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Mining moratorium in effect, for now By Paul Fattig CAVE JUNCTION � An 11th-hour call by the Clinton administration for a two-year moratorium on new mining claims in the Siskiyou National Forest and adjacent Bureau of Land Management property has apparently gone into effect. Monday�s publication of the notice in the Federal Register, the federal government publication that notifies the public of major regulatory changes or actions, triggered the beginning of the moratorium, explained Chuck Roy, lands record specialist for the BLM�s state office in Portland. "The law starts the day it is printed in the Federal Register," Roy said Thursday afternoon. "For the next two years, under that notice, there can be no more new filings." However, BLM officials were quick to note that the administrative rule announced by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt during a visit to Medford on Jan. 14 could quickly be reversed by the Bush administration. Babbitt�s last day on the job was Jan. 20; he has not yet been replaced. The moratorium does not affect existing valid claims or those filed before the notice was posted in the Federal Register. The BLM has responsibility for all minerals on federal public land, including national forests. But Rob Shull, recreational lands and minerals staff officer for the Siskiyou and Rogue River forests, cautioned that the moratorium could be in jeopardy with the Bush administration�s placing a 60-day freeze on regulations created by the outgoing Clinton administration. "We�re essentially in a waiting period now � we truly don�t know," he said of implementation of Babbitt�s regulation. BLM officials said that freeze didn�t affect regulations already printed in the Federal Register. The notice calls for a moratorium on new mining claims of some 1.094 million acres in the Siskiyou forest and about 152,000 acres of BLM property in Josephine, Curry, Coos and Douglas counties. The moratorium does not affect existing valid claims or claims filed before the moratorium took effect. Babbitt had asked for the moratorium to protect "nationally significant ecological and biologic diversity of the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area," the notice read. Comments on the action will be accepted until April 23. Babbitt had recommended the moratorium while announcing that he would not recommend a proposed 1 million-plus acre Siskiyou Wild Rivers National Monument in the region. The moratorium would provide additional protection for a valuable salmon fishery in the area while a public debate could continue on the merits of the proposed monument, Babbitt said. Democratic members of Oregon�s congressional delegation had asked for the moratorium earlier this month. The area is largely protected from logging by existing laws and regulations, such as wilderness designations and a new prohibition on road construction. But it remains vulnerable to mining, particularly small-scale placer gold mining in creeks where salmon spawn, Babbitt said. The notice represents why a change in administrations was needed, said longtime Illinois Valley miner Walt Freeman. "It begs the question: Protect the area from what?" he asked. "I see no imminent threat posed by any mining activity. "There are plenty of environmental regulations in place to protect the environment." His reading of the notice in the Federal Register indicated it was still in the proposal stage and not yet official, he said. "And, like a lot of proposals like this, I suspect there is not a lot of local support for it," he added. But Dave Willis, an environmental activist who supports the monument drive, disagrees. The gold retrieved by miners is a "piddling amount" compared to the value of the fish in the region, he said, noting that mining destroys fish habitat. "Mining in the Siskiyou contributes nothing to the southwest Oregon economy when it destroys the best wild fish and wild rivers on the West Coast," he said. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.