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BLM scales back Rand project Visitor site to be 3,000 square feet By PAUL FATTIG GALICE -- The Bureau of Land Management will build its long-planned new visitor center along the Rogue River, but it has cut back on its original proposal. Following a public comment period, the BLM decided to build the controversial Smullin Visitor Center at Rand but pare down the size to 3,000 square feet, a reduction of 1,000 square feet, said John Prendergast, acting field manager for the BLM's Grants Pass Resource Area. "That change was based on concerns we received during the public comment period," said Prendergast, who signed the official decision Monday afternoon to build the facility. The new visitor center will replace the old 600-square-foot Rand office where permits and information are issued for the popular wild section of the river, which begins a few miles downstream at the mouth of Grave Creek. Officials say the facility is needed to meet the growing demands of river traffic. But many river runners have objected to the planned structure in the remote area of the river. The public comment period was held last fall following an administrative appeal filed by Riverhawks, a group of river runners based in Ashland. They said the agency had failed to hold a legally required comment period following completion of its environmental assessment. As a result, the initial decision to build the center was rescinded in September to seek public comment. The modifications may not change many minds, said Applegate Valley resident Lloyd Knapp, a member of the Northwest Rafters Association. "Changing it from 4,000 to 3,000 square feet really doesn't change anything," he said. "It's still a poor use of tax money." If built, many river runners want to see the facility constructed upstream away from the remote area, he said. "The problem is primarily where it will be at," he said. "It doesn't belong in the pristine section of the river." In addition to reducing the size of the facility, the modifications include vegetation screening to reduce the center's visibility from the river. "We're also going to choose building colors that will blend in with the vegetation and make it less obtrusive," Prendergast said. In response to comments wary of increased traffic, the agency will monitor traffic to determine if that is an issue, he said. The agency considered other sites upriver but could not find any that were suitable, officials said. The center, the result of legislation introduced by former U.S. Sen. Mark O. Hatfield, R-Ore., is named after William B. Smullin, a pioneering radio and television broadcaster in Southern Oregon. The building will cost about $800,000, down about $100,000 from the original proposal. The proposal calls for the center to house a larger wild section permit office, a river information desk, interpretive display areas, staff offices and public restrooms. It will enable river managers to provide users with information on no-trace camping, pack-in-and-pack-out disposal of human waste, matching camp size with party size and proper use of required fire pans, according to BLM officials. The old facility, which has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, was built as a project of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The lower Rogue was one of the first rivers in the nation cited for protection in the 1968 Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA