Dear MASSPIRG supporter,

The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is an incredible public treasure, with rich fir forests that shelter endangered owls, pristine streams that flow with trout species found nowhere else, and lush meadows alive with a diversity of butterflies unmatched in the United States.

Right now, the Bush administration is completing the planning process that will determine the fate of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Incredibly, this and other national monuments face an uncertain future. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has made it clear that her agenda for our public lands is to accommodate logging, mining, and oil and gas companies wherever and whenever she can.

Please take a moment to participate in the Bureau of Land Management comment period going on now and ask that the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument be protected. Follow the link below to go to a web page where you can e-mail the BLM.

pirg.org/alerts/route.asp


BACKGROUND

The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, just outside Ashland in southern Oregon where the Siskiyou and Cascade Mountain range collide, is an incredible public treasure. It's rich fir forests shelter endangered owls, its pristine streams flow with trout species found nowhere else, and its lush meadows are alive with a diversity of butterflies unmatched in the United States. Also found in the monument are unique geologic formations, with the 400-foot cliffs of Pilot Rock among the most striking features.

Right now, the Bush administration is completing the planning process that will determine the fate of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Incredibly, this and other national monuments face an uncertain future. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has made it clear that her agenda for our public lands is to accommodate logging, mining, and oil and gas companies wherever and whenever she can. 30-ton oil and gas exploration trucks recently rolled through the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado. Extensive public support for the monuments is all that has prevented Norton from shrinking - or even abolishing - our newest national monuments.

The Bureau of Land Management released the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Draft Resource Management Plan in May 2002. The plan lays out four "alternatives" for managing the monument, from "Hands-Off" to "Intensive Management." A copy of the draft plan and more information about the monument is available at www.or.blm.gov/csnm

Conservationists are not supporting any single BLM alternative as written because none of them will adequately protect the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Instead, the BLM should blend elements from each of its draft plan alternatives.

Please take a moment to participate in the BLM comment period going on now and ask that the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument be protected. Follow the link below to go to a web page where you can e-mail the BLM.

pirg.org/alerts/route.asp

Sincerely,

Janet S. Domenitz
MASSPIRG Executive Director
www.MASSPIRG.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this e-mail with your family and friends.

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