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Forest Service chief wants mining ban lifted By PAUL FATTIG CAVE JUNCTION - Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth has asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton to terminate the two-year ban on new mining claims on the Siskiyou National Forest. Then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt placed the two-year moratorium on new mining claims in the forest and on roughly 150,000 acres of adjacent Bureau of Land Management property. All told, about 1.15 million acres of federal land had been placed off-limits to new claims by the ban. In an Oct. 2 letter to Norton, Bosworth indicated that Babbitt's administrative rule was neither necessary nor popular. The Interior Department has jurisdiction over minerals on its land as well as those on national forests. "Comments we have received in response to the Jan. 22, 2001 (Federal Register) notice are overwhelmingly against the withdrawal," Bosworth wrote. "Lacking public support, I believe it is time to revise the proposal. "For most of the Siskiyou National Forest, the Forest Service Mining Regulations, and other environmental protection laws, including the Endangered Species Act, provide the necessary protection of the environment and endangered species," he added. Bosworth noted the agency currently was analyzing the cumulative effects of mining and recreational rock collecting on the forest. It also was proposing the selection of specific sites for bans on new claims, including areas identified by the forest management plan, he said. Bosworth's request was good news to the mining community, said Lisa Barton, who with her husband, Bob, owns the Armadillo Mining Shop in Grants Pass. They are also members of the Waldo Mining District in the Illinois Valley. "That's terrific," she said. "It was definitely unwarranted to start with. But we're hoping they don't propose any more withdrawals (bans)." Too much public land in southwestern Oregon is already off-limits to new mining claims, she said. But Steve Marsden, executive director of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project, an environmental group in the Illinois Valley, disagreed. "This pretty much kills any chance of a public process necessary to determine whether the Siskiyou Wild Rivers has significant ecological and biological diversity," he said, referring to a proposed 1 million-acre-plus Siskiyou Wild Rivers National Monument in the region. "Here we had the chance to have a public process to gather public input and scientific information," he added. "That's not going to happen now." Marsden also questioned whether there had been overwhelming opposition to the ban, noting it had been supported by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., all four Oregon Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Gov. John Kitzhaber. Meanwhile, local Forest Service and BLM officials are waiting for a decision by Norton on the request. "We haven't heard anything yet," said Rob Shull, recreational lands and minerals staff officer for the Siskiyou and Rogue River forests. Babbitt's moratorium does not affect existing valid claims or those filed before the notice was posted in the Federal Register. The federal government publication notifies the public of major regulatory changes or actions. The moratorium would provide additional protection for valuable salmon fishery in the area while a public debate could continue on the merits of the proposed monument, according to Babbitt. 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.