Bureau of Land Management director will attempt to render a decision on any protests; wilderness council chairman calls much of it ‘lip-service’

By Tony Boom for the Rogue Valley Times

A proposed Resource Management Plan for the management and protection of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument has been put out by the Bureau of Land Management.

The RMP’s underlying purpose is to provide a management framework, including objectives and management direction, that guides BLM to protect and restore the resources, objects and values for which the area is designated over the next 20 years.

The plan became available Oct. 11. A period to file protests over the plan ends Nov. 12. Those who participated in the planning process and have an interest that may be adversely affected by the proposed plan may file a protest.

“The plan ensures that we’re managing for the unique resources the monument protects,” said Barry Bushue, BLM Oregon/Washington state director. The plan is an effort by many entities and reflect shared values, he said.

The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument was established by presidential proclamation in 2000 by Bill Clinton and expanded through another presidential proclamation by Barack Obama in 2017. The area provides habitat for an array of rare plant and animal species across its three ecoregions.

The current boundary now includes approximately 113,820 acres of federal lands, including BLM-administered lands in the Medford and Lakeview districts in Oregon and the Northern California District. Approximately 58,578 acres of state- and privately-owned land are within the boundary but are not part of the monument.

Almost 1,000 comments were received on a draft of the plan put out by the agency in April. Four public sessions were held this spring to gather input. The process has been developing since June 2023 when public meetings were held to gather comment for the first update to the original 2008 management plan.

The draft included one no-action option and three with varying degrees of management. The RMP incorporates most of the middle-level action option with portions from others.

Monument features with environmental consequences that the plan considers include aquatic and riparian habitat, lands with wilderness characteristics, livestock grazing, minerals, scenic and historic trails, recreation and visitor services, soils, travel and transportation management, vegetation, visual resources, wildland fire management and wildlife.

After fielding protests, the BLM director will attempt to render a decision on each protest. Following resolution of any protest, a consistency review will be conducted by Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek.

The final step would be a 30-day consistency review, said Kyle Sullivan, public affairs specialists for the BLM. The agency could then make the decision to finalize the plan, which will likely occur in January, he said.

The proposed plan would not carry forward any Areas of Critical Environmental Concern or Research Natural Areas. BLM determined that special management attention would be provided by management direction in the plan that apply monument-wide and would adequately protect the resource or value.

“It was determined in the process of the draft plan that (protection) is provided within the plan. The extra planning for the management of those values is unnecessary,” said Sullivan.

BLM’s two-volume, 1,128-page proposed monument plan seems to have multiple holes, said Dave Willis, chair of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council.

“Despite BLM’s lip-service — and going on a quarter-century since inception — BLM still hasn’t fully gotten the memo that this is a National Monument with a primary biodiversity protection purpose. It’s not regular BLM land,” Willis wrote in response to questions from the Rogue Valley Times.

Refusing to carry forward or designate new Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and Research Natural Areas is an example of BLM’s attempt to lower, if not evade, BLM’s monument conservation accountability bar, Willis said.

For more information or questions, contact the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Resource Management Plan team at 458-246-8861 or by email at blm_csnm_rmp@blm.gov.

Reach Ashland freelance writer Tony Boom at tboomwriter@gmail.com. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.