The Kalmiopsis Audubon Society (KAS) was founded in 1980 by local people interested in learning about and conserving the extraordinary values of Curry County’s natural environment. Our founders were curious not only about our local birds but also unique plant life and ecology. The group chose the name Kalmiopsis Audubon after the rugged Kalmiopsis Wilderness with its rare wild azalea, Kalmiopsis leachiana, and chose to name its newsletter The Storm Petrel to emblematize the full range of unique natural habitats—from mountain summits to sea stacks—that would become our group’s focus.
For more than 40 years, Kalmiopsis Audubon has made a difference by advocating for protection of our extraordinary local ecosystems.
The first big campaign that we worked on was to protect the old growth forests of Elk River in the Grassy Knob Wilderness, designated in 1984. Through the 1980s, KAS worked to protect unique natural values through designation of 3 Bureau of Land Management Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs): New River ACEC, the Hunter Creek Bog ACEC, and the North Fork Hunter Creek ACEC.
Through the 1990s KAS monitored, appealed, and blocked dozens of damaging timber sales of old growth forests, including ones that would have leveled Oregon’s last remaining redwoods. We successfully fended off proposals for deep-sea mineral mining and pressed for improvements to cranberry regulation to prevent herbicides from leaching into groundwater and salmon streams. We also helped to protect critical beach habitat for western snowy plovers.
Through the 2000s we blocked an instream dredge mining proposal in 17 miles of the Chetco River, prevented damaging gravel extraction in small rivers, defended seabird colonies of Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, pushed for Port Orford’s Dark Sky lighting ordinance, and advocated for Copper Salmon Wilderness, designated in 2009. We also worked to stop asphalt plants from being built along the Pistol and Elk Rivers.
Through the 2010s, we defended Blacklock Point at Floras Lake State Natural Area from golf course development, worked to protect Floras Lake, secured Wild and Scenic designation for south-side tributaries of the Elk River, and defended the headwaters of the National Wild and Scenic Illinois and North Fork Smith Rivers, plus Hunter Creek and Pistol River, from the threat of nickel strip mining.
As we press into the 2020s, we’re still pressing to conserve our wild rivers and salmon and also starting to work on issues related to leasing of floating offshore wind projects along our South Coast.
We’ve also served as stakeholders on Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and U.S. Forest Service advisory committees and a countywide forest collaborative effort. We have commented on hundreds of land use and natural resource management proposals at the local, state, and federal levels.
Through our award-winning newsletter and our website we’ve provided news about local conservation issues, information about natural history, and shared opportunities to view wildlife and explore the special places in our area. We’ve also offered hundreds of educational programs and field trips.