Klamath-Siskiyou eNews #139    March 25 2009

In This Issue:

Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival Comes to Ashland This Friday, March 27th

Join us for the Ashland screening of award-winning films from the largest environmental film festival in the U.S. We will be showing: "Red Gold"- a documentary about Alaskan native fishermen's struggle to stop a massive gold mine above the largest sockeye salmon run on the planet, "Renewal"- highlighting individual stories of communities drawing on their faith to find ways to be better stewards of the environment, and Run, Rogue Run- a local short film covering the campaign to Save the worldclass Wild Rogue River right in our back yard.

This promises to be an uplifting, community-building event that will feature brief speakers from KS Wild, Ashland's Congregational Church and Mayor John Stromberg. Refreshments will be provided. Event begins at 6:30 pm at Ashland Congregationa Church at 717 Siskiyou Blvd.

Visit the Outstanding Oregon Mt. Botanical Area in the Illinois Valley- Sunday, April 5th

Just an hour west of Ashland lies a strange and beautiful wilderness - hike along the gorgeous Illinois River through the most botanically diverse National Forest in the U.S. during the start of wildflower season! We will walk over green serpentine bedrock along one of America's last free flowing rivers to learn more about this unique and threatened landscape.

Meet at Evo's Cafe in Ashland at 9:30 am, or at Coffee Heaven in Cave Junction at 10:45 to carpool to trailhead.

Bring: food, water, warm clothes, rain gear if needed and binoculars if you have them!

Historic Public Lands Bill Passes Congress - 2 Million Acres Declared Wilderness

Day of celebration for the conservation movement!

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which will permanently protect more than 2 million acres of America's wilderness in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. The omnibus lands act provides the greatest expansion of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 15 years.

Oregon has five new Wilderness areas including Mount Hood, Copper Salmon, Soda Mountain, Spring Basin and Badlands, and 90 miles of newly designated Wild and Scenic Rivers. Two of the new Wilderness areas are in southwest Oregon, Soda Mountain and Copper Salmon.

The new Soda Mountain Wilderness is approximately 23,000 acres within the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. Also included is a provision to enable voluntary permanent retirement of commercial public lands grazing leases on up to 106,672 acres in and around the Monument via private compensation. The president's signature will set things in motion to very soon retire 58,598 of those acres for which ranchers are currently in escrow with the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council - over 94% of the Monument and 12,253 acres beyond.

All five members of Oregon's House delegation - including Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) -- voted in favor of the bill. All House votes are listed below.

This is a major milestone in our ongoing efforts to protect this ecologically crucial Cascade-Siskiyou connection. It's the biggest public lands protection bill that Congress has passed for our country in many years.

Please thank Rep. Walden for his vote today in favor of H.R.146, the "Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009."
 Medford - 541/776-4646  Bend - 541/389-4408  DC - 202/225-6730

You can also e-mail Rep. Walden via his Web site at www.walden.house.gov

The new Copper Salmon Wilderness protects 12,000 acres of the Elk River headwaters and the North Fork of the Elk, one of the most productive U.S. salmon fisheries outside of Alaska.

At KS Wild we are thrilled this sweeping bill is about to be law and are already looking forward to our next legislative efforts to gain permanent protections for ecologically important areas in the Klamath-Siskiyou. First and foremost we are pushing for the re-introduction of the Oregon Treasures Bill to protect the Wild Rogue and Oregon Caves. Stay tuned for exciting things soon to come!

Forest Service Announces Destructive Gold Mining Proposal - Please Send a Quick Auto-Comment

The Forest Service has released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) detailing plans for a destructive gold mining proposal on the banks of beautiful Sucker Creek, an important tributary to the Illinois River above the Oregon Caves National Monument.

The mine is located in a "key watershed" that serves as critical habitat for both Coho and Northern Spotted Owls and is also home to Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Trout . The land use allocation is Late-Successional and Riparian Reserve. But the Forest Service, and the miner, contend that the 1872 Mining Act trumps those land use allocations.

The DEIS calls for "significant surface disturbance" with excavators and bull dozers used to dig down to bedrock in sensitive wetland areas and to re-route Cedar Gulch Creek into mining ponds, processing the gold on site. The mine site, and the access road, have several wetlands and stream crossings.

The antiquated 1872 Mining Act was signed it into law 135 years ago and still gives the extraction of gold and other minerals on public lands priority status, regardless of impacts to watersheds, wildlife or local communities.

Driven by high gold prices, a new rush is on the rise here in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains and across the West. Over the past five years, mining claims for gold and other metals on public lands have increased over 50%. Many of these claims are near natural treasures like Wild and Scenic Rivers (such as the Chetco) and Wilderness Areas (like the Kalmiopsis).

Today, roadless areas, salmon, critical watersheds, wildlife corridors and cultural and historic sites are impacted by mining claims. Mercury, acid mine drainage, and other contaminated sediments left behind from mining threaten the water, plants, and people. In the 21st century, America can no longer afford to manage its public resources with the antiquated 1872 law.

Mining Reform is Overdue - Please Take Action Today!

Send a quick auto-letter to comment about the Tracy Placer Mine and call for a reform of the 1872 Mining Law.

Endangered Species Concerns Added to Lawsuit Against WOPR Logging Plan

KS Wild  and our co-plaintiffs have added new endangered species claims to our lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's plans to boost logging in Western Oregon.The amended complaint against the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR) were filed last Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland by Earthjustice, which represents a coalition of conservation groups.

It adds the argument that BLM violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to consult with federal experts on whether the logging would harm threatened species such as the Northern Spotted Owl and salmon.

BLM has countered that the plan itself has no affect on protected species, and they will consult when they offer specific timber sales. The first timber sale under the plan is a 1,400 acre clearcut above salmon-bering streams outside Port Orford.

Meanwhile, hundreds of our supporters continue to send letters to decision makers asking for it to be scrapped politically. Remember, WOPR would: increase logging by nearly 400% compared to current logging levels; get over 70% of the timber volume from clearcutting; shrink streamside reserves by 50%; add 180 million tons more carbon to the atmosphere compared to no logging (equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 1 million cars driven for 132 years) and result in 1,300 miles of new roads.

Please join us and send an easy, automated letter asking for the WOPR to be laid to rest for good!