01/20/04
Mt. Bailey from Diamond Lake, Oregon
Mt. Bailey & Diamond Lake, Oregon

PROPOSAL FOR THE

MEDICINE MOUNTAIN
(Mt. Bailey)
NATIONAL MONUMENT

In the heart of the Oregon Cascade Mountains lies a forest with an extraordinary history and spectacular natural attributes. Ancient forests, rich in diversity, rest upon a landscape shaped by the eruption of Mount Mazama, one of the most violent volcanic events of all time. The proposed Medicine Mountain National Monument offers ample picture perfect views, abundant recreational opportunities, and needed protection for an area whose natural beauty is threatened by extraction.

Now is the time to take steps to permanently protect this rich and diverse forest! We ask for your support to designate this incredible National Monument. The name Medicine Mountain comes from the Klamath Indian name for Mount Bailey. According to legend, priests feasted on the summit and communed with the upper world.

The 206,000 acres that make up the proposed monument include popular destination points such as Mt. Bailey and Diamond Lake, abundant waterfalls, dozens of trails for all kinds of recreation and some of the most magnificent Ancient Forests remaining in the Pacific Northwest. Ancient forests and stunning geologic features left by the eruption of Mount Mazama are the basis of this diverse area. The boundaries of the proposed national monument fall entirely within the Diamond Lake Ranger District of the Umpqua National Forest plus Sherwood Butte on the Rogue River National Forest. Through its size and linkages between adjacent wilderness, this monument provides critical connectivity for many large-ranging and old-growth dependent species -- including 20 species of conservation concern. Early proposals for Crater Lake National Park included parts of this area in recognition of its outstanding beauty and ecological value.

Protected status such as wilderness, parks and national monuments bring economic vitality to adjacent communities. Counties with relatively attractive environments and higher percentages of land devoted to wilderness, national parks, and national monuments are more likely to experience stronger economic growth. People are attracted by the quality of life these protected areas bring, which is largely based on the presence of healthy streams and intact native forests. Any negative impacts from a reduction in timber harvest could be offset by the benefits of designating a national monument.

Conservation organizations are banding together to support the designation of the Medicine Mountain National Monument. A report prepared by Pacific Biodiversity Institute documents the scientific justification for designating this area as a National Monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Please join us in our efforts to protect this unique and amazing place in the Cascade Mountains.

Recreation in the Proposed Medicine Mountain National Monument

Whata view!Whether you're hiking along the North Umpqua River, soaking in the hot springs, boating on a lake, photographing wildflowers in a Cascades meadow, or catching a spectacular sunset at Mt. Bailey, one thing is for sure: the amazingly rich lands of the proposed Medicine Mountain National Monument provide recreational opportunities that are difficult to surpass.

Travelers come to Oregon to see the breathtaking views, encounter rare wildlife and explore the many outdoor opportunities. The proposed Medicine Mountain National Monument contains many of the natural qualities visitors like -- extensive old-growth forests to hike, many rivers, lakes and streams to fish, and majestic views from peaks like Mount Bailey. Recreation in the Umpqua National Forest already has been more concentrated in the area of the proposed monument -- 72% of the National Forest recreation use.

The proposed Medicine Mountain National Monument is composed largely of the Diamond Lake Ranger District in the Umpqua National Forest, which hosts a collection of recreational opportunities, such as:

Threatened Beauty

threatened old growth forestNot only is Diamond Lake our best-loved and most used recreation area, it is also the heaviest logged place in the Umpqua. Conflicts are inevitable with logging units over hiking trails, in-view sheds, and fragmenting wild roadless areas. Nearly 90,000 acres of the entire monument are roadless and without protection, threatened by logging and road building. For example, the ecologically important Mount Bailey Inventoried Roadless Area has declined from 20,300 acres in 1979 to 18,627 acres currently.

To protect places like this, forest activists have fought timber sales one by one, protecting each watershed for just a moment in time. This is an opportunity to bring all of our efforts together to protect this diverse, ecologically rich forest.

Old-growth forests cover nearly one-third (27%) of the proposed monument area. Eighty percent of the 206,000 acres under the proposed monument include biologically rich, mid and low-elevation forests. Currently, this beautiful land is threatened by the logging of old-growth forests and road building. The Diamond Lake Ranger District is planning to remove over 120 million board feet from this area in the near future. That is over 25,000 log truck loads! And of the 90,000 acres in the monument that are roadless over half receive no roadless area protection!

Last year, 830 million visitors made their way to the National Forests. Recreation activities on National Forest lands in the year 2000 are projected to generate over $97.8 billion dollars into the economy. Resource extraction, including all mining and logging, is projected to produce only about one-tenth of that. In addition, the Forest Service projects that the largest growth in recreation in the next 50 years will be wildlife viewing and backpacking.

