America's Most Endangered Rivers - (Page 23) $13 million annually for the local economy. The Threat The Wild and Scenic River designation protects a halfmile corridor along the Rogue River, but important uplands and tributaries remain open to destructive logging, road-building and other development that would have serious impacts on the river. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages more than 20 miles of the most beautiful and wild stretch of the Rogue, is proposing to log old-growth forest on key Rogue River tributaries. The BLM’s Kelsey Whisky Project would build roads and log hundreds of acres of old-growth forest in the Kelsey, Whisky, Bunker and Meadow creek drainages, degrading important salmon and steelhead habitat and water quality. Construction of new logging roads and clearcutting old-growth trees will increase the likelihood of sediment flushing into Kelsey and Whisky creeks, choking salmon and steelhead habitat. The BLM has ignored its own specialists who formally recommended keeping intact roadless areas and large interconnected tracts of oldgrowth trees such as those found in the Kelsey Whisky Project area to protect the health of the Rogue River. The BLM also has proposed a long-term management plan that further threatens the river. The Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR) could open significant portions of the Rogue River’s roadless area, ancient forests and free-flowing streams to clearcut logging, road building and mining. In addition to the threats this poses to the Rogue’s delicate ecosystem, these harmful activities would scar the hillsides of the Rogue’s impressive canyon country, marring the scenery that attracts so many to the river. outstanding rivers, but also the integrity of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act — our nation’s foremost river protection tool. What Can Be Done What’s At Stake The Rogue River is one of the crown jewels of the Pacific Northwest’s and America’s natural heritage. It is a rare place where families, boaters and anglers can experience and connect with wild nature. The river is essential to the recovery of imperiled Pacific salmon runs, and home to an astonishing variety of plants and wildlife. It is the economic engine for local communities and businesses. More than 50 businesses recently signed a letter to Oregon’s congressional delegation, asking for increased protection for the Rogue and its tributaries. If we can’t protect one of our nation’s most beautiful and best-loved rivers, what can we protect? If we let the Rogue’s wild character be destroyed, we will not only diminish one of our most Congress, led by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) must grant Wild and Scenic River protections to 98 miles of vital tributaries in the lower Rogue canyon and designate the unprotected roadless areas in the Rogue canyon as Wilderness Areas. These protections would safeguard these important streams, and the wild character of the Rogue, from proposals like the BLM’s Kelsey Whisky Project as well as other harmful logging and development. Additionally, the BLM must scrap the current land management alternatives in the Western Oregon Plan Revisions and come up with a better plan that will protect the clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, and recreation values of the Rogue River and its tributaries. The Rogue and G l o b a l Wa r m i n g Exposing the Rogue to additional logging and road construction will destroy stream buffers that cool the river. Powerful storms produced by global warming will multiply the effect of logging activities by washing sediment into the river. These pressures could wipe out one of the most vibrant salmon fisheries in the Northwest, which is expected to lose much of its cold-water fish habitat as temperatures warm. Protections that guard the river’s pristine state should be increased, not relaxed, to protect the human and natural communities that rely on the Rogue River. CONTACT INFO David Moryc, American Rivers, 202-347-7550 ext. 3069, dmoryc@AmericanRivers.org Amy Kober, American Rivers, 206-213-0330 ext. 23, akober@AmericanRivers.org Joseph Vaile, Save the Wild Rogue, 541-488-5789, joseph@kswild.org TO TA K E AC T I O N : W W W. AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/ROGUE KEN MORRISH http://www.savethewildrogue.org http://www.americanrivers.org/rogue
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