Wyden, Merkley, DeFazio want mining ban in Siskiyou Wild Rivers area

The proposed moratorium would protect sensitive wildlands and waters in an ecologically rich part of the state.

Oregon's two senators and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., are calling for a mining moratorium in the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area, saying mining threatens some of Southern Oregon's "most unique national treasures."

DeFazio, joined by Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, also Democrats, sent a letter to the Interior Department and Department of Agriculture Thursday. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski sent a similar letter last month.

The Thursday letter singles out the proposed Nicore Mine and says the congressmen are concerned about "immediate mining threats" to Rough and Ready Creek and the Chetco River.

In 2001, then President Clinton proposed a moratorium on new claims in the area. President Bush dropped the proposal soon after taking office.

Since 2001, over 880 new mining claims have been made in the area under the federal Mining Law of 1872, according to Oregon Wild, a conservation group. Under the law, an administrative moratorium the most effective way to stop potentially harmful mining.

Oregon Wild expects an August ban on suction dredge mining in California to push the practice to southern Oregon rivers. Suction dredge miners use vacuum-like machines attached to diesel engines that pump sediment from the bottom of rivers in search of minerals.