Proposed Monument Stirs Debate

Looking south from near the crest of the Siskiyou Mountains into the Horse Creek drainage his family has called home for 135 years, Gary Rainey sees more than evergreen forests. "This land is our way of life, literally our heart and soul," he said. "Our cattle have been running (grazing) here since 1875, same strain of cattle on the same land. We raised our food from the garden. We raised the hay to feed the cattle. Everything we do is about keeping this place healthy." "And it just tears your heart out that this could be taken away," added the former logger. He and his cousin, Steve Fisher, are outspoken among Siskiyou County residents in their opposition to a proposed 600,000-acre Siskiyou Crest National Monument they fear would change their lifestyle and degrade the land. Proposed a year ago by the Ashland-based Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, the monument would stretch out along the Oregon-California state line. It would link the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument to the Oregon Caves National Monument and the Siskiyou Wilderness Area near Happy Camp. In Oregon, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners in a 2-1 vote in April joined its counterparts in Josephine, Klamath, Douglas and Deschutes counties in approving an order urging the federal government to halt attempts to place more restrictions on public lands until the county and other stakeholders get a chance to weigh in. Specifically, the commissioners were concerned a presidential proclamation could create a monument with little public input...more