Two sites are listed on this page. Please scroll down to read about both of them!
Mid Klamath Watershed Council (MKWC)
MKWC members and staff rafting the river on a survey.
P.O. Box 409
Orleans, CA 95556
(530) 627-3202
(866) 323-5561 (fax)
MKWC Webpage
Mentor:
Will Harling, Executive Director
Mentor Biography
will@mkwc.org
Current Members:
Matt Cavin
Member Biography
Tanya Chapple
Member Biography
Site Description:
Members will have the opportunity to work on both upslope and instream projects, offering a unique and diverse perspective on watershed management and restoration. In addition to on-the-ground projects, we promote watershed restoration by acting as a bridge between the diverse stakeholders in our region. Members at our site have opportunities to work with these stakeholders, including private landowners, other non-profit organizations, tribes, and state and federal agencies. The Mid Klamath Watershed Council is one of the few non-profit organizations working in the middle Klamath region. We utilize grant funding combined with community and stakeholder volunteers to implement practical, hands-on restoration projects while educating participants on restoration techniques and stewardship principles. Members will perform fieldwork and monitoring, including spawner surveys, summer steelhead/spring Chinook surveys, creek mouth monitoring and enhancement, juvenile salmonid trapping and screw trap operation. Upslope management projects include invasive weed management, prescribed burning, fuel reduction, native plant management, and roads analysis. Office work includes grant writing, meeting attendance and organization, website maintenance, and coordination of outreach events, depending on members’ skills and interests. As a small organization, members and mentors work together on a day-to-day basis.
Jillienne Bishop playing a watershed-related game with a class of exuberant students.
Time members spend on each of the following tasks at their site (WSP trainings and mandatory events not included in this breakdown):
Monitoring - 20%
Restoration - 15%
Field Surveys and Data Collection - 30%
Report Writing and Data Entry - 5%
Lab Work - 0%
Education - 10%
Outreach - 20%
Member comments:
“The Mid Klamath Watershed Council (MKWC) is a great place to work- great people, great work and a great community. If you want to hit the ground running, get to know the watershed that you are living and working in and be involved in your community, then MKWC is the place for you. The unique thing about MKWC is that they do both instream and upslope management and restoration, so in a week you could be doing everything from snorkeling in the river to helping with a broadcast burn on a local landowner’s property. The diversity of the job is pretty amazing and the only downfall is that you have to choose what you are interested in because there is so much to do!”
-Crescent Calimpong, year 13 member
“The Mid Klamath Watershed Council is a unique and inspiring organization located in a small active community along the Klamath River. Since my term of service has begun I have had the opportunity to work on a diversity of projects that have developed my professional abilities and allowed me to use my creativity on important restoration endeavors. What makes this site truly unique is that everyone who is a part of the organization becomes your mentor, sharing both their knowledge and their drive to revitalize this rural watershed community.”
-Jillienne Bishop, year 13 member
Mentor comments:
"Working in the Mid Klamath offers a unique opportunity to experience what it is like to live in a place and become part of it through participating in hands-on restoration and education activities, as well as community events, fundraisers, and festivals. Members will work with people who are dedicated, skilled, and passionate about watershed restoration and general service to achieve community goals."
- Will Harling, mentor
For a sample calendar of WSP member duties at this site, click HERE.
U.S. Forest Service - Six Rivers National Forest
The incredibly beautiful Salmon River, tributary of the Klamath.
P.O. Box 410
Orleans, CA 95556
(530) 627-3291
(530) 627-3401 (fax)
USFS Six Rivers National Forest Webpage
Mentor:
LeRoy Cyr, Fish and Watershed Program Manager - Orleans and Ukonom Ranger District
Mentor Biography
Mentor LeRoy Cyr and family enjoying winter.
Current Members:
Megan Allen
Member Biography
Chris Whitman
Member Biography
Site Description:
Six Rivers National Forest lies east of Redwood State and National Parks in northwestern California, and stretches southward from the Oregon border for about 140 miles. The community of Orleans is located along the Klamath river about 90 miles east of the Eureka/Arcata area via highway 96 and 299. The District is one of four on the Six Rivers National Forest, encompassing approximately 500,000 acres. The District supports both anadromous and resident fish populations including salmon, steelhead, trout, sturgeon, bluegill, and bass.
WSP members will assist the District fisheries biologist with monitoring fish populations and their habitat; improving the quality and quantity of habitat by planning and implementing restoration projects; maintaining and developing partnerships with community members, tribes, and other state and federal agencies who share the common goal of restoring the health and productivity of the mid-Klamath; performing outreach activities such as Fish Fair, Earth Day and our Fishing Derby; as well as participating in array of environmental education events within the Klamath-Trinity and Junction Elementary School Districts.
Time members spend on each of the following tasks at their site (WSP trainings and mandatory events not included in this breakdown):
Monitoring - 25%
Restoration - 20%
Field Surveys and Data Collection - 10%
Report Writing and Data Entry - 10%
Lab Work - 0%
Education - 25%
Outreach - 10%
Member comments:
"Orleans is the real deal. I saw that place in my dreams and I went there... I will work outside for the rest of my life. I am honored to learn from [the salmon]... I am honored to live in the center of the universe!"
[Note: Orleans, or Panamnik, is the center of the universe for the Karuk tribe.]
– Clayton Barker, year 13 member
“The Klamath and Salmon [watersheds] are an era of my life, a section of days and emotions and experiences and perceptions that kind of exist independently of logic, calendars, maps; clocks especially. I exist here and that is enough. Me and the fish and the trees and the water, and all the other people, living along the river...”
– Anna Hall, year 13 member
Mentor comments:
"Since 1994, AmeriCorps watershed stewards have made a dramatic impact in our small river community of Orleans. Members have been involved with teaching environmental education in our local schools, guiding field trips, building partnerships, implementing various watershed restoration projects and surveying aquatic life throughout the Klamath Mountain region. I have had the great fortune to serve as a trusted counselor and teacher of many WSP members throughout this time and it has been an honor to be surrounded by so many enthusiastic natural resource professionals. If you are interested in “Making a Difference” for the benefit of present and future generations give us a call!"
- LeRoy Cyr
For a sample calendar of WSP member duties at this site, click HERE.
Anna Hall working on a rotary screw trap, used for monitoring juvenile salmonids.
