The Smith, which runs from southwestern Oregon to the California coastline at Del Norte is known as some of the best wild steelhead angling water in California – so good in fact, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife considers the Smith one of the two “irreplaceable” watersheds for salmonid population resiliency.
But the Smith is also a bullseye for foreign mining companies who want to extract nickel using strip mining techniques.
While the campaign to mine has been dealt a number of setbacks recently (the introduction of legislation to permanently protect the area, a temporary five year mine withdrawal, the designation of the North Fork of the Smith as “Outstanding Resource Waters” by the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission) the process continues.
The managing agencies have proposed a 20 year mineral withdrawal that would encompass more than 100,000 acres in the Rough and Ready-Baldface Creek and the Hunter Creek-North Fork Pistol River subwatersheds of southwestern Oregon. But they need to hear from you.
Tell the USFS and BLM that you support the proposed 20 year mineral withdrawal outlined in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and the Medford and Coos Bay Districts of the Bureau of Land Management’s Environmental Assessment.
Take Action (via Trout Unlimited)
