Right-of-Way Grant
The Medford District of the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) is currently evaluating an
application from US Cellular to renew an existing
right-of-way grant (OR 49604) for their communication
facility located at the top of Soda Mountain and
associated rights to use and maintain BLM roads 39-3E32.3 (Soda Mountain Road), 40-3E-21.1, and 40-3E-21.2
(Soda Mountain Lookout Road) within the CascadeSiskiyou National Monument (CSNM).
Background
The Soda Mountain Communications Site is located
on public land and administered by the Bureau of
Land Management, Medford District Office. It is a
long-standing, established site that serves a large and
varied population over a broad geographic region
encompassing Southwest Oregon and Northern
California. Soda Mountain functions as a vital link in
the communications industry. The various authorized
holders who currently operate at the site provide an
array of services, including emergency 911 service; fire
detection/reporting; commercial and public radio and
television broadcasting; microwave and internet data
links; telephone transmissions; and other uses. US
Cellular is one of eight communications facilities at
Soda Mountain.
In 2000, the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
was reserved in recognition of its remarkable ecology
and to protect a diverse range of biological, geological,
aquatic, archeological and historic objects. The Soda
Mountain Wilderness (SMW) was added to the National
Wilderness Preservation System on March 30, 2009.
The Soda Mountain Communications Site is within the
CSNM and is surrounded on all sides by the SMW.
The US Cellular lease at the Soda Mountain
Communication Site was recognized as a valid existing
right in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Record
of Decision/Resource Management Plan (2008) (CSNM
ROD/RMP) (VER-5, page 117). The CSNM ROD/RMP
also identified that a comprehensive communications
site management plan addressing site efficiency, visual
resources, and the impacts of technology would be
developed (VER-6, page 117). The BLM completed a
communications site survey for the Soda Mountain
site in 2005. Two drafts of a communications site
management plan were made available for public
comment and the final Soda Mountain Communications
Site Management Plan was approved in August 2012.
Requests for renewal of existing right-of-way grants or
leases are to be evaluated in accordance with the Soda
Mountain Communications Site Management Plan (2012).
Special resource coordination considerations with onsite or adjacent resource values must be consistent with
the CSNM ROD/RMP (2008) and the Soda Mountain
Wilderness Final Stewardship Plan (2012).
US Cellular Facilities at Soda Mountain
US Cellular is requesting to renew their existing rightof-way grant (OR 49604) to occupy a 30 ft x 30 ft area
(0.02 acres) atop Soda Mountain in the NW1/4 of Section
28, T. 40 S., R. 3 E., W.M. (Map 1). The facilities include
a 40 ft communication tower with a 6 ft and two 10 ft
micro-wave dishes, a 12 ft x 10 ft equipment shelter,
an existing coaxial cable bridge from the equipment
shelter to the tower, two 20 ft metal poles with antennas,
a generator, and a propane tank. US Cellular has five
proposed additions: (1) route a hybrid cable in the
existing buried conduit from the tower to the two metal
poles to increase communication capacity, (2) attach
July 2015
What is Being Proposed?
BLM
US Cellular
Medford District Office
Soda Mountain
Communications Site
a horizontal bar at the base of the two antenna poles to
run a coaxial cable, (3) add an 8 ft panel antenna and 12 ft
support frame on the existing tower at 29 ft, (4) replace two
8 ft panel antennas, and (5) attach three small electronic
boxes behind the antennas on the backside of the poles.
The authorization includes use and maintenance of BLM
roads 39-3E-32.3 (Soda Mountain Road), 40-3E-21.1, and
40-3E-21.2 (Soda Mountain Lookout Road). The renewal
application requests a grant for a thirty-year period. The
existing US Celluluar facility provides emergency 911
service and wireless communication services for the
surrounding area.
How Can You Participate?
We are now in the scoping phase of the environmental
analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). This means that any submitted comments will
be used to develop issues, mitigation measures, and
alternatives. Comments that clearly articulate site-specific
suggestions, issues or concerns are the most useful.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address,
or other personal identifying information in your comment, be
advised that your entire comment -- including your personal
identifying information -- may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold from
public review your personal identifying information, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Map 1.
We will make all submissions from organizations or
businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.
Although you will be provided with an additional
opportunity to make comments upon completion of the
environmental assessment, we are requesting your input
now so that it can be considered early in the planning
process.
We look forward to working with you throughout the
process to ensure the protection of the Cascade-Siskiyou
National Monument. Please submit your comments by
Monday, August 3, 2015. Your comments should be mailed
to Krisit Mastrofini, Acting Field Manager at the following
address.
Bureau of Land Management
Medford District Office
Ashland Resource Area
3040 Biddle Road
Medford, OR 97504
Who Should You Contact for
Technical Information on this
Project?
Please contact Michelle Calvert, Project Leader,
at 541.618.2252 or Tanya Dent, Realty Specialist, at
541.618.2477 for clarification or additional information.