Klamath Forest Alliance is a left-of-center environmentalist group focused on the Klamath basin region in Oregon and Northern California. The organization supports the complete cessation of nuclear, biomass, hydroelectric, and combustion-based electric power generation; the prohibition of all vehicles using conventional fuels such as diesel and gasoline; increasing funding to the Environmental Protection Agency; expanding EPA regulations, and overhauling various infrastructure to suit such regulations. ¹

In 2019, Klamath Forest Alliance signed a letter to Congress endorsing the radical socialist “Green New Deal” package of left-wing ideological and environmentalist aims. ²

Advocacy

Green New Deal

On January 10, 2019, a letter signed by Klamath Forest Alliance was delivered to the U.S. House of Representatives supporting the Green New Deal resolution. ³

Bureau of Land Management Removal Letter

In 2019, the organization signed a letter requesting the removal of Bureau of Land Management executive William Perry Pendley. The request for Pendley’s removal includes criticism for not acknowledging perceived environmental threats posed by conventional energy production, livestock grazing, and invasive grass and weeds. ⁴

Environmentalism Litigation

On February 25, 2020, Klamath Forest Alliance signed a letter opposing an environmental conservation bill that included various provisions to mitigate the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, increase tree growth worldwide, and stimulate logging industries as a form of carbon sequestration. The letter signed by Klamath Forest Alliance contends that the bill will result in the opposite effect of most defined goals. ^{5 6}

On June 26, 2017, Klamath Forest Alliance signed a letter to the House Committee on Natural Resources, opposing an environmental protection bill written to remove regulatory barriers for preserving forests, watersheds, and wildlife. The letter claims that provisions in the bill would achieve the opposite of their intended effect and gives excessive power to the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to do so. ^{7 8}

In 2015, Klamath Forest Alliance criticized wildfire management practices promoted by ecologists and employed by environmental organizations like Placer County Water Agency and the Nature Conservancy. Klamath Forest Alliance called such forest conservation practices “fear-based forestry”. ⁹ In 2018 however, Klamath advocated for similar methods of wildfire management. In April 2020, Klamath filed a lawsuit against Klamath National Forests for similar methods of logging focused on mitigating wildfires. ¹⁰

In 1997, Klamath Forest Alliance rallied against geothermal energy projects on federal land, specifically Medicine Lake in Highlands, claiming they were bad for the environment. The group filed a lawsuit December 8, 1997, along with other environmentalist groups against then-Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt for allowing farming which the suit claims is harmful to wildlife. ¹¹

An environmental conservation proposal by Fruit Growers and Supply Company and approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service was rejected after Klamath Forest Alliance filed a lawsuit against Fruit Growers and Supply Company in federal court. It argued in the lawsuit that benefits to the conservation proposal was “speculative”. ^{12 13}

A proposal by the Bureau of Land Management to initiate a timber sale designed to decrease the risk of forest fires was condemned by Klamath Forest Alliance. It claimed such methods increase the risk of fire. ^{14 15}

Funding

Klamath Forest Alliance frequently reports gross receipts of less than $50,000 allowing it to file the IRS Form 990-N “E-Postcard” tax return. ¹⁶

Environmentalist-aligned sportswear manufacturer Patagonia has reported making contributions to Klamath Forest Alliance through its corporate foundation. ¹⁷

1. “Legislation to Address the Urgent Threat of Climate Change.” Friends of the Earth. January 10, 2019. Accessed May 21, 2020. https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Progressive-Climate-Leg-Sign-On-Letter-2.pdf
2. “Legislation to Address the Urgent Threat of Climate Change.” Friends of the Earth. January 10, 2019. Accessed May 21, 2020. https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Progressive-Climate-Leg-Sign-On-Letter-2.pdf
3. “Legislation to Address the Urgent Threat of Climate Change.” Friends of the Earth. January 10, 2019. Accessed May 21, 2020. https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Progressive-Climate-Leg-Sign-On-Letter-2.pdf
4. Molvar, Erik & Jenkins, Peter. “Pendley resignation letter final.” Western Watersheds. December 2019. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://www.westernwatersheds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Pendley-resignation-letter-final-2.pdf
5. “Westerman Introduces Trillion Trees Act.” Office of Congressman Bruce Westerman. February 12, 2020. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://westerman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/westerman-introduces-trillion-trees-act
6. Letter of Opposition to the Trillion Trees Act.” Biological Diversity. February 25, 2020. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/forests/pdfs/Ltr-Conservation-Community-Oppose-Trillion-Tree-Act.pdf
7. Smith, Nick. “Congress should pass Resilient Federal Forests Act to address wildfire threat.” The Hill. July 7, 2017. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/340919-congress-should-pass-resilient-federal-forests-act-to
8. “Letter Opposing H.R. 2936.” Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. Une 26, 2017. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://issuu.com/seacc/docs/final_green_groups_letter–oppose_h
9. Heller, Marc. “Wildfire turns adversaries into allies.” E&E News. August 8, 2018. Accessed May 20, 2020. https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060093763
10. Kemp, Kym. “Traditional Native Forestry Management Being Used to ‘Reverse Over a Century of Fire Suppression’ in the Somes Bar Project, Says Karuk Tribe.” Kyle Kemp. March 6, 2018. Accessed May 20, 2020. https://kymkemp.com/2018/03/06/traditional-native-forestry-management-being-used-to-reverse-over-a-century-of-fire-suppression-in-the-somes-bar-project-says-karuk-tribe/
11. “1997 News Archive: July News” The Modoc County Record. September 25, 1997. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://www.modocrecord.com/97_ARCHIVES.html
12. “Proposed-HCP for Sierra Pacific Industries is a Bad Deal for Spotted Owls.” YubaNet. June 18, 2019. Accessed May 20, 2020. https://yubanet.com/california/proposed-hcp-for-sierra-pacific-industries-a-bad-deal-for-spotted-owls/
13. https://www.westernlaw.org/sites/default/files/FINAL%20FGS%20HCP%20Complaint.pdf
14. Ruediger, Luke. “BLM Timber Sales increase Fire Risk, Reduces Climate Resilience and Harms Recreation.” Counter Punch. April 8, 2020. Accessed May 20, 2020. https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/04/08/blm-timber-sale-increases-fire-risk-reduces-climate-resilience-and-harms-recreation/          
15. Dumais, Daniel, Prevost, Marcel, Royo, Alejandro A. &, Raymond, Patricia. “Assessing the single-tree and small group selection cutting system as intermediate disturbance to promote regeneration and diversity in temperate mixedwood stands.” Forest Ecology and Management. July 29, 2018. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2018/nrs_2018_raymond_001.pdf
16. Klamath Forest Alliance (EIN 68-0204089), IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, Queries Conducted August 10, 2020 https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayAll.do?dispatchMethod=displayAllInfo&Id=5281070&ein=680204089&country=US&deductibility=all&dispatchMethod=searchAll&isDescending=false&city=&ein1=68-0204089&postDateFrom=&exemptTypeCode=al&submitName=Search&sortColumn=orgName&totalResults=1&names=&resultsPerPage=25&indexOfFirstRow=0&postDateTo=&state=All+States
17. Patagonia.org, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV Line 3