![]() | Cascade-SiskiyouJunior Explorer |
Junior Explorer Activity Book for Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (NM) in Oregon. Published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
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CASCADE-SISKIYOU
NATIONAL MONUMENT
Exploring on CASCADE-SISKIYOU
NATIONAL MONUMENT
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Junior Explorer program introduces young explorers
like you to the lands and resources the BLM manages. This activity book focuses on the unique
geology and biological diversity found within Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
Rough-Skinned Newt
You can work through the activities on your own or invite a sibling, parent, or another adult you
know to join you. After you complete the activities, go to page 21 in the book and say the Junior
Explorer pledge, sign the certificate, and you’re on your way to exploring and protecting America’s
public lands. We hope you have fun exploring and learning about this unique area and the wide
variety of plants and animals that call it home.
1
WALK, & PLAY ON DESIGNATED TRAILS. This is helpful in preventing
damage to soils needed to grow all the beautiful plants and flowers you see.
EVERYTHING ENTHUSIASTICALLY BUT AT A DISTANCE. Remember
that Cascade-Siskiyou is home to many unique species and we are the visitors.
THE TRAIL. BE KIND AND COURTEOUS TO OTHER HIKERS. The monument
is host to more than a hundred thousand visitors each year! That’s a lot of sharing!
BE A “PACKER”. IF YOU PACK IT IN - PACK IT OUT. This will help keep
the monument clean and beautiful. We love bugs as long as they aren’t litter bugs!
THE FLOWERS! LET OTHERS ENJOY THEM AS WELL BY NOT PICKING
THEM. Take as many pictures as you want so you can share their beauty .
TO DO YOUR PART IN PROTECTING the monument’s biological
diversity. This is a very special place where an amazing variety of plants and
animals is found. We can all work together to keep it that way.
It is fun to share your experiences by
taking or drawing pictures, but leaving behind what you find.
2
LEAVE NO TRACE
BIGFOOT HAS BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS
You’ve probably heard the words, “be safe, be
responsible, be respectful” at school, right?
Well, the seven principles of Leave No
Trace are very similar.
By following these seven simple rules
you can help preserve the
biodiversity that makes
the monument such
a special place.
The Seven
Leave No Trace
Principles for Kids
• Know Before You Go
• Choose the Right Path
• Trash Your Trash
• Leave What You Find
• Be Careful With Fire
• Respect Wildlife
• Be Kind to Other Visitors
To learn more about the Leave No Trace Principles take the LNT interactive online course for kids,
go to PEAK Online at https:/lnt.org/teach/peak/peakonline
3
A RECIPE FOR BIODIVERSITY
You’re probably wondering, “what is biodiversity?” Well, it is short for biological diversity and is the
scientific term for lots of different living things. At Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, we have
an amazing variety of plants and animals!
Five different ecoregions come together here. You can think of an ecoregion as a place where
certain plants and animals live based on soil-type, temperature, rainfall, and elevation. These five
ecoregions are the ingredients in our recipe for biodiversity.
• Cascade Range
• Great Basin Desert
• Sierra Nevada Mountains
• Klamath Mountains
• Siskiyou Mountains
Cascade Range
4
Great Basin Desert
Sierra Nevada Mountains
Klamath Mountains
Siskiyou Mountains
BIODIVERSITY WORD SEARCH
Listed below are just a few of the plant and animal species that can be found within the monument.
Now, see if you can find them!
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BEAVER
JENNY CREEK SUCKER
PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS
RATTLESNAKE
BLACK BEAR
KANGAROO RAT
REDBAND TROUT
LITTLE BROWN BAT
ROCK WREN
MARIPOSA LILY
CHICKADEE
MARDON SKIPPER
ROUGH-SKINNED NEWT
COLUMBINE
MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY
SAGEBRUSH
DOUGLAS FIR
NORTHERN GOSHAWK
SALAMANDER
SCARLET FRITILLARY
GREAT GRAY OWL
TREEFROG
PACIFIC FISHER
JUNIPER
5
BIRD IS THE WORD
More than 200 bird species have been reported in the monument! Here, many birds are found near
the edge of their range. A bird’s range is how far north, south, east, or west they call home. For
example, the blue-gray gnatcatcher and California towhee are at the edge of their northern range,
meaning that you wouldn’t likely find these birds farther north than the monument.
