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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Earthquake hits 12 miles east of Eugene ... Our View: All's well that ends well ... Jeffrey Gillespie: A landmark in the history of love ... Earthquake hits 12 miles east of Eugene ... Our View: All's well that ends well ... Jeffrey Gillespie: A landmark in the history of love ... WILD SIDE On landmarks, personal and geologic Some things help guide our lives, others our hikes — both can inspire our wilderness appreciation Comment By Joseph Vaile DailyTidings.com By Joseph Vaile Posted Feb. 3, 2015 at 8:03 PM By Joseph Vaile Posted Feb. 3, 2015 at 8:03 PM » RELATED CONTENT • How great weather can make a person feel awful • Environmental and social activist leaves powerful legacy • The top five conservation success of 2014 • The Christmas tree and the trees around us • ‘Tis the season — for wild mushrooms • Salmon: A force of nature can be restored • Kalmiopsis' future at stake if mining goes forward • Fires and forests evolved together, but now people are in the mix... • Getting away from — and back into — it all » Social News   If you have never been to Pilot Rock, you need to check it out.  It’s an old volcanic plug made up of columnar andesite rock right outside of Ashland. The surrounding material has all eroded away leaving a volcanic neck that sticks out from the landscape and seems to say – “Hey, look at me!”  On a recent trip to Pilot Rock, as I made my way past the parking area, up the closed roadbed to the Pacific Crest Trail, I could not help but think about my good friend and mentor, Barry Snitkin.  These last few weeks Barry has been in rapidly failing health. I had the opportunity to visit with him and it was such a special time. He is still so positive, even with all that is happening to him. And something really magical happened to him this past weekend.  In hospice care, Barry made the trip to attend the Siskiyou Film Festival, hosted by KS Wild in Grants Pass. Nearly 500 people from throughout the Rogue, Applegate and Illinois valleys came out and were able to give a rousing tribute to Barry and his incredible life of environmental and community activism.  Barry and others at the group Siskiyou Project started the Siskiyou Film Festival 13 years ago. Barry has continued the tradition after KS Wild and Siskiyou Project merged in 2011. Film was only one of the ways that Barry reached so many people.  Barry is a long-time organizer who worked on a variety of issues to help the local community and to protect ancient forests and wild rivers. His real passion is running wild rivers in his inflatable kayak, and he lives right on the banks of the Illinois River. But it is through his community-building efforts that he has made more friends than nearly anyone I know. Barry brought unflappable enthusiasm to conservation campaigns and drew in tons of people to get involved. Barry makes you feel immediately heard and understood. As I climbed the steep trail toward Pilot Rock this weekend, I kept thinking about what it really means to personify wilderness. And I now realize that for me, Barry is it. Because what really matters is that we are effective advocates for wild places — that, in order to save what remains of these last wild places, we need our friends, our families and our communities to understand the value in our natural environment. Without real people appreciating the value of a healthy planet to their everyday lives, we will never save what matters: a healthy planet with clean water and a diversity of life.  Barry is that activist. He brought people into a movement to save ancient forests and wild rivers in this region. He did so without ever saying a bad thing about anyone. What he taught so many of us is that it takes people — lots and lots of people — to save special places. As I get back to the trailhead, I am struck by the 20 or so cars in the parking lot full of folks headed to Pilot Rock. I am reassured that in 2009 Pilot Rock was protected as a part of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area, and people love it. And I say "thank you" to the good folks at Soda Mountain Wilderness Council and countless others who worked for years to protect this special area.  To access Pilot Rock, take Exit 6 on I-5 south from Ashland. Travel past the Mt. Ashland Access Road and take a left at Pilot Rock Road (40-2E-33). Follow this road to an old quarry area where there is a trailhead for Pilot Rock. This is an access point to Ashland’s backyard wilderness area. 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 Feb. 3, 2015 at 8:03 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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