Now is the time to protect this diverse and ecologically rich forest for generations to come. By enjoying the forest through hiking, biking, fishing, horseback riding, skiing, boating, rafting, canoeing, climbing, and other activities, we can ensure that the forest will be there to share in the future.



Rumor Control

Rumor: A National Monument would "lock up our forests."
Fact: Recreational opportunities would continue just as they are today and even be enhanced. National Monument status would lock up the old-growth from being clearcut, but it wouldn't lock up the forests for people's enjoyment. The area has a robust recreation infrastructure of campgrounds, trails and resorts that would remain intact.

Rumor: Umpqua Watersheds wants to turn Diamond Lake Ranger District into a wilderness area.
Fact: The Diamond Lake area is riddled with logging roads. It would be physically impossible to turn it into a wilderness area.

Rumor: A National Monument would be economically devastating for local businesses such as Diamond Lake Resort and Dry Creek Store.
Fact: Increased tourism can only be beneficial for services catering to tourists. Diamond Lake Resort would be sitting right in the middle of a spectacular National Monument. How can that be bad for business?

Rumor: The public will have no input into the National Monument.
Fact: A National Monument Management Plan would be a NEPA document with full public participation. There would be scoping, public meetings and comments for 45 days on a draft plan, and a final proposal with another comment period. The public will have ample opportunity to express such things as how much snowmobiling they want and where, how much cross country skiing and where, etc. Hunting and fishing would continue to be determined by the same Fish and Wildlife regulations that govern it now.

Rumor: Environmentalists will say anything to get their foot in the door. Then they can control their own agenda.
Fact: We wish we had more influence than say, the timber industry, but we don't. If we did, the Umpqua National Forest would not currently be proposing the Lemolo Timber Sale in the National Monument. This proposal would log next to hiking trails, including the popular North Umpqua Trail. It will log Bunker Hill, in the view-shed of Lemolo Lake Resort. It will log immediately adjacent to two campgrounds, and will clearcut right over the disbursed campground at the trail head to Pit Lake. It will log all along road 958, the main tourist drive to Mt. Thielsen trails. It will clearcut Kelsay Point above Kelsay Valley Campground. It will clearcut in the pumice flat above the aquifer feeding Spring River. In fact, it will build a new road into Kelsay Valley and clearcut to within 300 feet of Spring River. We can only wish we had the control to at least slow down the logging that was so degrading to the recreation values.

We need a healthy debate on how a National Monument would effect Douglas County. Let's debate using the facts, not rumors.

Economic Analysis
of the Proposed Medicine Mountain National Monument


Download the complete Economic Analysis in MS Word format (59k) by clicking here.


Economic Opportunity for Creating Sustainable Communities

The North Umpqua Trail and logging unitDesignation of the Medicine Mountain National Monument will help the Douglas County community make a transition from a logging industry based upon resource extraction, to a more sustainable economy focused on protecting the natural qualities surrounding them. Business people and economists agree that the future well-being of communities relies on bringing other industries into the market. Currently, growth in the travel, tourism and recreation industries in Douglas County exceed the state average and are expected to grow.

In addition, counties are more likely to experience stronger economic growth when they have relatively attractive environments and higher percentages of land devoted to wilderness, national parks, and national monuments. Designation of a monument and the protection of the area for the public's enjoyment will be a huge boom to the local economy and could provide hundreds of new jobs.

The Forest Service's emphasis on logging and road building is dramatically out of step with economic realities and the needs of local communities. It is long past time that Oregon achieves more federally recognized tourism and recreation destinations. Medicine Mountain National Monument could help bolster the region's transitioning economy while protecting natural amenities for the health and well-being of all.

A breathtaking view from atop Mt. Bailey (Medicine Mountain)Facts:

Protected status such as wilderness, parks and national monuments bring economic vitality to adjacent communities. People are attracted by the quality of life these protected areas bring. Stronger economic growth is more likely in counties with or near lands under protective status. In addition, it has been found that higher rates of employment and income are related to the nearness of protected lands (1).

Between 1994 and 1998, the amount of Forest Service timber sold in eastern Douglas County decreased at a rate of nearly 35% (2). During this same period, the number of jobs in the timber and wood products industry increased by almost 5% (3), indicating that further reductions in the supply of federal timber will not impact timber industry jobs.

Although logging on federal lands in eastern Douglas County has declined in the past 5 years, employment in the timber industry has actually increased.

