Document text
Journal brings out natural history By Bill Varble A new natural history journal takes dead aim at that twisted knot of mountains west of a line from Roseburg to Redding, Calif. "Mountains and Rivers," a publication about the Klamath-Siskiyou region, is published by the Siskiyou Field Institute. The quarterly journal has a $4 cover price; subscriptions are $16 a year. "We�re trying to get to a general audience, not a hard-core science audience," editor Susan Cross says. "We�ll focus on natural history, but also some literary pieces, poetry and essays." Cross says the goal is to foster a greater awareness of the uniqueness of the region, and to celebrate it. The institute is the educational arm of the Siskiyou Project environmental group. The journal stakes out as its turf the region from the Umpqua south to the Eel River. It�s the region that geologists call the Klamath Province, ecologists call the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion and separatists call the mythical State of Jefferson. Editors say they don�t care what you call it, "as long as it has nothing to do with Bigfoot." The journal was launched with the help of grants from the Carpenter Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust. Some 2,000 copies were printed at Printfast Printing in Ashland on paper with a high recycled content. It�s available at the Northwest Nature Shop in Ashland. Cross says tracking down art was the hardest part. The cover features a line drawing of a wildflower marsh by Jerry Wildfong Ritter, of Grants Pass. Inside are illustrations of birds, conifer tress and endemic plants (those found nowhere else). The Siskiyou Project�s Evan Frost serves as managing editor, with Cross and Jennifer Kaye Marsden working as associate editors. Authors in the first edition include biologist Pepper Trail of Ashland, botanist John Sawyer, a retired professor from Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., and Frank Callahan, a long-time big tree hunter from Central Point. Each writer, in effect, fills in part of the answer to the question of how the region differs from, say, the Cascades, the Coast ranges, the Willamette Valley and other familiar Western landscapes. An article about birds of the region by Pepper Trail (an amazing 392 species, of which 189 are known to nest in the region, compared to 255 for the whole state) examines the range limits of birds in the region. Sawyer, who taught biology for many years at Humboldt, contributes a lengthy piece on the region�s endemics. Callahan is a native plant enthusiast who has nominated 40 of the nation�s national champion big trees. He writes about the region�s array of cone-bearing trees, the pinnacle of which is "the emerald mile," an area west of Etna, Calif., where a square mile contains 17 conifer species, the greatest-known concentration in North America. Coming in the winter edition is a new piece by botanist Frank Lang of Ashland. Writers aren�t being paid for their contributions at this point. Cross says the goal is to make the project sustainable. "We�re looking for arts about the region and things that would speak to cultural and personal connections people feel to the land," she says. "It was a lot of work," she says. "But a labor of love. It�s worth it to see it." "Mountains and Rivers" address is P.O. Box 220, Cave Junction, OR 97523, or visit www.siskiyou.org . Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.