Oregon Wilderness addition and no mining

Bejay

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Senator Wyden of Oregon

I am thrilled that Congress passed a bipartisan lands package that had some big wins for Oregon. The legislation creates a 30,000 acre wilderness area - the secluded Devil's Staircase in the remote Oregon Coast Range. It permanently protects the Chetco River, a critical source of drinking water and valuable salmon habitat in SW Oregon, from the threat of mining. In addition, the bill adds 250 miles of pristine salmon and steelhead rivers in Oregon to the national Wild and Scenic Rivers System. This includes roughly 120 miles of Rogue River tributaries and a 21 mile stretch of the Molalla River near Table Rock Wilderness.

The package also designated nearly 100,000 acres as a Steelhead Sanctuary, honoring the distinguished legacy of Frank and Jeanne Moore. Frank Moore returned to his beloved North Umpqua River after serving in the European theatre during World War II, and he and his wife Jeanne are known as iconic fishing enthusiasts of the North Umpqua.

Anchoring this legislation was the permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund which is critically important to Oregon. I firmly believe the full bill is a meaningful, measurable step forward for public lands in Oregon and nationwide, as well as the water we Oregonians drink and air we breathe.


Sincerely,

Ron Wyden
United States Senator

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Bejay
 

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OregonGold76

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That’s some [emoji243][emoji90]
 

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Bejay

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I wrote Wyden a letter of opposition and he wrote back thanking me for my interest but he was thrilled that the "protection/expansion bill" passed. There is no end in sight to the continued closures and lock up of Multiple Use public lands. And the SCOTUS refusal to hear cases to protect mining leave no hope for a remedy. Thankfully I have located and maintained some placer claims that allow me to escape the "closure methods" I think I will have to take lessons in the use of explosives......but I have one mining partner who was a hard rock miner and knows his stuff! Mr Wyden and Merkley can hear the "booms" while they are out enjoying their solitude in the forests.

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Kray Gelder

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I know I'm stepping on my wanger here, but a few waterways and a scratch of land is set aside, protected from dredging, logging, and digging? What's the big deal? It's a good thing.
 

arizau

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When public land and rivers known to have a history of gold mining are tied up it is a big deal, or at least to those people who seek it. Gold found in this day and time is almost exclusively found in areas where it has been found and mined before. Prohibiting one class of people from a form of it's public use, modern day prospecting, is discriminatory in it's own right.
 

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Oregon Viking

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I wrote Wyden a letter of opposition and he wrote back thanking me for my interest but he was thrilled that the "protection/expansion bill" passed. There is no end in sight to the continued closures and lock up of Multiple Use public lands. And the SCOTUS refusal to hear cases to protect mining leave no hope for a remedy. Thankfully I have located and maintained some placer claims that allow me to escape the "closure methods" I think I will have to take lessons in the use of explosives......but I have one mining partner who was a hard rock miner and knows his stuff! Mr Wyden and Merkley can hear the "booms" while they are out enjoying their solitude in the forests.

Bejay

Neither one of those idiots "enjoy" the forests...maybe on a computer screen!
The Chetco's drinking water is just fine until it runs low and we get salty water, miners didn't put the water intakes in the wrong place. Salmon habitat? We have tourists elbow to elbow on our rivers, sure permits bring money to the state but...Over fish much?

The Rogue River—Siskiyou National Forest including the Kalmiopsis, literally in my back yard is 1.8 million acres, plenty of room for a little mining.

Mismanagement.


The Chetco bar fire could have been prevented but the forest circus refused to drop fire ******ant in the "protected" forest. How did that work out dumb asses?

The Chetco Bar Fire was a wildfire in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Oregon, United States. The fire, which was caused by a lightning strike and first reported on July 12, 2017. It burned 191,125 acres (773 km2) as of November 4th, when it was declared 100% contained. The Chetco Bar Fire area is subject to warm, dry winds known as the Brookings effect (also known as Chetco Effect), driven by high pressure over the Great Basin. The fire re-burned portions of the 2002 Biscuit Fire and the 1987 Silver Fire. The fire directly impacted communities surrounding it, causing mandatory evacuations.
 

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Bejay

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I know I'm stepping on my wanger here, but a few waterways and a scratch of land is set aside, protected from dredging, logging, and digging? What's the big deal? It's a good thing.

20 years ago Oregon had 4.5 million acres set aside as wilderness and "set asides". Today I imagine that figure has far exceeded that number.....as that was before the spotted owl and other such issues came to be closing public lands to "Multiple Use". Then of course the whole use of public lands was again changed via the Fed Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA)….which added more protection. Senators Wyden and Merkley of Oregon (along with Peter DeFozio) have continued to see that more lands are closed to publics use.

Placer mining in Oregon is gone. What is shameful is; taking away an activity that basically created the west. But those who keep a mindset of things like the "New Green Deal" (Merkely signed on board with it) will continually destroy the rights of most people to use and enjoy the public lands....as they will dictate what is a use to their liking.

Bejay
 

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Bejay

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As Calif engaged in closing placer mining (dredging) the Calif Crowd came north to Oregon and the Rogue River ended up being crowded with dredgers from Calf. That increase brought about a huge amount of attention and thus we ssaw Oregon follow suit and close the State to dredging and all motorized placer mining. Now that Oregon and Calif are closed I would imagine many will deciide to move further north to Wash and Idaho....which will increase the placer mining activity in both those states and thus a cry for closures will increase. It won't be long before there will be no small scale placer mining utilizing rivers/streams in the western states. Wash and Idaho are the next closures....just wait and see!

Bejay
 

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