In 1999, Oregon was the top lumber-producing state in the country (6 billion board feet a year), despite the cutbacks in public lands logging (4). Once again, this shows that there is less of a relationship between jobs and the timber industry.

In 1999, Oregon saw 43.5 million visits from tourists and an estimated $5.5 billion contributed to the state economy, an increase of 5.7% since 1991 in current dollars (3% a year in constant dollars). These travel expenditures supported 79,000 jobs (5,6).

Last year, 830 million visitors made their way to the National Forests. Recreation activities on National Forest lands in the year 2000 are projected to inject over $97.8 billion dollars into the economy. Resource extraction, including all mining and logging, is projected to produce only about one-tenth of that. In addition, the Forest Service projects that the largest growth in recreation in the next 50 years will be to wildlife viewing and backpacking.

72% of developed recreation on the Umpqua National Forest already occurs in the area proposed as a national monument (7).

In Douglas County, travel spending grew by 50% from 1991 to 1998, outpacing the statewide average. Employment generated by tourism included 2,800 jobs. That's 27 jobs per 1,000 people, higher than the statewide average. A study done by ECONorthwest shows that at other recently designated national monuments, visitor spending has grown by more than 30% in the first year (8).

Although the number of overall jobs continues to increase, logging on Federal lands and the number of timber jobs have both decreased. This suggests that there is less of a relationship between timber jobs and economic health than previously thought. Meanwhile, the tourism and service industries continue to grow, and the number of dollars being spent in recreation only increase. The economy already appears to be in transition. The designation of the Mount Bailey National Monument can help provide economic stability to Douglas County's transitioning economy by bringing in more tourism dollars while at the same time protecting these natural amenities for the future.

Sources:
1. Lorah, Paul and Rob Southwick. "Historical Economic Performance of Oregon and Western Counties Associated with Roadless and Wilderness Areas." Southwick Associates. August 15, 2000.
2. Ward, F.R., Lettman, G.J., and Hiserote, B.A. "Oregonâs Forest Products Industry: 1998." Oregon Department of Forestry. February 2000.
3. Rooney, Brian. "2000 Regional Profile, Region 6, Douglas County." Oregon Employment Department. REP: 9/99. (Supplemental information from Regional Profiles for last 10 years for Douglas County and the State of Oregon.)
4. "Roseburg Labor Trends." State of Oregon Employment Department. October 2000.
5. "Roseburg Labor Trends." State of Oregon Employment Department. March 2000
6. "Douglas County." Dean Runyan Reports for the Oregon Tourism Commission. 1999.
7. "Timber and Vegetation Management." & "Recreation, Wilderness, Wild and Scenic Rivers." 1998 Monitoring Report Umpqua National Forest.
8. MacMullan, E., Gall, M., Fifield, A. "The Economic Impacts of the Proposed Siskiyou Wild Rivers National Monument." ECONorthwest. June 28, 2000.

Download the complete National Monument Proposal
in PDF format.


Download Medicine Mountain Scientific Report - Screen Optimized. (Approx. size 588k)

Download Medicine Mountain Scientific Report - Print Optimized. (Approx. size 4.47mb)

Download the complete Economic Analysis in MS Word format (59k).

Link to Umpqua National Forest web page that has more information on this proposal.

Contact Senator Wyden and Representative DeFazio and let them know You Support the Medicine Mountain National Monument.


In January of this year, the White House received hundreds of phone calls, letters and faxes in support of the Medicine Mountain National Monument. Please contact Andrew Card, Chief of Staff, and urge him to support the creation of Medicine Mountain National Monument. Also please contact Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth and urge him to support the creation of National Monuments on the National Forest lands. Ask Peter DeFazio and Ron Wyden to urge the administration's support.

Andrew Card, Chief of Staff, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20500, 202/456-1414,

Dale Bosworth, Forest Service Chief, USFS, Washington, D.C. 20250, 202/205-1661,
Fax 202/205-1765.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, 2134 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515. 202/225-6416,
Fax 202/225-0032.

Senator Ron Wyden, 516 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510. 202/224-5244,
Fax 202/ 228-2717.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski, 160 State Capitol, 900 Court Street, Salem, OR 97301-4047. 503/378-4582,
Fax 503/378-6827.

Current List of Endorsers

American Lands
Cascadia Wildlands Project
Center for Environmental Education and Information
Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club
Juniper Group Sierra Club
Lane County Audubon
Northwest Trails Archive and Restoration Project
Oregon Chapter Sierra Club
Oregon Natural Resources Council
OSPIRG
Save Our ecoSystems, Inc.
Steamboaters
Sustainable Forestry Project
U of O Survival Center
Umpqua Valley Audubon
Umpqua Watersheds, Inc.