Saturday, July 01, 2017

Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument: Facing Elimination by Congress and 27 Monuments Stop #14

Snow and Sun
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Oregon. December 22, 2016.
Copyright © 2017 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved
http://www.aflitt.com/cascadesiskiyounm
https://sites.google.com/view/nationalmonumentsindanger/monuments/cascade-siskiyou 


National Monuments in Danger

https://sites.google.com/view/nationalmonumentsindanger/home


This monument is in real trouble!  On June 27, the Facebook Page for Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument posted, "Today the House Natural Resources Committee ‏passed H.R. 2936 which calls for a statutory repeal of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. You can call your representative and ask them not to vote for this bill once it reaches the House Floor. U.S. Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121"



This monument was first founded by President Clinton in 2000, and then expanded by President Obama on January 12, 2017.  If it were not for the expansion, it would not have made the list. However, it appears that the House Republicans may be gunning for this one anyway.

Which is unfortunate, since The Register Guard reports that this monument has tremendous local support:

Trump zeroed in on Bears Ears when he signed his executive order, saying the designation “never should have happened” and describing it as “a “massive federal land grab.” Leaving aside the question of how the federal government could grab land it already owns, the monument designation was opposed by Utah’s entire congressional delegation and by many in the southern part of the state who feared that restrictions on mining, oil and gas drilling and ranching would restrict their economic opportunities. 
The Cascade-Siskiyou expansion, in contrast, was supported by the city councils of the two cities nearest the monument, Ashland and Talent, and by every member of Oregon’s congressional delegation except Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River. Support is far from unanimous — the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, among others, opposed the expansion. But if Trump and Zinke are sincere in saying state and local opinion should be taken into account, they should respect a preponderance of support for the Cascade-Siskiyou monument. 
... 
The Cascade-Siskiyou monument was expanded for the very reason Zinke seeks to shrink Bears Ears. The Oregon monument is the only one in the nation created to protect a unique ecological area, a geological and botanical jumble where the Cascade, Siskiyou and Klamath mountains come together. The expansion was anticipated when the monument was originally designated, and was approved by Obama after scientific studies found that the original boundaries were not adequate to maintain ecological integrity. The monument now covers “the smallest area compatible” with its purpose.

Unfortunately, I don't have the greatest pictures from this monument, so far.  I was just driving through to check it out on my way to Lava Lands National Monument for the evening and I did not have time to explore (plus, there was a decent amount of snow off the main highway)...

Luckily,  Brent Rose posted this video today from the14th monument he's visited so far...





Views from Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument








There is lot more information I have to share about this monument, as well as more photos from myself and some great shots from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), so I'll be posting again very soon!

Earlier today, I was joking that I was only at 55% on these posts...  Now I am all the way up to 66% (18 out of 27)!  I am passing with a D, but there is still a lot of work to be to be done, and a short time in which to do it.





BLM: Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Map (as of June 2017) - PDF 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5qJHnJC9HuATThoclM5RUF1Qm8/view


To comment on the monument review process (due July 10, 2017):




Links



27 Monuments:

Website

Facebook
https://sites.google.com/view/nationalmonumentsindanger/monuments/cascade-siskiyou



NoMonument.com



National Monuments in Danger

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