More than a month after a draft plan from the Trump administration to shrink the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument leaked, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said they have yet to be briefed about the plan. The Democratic senators blasted the draft report from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive on Sept. 18 as inaccurate and misleading and said they were "disappointed" to still be waiting for more details. Wyden and Merkley addressed a letter to President Donald Trump's chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, on Tuesday expressing their frustration with the process. Among the inaccuracies they cited: Zinke's 19-page draft falsely stated that the 113,000-acre protected area where the Cascade, Klamath and Siskiyou mountains converge prohibits motorized travel and remaining roads are "unpassable and unsuitable for use." The Trump administration also cites a lack of public process as another reason the monument should be reduced in size. The senators said extensive public process actually led to substantial changes to the most recent expansion. After hearing from thousands of Southern Oregon residents, the monument expansion proposal pushed by Wyden and Merkley shrunk by 14,000 acres, they said.
The Department of the Interior did not immediately respond to a request for comment...more
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