Global 200 Ecoregions

Preserving a Forest of Ancient Lineage
Klamath Coniferous Forest

Map of Klamath ecoregion
 
Major Habitat Type
Temperate Conifer & Broadleaf Forests

Biogeographic Region
Nearctic

Location
USA: States of California and Oregon



Act Now

Biological Diversity

The People

The Threat

The Response

The Challenge


Summary


For thousands of years, the Klamath Forest has existed in relative calm at the crossroads of several of the North American continent's great basins and mountain ranges. Virtually untouched by the vulcanism and glaciation that has occurred all around it, the Klamath is a refuge for many ancient species that perished in those upheavals. Animal and plant species from the Cascade and Sierra Madre mountains, the Great Basin and the Central Valley of California share the mountains and valleys of the Klamath. More than 3,500 plant species have been recorded in the region, of which 280 are found nowhere else. This richness of biological diversity led the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to declare the Klamath an Area of Global Botanical Significance, one of just seven such sites in North America.

The relative inaccessibility of the Klamath forest made it among the last of the great west coast forests to be extensively logged, but in recent decades resource extraction of all kinds has come to the Klamath, with devastating results. Logging activity has fragmented much of the low elevation habitat. Road-building, mineral extraction, and grazing have degraded forest habitats and streams. In addition, fire suppression has disturbed the natural system of burning and renewal that characterizes much of the ecoregion.

There is reason for optimism, however. Much of the high elevation habitat in the Klamath is already protected as wilderness. Logging is in decline throughout the region, particularly on the federal lands that comprise much of the prime forest land. President Clinton's Northwest Forest Plan curtailed logging in many of the areas of highest biodiversity. But much remains to be done. Key lowland forest habitats require permanent protection, roadless areas that link existing protected areas must be maintained, important watersheds preserved, and endangered species in the ecoregion must be recovered.

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