Spell the scrambled bird names correctly in the boxes on the right. The circled letters can then be
correctly placed to complete the final phrase below.
WOCKOEREDP
TUULERV
EETWHO
HKWA
WSLALWO
EMAPIG
M
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WORC
Final phrase
“ B
F
6
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...FLOCK TOGETHER”
FOOD WATER SHELTER SPACE
These are the four things that all living things require; food to eat, water to drink, shelter for safety,
and space to grow and live. Match the animals in the center column with the food they need in the left
column and their habitat in the right column by drawing a line. There may be more than one correct
answer. Draw an animal of your choice in the blank box, and see if you can identify its food and habitat!
FOOD
ANIMAL
HABITAT
Black Bear
City
Ant
Meadow
Redband
Trout
Pileated
Woodpecker
Forest
Grey Squirrel
Human
Blackberries
Great
Horned Owl
Stream
Hamburger
Redband
Trout
Draw Your Choice
Draw Your Choice
Snag
Draw Your Choice
7
YOU ARE A TRACK STAR
Many animals are hard to see because they’re so well camouflaged. Some only come out at night,
meaning they’re nocturnal. Many animals also make an effort to avoid humans, and disappear before
we have a chance to see them. This is discouraging if you’re out looking for wildlife, but you can always find
evidence that an animal has been there. Hike like a detective, look for clues such as scat, fur, feathers, and tracks.
Tracks found in the mud or sand can help us understand what kind of animals live in a certain area,
how many animals live in an area, and even which direction they’re traveling.
Can you discover who left these tracks behind? Write the name of the correct animal below their tracks.
Golden Eagle
1. ____________________________
2.____________________________
3.____________________________
4.____________________________
Black Bear
Beaver
What is a beaver’s adaptation
to living both on land and in
the water?
Grey Squirrel
HINT: study its tracks!
Coyote
5.____________________________
GO FOR THE GOLD
Math Challenge Problem
FIGURE IT OUT! Imagine that in a particular part of the monument there are both salamanders and
bluejays. Together there are 78 feet and 27 heads. How many salamanders and bluejays live in this
part of the monument?
8
The Monument Post
Cascade Siskiyou National Monument
Vol. MMXIV No. 1
Since 2000
today’s weather
Sunny and Mild
storied past • bright future
ONE-EYED CHARLEY’S BIG SECRET
Hard Living
Catches Up
With Stage
Coach Legend
No stranger to the Siskiyous, Charley
Parkhurst was one of the most famous
stagecoach drivers in history. Charley
was actually short for Charlotte, but it
was a secret she kept until her death.
Born in Vermont, she was orphaned at
an early age but later dressed as a boy to
escape the orphanage. She found the
masquerade opened a lot of doors that
were closed to girls and women in early
19th century America. She worked as a
stable hand before moving west and
adopting the rough and tumble lifestyle
as a stagecoach driver, where she became
known as One Eyed Charlie. She was
as tough and gruff as any pioneer
Old Reelfoot
Strikes Again!
Just to mention the name of “Old
Reelfoot,” the grizzly, back in the
1870s and ‘80s, was enough to raise
the hair on a brave man’s neck--and
to make the frontier women call
their kids inside their log cabins
and drop the bar across the door.
“Old Reelfoot” was one of the
worst stock-killing grizzlies the
West has ever known—crafty, and
with immense strength, he would
fell a cow with one blow,
and eat his �ill. For 20 years, from
1870 to 1890, Old Reelfoot killed
literally hundreds of cattle.
With a combined bounty of
nearly $1700 on his head, Reelfoot
was no stranger to being hunted but
on April 10, 1890, Reelfoot’s luck ran
out. Stock-man Bill Wright had
sworn revenge after his prized bull
was killed. He and Purl Bean �inally
caught up with the giant bear and
shot him near Pilot Rock.
man-known for her colorful language and nights at
the saloon. She could break a man’s nose in a �ight
as fast as she could break a rowdy horse, and was
rumored to have shot and killed at least one bandit
who tried to rob her coach.
much of this scandalous discovery but the facts
could not be denied. She held her own as one of
the West’s most colorful characters and �inest
stagecoach drivers.
