This is the first time I've posted a blog on behalf of Friends of the Inyo, the conservation non-profit in the Eastern Sierra that I'm lucky enough to be involved with both as a member and an employee. But there's good reason for this first - the beautiful Bodie Hills - which most people know from the popular ghost town there - are endangered by mining exploration, and now is the time to speak up.
Why should we care about protecting a remote corner of our world? For one thing, hiking in the Bodie Hills yields some of the most spectacular views of the eastern escarpment of the snow-covered Sierra Nevada as exist anywhere in the region. You can hike 10,174-foot Bodie Mountain, photograph abundant wildflowers in summer months, drive back roads in search of bygone Western days, camp in aspen groves, and ski or ride over virgin snow with the Sierra backdrop.
But mining interests pose an increasing threat to these wild lands and open spaces. Next Tuesday, February 15, the Mono County Supervisors will hear a presentation from mining exploration company Cougar Gold on proposed mineral exploration and mining operations in the Bodie Hills. Will Cougar Gold also make enticing promises of providing jobs in the region that will never actually materialize?
Friends of the Inyo exhorts everyone who cares about the Bodie Hills or who would like to have the opportunity to discover them for the first time to voice concern now. From the FOI website (see www.friendsoftheinyo.org), here are some ideas:
* Email a letter to the Mono County Board of Supervisors before Tuesday, February 15: Lynda Roberts, County Clerk/Recorder, lroberts@mono.ca.gov. Tell the Supervisors you want the Bodie Hills to stay protected. Cougar Gold has to follow the rules on our public lands, and there are important issues to consider beyond the lure of gold.
The most expedient and fair approach for mining exploration to move forward while maintaining a good balance between economic, community, and environmental interests is for Cougar to follow the standard course of action and submit plans to the public and to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for review. Thank the board for their leadership and consideration back in September (when they voted NOT to pass a resolution supporting Bodie Wilderness Study Areas release), and on the 2009 wilderness bill. Ask them to support dialogue and public process. Tell them why the Bodie Hills are special to you (wildlife habitat, wide-open spaces, Bodie State Historic Park).
* You can also send a letter via U.S. mail to the Supervisors c/o Lynda Roberts, County Clerk/Recorder, P.O. Box 715, Bridgeport, CA 93517.
* Copy your letter via email and U.S. Mail to our Congressional delegation, in whose hands the fate of the Bodie Hills ultimate resides: Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and Congressman Buck McKeon (addresses are on their websites).
* If you are a Mono or Inyo County resident or are in the area, attend the Board of Supervisors meeting in Bridgeport on Tuesday February 15, to urge the supervisors not to support WSA release and to support permanent protection of the Bodie Hills; contact Stacy Corless for carpool information and schedule.
* If you live in Mono County, please also call and email your supervisor:
Larry Johnston (District 1, Mammoth): (760) 914-0826
Hap Hazard (District 2, Crowley, Sunny Slopes, Swall, Tri-Valley): (760) 935-4999
Vikki Bauer (District 3, Mammoth Knolls, June Lake): (760) 648-7831
Tim Hansen (District 4, Bridgeport, Lee Vining, Walker/Coleville): (760) 937-3290.
Byng Hunt (District 5, Old Mammoth): (760) 914-0469
Please call or email Stacy Corless with any questions: (760) 873-6500 or (760) 920-0190.
More talking points for your letter, phone calls and the meeting:
* Ask the Board to support a public dialogue that results in a shared vision for the public lands of the Bodie Hills, and involves all the stakeholders (not just a multi-billion dollar mining company).
* Release of the Bodie WSA by Congress is not necessary for mineral exploration. The mining company can and should conduct lawful mineral exploration under agency regulations governing the WSA to ensure its values are protected from damage. If sufficient gold is found to warrant further development, then there needs to be a dialogue involving the broad community of local, regional and natural stakeholders to determine appropriate future uses for the public lands in the Bodie Hills.
* A partial release of a portion of the WSA, which may be proposed, is unacceptable. The area the mining company is interested in seeing released to allow less regulated mineral exploration is that part of the WSA that holds some of its most important natural and cultural resources. What's more, it's not necessary for the mining company to continue exploration.
*Explain your connection to the Bodie Hills. Mention any experiences you have had exploring the wildlands around Bodie, be it hiking, mountain biking, hunting, auto-touring, photography, birdwatching or enjoying the area's spectacular summer wildflowers.
* The Bodie Hills, and the Bodie WSA in particular, contain outstanding natural and cultural values that are deserving of special protection. The Bodie Hills also provide important recreational opportunities including hiking, birdwatching, hunting and roadside exploration of the area's extensive cultural and natural history. The state park's Wild West backdrop shouldn't be degraded.
* Extensive mineral exploration or development activity, especially in the Bodie WSA, would irreversibly harm the Bodie Hills and directly threaten antelope, sage grouse and other fish and wildlife habitat as well as the area's many cultural resources and extensive recreational values.
*Ask the Mono County Board of Supervisors to support permanently preserving the natural and cultural values of the Bodie Hills, and to oppose any proposals such as WSA release that would facilitate new mineral exploration and development, absent a broad discussion among the varied stakeholders of the public lands about the future of the Bodie Hills.
*Question the long-term viability of a mine (remember Bodie's boom-and-bust past) versus the natural values that sustain tourism and recreation.
