Presentation: Twenty Years in the Kalmiopsis
October 15 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Thursday, October 15, 2026, 7pm
Presentation: Twenty Years in the Kalmiopsis
Speaker: Gabe Howe
Location: In-person presentation at the Siskiyou chapter meeting at Southern Oregon University Science Building, Room 161. Join us in-person or Zoom in from home. To register for Zoom, go to https://bit.ly/npsotalks
I’ve spent the last 20 years returning to the Kalmiopsis Wilderness with remarkable regularity. During my earliest visits, I encountered a landscape still bearing the effects of the 2002 Biscuit Fire. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to observe how the wilderness has responded to two more major fires—the 2017 Chetco Bar Fire and the 2018 Klondike Fire.
Over those two decades, I’ve come to see fire not simply as a force that changes the Kalmiopsis, but as part of the ecological processes that have long shaped it. What I’ve learned is that the Kalmiopsis we see today may, in some respects, more closely resemble the landscape that existed before the era of widespread fire suppression.
Gabe Howe has served as Executive Director of the Siskiyou Mountain Club since 2012. Before joining the organization, he worked across a variety of industries, including manufacturing, food service, grocery, wood products, and cabinetry. He holds a degree in English–Writing from Southern Oregon University and an Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree from Mt. Hood Community College.
Gabe is passionate about hard work, wild places, and spending time in the Oregon backcountry. He lives in the Rogue Valley with his wife and their two children.
