It was unanimous and a first for Oregon. On July 17th of last year, the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission named the National Wild and Scenic North Fork Smith River, its tributaries and associated wetlands Outstanding Resource Waters. The designation is reserved for the highest read more

Updated 7/13/2017 - The waters of the North Fork Smith and its tributaries are of the highest quality and unbelievably clear. But this is not just some random good fortune. It's a reflection of the integrity of the river's near-pristine watershed, an abundance of precipitation, read more

There is no way to individually acknowledge all those who contributed so much and worked tirelessly to get in place a 20-year mineral withdrawal for this rugged, remote corner of Oregon and California. The withdrawal now provides interim protection from new mining for two special read more

Updated 2/27/2017 - The State of Oregon is proposing to designate the National Wild and Scenic North Fork Smith River, its tributaries and associated wetlands as Outstanding Resource Waters, There could be no better candidates. However, despite this provision of the Clean Water Act& read more

Representatives Peter DeFazio and Jared Huffman got right to it. On January 5th, two days after the 115th Congress convened, they reintroduced the Southwestern Oregon Watershed and Salmon Protection Act (H.R. 310). Shortly after, on January 23, 2017, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley reintroduced read more

WASHINGTON—Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today secured a twenty-year ban on new mining projects in an ecologically and economically critical region in Southwest Oregon. The areas protected include the watershed of the read more

Neither the dark of night nor the rains of November deterred opponents of nickel strip mining in the Kalmiopsis and Wild Rivers Coast regions from making their voices heard at the recent public hearing in Brookings, Oregon. Residents of the communities read more

Forty-five thousand individuals, organizations, tribes, agencies, water districts, counties and city councils commented or signed petitions during two formal comment periods and two local hearings for the Southwestern Oregon Mineral Withdrawal. Of the 45,000 respondents, an overwhelming 99.9% supported the temporary time-out from mining.[1]  If implemented, read more

Two mining companies and what's called an association hold all but five of the existing federal mining claims in the U.S Forest Service and BLM's proposed 101,000 acre Southwestern Oregon Mineral Withdrawal Area,  Except for the five, the existing claims are held in large blocks, read more

Post revised 5/25/2016.   EPA's latest Toxic Release Inventory report shows that the metal mining industry produced 45% of all toxic pollution in the United States in 2014. You won't hear advocates of mining ever mention this when they're promoting mines on our National Forest and BLM read more

It's a favorite of fisheries biologists and a small cadre of intrepid boaters who like their weather wet and their whitewater wild. The National Wild and Scenic North Fork Smith River and its tributaries tumble out of Southwest Oregon’s Kalmiopsis Wilderness and two read more

We look back to September 11, 2015 on the Wild Rivers Coast. It was one of those days that verged on perfect. The evening before, the Gold Beach hearing for the proposed Southwest Oregon Mineral Withdrawal wowed everyone with the sheer size of the crowd and read more

What just happened may have seemed out of the blue to some but the recently proposed mining withdrawal has been decades in the making. It's purpose is to provide interim protection for two very special areas in Southwest Oregon's Kalmiopsis Region and Wild Rivers Coast read more

Residents of Southwest Oregon's Wild Rivers Coast like their water pure, rivers clean, air fresh and salmon healthy. That was the message about 200 people had for the Forest Service, BLM, and congressional staff Wednesday evening. The crowd showed overwhelming support for the protection of two read more

Once more the metal mining industry is largest toxic polluter in the United States. On January 15th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the latest numbers from the nation's Toxic Release Inventory. In 2013 (the latest reporting year), the metal mining industry was responsible for read more

Opponents to the development of a nickel strip mine in the pristine watershed of the North Fork Smith River worked furiously last July to get information in to Oregon Water Resources Department and out to the public. It was a spontaneous all-out grassroots effort. Even read more

In a recent guest opinion in the Sacramento Bee, noted river author Tim Palmer, reminds us that the National Wild and Scenic Smith River's pure water is worth more than a nickel mine. He calls on Oregon legislators to finish the job California began in read more

The public has heard little about the RNR Nickel Mine at Rough and Ready Creek, but a lot has been happening behind the scenes. According to court records, the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has raised concerns about certain aspects of the proposal.  The agency has read more

Visitors, residents and hikers in Southwest Oregon are asked to be on the alert for any suspected occurrence of yellow tuft alyssum. Learn more about the invasive plant here at OPB/Earthfix. See Forest Service and Oregon Department of Agriculture email addresses where you can read more

You can help by going to American River's Rough and Ready and Baldface Creek page. Then click on take action to send a message to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior asking them to act on Senator Wyden, Senator Merkley and Rep. DeFazio's repeated requests read more

In a race that could decide whether the wild near-pristine watersheds of Rough and Ready Creek, Baldface Creek and the North Fork Smith River are protected or strip mined for nickel, the mining companies appear to be winning. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and read more

Updated 4/2/2013   Many in the crowd at Northwest Rafting Company's Wild Rivers Night were seeing Rough and Ready Creek for the first time as Zachary Collier presented slides from two days of kayaking the creek's little known north and south forks. It would be read more

Rough and Ready Creek is again threatened by a major nickel mine. Called the RNR Mine Project, it's similar to the Nicore proposal of the 1990s, only now it includes the construction of a nickel processing facility at the Rough and Ready Creek Area of read more

New Google Earth imagery shows mine reclamation (or lack thereof) at the Nickel Mountain Mine near Riddle. Is this what's in store for Rough and Ready Creek with the new proposed RNR nickel mine and ore processing facility? With higher resolution imagery you can explore read more