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Please help protect California's remote Modoc Plateau!

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking ideas from the public on how it should manage the almost million and a half acres it oversees in eastern Shasta, Lassen, Modoc, and eastern Plumas counties. The region, known as the Modoc Plateau, is characterized by vast grasslands, sagebrush flats, deep canyons, steep mountains, innumerable caves, and spires of volcanic rock. Herds of pronghorn antelope, Rocky Mountain elk, and mule deer graze this rugged high desert landscape, while golden eagles fly the winds above.

Sadly, over the years the Modoc Plateau has been slowly filled with roads for mining, to support livestock grazing, for utility development, and for recreation. Despite this, the region still contains over 320,000 acres of wilderness-quality lands from the sheer cliffs of the 750-foot deep Pit River Canyon, to the highly scenic and rugged Skedaddle Mountains.

In November the CWC, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Sierra Club Shasta Group urged the BLM to protect threatened roadless areas in the region. Currently, there are two types of BLM roadless areas in California, places called "wilderness study areas" (WSA) that are being managed by the BLM to maintain their wilderness values, and other roadless areas that still have no protection whatsoever. In the past, in order to get a roadless area protected as a WSA groups like the CWC simply met with the BLM and asked them to assess the wilderness values of a particular area. If the BLM concluded that it met certain criteria, then they could designate it as a WSA and protect it for at least five years or until such time as Congress could decide whether or not it deserved official wilderness designation.

This process changed dramatically earlier this year when the State of Utah challenged the BLM's wilderness inventory procedures in order to thwart protection efforts in that state. The White House negotiated a damaging court settlement with Utah that resulted in a prohibition on the creation of any new WSAs anywhere in the United States.

As a result of the settlement, conservationists can no longer simply assert that an area has "wilderness values" such as roadlessness and an undeveloped character and then force the BLM to either prove or disprove us, now the burden of proof is on us to demonstrate that an area has such qualities. Even if the BLM agrees that an area has wilderness qualities, it is under no obligation to protect it.

In northeastern California the CWC and other groups submitted 107 pages of evidence in November supporting our contention that six currently unprotected roadless areas have wilderness values and should be protected. The wild areas include Snowstorm Mountain, Shinn Mountain, Observation Peak, Skedaddle Flats, Skedaddle West, and Shaffer Mountain. These areas shelter Native American rock art and other cultural values, habitat for elk and pronghorn, and provide a refuge for the rare sage grouse, a declining species known for its complex pre-dawn mating dances that cease abruptly when the first rays of the sun strike its strutting grounds.

It is essential that the BLM begin managing these and other parts of the Modoc Plateau as unique natural treasures and not as an area fit only for mines, livestock, powerlines, and roads. Your comments can help influence the preparation of a "resource management plan" that will guide the BLM's stewardship of this special region for at least the next decade.

What you can do

Please send a letter to:

Jeff Fontana
BLM, Eagle Lake Field Office
2950 Riverside Drive
Susanville, CA 96130

You can also fax your letter to (530) 257-4831. In your letter, please ask the BLM to include the following in its Northeast California Resource Management Plan:

• A commitment to manage Snowstorm Mountain, Shinn Mountain, Observation Peak, Skedaddle Flats, Skedaddle West, and Shaffer Mountain so as to preserve their wilderness character.
• A comprehensive review of potential new wild and scenic rivers, and a commitment to designate any streams that are found eligible.
• A commitment to confine vehicle use to only existing sanctioned routes, and to close those routes that are not essential for public or agency use.
• A plan for the creation of a network of foot and horse trails to meet the growing demand for non-motorized recreation.