If Bigfoot lives, he or she dwells in the Siskiyou Mountains. The northwestern portions of the proposed wilderness additions are in the Smith River and Illinois River watersheds.
The Smith is California’s only undammed river and it hosts one of the “best salmon and steelhead fisheries on the west coast” according to the Six Rivers National Forest. The stream is known for its beautiful blue-green color, scenic vistas, challenging whitewater, abundant fish and other wildlife populations, rare plants and recreation opportunities. These superlative features lead Congress to designate the California-portion of the watershed the Smith River National Recreation Area in 1990.
A significant portion of the Smith’s headwaters are protected by the Siskiyou Wilderness. Unusual soils, great rises and drops in elevation, and plenty of water all combine to make the Siskiyou Wilderness a refuge for a great diversity of species, many of which are found nowhere else on earth. Ancient forests consist of an amazing fourteen species of conifers, the second greatest conifer diversity in the world.
