How to Help


 Update July 2015

What you can do to help: Please THANK our elected official for introducing legislation to protect the Chetco.



Please email Rep. DeFazio, Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley with a short note of thanks. 

Here's a suggested message you can cut and paste:

Thank you for introducing the Southwest Oregon Watershed and Salmon Protection Act to protect our precious wild rivers from the threat of mining at their headwaters. The Illinois, Smith, Pistol, and Chetco rivers and Hunter Creek are irreplaceable streams, and our South Coast communities depend on them all for clean drinking water, salmon fishing, and other recreation. Please keep in mind that the current withdrawal for the Chetco is only temporary and will expire before the others, and so we'll need your continued leadership for quick action. I appreciate your leadership to protect all our outstanding wild South Coast rivers into the future.

It's always best if you add a personal sentence about why YOU care.

Send your thank you email by going to each elected official's contact page:

Representative DeFazio: http://defazio.house.gov/contact Senator Ron Wyden: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/  



Update July 2013

What you can do to help: It's very important that our elected officials continue to hear from us!

Please email Senator Wyden and thank him for advancing the Oregon Treasures Act. Be sure to mention your support for the Chetco. While you're at it, please thank Senator Merkeley for co-sponsoring and supporting the Oregon Treasures Act, too.

Here's a suggested message:
Dear Senator ________ :  Thank you for advancing the Oregon Treasures Act and for including protective provisions for the National Wild & Scenic Chetco River. As you well know, the Chetco is one of Oregon's wildest rivers, renowned for its crystal clear water, giant salmon, and outstanding recreation. I appreciate your leadership in protecting this national treasure from large-scale in-stream gold mining. For the public to gain full advantage of last year's unexpected forfeiture of 15 miles of mining claims (which meant the mothballing of 6 plans for large-scale instream mining and savings of a million or more dollars for the taxpayer), Congress has to act swiftly to make these gains permanent. Please do everything you can to protect our beautiful Chetco River and its magnificent wild salmon and steelhead. Thank you.
It's always best if you add a personal sentence about why YOU care.

Send your email by going to the Senators' contact pages:

Senator Jeff Merkley: http://www.merkley.senate.gov/contact/ 
                                                                                 
In addition, please send an email to Congressman DeFazio thanking him for re-introducing the Chetco River Protection Act.

Here's a suggested message:
Dear Representative ________ :  Thank you for reintroducing the Chetco River Protection Act. The Chetco is one of Oregon's wildest rivers, renowned for its crystal clear water, giant salmon, and outstanding recreation. I appreciate your leadership in protecting this national treasure from large-scale in-stream gold mining. For the public to gain full advantage of last year's unexpected forfeiture of 15 miles of mining claims (which meant the mothballing of 6 plans for large-scale instream mining and savings of a million or more dollars for the taxpayer), Congress has to act swiftly to make these gains permanent. Please do everything you can to protect our beautiful Chetco River and its magnificent wild salmon and steelhead. Thank you.
You can cut and paste and send your note via Congressman DeFazio's website. Click the link below: 

  


 Update April 2013
What you can do to help: Please email Congressman DeFazio and THANK him for re-introducing the Chetco River Protection Act. While you're at it, please thank bill co-sponsors Congressman Blumenauer and Represenative Bonamici. Also, if you've not yet thanked Senators Wyden and Merkley, please see the Feb. 14 update below. It's very important that our elected officials continue to hear from us. While the fight to save the Wild and Scenic Chetco River from large-scale in-stream gold mining experienced a major victory last year, the job of permanently protecting the river can only be accomplished through the attention of Congress.  

Here's a suggested message:
Dear Representative ________ :  Thank you for reintroducing the Chetco River Protection Act. The Chetco is one of Oregon's wildest rivers, renowned for its crystal clear water, giant salmon, and outstanding recreation. I appreciate your leadership in protecting this national treasure from large-scale in-stream gold mining. For the public to gain full advantage of last year's unexpected forfeiture of 15 miles of mining claims (which meant the mothballing of 6 plans for large-scale instream mining and savings of a million or more dollars for the taxpayer), Congress has to act swiftly to make these gains permanent. Please do everything you can to protect our beautiful Chetco River and its magnificent wild salmon and steelhead. Thank you.
Remember, it's always best if you add a personal sentence about why YOU care. You can cut and paste and send your note via the representatives' websites. Click the links below: 




 Update Feb. 14, 2013

What you can do to help: Please email Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley and THANK them for re-introducing the Chetco River Protection Act as part of their new Oregon Treasures Act. Ask them to please champion this important conservation legislation in the new Congress. While the fight to save the Wild and Scenic Chetco River from large-scale in-stream gold mining experienced a major victory last year, the job of permanently protecting the river can only be accomplished through the attention of Congress.  