Applegate Trail
Opens at Last
Insert Photo
She may have also been the �irst woman to vote in
California. She proudly registered to vote in 1868 in
order to support Ulysses S. Grant’s bid for U.S.
President. But in1879 her hard living lifestyle caught
up with her. It wasn’t until then that her secret was
known by all. At the funeral home, the mortician
In 1843 Charles, Jesse, and Lindsay Applegate
made an unexpected discovery; One-Eyed Charlie,
led their families west along the Oregon Trail
was really a woman. Newspapers at the time made from Missouri to what was then known as
Oregon Country. It was a long hard journey, and
a particularly sad one for the Applegates. Two
of the Applegate children were lost on the
journey down the Columbia River. The harships
they faced along the way in�luenced the family
to �ind an easier and safer way to the Willamette
Valley.
Jesse and Lindsay, along with Levi Scott and a
host of others, began the task of �inding
a more southerly route to Oregon in 1846. At
Fort Hall, Idaho, the new route departed
from the Oregon trail and headed south along the
Humbolt River before passing through the
Black Rock Desert in present-day Nevada. The
trail then entered into nothern California
before crossing into southern Oregon. It
followed Keene Creek to the Siskiyou Mountains,
then followed the Rogue River and headed
north towards their �inal destination,
the Willamette Valley.
The trail led weary travelers to the Greensprings, located in the heart of the monument.
Springs, green glades, lush meadows, and shady
towering forests were a welcome relief.
Tub Springs, now maintained by the Oregon
State Parks and Recreation Department, still
�lows today, providing modern travelers with
the same plentiful fresh source of water it once
provided to settlers traveling the Applegate Trail.
9
THIS PLACE IS A.MAZE.ING
10
PILOT ROCK
Important both historically and geologically, Pilot
Rock stands out as one of the most striking features
of the monument. It rises 570 feet to an elevation of
5,910 feet. It is popular with hikers and rock
climbers, and provides important habitat for
peregrine falcons.
The remnant of an ancient volcano, Pilot Rock is
visible from much of the Shasta Valley in northern
California and parts of the Rogue Valley in southern
Oregon. Over time, the exterior volcano eroded
away, leaving behind the impressive columnar basalt
of the ancient volcano’s central vent. Fossil sites
near Pilot Rock contain leaf impressions and conifer
cones that became embedded in volcanic ash beds
25-35 million years ago.
open vent
land surface 20-30
million years ago
volcanic
neck
erosion
land surface
today
Pilot Rock, like Ship Rock in New Mexico and Devil’s
Tower in Wyoming, is considered to be a volcanic
neck or plug. It was exposed after the surrounding
sedimentary rocks eroded and fell away.
PEREGRINE FALCON FACTS:
• There are known nesting sites on Pilot Rock.
• Like hawks and eagles, falcons are raptors.
• They are sometimes called "duck hawks".
• They can dive up to 200 miles per hour!
• Peregrine falcons can eat songbirds, ducks, and bats.
• They can catch their prey in mid-air.
• There are an estimated 1,650 breeding pairs in the United
States and Canada.
• Peregrine falcons are found on every continent except
Antarctica.
11
BUTTERFLY COLORING PAGE
There are nearly 120 butterfly species present in the monument. When you consider that there
are only 162 known species in all of Oregon, the monument has a pretty amazing assortment of
butterflies! Butterflies are good indicators of plant diversity since the caterpillars of individual
species only feed on specific plants, called host plants.
12
CONNECT THE DOTS
Beavers are a keystone species. A keystone species affects many other organisms in an ecosystem,
and helps to determine the types and numbers of various other species in the community. Beavers
create and protect biodiversity by creating wetlands. The wetlands they create then become home
to many other plants, animals, and birds who depend on the beaver for thier own survival.
Connect the dots and color this busy beaver!
FORMER BOX-O RANCH
After being gone for decades, beavers have returned to Jenny Creek. The BLM and others have
worked hard to restore riparian areas along Jenny Creek in and around the old Box-O Ranch. The
absence of cattle, riparian restoration efforts, and less human activity, have made Jenny Creek a
wonderful habitat for beavers, redband trout, and the Jenny Creek sucker. It’s also a great place for
birding!
