SISKIYOU COUNTY

Siskiyou County is located along the far northern border of California and is dominated by the towering summit of 14,162' Mount Shasta...the largest dormant volcano in the Cascade Mountain range.



It comprises an area of over 4 million acres (20% larger than the combined mass of Connecticutt and Rhode Island) and encompasses a national monument, 2 national wildlife refuges, 3 wilderness areas and 5 national forests. It is a rural landscape of outstanding natural beauty and resources.

The Siskiyou Land Trust focuses its conservation efforts in Siskiyou County to preserve open space, ranch and farmlands, forests and wetlands, scenic viewsheds, wildlife habitat, natural resources and lifestyles unique to this area. Located within the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion, Siskiyou County has a population base of less than 50,000 residents, yet comprises approximately 40% of the total area of the 10-million acre Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion. 

The Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion as a whole is still relatively undeveloped, nevertheless it is being discovered and developed at an increasing rate.  Despite the rural nature of the region, over 155 plant and animal species are on the state or federal endangered species list, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. The Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion has been declared a “globally-significant” reservoir of biological diversity and a showcase of evolutionary processes (World Wildlife Fund, 1998).

At this time, the opportunity still exists to help protect its unique ecological diversity and natural beauty. The Siskiyou Land Trust is committed to this mission.