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37 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, January 20, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend December 17, 2003 Flood of comments delays plan BLM is still going over issues for management of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Friday marks a year since the public comment period ended on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s draft management plan for the 52,947-acre Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. But don’t expect a final decision on the management plan until next spring, said Howard Hunter, assistant manager of the monument located in the BLM’s Medford District. With more than 17,000 comments received, the agency has had its hands full examining the rich range of comments, he explained. "There was a lot of public comments, some very complex," he said. "We’ve have a lot of issues to address." The district’s staff also has been busy with other issues, including the Healthy Forests Initiative and efforts to reduce hazardous fuels around rural communities, he said. Advertisement While many of the comments were form letters, about 300 were individual comments, many of them with in-depth suggestions and observations, he said. And many of those individual comments provided new data or asked questions that had not been previously considered, according to the BLM. Scientists weighed in to observe that the region’s unique climate and geology created one of the most biologically diverse areas in North America. Then-Gov. John Kitzhaber expressed concern about the impact of roads and cattle grazing on the monument. But others, including ranchers fearing the loss of grazing permits for their cattle, countered that the diversity is the result of timber management and grazing over the years. They urged that all the roads remain open. Some property owners with land bordering the monument were concerned management would infringe on private property rights while other adjacent property owners applauded the monument’s creation. "We know people are intensely interested in this decision," Hunter said. "We’ve taken a lot of time on it, put a lot of hard work and a lot of thought into this. I’m proud of the work we’ve done." The monument blankets the region where the Siskiyou and Cascade mountain ranges converge, including Pilot Rock and Soda Mountain. Created in June 2000 by the Clinton administration under the 1906 Antiquities Act, the monument proclamation calls for protecting the monument’s 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 draft plan, which contains more than 800 pages, offers a hands-off alternative as well as three different levels of management. The BLM’s preferred alternative 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. Two other regions within the monument, a wilderness study area and research natural area, already are being managed for their respective characteristics. "Until Congress makes a decision on the wilderness study area, our guidance is to manage that area as a wilderness," Hunter said. Grazing study continues By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune The Bureau of Land Management is still riding herd on its grazing study in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, despite not having a budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. "We don’t have a budget yet but we are continuing with our grazing study," said assistant monument manager Howard Hunter, referring to the fact Congress has yet to approve the omnibus bill which will include funding for the agency. "When we get a budget, we’re pretty sure there’ll be money in it for the grazing study," he said. Launched last year, the study will determine whether cattle will continue to browse within the monument boundaries each summer. The study is looking at every aspect of livestock impact, from mountain meadows to riparian areas. Enclosed test plots have been established to enable the agency to collect baseline data. "When we started the study, we said it would be a three- to five-year study," Hunter said. "But some portions of it will be long term." In the monument proclamation on June 9, 2000, the agency was directed to conduct the study to determine whether grazing is compatible with the monument’s purpose. The monument was established to protect the unique flora and fauna in the region, which scientists say is a rich biological crossroads where the Cascade, Siskiyou and Klamath mountain ranges intersect. The area has been used as open range by local ranchers for more than a century for high mountain grazing when the lowlands dry up each summer. Under the Taylor Grazing Act of 1936, open range use is permitted on federal land. The use is allocated through a system known as animal unit months (AUMs). Ranchers pay $1.35 per AUM, which is equivalent to a cow and a calf feeding for one month. There are between 5,000 and 6,000 active AUMs on the monument land. On the hoof, that means a total 991 pairs of cows could be allowed on the monument during the summer. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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