Tell the Forest Service to Protect Old Forests on the Siskiyou Crest in the Yellowjacket Project!

The Forest Service should complete a thorough Environmental Analysis and provide a full 30-60-day comment period for this massive logging project!

Write a letter to Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Supervisor Molly Juillerat, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Deputy Supervisor Paul Simas, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley

The Forest Service is proposing a massive project on the Siskiyou Crest, the Yellowjacket Project, that could result in 7-14 different timber sales, at mid to high elevations, across the headwaters of the Applegate River, including old-growth forests. They plan to only write a 15-page Environmental Analysis and may not provide a public comment period, or if they do it may be under 30 days. We may not have time to comment after their paltry Environmental Analysis comes out, so COMMENT NOW!

In 2025, Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins issued a Secretarial Memo aimed at increasing timber production on National Forest lands. The agency did so by placing over 112 million acres, approximately 58% of our National Forest lands, including all of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest under an “Emergency Situation Determination” or ESD that allows them to fast-track logging of public forests.

Unfortunately, the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has proposed its first ESD timber sale, called the Yellowjacket Project, on the Siskiyou Crest and in a very large portion of the Applegate River Watershed and in the Applegate Adaptive Management Area (AMA), which was officially designated specifically to facilitate community-based collaboration. Limiting public-facing analysis and reducing public involvement opportunities through the use of an ESD is not consistent with the mandates of the AMA, the National Environmental Policy Act, or the expectations of the public when managing their public lands.

The Yellowjacket Project covers thousands of acres of Applegate forests on the western face of Wagner Butte, on Glade Creek, Yale Creek, Crepsy Gulch, Center Ridge and across the headwaters of the Little Applegate River. It also includes Te’el Creek in the Upper Applegate River watershed, along Elliott Ridge, Yellowjacket Ridge and on the slopes of Acorn Women Mountain above Acorn Women Lake.

The Forest Service has not committed to the usual 30–60-day comment period for this massive project in high profile areas of the Siskiyou Crest. They say they may not provide a comment period at all, or if they do it might be well under 30 days.

The Forest Service is also saying the analysis for this massive, sprawling timber sale, that includes much of the Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District, will be capped at a paltry 15 pages, meaning virtually none of the relevant issues will be properly considered or analyzed in the upcoming Environmental Analysis (EA).

The Yellowjacket Project currently includes logging units in mature and old-growth forests. These old, complex stands are important as climate refugia, for their natural fire resilience, for the biodiversity they sustain, for the unique wildlife they support, and as intact habitats with exceptional biological values.

Tell the Forest Service and elected officials that you want a thorough Environmental Analysis of this massive logging project, a full 30-60-day public comment period, and no logging of mature and old-growth forests.

A 15-page Environmental Analysis and shortened comment period is not acceptable for this size of a project on our public lands! PROTECT OLD FORESTS ON THE SISKIYOU CREST!