Community Forest Spotlight: Spence Mountain
Sustainable Northwest coordinates the NW Community Forest Coalition – a network of about 50 community forests in Oregon and Washington. The Pacific Northwest has the largest concentration of community forests in the nation. Spence Mountain in Klamath County, Oregon is one of them.
The Spence Mountain Community Forest has been in the hands of the public since Klamath County’s acquisition in 2022. Located just off the west shore of Klamath Lake and 20 miles north of Klamath Falls, the forest serves the community by enhancing recreational use, strengthening forest health, and much more.
Enhanced recreation through the trails
With 59 miles of non-motorized trails throughout the property, Spence Mountain Community Forest is best known for its trail system. While these trails are mostly designed for mountain biking – which includes e-biking assuming they follow local pedal assist restrictions – the trails also welcome other activities, including hiking. Klamath Trail Alliance, who stewards the trail system, holds an annual cross-county mountain bike race, “Spence Mountain Mayhem,” bringing together beginner, intermediate, and advanced racers alike to the property.
Between Klamath Trail Alliance's knowledge and volunteer network, the trail system constantly grows, giving mountain bikers, locals, and visitors a new look often.
Strengthened forest health
After the acquisition of the Spence Mountain Community Forest, improving the forest’s health was important to all stakeholders. With management activities conducted by Klamath County – including planned thinning, ladder fuel removal, brushing of roads to use for fire breaks and emergency access, trail brushing, and removing harmful weeds – the forest’s health and, most notably wildfire resistance, is strengthened.
Spence Mountain Community Forest also provides vital habitat and species protection. The property is home to much wildlife in the Klamath Basin. A significant bald eagle population and their nesting sites live on the Klamath Lake side of the forest.
A stable form of income
Through tourism and trail use, it is estimated that Spence Mountain Community Forest provides around $900,000 annually to Klamath County. Not only do residents and visitors benefit from the forest, but so do the local economy and businesses.
“The acquisition of the 7,500-acre Spence Mountain Forest and its network of hiking and biking trails has truly been a community effort,” says the Oregon Director of Land Conservation for Trust for Public Land, Kristin Kovalik. “Expanded permanent public access to the property for various types of outdoor recreation will not only strengthen the local economy, but will help improve health outcomes, allowing both businesses and residents to benefit from this shared community asset.”