INTERESTING BEAVER FACTS:
• Beavers live in lodges, not dams
• Beavers can swim almost twice as fast as an
Olympic swimmer (that’s impressive!)
• Beavers don’t eat wood, they eat cambium.
Cambium is the juicy nutrient-filled tree layer
below the bark
• Beavers’ ability to change the landscape is second
only to humans
13
HOW THE PEOPLE
In the days when the first people lived, they used to go hunting with arrows that had
pine-bark points. They did not know where to get obsidian, or they would have used it, for
obsidian makes a sharp, deadly point which always killed the animals that were shot.
Ground Squirrel was the only one that knew that Obsidian Old Man lived on Medicine Lake,
and one day he set out to steal some obsidian. Taking a basket filled with roots, he went
into Obsidian Old Man’s house and offered him some. Obsidian Old Man ate the roots and
liked them so much that he sent Ground Squirrel out to get more. While Ground Squirrel
was digging for them, Grizzly Bear came along.
“Sit down, “ Grizzly Bear said. “Let me sit in your lap. Feed me those roots by the handful.”
Ground Squirrel was very much afraid of huge Grizzly Bear, so he did as he was told. Grizzly
Bear gobbled the roots and got up. “Obsidian Old Man’s mother cleaned roots for someone,”
he said as he went away.
Ground Squirrel returned to Obsidian Old Man, but there were only a few roots left to give
him. Ground Squirrel told him what Grizzly Bear had done and what he had said as he
departed. Obsidian Old Man was extremely angry at the insult to his dead mother.
“Tomorrow we will both go find roots,” he said.
So early the next morning they set off. Obsidian Old Man hid near the place where Ground
Squirrel started digging. Soon Ground Squirrel’s basket was filled, and then along came
Grizzly Bear.
“You dug all those for me!” he said. “Sit down!”
Ground Squirrel sat down, as he had the day before, and fed Grizzly Bear roots by the
handful. But just then Grizzly Bear saw Obsidian Old Man draw near, and the bear got up
to fight. At each blow, a great slice of the grizzly’s flesh was cut off by the sharp obsidian.
Grizzly Bear kept fighting until he was all cut to pieces, and then he fell dead. So Ground
Squirrel and Obsidian Old Man went home and ate all the roots and were happy. Early next
morning, Obsidian Old Man awakened by Ground Squirrel’s groaning.
“I am sick. I am bruised because that great fellow sat upon me. Really, I am sick,” he was
groaning.
Obsidian Old Man was sorry for Ground Squirrel. “I’ll go and get wood,” he said to himself.
“But I’ll watch him, for he may be fooling me. These people are very clever.”
14
GOT ARROWHEADS
A SHASTA LEGEND
So he went out for wood, and on the way he thought, “I had better go back and look.”
When he crept back softly and peeped in, he saw Ground Squirrel lying there, groaning. “He
is really sick!” Obsidian Old Man said to himself, and went off in earnest, this time for wood.
But Ground Squirrel was very clever; he had been fooling all the time. As soon as Obsidian
Old Man was far away, he got up. Taking all the obsidian points and tying them up in a
bundle, he ran off.
As soon as Obsidian Old Man returned, he
missed Ground Squirrel. He dropped the
wood, ran after him, and almost caught
him but Ground Squirrel ran into a hole
in the ground. As he went, he kicked
the earth into the eyes of the old man,
who was digging fast, trying
to catch him.
After a while, Obsidian Old
Man gave up and left. Ground
Squirrel came out the other
end of the hole, crossed the
lake, and went home.
He emptied the bundle
of points on the ground
and distributed them to
everyone. All day long
the people worked, tying
them onto arrows. They
threw away all the old bark
points, and when they were
hunting they used the new
arrow points and killed a great
many deer.
