Klamath Mountains

The Klamath Mountains, sometimes called the salmon mountains, are a rugged mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon, the highest peaks being Mount Eddy (9002 ft / 2744 m) in Siskiyou County, California, Thompson peak in Trinity county, and Mount Ashland (7,533 ft / 2296 m) in Jackson County, Oregon. They have a varied geology, with substantial areas of serpentine and marble, and a climate characterised by a moderately cold winters with very heavy snowfall, and warm very dry summers with limited rainfall. As a consequence of the geology, they have a unique flora, known as the Klamath-Siskiyou forests, which includes several endemic or near-endemic trees, such as Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), Foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana spp, balfourinana), Brewer spruce (Picea breweriana) and Kalmiopsis (Kalmiopsis leachiana), forming one of the largest collections of different conifers in the world. The northernmost range of the Klamath Mountains are known as the Siskiyou Mountains. The largest concentration of diverse coniferous species of trees exists in these mountains, specifically in the Russian wilderness there are more species of coniferous tree in one location than anywhere else on the globe. The many mountains streams and rivers form a major spawning ground for several species of trout and salmon, yet recently, in the last 50 years, the fish stocks have fallen drastically. Mainly as of the creation of dams, and excessive clear cut logging on the steep rugged slopes of the area, both contributing to large amounts of silt in the stream beds, which interferes especially with the salmon spawning as they need exposed gravel beds to lay their eggs in. Other notable animal species, besides king salmon, silver salmon, steelhead, brown trout, [[rainbow trout, & [[eastern brook trout, include mountain lions, black bears, bobcats, lynx, raccoons, martens, fishers, beavers, grey fox, red fox, golden eagles, bald eagles, plentiful deer, several large owl species, and an extensive variety of additional species both plant and animal.