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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Couple's creativity and hard work fuel Kid Time! preschool expansion LNG project: Where the gas would flow, so would the money Time for a little winter prospecting Get Up & Go: Dec. 28 Employers brace for new laws in 2015 Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency Services Suspect in high-speed chase still unaccounted for Emergency services Emergency services Woman and grandson lose home in fire Politics and Elections State certifies recount showing failure of GMO-labeling measure Time running out for O&C funds GMO vote recount still shows little change GMO labeling votes recounted under careful watch in Jackson County Kent Bush: First Amendment doesn’t mean what you think it means Education Traveling artist sets the stage for Ruch School amphitheater Ruch school class focuses on the natural environment Bethel Church helps families at McLoughlin Middle School Logos may offer students 'fifth year' at RCC or SOU St. Mary's plays host to youth robotics tournament Environment Monument expansion expected to increase tourism, protect resources Biologist resigns over LNG reporting failure Bird flu discovered in Winston backyard flock Jackson County holds back on enforcing GMO ban for now No fish, no funding for problem dams State News Oregon missionary deported back to U.S. faces molestation charges Poverty rate in Oregon schools jumps since 2007 Northwest poultry producers fear bird flu outbreak may hurt exports John Day loggers, conservationists cut a deal to save a mill Seaside man accused in child's death Nation - World Obama makes Maduro’s ‘insolent Yankees’ line harder to sell Obituaries Patricia Ann Burton Alan Leslie Kenmoen Sharon Kay Boldt David A. 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Friday: Last 3-Team Parlay of 2014 Keeps the Empties in the Garage Longer Community blog: Why New Year�s Resolutions Don�t Work and What to Do Instead Fishing report: Friday, Dec. 26 Food Food for Thought: Wintertime wining and dining Kitchen Call: The comfort of creamy soups Community blog: Baking contest finalists combine cookies, candies Community blog: 'Cookbook Book' digests genre's past 300 years Community blog: Liver pat� an easy nosh for Hanukkah and beyond Home and Garden Dear Monty: Can a rookie real estate agent be a good choice? Bathtub or shower: What’s best for you? Home Help: Home safety tips for a safe and happy winter season How NOT to install drywall Dear Monty: Siblings dispute inherited real estate Health Community blog: Why New Year�s Resolutions Don�t Work and What to Do Instead Community blog: I Get It. Took a While. Health Watch: Small diet changes can make a big difference Community blog: Removing Barriers Is Good Insurance Health Watch: Change up your treadmill workout Hiking Biking Faith (No heading) Churches, synagogs host seasonal events Bethel Church helps families at McLoughlin Middle School Milestones and Achievements Pear Blossom queen has open heart surgery Hundreds enjoy Christmas dinner, gifts at St. Vincent de Paul SinceYou Asked: SBA would work with Mt. Ashland Ski Area about loan Fans, friends and family welcome home victorious SOU team at airport Wedding: Boldt-Mahon Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Dobra Tea menu offers hundreds of brews SugarBeats headline an all-ages dance party at Historic Ashland Armory In the Pocket releases 'I Got News' Live Music in Local Clubs Celebrate winter solstice with the Bad Film Society Theater ACT presents reading of 'The Quality of Life' Meet the real Jacob Marley This Nutcracker ballet will have a superhero twist Plumbing the depths of meaning TMTO presents 'A Christmas Carol: The Musical' Music SugarBeats headline an all-ages dance party at Historic Ashland Armory In the Pocket releases 'I Got News' Live Music in Local Clubs Southern Oregon Repertory Singers present 'The Holly and the Ivy' Tomaseen Foley's "A Celtic Christmas" returns to the Craterian Theater Community Events Celebrate winter solstice with the Bad Film Society Tomaseen Foley's "A Celtic Christmas" returns to the Craterian Theater Stefan Baumann and Eugene Bennett highlight Third Fridays Dancing People Company celebrates the solstice Dance to the Southern Oregon Jazz Orchestra Dining Dobra Tea menu offers hundreds of brews Food for Thought: Wintertime wining and dining Coffee shops roll out holiday-inspired drinks Over Easy serves 'pop-up' brunch Sundays Ooblies Artisan Waffle Sandwiches Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW Our View: Council is barking up the right tree ... Suspect in high-speed chase still unaccounted for ... Southern Oregon Surrogacy Center opens in Medford ... Our View: Council is barking up the right tree ... Suspect in high-speed chase still unaccounted for ... Southern Oregon Surrogacy Center opens in Medford ... Nickel miner must take to air By PAUL FATTIG MailTribune.com By PAUL FATTIG Posted Aug. 13, 1999 @ 2:00 am Updated Dec 16, 2010 at 11:21 PM By PAUL FATTIG Posted Aug. 13, 1999 @ 2:00 am Updated Dec 16, 2010 at 11:21 PM » Social News No new roads in sensitive area, agency says O'BRIEN -- A proposed nickel mining operation in the botanically rich Roughand Ready Creek watershed can proceed only if bulk mineral samples are hauledout by helicopter. That's the bottom line of the final environmental impact statement beingreleased today by Siskiyou National Forest officials for the Nicore Mine projectproposed by Illinois Valley miner Walt Freeman, according to an anonymous sourcewithin the agency. Bulk sampling using helicopters was the preferred alternative in thesupplemental draft environmental impact statement the agency released last fall. The preferred alternative would pose a serious financial obstacle, saidFreeman, whose plans had called for trucking out 40,000 tons of ore samples fromfour test sites. His plan included building some 14 miles of roads. The Siskiyou Regional Education Project, an Illinois Valley-basedenvironmental group, said it would file an administrative appeal to stop themining project entirely. The proposed mining operation has drawn national attention in recent years.Environmental groups portrayed Nicore as representing abuses inherent in the1872 mining law, while mining advocates defended Nicore and the law. Forestofficials received more than 5,000 comments on the final EIS. Tumbling out of the Siskiyou Mountains, Rough and Ready Creek flows east intothe west fork of the Illinois Valley about eight miles south of Cave Junction. Although it appears to be little more than a rocky desert to passersby onHighway 199 during the summer, the creek's upper watershed includes a chain ofcrystal-clear pools and vegetation-rich bogs. It first drew miners in the 1850s,followed by botanists beginning in the 1930s. Some two dozen rare plants havebeen found in the drainage. For Siskiyou forest supervisor Mike Lunn, it was a difficult decision thatrequired a balance between the rights of the miner and protecting the uniqueenvironment. Lunn is also the supervisor of the Rogue River National Forest. With mining operations, we try to figure out how to meet the needs ofthe miner, Lunn said. In this case, we know there are mineralsthere. But the economic value of those minerals has been really difficult for usto determine, to verify. As a decision maker, I found myself dealing with a situation in whichwe have speculative or unknown mineral value against high environmentalvalues, he added. Those environmental values included rare plants, a sensitive fishery and aroadless area, he said. We had to balance all those things against an almost lack of solid(economic) information on the mining operation, he said. The decision, while not ideal for everyone, will allow Freeman to continue toexercise his mining rights while learning more about the mineral deposit, Lunnsaid. We don't expect it (sampling) to be completed in a single year,he said. We would continue to work with him under that scenario. But Freeman, in an interview before the decision was announced, said thepreferred alternative was not acceptable. That would be a huge, million-dollar roadblock, said the IllinoisValley native, who has a degree in mining engineering from the Colorado Schoolof Mines. Although it has been dubbed a nickel project, the plan is to create stainlesssteel from the nickel, chrome and iron in the red dirt material on the claims,he said. The botanical richness of the area can be protected while the minerals areextracted, according to Freeman, whose family has lived at the site since themid-1950s. I've always wanted to just build a small mining project and put somelocal people to work, maybe make some money, he said. I want to makeuse of a natural resource that is fairly abundant here. One of the things the Forest Service has been claiming is that theeconomics are questionable, he added. My response is, if it's noteconomical, then it won't happen. He preferred not to speculate on his options should the agency deny hisrequest. But Darren Borgias, an ecologist with the Oregon chapter of The NatureConservancy, said the preferred alternative would help protect a large portionof the state's rare flora. Rough and Ready is perhaps the most significant watershed in the statein terms of having the greatest concentration of rare plants in Oregon,Borgias said. The conservancy has purchased three tracts of land totalling 60 acres in thecreek's drainage to help preserve rare plants. The preferred alternative is certainly more reasonable in theconservancy's estimation than that which would allow full-scale mining, heconcluded. Steve Marsden, a member of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project, which hasbeen leading the fight against the project, felt the agency should have taken noaction, thereby stopping the project completely. The Forest Service thinks it's the magic bullet alternative, hesaid. But it's really not. It really doesn't answer the problem. There isstill no proof this thing is valid. And the area is still threatened. Barbara Ullian, conservation director for the group, said, Although theForest Service decision is less destructive than what Nicore wanted, it stillharms a very pristine watershed for speculative mining. The only legal decision the Forest Service can make is to deny Nicorecompletely, she said. History of Rough and Ready CreekdrainageThe following is a chronology of the history of the Rough and Ready Creekdrainage in the Illinois Valley: 1850s -- The stream was named by gold miners for President ZacharyTaylor, nicknamed Rough and Ready when he was a general in theMexican War, according to the book Oregon Geographic Names. 1938 -- The state, under the pressure of Effie Smith and the IllinoisValley Garden Club, creates the 99-acre Rough and Ready State Botanical Wayside.The wayside was later reduced to 11 acres. 1939 -- Walt Freeman, the late father of the younger Walt Freeman,files on 4,360 acres of nickel claims on property now under the jurisdiction ofthe Siskiyou National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management in the Rough andReady drainage. 1989 -- Siskiyou National Forest Management Plan designates 1,500acres of the Rough and Ready Creek watershed as a botanical area. 1992 -- The younger Freeman files a patent for 4,360 acres of nickelclaims in the Rough and Ready Creek drainage. If granted, he would pay $2.50 anacre for the claims under the 1872 mining law. March 1992 -- Freeman files his first plan of operation for theproposed Nicore Mine. The proposal calls for mining a 5,000-ton sample from onesite in the drainage. August 1993 -- Rough and Ready Creek named eligible to become part ofthe National Wild and Scenic River system by the Forest Service, following anearlier appeal by the American Rivers group. November 1993 -- Freeman files another plan of operation, this time tomine 40,000 tons at four sites in the drainage. Forest Service responds that anenvironmental impact statement would have to be prepared for the operation. May 1994 -- Freeman appeals Forest Service decision to prepare an EIS.His appeal is denied. August 1994 -- Freeman files second appeal opposing EIS decision. November 1994 -- Regional forester denies the appeal. 1997 -- Oregon Natural Heritage Program determines that the stream andthe west fork of the Illinois River ranks No. — in the state in the number ofrare plant species. January 1998 -- Forest Service issues draft EIS for the proposed mine.The statement says there are at least 22 sensitive plant species that will beaffected, including McDonald's rock cress, which is listed under the EndangeredSpecies Act. May 1998 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Or., and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio,D-Springfield, and other Oregon representatives send letter to Forest ServiceChief Mike Dombek, asking that the drainage be withdrawn from mining activity. October 1998 -- Forest Service issues a supplemental draft EIS.Economic analysis concludes that proposed mining operation and all alternativeswill lose money. August 1999 -- Wyden sends letter to President Clinton, asking him tohelp provide additional protection for five sites in Oregon, including the Roughand Ready Creek drainage. August 1999 -- Forest Service issues its decision to allow bulksampling by helicopter of the proposed mining operation. By PAUL FATTIG MailTribune.com By PAUL FATTIG Posted Aug. 13, 1999 @ 2:00 am Updated Dec 16, 2010 at 11:21 PM » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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