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Soda Mountain area tops list Babbitt says it's ripe for monument status By PAUL FATTIG Soda Mountain has risen to the top of the list for national monument recommendation, said Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. The ecologically diverse area a dozen miles east of Ashland near the California border, along with a cluster of canyons dotted with American Indian ruins in southwestern Colorado, are "ripe for consideration" to become the fifth and sixth monuments created by President Clinton this year, Babbitt told The Associated Press Monday. They are at "the top of the list," he said, although he would not say precisely when he would ask the president to declare the new monuments. His recommendation would lock up national monument status for the area, agree varied interests concerned about the future of the mountain. But they do not agree on what is best for the land. Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, a president can designate national monuments to protect certain historic or scientific values. Soda Mountain is part of an area considered by many scientists as one of the most biologically diverse in the country. "We are very grateful that Secretary Babbitt is listening to the thousands of Oregonians, both local and statewide, that have asked him to protect nationally public land in the Soda Mountain area," said Dave Willis, president of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council. "The highest and best use of the national public land and resources here is to protect them for generations to come," added Willis, who has been working to promote protection of the area since 1983. Dave Hill, executive secretary of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association, disagrees. "I hope Secretary Babbitt will not dismiss the public review process now underway," Hill said, referring to public comments coming in concerning the Bureau of Land Management's draft management plan and draft environmental impact statement for the Cascade Siskiyou Ecological Emphasis Area (CSEEA), which includes most of the Soda Mountain region. "I hope that process will run its course before any national monument decision is made," Hill said, adding that he is concerned about the fate of thousands of acres of private land within the proposed monument. The BLM will continue its planning process for the CSEEA, said Karen Perault, spokeswoman for BLM's Medford District. Deadline for public comments on the CSEEA is June 14, with a final decision expected this fall. "We understand a decision is imminent," she said of monument status. "We don't know what size, guidelines or restrictions may be included." The agency's preferred alternative calls for increasing the area by nearly 10,000 acres -- to 40,975 acres -- while further restricting timber harvest and cattle grazing. Hill and others, including the Jackson County Board of Commission, are concerned that monument designation will change how the land in the area is managed, further restricting timber harvests, off-road vehicle use and other multiple-use activity. Others, including Gov. John Kitzhaber, have supported the monument proposal, saying the diverse ecology of the area must be protected. Babbitt has visited the Rogue Valley twice in the past six months, including hiking on Soda Mountain late last fall. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA