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Babbitt will not meet with public during visit By Paul Fattig Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt will not meet with the public during a visit to federal lands in the Illinois Valley on Sunday. But Babbitt is expected to hike a portion of the proposed Siskiyou Wild Rivers National Monument during his visit, according to Rob Shull, recreational lands and minerals staff officer for the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests. Members of the news media have been invited to join Babbitt. Although Interior Department officials said earlier this week that there wasn�t sufficient time left in President Clinton�s second term to hold necessary public meetings and gather adequate input to consider the monument proposal, Babbitt is expected to issue a call for restrictions on new mining claims in the area. The proposed monument would cover 1.047 million acres, including 863,000 acres of the Siskiyou forest and 184,000 adjacent acres of the Bureau of Land Management�s Medford District. Most of that would be in Josephine and Curry counties. The monument also would include portions of five nationally designated Wild and Scenic rivers, including the Illinois, the north fork of the Smith, the Rogue, the Chetco and the Elk. The watersheds have the best salmon fishery in the Pacific Northwest as well as the highest concentration of rare, threatened and endemic plants anywhere in the region, supporters said. But opponents say the monument isn�t needed because the area is adequately protected, and that it would harm the local economy. Larry Toelle, field director for Frontiers of Freedom-People for the USA, sent out an e-mail Thursday calling for monument opponents to rally in Selma Sunday morning to demonstrate against the proposal. Those rallying would try to join Babbitt�s tour, Toelle said. 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 � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.