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THE WILD SIDE The top five conservation success of 2014 Comment By Joseph Vaile DailyTidings.com By Joseph Vaile Posted Jan. 14, 2015 at 6:55 PM By Joseph Vaile Posted Jan. 14, 2015 at 6:55 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Wild Side: Selfish and other reasons for saving endangered species... • How great weather can make a person feel awful • On landmarks, personal and geologic • The Christmas tree and the trees around us • ‘Tis the season — for wild mushrooms • Salmon: A force of nature can be restored • Getting away from — and back into — it all » Social News Despite the arbitrary nature of New Year’s Eve, nearly everyone ascribes to its mystical significance. We count the last 10 seconds with great celebration. We make resolutions about our health, our family and reining in our vices. Then there are the obligatory reviews of the year. The top-this and top-10 that. There’s likely even a Top-10 list for YouTube cat videos. But what is the real significance of Dec. 31? Winter solstice, which occurs 10 days prior, is actually a distinctive moment in the annual cycle. As far as I can tell, the reason why the year ends on Dec. 31 is that in 46 B.C. Julius Cesar thought it is sounded like a cool day to mark the end of the year.  But I admit, even if it is just like any other day, I always look back at the year and take stock. In fact, I am fond of this arbitrary holiday. What’s not to like about a meaningless reason to throw a party? I find myself reflecting on what happened to me in the past year, just as I have done with my colleagues at KS Wild. We decided to come up with our list of conservation successes in the region from the past year. Turns out that making lists is fun.  Coming in at number five is the Oregon Water Resources decision to deny a mining company’s application to remove water to conduct mining exploration in the headwaters of one of the clearest, most beautiful rivers in the world: the North Fork Smith River. This is a small, but significant victory in the fight to keep nickel mines out of the Kalmiopsis Rivers area. The denial comes after more than 2,000 comment letters asked for a denial of the application. The fight is far from over as the company has appealed and could find water from other sources.  At number four is the U.S. Forest Service moving forward on restoration forestry and watershed enhancement projects. KS Wild and many others are working across several national forests and we’ve seen successes throughout the region. In the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, for example, the Parks Eddy project will decommission off-road vehicle routes in botanical hotspots and provide resources for meadow restoration. While the agency is underfunded, there is hope that restoration and fire safety could drive the management of the Forest Service in the future.  Number three is the Fish and Wildlife Service recommending the Pacific fisher be listed under the Endangered Species Act. This is a species that I love and have worked with for over a decade. About the size of a house cat, the fisher is a bushy tailed relative of the weasel. Fisher remind of everything that is wild about the Klamath-Siskiyou — a stronghold for the species on the West Coast. With the fisher threatened by over-logging of old forests and by rodent poisons used in large marijuana grows on public land, this step to secure a future for Pacific fishers is worth celebrating.  While it is hard to take credit for the activity of roaming wolves, at number two we celebrate Wolf OR-7 and his new family. This is one of the most surprising "success" stories from 2014. The lone wolf that travelled hundreds of miles to become the first known wolf in western Oregon in decades not only found a mate but also produced wolf pups not too far from Ashland! Maybe Ashland is on the list of best places for wolf relocation.  Our number one conservation success in 2014 — drum roll please — expanding the Oregon Caves National Monument! KS Wild and others have been working on this effort for nearly 10 years. The new Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve now includes the only underground river in the Wild & Scenic River system, the River Styx. And if KS Wild can raise the funding, we can permanently retire a 30,000-acre grazing allotment in rare plant areas in the high Siskiyou.  I like New Year’s lists after all. Even if it’s an arbitrary holiday, it’s a good excuse to reflect. Sometimes we need excuses so we don’t forget to celebrate. And don’t you know it, the next New Year’s celebration is just around the corner. The Chinese use a lunar calendar, which means on Feb. 19 we have another reason to throw a party! Joseph Vaile is executive director of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild, 541-488-5789, www.kswild.org ). His Wild Side column appears every three weeks. By Joseph Vaile DailyTidings.com By Joseph Vaile Posted Jan. 14, 2015 at 6:55 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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