FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Miners cited for building illegal road
Photo courtesy of GEORGE SEXTON The U.S. Forest Service cited at least two miners for making this illegal road near Josephine Creek, adjacent to the Days Gulch Botanical Area.
By Jeff Duewel of the Daily Courier
Miners were cited last week by the U.S. Forest Service for making an illegal road next to a botanical area along Josephine Creek, a tributary of the Illinois River west of Kerby.
About 800 feet of road was scraped out and is now mud, next to Days Gulch Botanical area, "a delicate bog harboring a number of interesting species," according to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
"We spoke directly with the people who made it and issued them a citation," said Virginia Gibbons, spokesperson for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
Gibbons said the names and the nature of the citation would not be released, because of the federal Privacy Act.
"It's been interpreted that law enforcement records or information can't be disclosed if disclosure is reasonably expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," said Tom Knappenberger, public information officer for the Forest Service's Northwest Region in Portland.
A Freedom of Information Act request can be made, he added.
Gibbons did describe the damage caused by the illegal road-making.
"Much of the vegetationhas been destroyed and will be difficult to correct," said Gibbons in an e-mail. "The interdisciplinary team is assessing damage to estimate the costs for the repair work needed to restore the road to as close to its prior unroaded condition as soon as possible. We will sign the area to inform forest visitors it's not OK to travel on an illegal roadway. It is difficult to physically block the area because it's an open location."
George Sexton of the environmental group Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center said he notified the Forest Service in November about the road.
Wild Rivers District Ranger Roy Bergstrom visited the site last week with law enforcement, when the citation was issued.
"We appreciate George bringing it to our attention," Bergstromsaid.
Sexton said the miners could have accessed their mining claim without building a new road, and said that they had no right to put up a "keep out" sign along the road.
The area has a large Darlingtonia (insect eating plant) bog, and other plant species such as Waldo gentian, California lady's-slipper, western azalea and butterwort.
Sexton said he talked to the miners at the scene.
"Like a lot of the public lands miners in Southwest Oregon, they've bought into some of the rhetoric going around that miners are above the law," Sexton said. "They were pretty free about saying 'We build roads wherever we want, we divert creeks and we high-bank mine.'"
o o o
Reach reporter Jeff Duewel at 541-474-3720 or jduewel@thedailycourier.com
Miners were cited last week by the U.S. Forest Service for making an illegal road next to a botanical area along Josephine Creek, a tributary of the Illinois River west of Kerby.
About 800 feet of road was scraped out and is now mud, next to Days Gulch Botanical area, "a delicate bog harboring a number of interesting species," according to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
"We spoke directly with the people who made it and issued them a citation," said Virginia Gibbons, spokesperson for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
Gibbons said the names and the nature of the citation would not be released, because of the federal Privacy Act.
"It's been interpreted that law enforcement records or information can't be disclosed if disclosure is reasonably expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," said Tom Knappenberger, public information officer for the Forest Service's Northwest Region in Portland.
A Freedom of Information Act request can be made, he added.
Gibbons did describe the damage caused by the illegal road-making.
"Much of the vegetationhas been destroyed and will be difficult to correct," said Gibbons in an e-mail. "The interdisciplinary team is assessing damage to estimate the costs for the repair work needed to restore the road to as close to its prior unroaded condition as soon as possible. We will sign the area to inform forest visitors it's not OK to travel on an illegal roadway. It is difficult to physically block the area because it's an open location."
George Sexton of the environmental group Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center said he notified the Forest Service in November about the road.
Wild Rivers District Ranger Roy Bergstrom visited the site last week with law enforcement, when the citation was issued.
"We appreciate George bringing it to our attention," Bergstromsaid.
Sexton said the miners could have accessed their mining claim without building a new road, and said that they had no right to put up a "keep out" sign along the road.
The area has a large Darlingtonia (insect eating plant) bog, and other plant species such as Waldo gentian, California lady's-slipper, western azalea and butterwort.
Sexton said he talked to the miners at the scene.
"Like a lot of the public lands miners in Southwest Oregon, they've bought into some of the rhetoric going around that miners are above the law," Sexton said. "They were pretty free about saying 'We build roads wherever we want, we divert creeks and we high-bank mine.'"
o o o
Reach reporter Jeff Duewel at 541-474-3720 or jduewel@thedailycourier.com
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