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Old mining claim has big payoff Government pays millions to protect river, wildlife By PAUL FATTIG SELMA -- There is definitely treasure in Darrell Brown's mining claim along the Chetco River in the middle of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area. The Canyonville resident, who staked his claims in the remote area in the Siskiyou National Forest in 1961, found enough glittering gold to file claims on 2,115 acres in 1961. Last fall, he was awarded a patent for mineral rights on 145 acres of those claims. But it wasn't the lure of precious minerals that persuaded Uncle Sam to purchase the patented claims while acquiring the unpatented claims for $3.1 million. The negotiations, which began nearly a decade ago, will be completed with an informal ceremony Monday in Grants Pass. Rather, it was nature's gold in the form of water as clear as glass, in the wild fish flashing silver in the deep pools, in the rare kalmiopsis plants and other unique flora that flourish in the rugged region. The biggest nugget of all was the chunk of wilderness it represented, said Phil Wallin, director of the nonprofit River Network's river conservancy program, which worked with both the Forest Service and Brown to return the land to the wilderness. "This is the best of all possible worlds," Wallin said. "Darrell has put his blood, sweat and tears in there. He will be compensated for his work and the wilderness will remain intact. "The Chetco is world famous for clarity of water and for its fishery," he added. "This means it will remain pristine. ... I'm a cynic by nature but I don't see any losers here." The claims are at Taggarts Bar, about 11 miles west of the wilderness boundary. Brown, 80, owned 145 acres of patented mineral rights, along with nearly 2,100 acres of unpatented claims along the river. Environmentalists, concerned that placer mining activity would harm plant life and devastate the Chetco's salmon and steelhead runs, had balked at Brown's plans to bring in bulldozers and dump trucks to mound and move the ore. Brown had already punched in a 12-mile road to gain access to the land. His claims had predated congressional action in the 1960s to restrict mining to protect wilderness areas. With the backing of the Oregon congressional delegation, led by Sen. Gordon Smith, the $3.1 million paid for the claims was awarded last year through the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The money paid for the claims is roughly equal to the gold that could have been mined there, officials said. River Network had appraised the property. "Darrell Brown was a real gentleman to work with," observed Siskiyou forest supervisor Mike Lunn, who will become the supervisor of both the Siskiyou and the Rogue River National Forest on June 20. "He had a very valuable claim that he had earned through the proper process," Lunn said. "On the other hand, that area has a very high public value. This is a tremendous deal for the United States. I think it's a very fair transaction." Brown, 80, who declined to be interviewed for this story, sold the unpatented claims and patented mineral rights to the River Network, which in turn sold the patented mineral rights to the Forest Service. The Forest Service delivered the funds to a title company Wednesday. "The River Network will relinquish unpatented claims -- by just saying we don't want them -- and they will sell us the patented mineral rights to 145 acres," explained Mike Cooley, recreational lands and minerals staff officer for the Siskiyou. "We're going to pretty much leave the land as it is," Cooley said. "There has never really been a lot of mining there. There are some old camps and tests pits but they are healing on their own quite well." The only work expected includes cleaning a few sites of accumulated debris, he said, noting that some of that could be burned on site. "The public gains by having these lands protected from development," he said. "Brown gets rewarded for his successful discovery. "It would have been difficult, expensive and incredibly controversial for Brown to develop it," he added. For folks like Grants Pass resident Barbara Ullian, who has worked for years to protect the region's environment, the completed transaction is cause for celebration. Yet she is also quick to observe that there are many other areas that need protection. "This is something we've been working towards about 10 years -- with lots of roadblocks," Ullian said. "There is no doubt that with the mining law and the agencies' implementation of the mining law -- which we think is flawed -- the threat of mining had hung over the area." The law has given away public land for the price of a "hamburger and fries" at $2.50 or $5 an acre, she said. "But this (transaction) is an incredibly wonderful thing for the wilderness and the public in the long run," she said. "Maybe the wilderness can now be wilderness." Illinois Valley resident Steve Marsden, who has lobbied Congress to change the mining law, also applauded the action. But, like Ullian, he had concerns. "It's definitely a good thing, but it's kind of exasperating that the American public has to pay $3 million for wilderness area land that is already supposed to be protected," he said. The transaction is a limited step in the right direction, said Larry Tuttle, a longtime critic of the 1872 mining law and director of the Portland-based Center for Environmental Equity. "It's a positive step, but there are so many existing claims that I can't imagine there is enough money to buy them all out," Tuttle sad. "It certainly helps demonstrate how archaic the mining law is. "Mining really stands apart from all the other ways we treat public lands," he added. "You don't see clearcuts grandfathered in." While there may be opportunities to purchase other claims, there should be stricter rules forcing claim holders to prove their claims are valid, he said. For Cooley, who retires June 18 from the agency after a 35-year career, the peaceful resolution itself is a treasure. "I'm scarred," he said of officiating past battles between warring factions over natural resources. "This was a winning deal for the wilderness, and for all of us," he said. "We all avoided the protracted environmental battle that would have ensued. I can't think of a better outcome." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA