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BLM plans public meeting on Cascade Siskiyou area By PAUL FATTIG ASHLAND -- A public meeting on managing federal lands where the Cascade Mountains meet the Siskiyous will be held Saturday at Southern Oregon University. The session begins at 1 p.m. in SOU's Stevenson Union. At issue is the Bureau of Land Management's draft management plan and draft environmental impact statement for the Cascade Siskiyou Ecological Emphasis Area (CSEEA). The draft was released last month. The BLM's preferred alternative calls for expanding the area by nearly 10,000 acres -- to 40,975 acres -- while further restricting timber harvest and cattle grazing on the land. The area has been the focus of an intense debate between environmental activists, the timber industry, ranchers, recreational users and others on how it should be managed in the future. The alternative was one of five considered. Other alternatives included everything from no action to focusing on commodities such as timber and grazing. The public has until June 14 to comment on the documents. A final decision is expected Nov. 1. The current ecological emphasis area covers 31,575 acres. The area is about 12 miles wide, stretching from Jenny Creek on the east to the Siskiyou Summit. It is about 10 miles deep, stretching from the state line north to Highway 66. The area was designated an ecological emphasis area in President Clinton's Northwest Forest Plan in 1994 as well as the BLM's Medford District resource plan released in 1995. The draft plan and draft EIS are not connected to a proposal to make the Soda Mountain area within the CSEEA a national monument, officials said. During a videoconference with local residents last week, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt indicated that he was leaning toward providing additional protection for Soda Mountain. Babbitt has visited the area twice in the past six months. The Soda Mountain Wilderness Council has been pressing for additional protection of up to 70,000 acres of federal land in the area. The agency already has received some 600 comments on how the area should be managed. The draft document and the preferred alternative are on the agency's Web site at: www.or.blm.gov/Medford Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA