FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS

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ESTABLISHING A SODA MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS

The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM) lies 20 miles southeast of Ashland, Oregon, just north of the California border.  It is located where the Cascade, Klamath, and Siskiyou mountains come together to create an area of unique geological, botanical, and wildlife features.  The Bureau of Land Management, which manages the 53,000 acre area, is preparing a management plan and has temporarily protected a small wilderness area of 6000 acres.

The proclamation establishing the monument continues to allow logging, grazing, and all-terrain vehicles which disrupt wildlife habitat and damage plants and soils.  The BLM and World Wildlife Fund are independently studying the effects of grazing.

Congressionally-designated wilderness would close off logging, mining, ATV uses, and could specifically eliminate grazing.  It would need to be of sufficient size (23,000 acres) to protect the values for which the monument was established.  If wilderness is not designated, grazing would need to be controlled through the management plan.

The Pacific Crest Trail passes through the monument.  It contains the best deer winter range in the area and ll2 butterfly species.  Hunters, hikers, and equestrians enjoy this beautiful area. Soda Mountain is a prominent feature of the monument.  Although it is not within the proposed wilderness boundary, local residents have given its name to the wilderness area.

The FWOC endorses a Soda Mountain Wilderness within the roadless area of the Cascade-Siskiyou monument of sufficient size to protect the values for which the monument was designated.

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