Dixon, Roland B. 1908 Achomawi and Atsugewi Tales. Journal of American Folk Lore, Vol. 21, pp 159-177
15
MAD LIBS
My family and I were on the _________________ vacation ever. We decided to visit Cascadeadjective
Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon. As we were driving towards Hyatt Lake
the most
____________ thing happened, we saw a(n) ______________. It was ______________.
adjective
animal
adjective
When we got to the campground I went straight to the ________________. We looked
place (outdoors)
at the wildflowers and and I got to see a(n) ____________ butterfly. It was really ___________.
adjective
adjective
We must have seen ___________ different butterflies, and I even found a few ____________
number
adjective
wild strawberries growing. They were ______________!
adjective
The next day we decided to hike a section of the Pacific Crest Trail. We packed some
___________ and plenty of ___________and headed for Hobart Bluff. There were a lot of
liquid
food
____________ in the trees and _____________ everywhere. I saw the tracks of a(n)
plural noun
plural noun
______________ which was pretty cool. The hike was ____________ and the views were
adjective
animal
_____________. ____________ even saw a golden eagle soaring overhead.
adjective
person
When we returned to camp I was ready to do some fishing. I tied a(n) _____________on
noun
to my line and cast into the lake. I felt a tug and reeled in a ___________ inch trout.
number
“_________”
exclamation
I exclaimed, “that is the ___________ fish I ever saw!” We decided to take it back to camp for
adjective
dinner. __________ cooked it over the fire with some _____________ and _____________ ,
food
name
food
it was delicious.
We awoke early the next morning and packed up camp, it was time to drive back to
____________. I can’t wait to return again next __________, what a fun trip!
16
place
season
GLOSSARY and KEY
ADAPTATION • a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment
BIODIVERSITY • the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem
BIOLOGY • the study of living organisms, divided into many specialized fields
CAMBIUM • a cellular plant tissue
CAMOUFLAGED • an animal’s natural coloring or form that enables it to blend in with its surroundings
CENTRAL VENT • the place in the earth’s surface from where lava and gas are erupted
CHEMICAL REACTION • a process that involves rearrangement of the molecular or ionic structure of a substance
COLUMNAR BASALT • volcanic rock that shows the vertical cracks or fracturing formed by rapid cooling
CONIFER • a tree that bears cones and evergreen needlelike or scalelike leaves
DIVERSITY • a range of different things
ECOREGION • a major ecosystem defined by distinctive geography and receiving uniform solar radiation and moisture
ECOSYSTEM • a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment
ELEVATION • the height above a given level, esp. sea level
ENVIRONMENT • the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates
EROSION • the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents
GEOLOGY • the science that deals with the earth’s physical structure and substance, its history, and the processes that act on it
HABITAT • the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism
HOST • an animal or plant on or in which a organism lives
IGNEOUS ROCK • rock having solidified from lava or magma
INDICATOR SPECIES • an animal or plant species that can be used to infer conditions in a particular habitat
KEYSTONE SPECIES • a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the
eco system would change drastically
LANDSCAPE • all the visible features of an area of countryside or land
LAVA • hot molten or semifluid rock erupted from a volcano or fissure, or solid rock resulting from cooling of this
LODGE • a beaver’s den
NOCTURNAL • done, occurring, or active at night
NUTRIENT • a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life
ORAL TRADITION • the cultural and historical traditions passed from one generation to the next by word of mouth with
out written instructions
ORGANISM • an individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form
RANCHERIA • (in Spanish America and the western US) a small Indian settlement
RANGE • the area over which a thing, esp. a plant or animal, is distributed
RESTORATION • the action of returning something to a former condition
RESERVATION • an area of land set aside for occupation by North American Indians
RIPARIAN • of or relating to wetlands adjacent to rivers and streams
SEDIMENTARY ROCK • rock that has formed from sediment deposited by water or air
SNAG • a dead tree
SOIL TYPE • how soil is defined based on the percentage of sand, silt, and clay in its make-up
TOPOGRAPHY • the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area
VOLCANIC ASH • the tiny particles of rock, minerals, and volcanic glass created during volcanic eruptions
VOLCANIC PLUG • a column of igneous rock formed by cooled lava in the central vent of a volcano; later exposed by
erosion
WETLAND • land consisting of marshes or swamps; saturated land
WILDERNESS AREA • a region where the land is in natural state; where impacts from human activities are minimal
17
Bureau of Land Management
Junior Explorer
As a Bureau of Land Management Junior Explorer, I promise to:
• do all I can to help preserve and protect the natural and cultural resources
on our public lands,
• be aware of how my actions can affect other living things and t he evidence of
our past,
• keep learning about the importance of nature and our heritage, and
• share what I have learned with others!
Date
18
Explorer Signature