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Interests of land, not politics By Paul Fattig The Bureau of Land Management will be guided by what�s best for the land, not by the outcome of the next presidential election, said the agency�s highest official Thursday during a visit to the Medford district. "Things that are happening in the bureau have happened, not because of changes in administrations, but because the bureau has been forced to change to deal with the realities of the new West," said Tom Fry, the BLM�s national director. Increased pressure for such things as recreational use by a growing population has pushed the agency away from its once-primary focus of resource extraction, he said. "We are having more urban interface problems in the West, and that is changing the way we do business," he said. "I don�t think we can go back to what we were before." As an example of those changes, Fry, who was appointed the agency�s acting director two years ago, noted that six new national monuments have been established by President Clinton and one new national conservation area created by Congress. The newest is the 57,000-acre Cascade Siskiyou National Monument in the Soda Mountain Area in the mountains immediately southeast of Ashland. The agency had one national monument when Fry became acting director. That monument in southern Utah was established in 1996. Fry�s appointment was recently confirmed by Congress. Fry took a tour of the BLM�s newest monument Thursday afternoon. The goal is to protect both the scientific and the scenic qualities of the monument, he said. Scientists have said the monument area produces a unique range of botanical diversity. "We are asking the (BLM�s) state office to give us their ideas of how the monument should be set up," he said, adding that local community input is also being considered. Don�t look for a BLM national monument to be similar to those of the National Park Service, he said, noting the two agencies have different missions. "When we look at the BLM areas, we want to make sure they maintain the same character they have today for years to come," he said. "These are open spaces, a place where you can go get lost. It�s not a place where, generally speaking, you would have visitor centers." Instead, the BLM�s monuments will retain more of their wild characteristics, he said. "So we want to make sure our management plans protect those values that are part of the proclamations," he said. "Hunting and fishing and things like that will continue to be allowed. "Varied activities will be allowed to continue as long as they are consistent with the values of the monument," he added. Monument designation does not affect adjoining private property other than potentially increasing the value of the private property, he said. "We want to make sure we�re good neighbors," he said. "We want to work with them to make sure we manage it in such a way that works for them and the American taxpayer." Fry was noncommittal regarding a local effort by environmental activists to create a million-acre plus Wild Rivers National Monument in Southwest Oregon, one which would include some 180,000 acres of the BLM�s Medford District. The remainder would include Siskiyou National Forest land. "We haven�t looked at it in terms of whether it�s something we would support or not support," he said. "But we�re always interested in citizen input as to areas they think are of special significance." However, he noted the administration wants to give Congress an opportunity to act on locally driven efforts. "The BLM is in an awkward situation at times because there are many competing interests, whether it�s recreation, grazing, mining, endangered species," he said. "At the end of the day we have to make a decision that doesn�t always make everyone happy. " Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA