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Uncertainty dominates monument reports One minority urges 30,000-acre cut; another wants no reduction By PAUL FATTIG A second minority opinion report from Jackson County Natural Resource Advisory Committee (NRAC) members calls for shrinking the 52,947-acre Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument by more than 30,000 acres. That report, turned in to committee member and facilitator John Dutcher on Sunday - two days after a majority report and the first minority report was submitted to the Jackson County Board of Commissioners - recommends that the boundary be reduced to include only 19,500 acres of federal land. A quick look at the majority report The majority report by the Jackson County Natural Resource Advisory Committee reviewed the following issues concerning the monument. The panel's conclusion follows in each category: Boundary: There was no majority vote on any one boundary recommendation but the panel came up with nine alternatives. A minority report, signed by seven members and submitted Sunday, called for a reduced boundary that limited the monument to some 19,500 acres of federal land. Access to private lands: If any private lands are included in the final boundary, the Interior Secretary should require the BLM to study all economic, social and ecological impacts. The agency should also prepare an environmental impact statement. Rights of way: The BLM must assure private landowners right-of-way across federal lands. Grazing: Continue grazing as it existed prior to the monument proclamation until BLM grazing studies now under way are completed. Do not throw out years of previous studies. If "prescription grazing" is recommended following BLM studies, the agency should purchase grazing rights and retire them, then contract for prescription grazing. Water rights: Valid water rights must be protected. Unique environmental or historic values: These would include the Mariposa Botanical Area, Scotch Creek and Oregon Gulch research natural areas, the Pilot Rock and Jenny Creek area of critical environmental concern and the Soda Mountain wilderness study area. Benefits to tourism or recreation: Tourism and recreation uses in the monument area will have an impact on private property. The report also noted that two items the committee was asked to consider, including monument uses and other traditional multiple uses on the land, were covered by the other items that were addressed. The majority report turned in Friday made no boundary recommendation because members were unable to form a consensus, said Dutcher, the report's author. The first minority report recommended no boundary changes, and said the yet-to-be-released Bureau of Land Management draft plan should be used to manage the monument. Dutcher announced the second minority report during a presentation to commissioners at their retreat Monday. In an interview after his presentation, Dutcher said committee members always had the option of submitting additional minority reports. "We had talked about how the process was going to work - we agreed that anyone could write a report if they wanted to," he said. "I knew a couple of the guys were working on one. "One of the committee members called me Saturday to see if they could bring it over," he added. "I told him it was OK as long as I had it before I went before the commissioners today." The second minority report was signed by seven of the 17 committee members, he said. They included Bill Drewien, Ed Kupillas, Greg Addington, Eugene Stanley, Dugan Pearl, Randy White and Ken Cummings. The second minority report also expressed concern about private property issues and water rights, Dutcher said. Another short report, written by committee member J.D. Rogers and signed by member Lu Anthony, recommended that the boundary issue be left to scientists. That report, which was included with the majority report, also stressed concern about protecting private property rights, "We still don't have a majority agreement," Dutcher said of the boundary debate. Before Dutcher made his presentation, board chair Sue Kupillas, wife of NRAC member Ed Kupillas, cautioned that whatever the board came up with, it was merely a recommendation to Interior Secretary Gale Norton. The Interior department, which oversees the BLM, would make the final decision, she stressed. The board is expected to discuss, then decide on its recommendation during its regular public meeting on Wednesday. Norton had asked county officials for their recommendations on the monument. The Wednesday meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Jackson County Courthouse Auditorium, 10. S. Oakdale Ave., Medford. Created by former President Bill Clinton in June 2000, the monument is within the BLM's Medford District. It's a dozen miles southeast of Ashland at the convergence of the Cascade Range and the Siskiyou Mountains. In his proclamation, Clinton noted that the area is known for its biological diversity and complex geology as well as its archaeological and historical sites. The monument, whose present boundaries are adjacent to some 30,000 acres of private land, has been hotly debated by supporters and opponents alike. That debate continued during the committee's meeting, Dutcher told the commissioners on Monday. "There was no unanimous agreement on anything," he said. "If we were asked to do it again, knowing what we know now, I don't think we would do it," he added later. "It made us feel like we were the bad guys. We were stuck right in the middle." During Monday's short presentation, commissioners thanked the committee for its work. "The information you provided us with certainly allows us to have a better insight into this," Commissioner Jack Walker told Dutcher. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.