Here's a suggested message:
Dear Senator ________ :  Thank you for including expanded protections for the National Wild and Scenic Chetco River in your new Oregon Treasures Act. As you know, the Chetco is one of Oregon's wildest rivers, renowned for its crystal clear water, giant salmon, and outstanding recreation. I appreciate your leadership in protecting this national treasure from large-scale in-stream gold mining. For the public to gain full advantage of last year's unexpected forfeiture of 15 miles of mining claims (which meant the mothballing of 6 plans for large-scale instream mining and savings of a million or more dollars for the taxpayer), Congress has to act swiftly to make these gains permanent. Please do everything you can to protect our beautiful Chetco River and its magnificent wild salmon and steelhead. Thank you.
It's always best if you add a personal sentence about why YOU care.

Send your email by going to the Senators' contact pages:

Senator Jeff Merkley: http://www.merkley.senate.gov/contact/ 
                                                                                 
 
THANK YOU!

                                               Update Sept. 14, 2012                                               

 What you can do to help: Public complacency is a miner's best friend. While the fight to save the Wild and Scenic Chetco River from large-scale in-stream gold mining experienced a major victory in September of 2011, the job of permanently protecting the river and equally important not losing the ground gained still faces many hurdles.

Please email Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley (links below). Thank them for their effort to protect the Chetco but remind them how important it is that the Chetco River Protection Act be passed into law this year.

Here's a suggested message. 
Dear Senator ________:  Thank you for your efforts to protect the Wild and Scenic Chetco River from large-scale in-stream gold mining but I want to also remind you how important it is for Congress to pass Chetco River Protection Act this year. Remember for the public to capitalize on the one-time gift of the forfeiture of 15 miles of mining claims, the mothballing of 6 plans for large-scale instream mining and savings of a million or more dollars for the taxpayer, Congress has to act promptly to make these gains permanent. Please do everything you can to protect our beautiful Chetco River and its magnificent wild salmon and steelhead and gin clear waters.
Send your email by going to the Senators' contact pages:
The Chetco River Protection Act would permanently protect this beautiful Wild and Scenic River from mining and would reclassify this section as a Wild River Area. (Ann Vileisis photo.)

                                                Update March 18, 2012                                               

 Don't let this huge victory go to waste: Almost twenty miles of the beautiful Wild and Scenic Chetco River just went from being covered with mining claims—with 8 separate plans of operation submitted to mine it for gold—to zero mining claims and zero mining threats, at no cost to the taxpayer.[1] But this sea change is temporary on the river outside the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. We now have to work harder than ever to make it permanent through the passage of Chetco River Protection Act. And it has to be done in a defined period of time. There will be no second chance.

 What you can do to help:  For those in Oregon, please write a brief note to Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Jeff Merkley and email it to them from their websites at the links below. Suggested message:
Thank you for your leadership in introducing the Chetco River Protection Act. I urge you to move it towards enactment this year in order to take advantage of the forfeiture of almost 15 miles of existing mining claims. If enacted swiftly, the legislation will save taxpayer money and provide the best protection for the Chetco’s nationally outstanding salmon and steelhead fishery, water quality and recreation, all of which contribute to the economy of southwest Oregon's coastal communities.
Email to:   
You can also sign the petition on the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands website.  

Please check back for more ways to help to permanently protect the Wild and Scenic Chetco River from mining.


[1] After the forfeiture of the ~ 20 miles of claims, about 4 mining claims remain on the lower 3 miles of the wild and scenic river.

                                               March 18, 2012 Thank you.                                        


A great big "thank you" to the over 11,600 citizens who sent letters to the Bureau of Land in support of the proposed temporary mineral withdrawal and to the residents of Southwest Oregon's Wild Rivers Coast who attended the local hearing to speak out for the river they love.  

To learn more about how the temporary withdrawal has made permanently protecting the Wild and Scenic Chetco river from mining possible read this post.


                                     The Wild and Scenic Chetco River                                        
Raise your voice for this beautiful Wild and Scenic River. Say "no" to mining and "yes" to greater protection for the wild Chetco River through the Chetco River Protection Act.  (Zach Collier, Northwest Rafting Company photo).    










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