Free Republic

Scientists are calling it an ecological breakthrough: Two adult wolves and five cubs were recently photographed in Siskiyou County, the first known wolves in California since 1924 (with the exception of the famous wandering OR7, who wound up settling in Southern Oregon).

YREKA — The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 this afternoon to pursue seceding from California. More than 100 people packed the supervisors' chambers late this morning for a discussion on whether the county should issue a declaration that it wants to secede from the state. Nearly all those in attendance appeared to be for the move. Among those in attendance was Erin Ryan, field representative for Rep. Doug LaMalfa. She said that she and other LaMalfa staff members supported the effort to secede, but she did not know LaMalfa's thoughts on it. Board Chair Ed Valenzuela was the...

YREKA (CBS/AP) – Supervisors in a far Northern California county where residents are fed up with what they see as a lack of representation at the state capitol and overregulation have voted in favor of separating from the state. . . They want other rural counties in Northern California and Southern Oregon to join them in the creation of a new state called the State of Jefferson.

Fed up by Sacramento's regulations and Southern California's political sway, residents in one rural Northern California county are taking steps to leave the state. The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted, 4-1, on Tuesday to pursue seceding from California, the Redding Record Searchlight reported. Proponents say Siskiyou should form a new state -- called Jefferson -- with other counties in Northern California and Southern Oregon they believe share similar interests.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A new species of salamander has been identified in the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon and Northern California, demonstrating the biological richness of the region, researchers say. The Scott Bar salamander, classified as Plethodon asupak, had been considered to be a member of the Siskiyou Mountains salamander species, or Plethodon stormi, until genetic analysis showed a distinct evolutionary line, said Joseph Vaile of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in Ashland. "Everyone talks about how biologically rich the tropics are, but we are still discovering species right here in the Klamath-Siskiyou," Vaile said. The word "asupak" is the...

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - Loggers went to work without interference Tuesday at the site of a 2002 forest fire, felling old-growth trees after the U.S. Forest Service closed off the area to keep out protesters. Citing safety concerns for loggers and protesters alike, officials in the Siskiyou National Forest on Monday closed the 700-acre area and roads leading to the timber sale. Protesters had impeded loggers going to work. Forest Service spokesman Tom Lavagnino said a crew of loggers had no trouble getting to work Tuesday, and rangers had not spotted a tree sitter who logging opponents said was...

WEED - When the senior class at Weed High School was told it could not paint a Nativity scene on a window, student body president Jessica Hofer knew from her senior project research that the students had a constitutional right to do so and with her help they did. By school tradition, classes decorate the school for seasonal holidays with the work judged, earning the class "spirit points." The designs are approved by faculty advisors before the actual work begins. This year senior class president Becky James and her classmates designed a simple Nativity set painting for a small window...