ROUGH AND READY CREEK THREATENED BY MINING

[wafcdc at americanlands.org]

From: "wafcdc at americanlands.org" <wafcdc at americanlands.org>
Subject: ROUGH AND READY CREEK THREATENED BY MINING 

LANDSCOPE, News and Views from American Lands - May 25, 1999

ROUGH AND READY CREEK THREATENED BY MINING

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) have asked
Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck to conduct validity exams for mining
claims made by Nicore Corp. in the Rough and Ready watershed of the Siskiyou
National Forest, says the Siskiyou Project.  Mining claims under the 1872
Mining Law hinge upon the discovery of a valuable mineral that can be mined
profitably.  Siskiyou Project contends that the Forest Service's own data as
well as information from EPA and the Department of Interior cast serious
doubt on Nicore's claims that a valuable mineral has been found in the Rough
and Ready watershed.  The Siskiyou National Forest has received 5,500
comments in opposition to the nickel-laterite mining project. 

. . .Mining threatens water quality and the habitat for important fish
species such as salmon and steelhead trout that are listed or proposed for
listing under the Endangered Species Act.  The Forest Service recently
withdrew the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana and San Francisco Peaks from
mineral claims and should do the same for the Rough and Ready and other
threatened watersheds in the Siskiyou and across the Northwest.  Please call
Forest Service Chief Dombeck at 202/205-1661 or fax 205-1765 and thank him
for the previous withdrawals and encourage him to withdraw the Rough and
Ready watershed, the nearby South Kalmiopsis Roadless Area and riparian
reserves across the Pacific Northwest from mining. 

ACTIVISTS SHUT DOWN WILLAMETTE CHIP MILL: Activists from across the
southeast blockaded the entrance to Willamette Industry's newly opened chip
mill yesterday in Union Mills, NC according to a press release from
Heartwood,  Katuah Earth First! and Earthculture.  Chip mills promote
clearcutting of forests, fragment wildlife habitat, reduce biodiversity, and
degrade water quality.  "Saw mills cutting timber for North Carolina's
furniture industry use one-tenth the wood a chip mill does and employ 7 - 8
times as many people," said Rick Spencer of Earthculture.  For more
information contact Devin Scherubel, Heartwood, 573/449-3537 or
mailto:devin at heartwood.org

KENTUCKY LAND SWAP CRITICIZED: The Forest Service is planning to trade
Roberts Bend on the wild shoreline of Lake Cumberland in Kentucky to a
development company in exchange for scattered lands that include logged
areas and old mining sites, says Kentucky Heartwood.  Roberts Bend includes
pristine endangered species habitat while the land to be acquired would
require $78,000 of taxpayer funded restoration.  Please write to Mike Rock,
US Forest Service Somerset District, 135 Realty Lane, Somerset, KY 42501
before the public comment period ends on June 9 and say, "No Land Swap."
For more information contact Heartwood 812/337-8898.

STUDY FINDS MORE BIRDS IN VIRGIN FORESTS: Scientists studying songbirds in
Great Smoky Mountain National Park found a greater abundance and diversity
of birds in old growth forests than in forests that were logged 70 - 100
years ago, according to the Park's guidebook.  The results surprised the
North Carolina State University researchers who expected that the greater
rate of plant growth in the younger forests would mean more birds.  Instead,
it appears that the diversity in habitat provided by old growth forests is
more favorable to birds.  Smoky Mountain National Park contains some of the
last large tracts of old growth forest in the East.  Contact Jim Bensman for
more information at mailto:jbensman at ezl.com


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Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator

American Lands 
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