Oregon Caves National Monument is known for its
crystal pools and delicate mineral deposits, yet at 480 acres, it’s
tiny. The final version of a new management plan, however, calls
for expanding the monument by seven times – to 3,400 acres – a
notion first discussed in the 1930s. “It’s difficult to manage a
natural system in a park that’s one-half the size of Central Park
in New York City,” says Oregon Caves superintendent Craig Ackerman.
The rectangle-shaped monument was created in 1909, before the
area’s network of caves was well understood. The expansion,
Ackerman says, would include the upper reaches of the Lake Creek
watershed, where the Siskiyou National Forest currently permits
logging, grazing and off-road vehicles. Barry Snitkin of the
nonprofit Siskiyou Project in Cave Junction, Ore., says a larger
monument will protect the remaining old-growth forest that rings
the monument. “It’s an area that grows some huge trees,” Snitkin
says.
The proposed new boundary is outlined in
the Oregon Caves National Monument General Management Plan and
Environmental Impact Statement. For a copy of the two-volume
document, contact the Oregon Caves National Monument, 19000 Caves
Highway, Cave Junction, OR 97523 (541/592-2100).
*Dustin
Solberg
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Oregon Caves park to grow.
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