National Monument
Cascade-Siskiyou
Right-of-Way Grant
TheNational
Medford
District of the Bureau of Land Management
Landscape Conservation System
(BLM) is currently evaluating an application from New
Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC (AT&T) to renew an existing
right-of-way grant (OR 48563) for their communication
facility located at the top of Soda Mountain and associated
rights to use and maintain BLM roads 39-3E-32.3 (Soda
Mountain Road) and 40-3E-21.1 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 longstanding, 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 911service; fire detection/reporting; commercial
and public radio and television broadcasting; microwave
and internet data links; telephone transmissions; and
other uses. New Cingular Wireless 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 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.
What is Being Proposed?
New Cingular Wireless Facilities at Soda Mountain.
New Cingular Wireless is requesting to renew their existing
right-of-way grant (OR 48563) to occupy a 100’ x 100’
area (0.23 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 12’ x 30’ concrete building, an operational 80’ cell
tower and a propane tank. The authorization also includes
use and maintenance of BLM roads 39-3E-32.3 (Soda
Mountain Road) and 40-3E-21.1. The renewal application
requests a grant for a twenty-year period. The existing New
January 2013
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 on-site or
adjacent resource values must be consistent with the CSNM
ROD/RMP (2008) and the Soda Mountain Wilderness
Final Stewardship Plan (2012).
BLM
New Cingular Wireless
Medford District Office
u
National
monument
Soda Mountain
Communications Site
Cingular Wireless facility provides emergency 911 service and
wireless communication services for the surrounding area.
environmental assessment, we are requesting your input now so
that it can be considered early in the planning process.
How Can You Participate?
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 Friday,
February 8, 2013. Your comments should be mailed to
John Gerritsma at the following address.
We are now in the scoping phase of the environmental analysis
under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This
means that any comments you have and choose to submit 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. 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 further comments upon completion of the
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 Kathy Minor, Project Leader, at 541.618.2245 or
Tanya Dent, Realty Specialist, at 541.618.2477 for clarification
or additional information.
Map 1. Vicinity Map
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