The
Dakubetede is one of the very few roadless wildlands in the Medford
B.L.M. District that is large enough and wild enough to warrant
protection as a designated Wilderness. Located in the Little Applegate
Watershed of the eastern Siskiyous, the Dakubetede is a wild island
surrounded by a wounded landscape laced with logging roads and
clearcuts on adjacent B.L.M., industrial forestland, and on nearby
U.S. Forest Service lands. Two distinct units (north 6000 acres, south
1500 acres) are separated by a narrow dirt road and a few private
in-holdings along the Little Applegate River.
Lying
in the rain-shadow of the highest peaks of the Siskiyou Mountains, the
Dakubetede has the most arid microclimate in western Oregon, resulting
in a unique array of diverse ecosystems and plant associations. This
area contains excellent examples of rare lower elevation and arid
ecosystems that are in need of protected representatives for research
and study. The larger north unit contains plant associations not
described elsewhere, including the westernmost stands of Juniper in
Oregon, and the only known Oregon location of the endemic Siskiyou
Water Birch (Betula occidentalis
onapina).
The
north unit is known and loved by hikers as the location of the
Sterling Mine Ditch, a B.L.M. designated Area of Critical
Environmental Concern. The extensive trail system that accesses and
follows the Ditch is popular with hikers, hunters, and horseback
riders. The area is renowned for its diverse habitats and wildflower
displays. Many school groups from kindergarten through university use
the scenic trails to study natural history and the human history as
seen through the Sterling Ditch, a remnant of the local Gold Rush.
It’s a rare weekend when cars aren’t parked at the three
trailheads along the Little Applegate River. Even in the winter,
hikers come when the deciduous trees are bare to catch glimpses of
wildlife on the open south slopes below snow levels.
The south unit (approximately 1200 acres) is a rugged,
remote ridge with uncut forests, including old-growth, dropping
steeply to the Little Applegate River on the north. This unit has
particularly rare native grass communities associated with an unusual
assemblage of shrub species. Oak woodlands interfacing with old-growth
conifer forests feature large amounts of Isopyrum
stipitatum, an indicator of undisturbed
ecosystems. The south slopes are a complex mosaic of steep grasslands
and diverse shrub communities with oak/pine savanna dropping into the
canyon of Lick Gulch. Forest botanist Richard Brock, a respected local
expert on grass and shrub communities, has described these grasslands
as one of the most intact native grasslands he has seen. Brock says
these grasslands are important refugia for Idaho Fescue and other
native species, and are deserving of protection as a Research Natural
Area. This south unit has no trails; its spectacular crest meadows are
reached only by cross-country hiking uphill.
Both units of the Dakubetede are also refugia for Fritillaria
gentneri, a beautiful red lily, extremely rare and endemic to a
few populations in southwestern Oregon. Other rare plants found in the
area include: Cimicfuga elata,
Camissonia graciliflora, Mimulus douglasii, Rafinesquia californica,
Lithophragma heterophyllum, and Ribes inerme klamathense.
The Little Applegate River in this area is an important
spawning ground for steelhead and coho salmon, and is one of the only
river stretches managed by the Medford District’s Ashland Resource
Area. Only about 10% of the Dakubetede area is mature conifer forest;
most acreage is dry grasslands, deciduous woodlands, and diverse
shrublands. This relative lack of commercial timber and the area’s
rugged terrain are reasons why the Dakubetede was passed over and has
remained wild while other areas nearby have been intensively developed
with road networks and timber cuts. However, the B.L.M. is now looking
at actively managing this area, with plans possibly including timber
cutting and road building.
The Dakubetede area is part of a large grazing allotment
that has been inactive for over 20 years, providing an unparalleled
opportunity to study the slow re-establishment of native grass and
forbe species after grazing-induced alien species have dominated the
grasslands. The western portion of the north unit burned in 1987,
providing an opportunity to study native and alien plant competition
in an early seral stage.
The
Dakubetede has been the location of several academic research
projects, including a Prescott College investigation of the Siskiyou
Birch. This spring, a group from Oregon State University is surveying
the Maple Fork of Muddy Gulch research to riparian characteristics.
The group had to search for an unmanaged BLM watershed to use for
baseline studies. Beyond research, specific places in the Dakubetede
wildland have been used regularly as spiritual resources by people who
prefer to worship surrounded by the powerful work of creation rather
than sitting in a church building built by men.
The Dakubetede
wildland deserves to be protected as a natural resource. All such
large wild areas should be protected simply because such areas are so
rare and necessary to conserve refugia of biodiversity. The vast
majority of the public landscape already developed for commercial
resource extraction must be sufficient for those resources not
available to industry from private timberlands. Too many wild areas
important for research, educational, and spiritual uses have been lost
to industrial development over the last few decades. The unwillingness
of the BLM and US Forest Service to proactively protect roadless areas
is brewing another swell of advocacy for more designated Wilderness.
The Dakubetede would be best protected as Wilderness.