Additional meetings expected in January or February
By Shaun Hall, Rogue Valley Times
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has scheduled public meetings in Pinehurst, southeast of Ashland, on Wednesday, June 28, and in Medford on Thursday, June 29, to gather public comment for the first update to the original 2008 management plan for the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. An online meeting is set for Monday, July 10, too.
The monument, which takes in 113,500 acres, is located generally east of Ashland and almost to the Jackson-Klamath county line. It also extends into Siskiyou County in Northern California.
“We’ll be in listening mode,” said BLM spokesman Kyle Sullivan. “Tell us what you’re concerned about. Give us any information or data you have.”
Sullivan said people have expressed concerns about fuels management, recreation impacts, grazing and other issues. Management plans outline allowable uses.
Earlier this year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the expansion of the biologically diverse monument, which was created in 2000 by President Bill Clinton and expanded in 2017 by President Barack Obama. Murphy Timber Products, which owns 2,101 acres in the monument, argued in a lawsuit that the O&C Lands Act of 1937 was specifically designed for forest production.
The court ruling, issued April 24, affirmed a 2019 decision by an Oregon federal court that Obama lawfully expanded the monument and that the expansion did not violate the Oregon and California Lands Act. The 9th Circuit Court found that Congress’s original intent under the Lands Act wasn’t limited to just forest production, stating “the statute’s specific reference to watersheds and recreational facilities” also underscores the secondary uses for the land.
The upcoming public meetings are opportunities for one-on-one discussions with resource specialists. The sessions are not intended as a final solution for issues, but they can help inform proposed solutions that will be presented at future public meetings that might take place in January or February, according to Sullivan.
“This will be a consequential document down the road,” he said.
The in-person meetings will be open house-style meetings, while the online meeting will include a presentation as well as question-and-answer period. The meetings are described as “scoping” sessions that can help determine the scope of an environmental review.
Written comments are invited, too. They are due by Aug. 8.
The meetings are as follows:
- 4-7 p.m. June 28 at Pinehurst School, 15337 Highway 66 in Ashland
- 4-7 p.m. June 29 in the cafeteria at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, 3101 McLoughlin Drive in Medford
- 6-7 p.m. July 10 online. Register at bit.ly/3r58N9W
Written comments can be submitted at bit.ly/3Nq2TYR, the project’s website. Mailed comments can be sent to Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Planning, 3040 Biddle Road, Medford, OR 97504.
For additional information, call 458-246-8861 or email [email protected].
Reach Rogue Valley Times outdoors and environmental reporter Shaun Hall at 458-225-7179 or [email protected]. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.
