MKWC Plants Crew- A Whole New Meaning to the Word "Growth"

2024 Klamath TREX Photos

Reflections from KSOS Director Maya Williams.

This past July, the Mid Klamath Watershed Council, in partnership with the Karuk Tribe and the Klamath National Forest, completed the East Fork Elk Creek Fish Passage Project with the goal of improving existing habitat and facilitating permanent volitional access for Coho salmon to an additional 4 miles of prime spawning and rearing habitat on East Fork Elk Creek...

The week of June 15, the Karuk Tribe, the Mid Klamath Watershed Council and partners conducted a Prescribed Fire at Morgan Point outside of Happy Camp.

In 2019, MKWC received funding from the US Fish & Wildlife Service to build monarch butterfly waystations, patches of habitat that provide resources necessary for monarchs (and other pollinators) to reproduce and sustain their migration. Over the last 4 years, MKWC has planted, monitored, and maintained waystations at six locations along riparian areas from Seiad Valley to Orleans, CA.

We are excited to share that Kathy McCovey is now working with the Mid Klamath Watershed Council as Co-Executive Director! Kathy brings a lifetime of professional and personal experience relevant to the Klamath River region and beyond, and we are honored to have this opportunity to work with and learn from her as we strive to collaboratively plan and implement ecosystem restoration, promote community vitality, and involve people in land stewardship.

This past December, the Mid Klamath Watershed Council staff convened for two days of trainings, skill-sharing, and team-building, followed by our annual holiday party. Here are some of our favorite photos.

From October 30-November 4, Klamath TREX partners hosted a fall edition of Klamath TREX. Over 60 participants gathered in the area and over the course of the week, 745.7 acres were burned. This event is always such an incredible experience, that really brings people together and teaches new skills to participants. KTREX partners include The Karuk Tribe, MKWC, WKRP, Area Fire Safe Councils, The Nature Conservancy and more.

This fall, MKWC led over 50 6th-8th grade students on salmon surveys. Each week rain or shine, students suited up in waterproof waders and navigated tributaries to the Klamath River where Fall Chinook were actively spawning.

On Tuesday, October 10, and Wednesday, October 11, 2023, MKWC, the Karuk Tribe, and Columbia Helicopters completed the West Fork Beaver Creek Helicopter Wood Loading Project. 125 key log pieces (>=24" dbh, 45' long, with root wads) were added to 2.5 miles of West Fork Beaver Creek.

On Thursday July 27, members of the Orleans and Happy Camp MKWC Fisheries crews headed up 96 for an informational tour of the Klamath dams and surrounding areas. We visited three of the dams, Iron Gate, Copco 1, Copco 2, and received a guided tour from Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) Chief’s Executive Officer Mark Bransom and Resource Environmental Solutions’ (RES) Project Manager Dave Coffman. This trip was planned because of a desire for information about the current process of Klamath dam removal, impact, and restoration. Read more here!

There is a recognizable trend in local youth towards pursuing work in ecological restoration. Young people are seeking career paths that will involve them in the effort to heal their watershed…

A successful technique of stream restoration is the strategic placement of logs and wood structures to replicate downed trees and debris that occur naturally…

Each winter MKWC participates in a multi-organizational effort to monitor how many adult Coho salmon return to the Klamath Basin to spawn. From November through January survey crews are in the field, walking and diving the streams to document adult fish, redds, and carcass counts and collect carcass samples for laboratory analysis. Data collected during Coho spawner surveys informs fisheries restoration projects in the watershed, helping to determine priority locations for restoration and documenting the effectiveness of completed projects…

“I really hope we find a carcass!” We are five middle school students from Happy Camp Elementary School and two fisheries technicians from the Mid Klamath Watershed Council winding along the Klamath River on our way to survey the Chinook salmon run on a section of Thompson Creek…

After two years of COVID precautions, the Panamnik Building started hosting events again!

The Mid Klamath Creek Mouth Enhancement Project is one of the Mid Klamath Watershed Council’s longest running restoration projects, and has been implemented every summer for the past 13 years. This project has focused on improving access to cold water refugia for out-migrating juvenile salmonids and upriver adult migrants by remediating seasonal barriers to migration and enhancing creek mouths to ease passage into important cold water habitat.

A photo recap of the MKWC youth crew 2022.

I keep a rain gauge at home, it is the simple variety. It looks like a little glass beaker tube with gradations.

Somehow it has become a ritual to record the weather. I share observations with my family, friends, community and colleagues. It can be particularly useful with respect to fire weather and “burn” windows, but the weather also often just seems like a good thing to talk about…

With the shorter days and chillier temperatures of an approaching winter, MKWC staff share their favorite seasonal recipes. Whether you’re sharing a meal with a friend, celebrating a holiday, or trying to warm up after a rainy day outside, we hope you’ll find a recipe here that resonates with you. Here are some of our recommendations.