Locals Monitoring Local Forests for Water, Wildlife, and the Future
Our forests and watersheds are the heart of our community. Forest Keepers is a new volunteer program where local residents can “adopt” nearby forest areas and help monitor their health.
It is a way for our community to consistently keep an eye on the places that matter most – our forests — we will focus on the sensitive areas we don’t want disturbed, like creeks, springs, riparian zones, legacy trees, and mature forest areas.
Let’s build a living record of our local forests—together.
Why Monitoring Matters – the power of community observation…
- Change is real: drought, fire, climate, and management pressures.
- Facts move needles: better comments, better decisions, real accountability.
- Many eyes, truer picture: community observation grounds policy in reality.
- We respond with structure: regular, repeatable checks build baselines and flag change early.
- We publish what we find: legally obtained, geotagged data—transparent and credible.
- We improve compliance: local monitoring surfaces issues (e.g., stream buffers) so agencies can act; community evidence can support legal reviews and outcomes.
Sign Up to become a Forest Keeper!
In order to contribute to our new database, you will need to sign up so we can add you to the system and provide you training guides. You are also encouraged to attend one of our monthly free training sessions. Check the Events Calendar for days and times.
There are 5 major watersheds in the Williams Valley. Our valley is unique in the Applegate.
Where do you live? Where do you hike? What areas are precious to you that you want to help protect?
Forest Keeper Sign In
If you would like to become a part of an active group of forest and water defenders please consider volunteering or donating to our work.