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CLEAR Temp: 62 °F Wind: S at 3 mph Thursday, May 22, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend December 22, 2002 Conservationists dominate management plan comments By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune ASHLAND — About 17,000 comments have poured into the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Medford District office concerning the draft management plan for the 52,947-acre Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Thursday was the deadline for commenting on the BLM’s proposed alternatives for managing the monument that blankets the region where the Siskiyou and Cascade ranges come together. Pilot Rock and Soda Mountain are the centerpieces of the monument. A majority of the comments support an approach that would ensure adequate protection for the monument’s diverse natural resources, said Howard Hunter, the monument’s assistant manager. "The conservation side definitely weighed in with more numbers," he said. "But a substantial number also wants closed roads reopened," he added. "They are concerned about private property issues like access." The lion’s share of the comments by all participants were form letters sent out by groups to their supporters, he said. "A very small number — about 300 — were specifically detailed, customized," he said. "So many were not specific. But everything counts." One comment was offered by Gov. John Kitzhaber, who expressed concern about the impact of roads and cattle grazing on the monument. The agency will be poring over the comments for several months, Hunter said. "We’re going to look at all of them," he said. "That’s going to take a while. We didn’t expect this many." Created in 2000 by the Clinton administration under the 1906 Antiquities Act, the monument’s proclamation called for protecting its biological diversity, restoring damaged ecosystems and preserving unique flora and fauna. That document also established the monument boundary, directed the BLM to study the impact of livestock grazing, banned cross-country mechanized travel, closed Schoheim Road to mechanized vehicles and eliminated commercial logging except where needed for ecological restoration or public safety. The agency was given three years to prepare the monument’s management plan. The result was a complex document containing more than 800 pages. The original 90-day comment period was to have ended in September, but an extension was granted after many complained they didn’t have time to study the draft plan in-depth. The draft offers a hands-off alternative as well as three different levels of management. Alternative C, BLM’s preference, would manage up to 7,700 acres of the roughly 24,000 acres designated as part of the old-growth emphasis area. That management would include cutting trees to reduce density and improve old-growth characteristics. The preferred alternative also calls for managing some 2,000 acres in the 20,000-acre diversity emphasis area to restore and enhance grasslands, shrubs and oak woodlands. Another 3,000 acres in the area would be treated for noxious weeds. Alternative D, the most proactive of the three, would treat 14,126 acres of the old-growth emphasis area. It also would provide for the widest array of management tools in treating 5,000 acres of the diversity emphasis area. Two other regions within the monument, a wilderness study area and research natural area, already are being managed for their respective characteristics. The draft management plan contains proposed transportation plans. The BLM already has closed 77 miles of roads, but the other 174 miles of agency roads are not closed under any alternative, with the exception of three miles of road under Alternative B. The remainder of the roads are on private land. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times