Protect Critical Salmon Streams From Illegal Mining

Protect Critical Salmon Streams From Illegal Mining

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We need your help from keeping illegal mining out of the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area of southern Oregon.<br /><br /><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1780/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2129">Take action now to tell the BLM and Oregon DEQ to protect our critical salmon streams from a modern gold rush.<br /><br /></a>You might have heard about Clifford Tracy. Last year, he drove his bulldozer into National Forest land, right next to the important salmon-bearing stream Sucker Creek (a key tributary of the Illinois and Rogue Rivers). He proceeded to chop down old growth trees, dig mining pools over 10 feet deep, and set up shop to extract minerals. He did all of this without permission from the Forest Service.<br /><br />A few weeks later in court, he told a judge, "My right to minerals can't be circumscribed by any agency."<br /><br />That's scary. Mr. Tracy and the mining associations that supported him during his trial think that public lands belong to them alone.<br /><br />Shockingly, just weeks after his conviction, Mr. Tracy is applying with the BLM for the rights to mine more. On the same Sucker Creek where he destroyed forests and riparian areas!<br /><br />Mr. Tracy is proposing to dig huge holding ponds just 20 feet away from the stream!<br /><br />We need to speak loud and clear and let the BLM and state agencies know that the Clifford Tracys of the world cannot do whatever they please to our public lands.<br /><br /><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1780/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2129">Write to the BLM and DEQ today and tell them to get mining under control in this important region.</a><br /><br />Thanks for taking action. We'll keep you up to date on our broader efforts to reform the 1872 Mining Act as the year goes on.<br /><br />Source: Oregon Wild

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