The Future of the BLM's Rogue River Management
The Wild & Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 1968 to preserve this country’s most valuable watersheds. While a huge impetus behind the Act was to prevent dams and water diversions from spoiling our waterways, the Act also required the identification and protection of “Outstandingly Remarkable Values” (ORVs) for the benefit of present and future generations. According to the USFS and BLM 2021 Wild Rogue Management Plan pre-assessment, there are no ORVs identified within the 50-year Wild & Scenic Rogue comprehensive river management plan.
Rogue Riverkeeper and KS Wild are working with Senator Wyden to encourage the Medford BLM and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest to address their own recommendations from their 2021 Wild & Scenic Rogue River Comprehensive River Management Plan Pre-Planning Assessment. Five years after Congress designated 120 miles of the Wild Rogue’s tributaries as Wild & Scenic, we are still waiting for the Medford BLM to update the management plan. As part of an update, we are looking to amplify recommendations laid out in the agencies’ own report:
Define the ORVs for both the mainstem Rogue and the 2019 designated tributaries. Congress intended the tributaries and the mainstem to be managed as a whole.
Promote Collaboration. Public engagement in river planning and stewardship is a fundamental requirement of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
Encourage Adaption. An updated River Management Plan could update and combine current disparate regulatory actions, resolving conflicts and improving continuity of management.
Prioritize Water Quality. Water quality is limited within the mainstem Rogue and many of its tributaries, and flows have been affected by removal of several dams and diversions.
Boater on the Wild & Scenic Rogue River. Credit: Unknown
The Wild & Scenic Rogue River is deeply valued and many are concerned about the current lack of an updated management plan. Some of the issues of concern include the Wild segment permit administration, habituation of black bears and other wildlife, human waste and trash management, and wildfire and post-wildfire management. Recent post-fire logging on BLM lands following the 2022 Rum Creek Fire have also raised concerns about how the Rogue’s ORVs are being treated under the guise of restoration and public safety.