in this proposal.
Key Watersheds for Coho recovery are shown on our Map of Special Interest Areas.


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