Zinke asks key questions about Cascade-Siskiyou monument

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke played his cards fairly close to the vest when he visited the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Southern Oregon and Northern California.

The original 53,000-acre monument was created in 2000, but last year President Obama added roughly 47,000 acres.

It’s one of 27 national monuments created in the last two decades that are under review by the Trump administration.

Zinke’s recommendation to the president for potential changes to the Cascade-Siskiyou monument’s boundaries is due Aug. 23. We’re unlikely to find out what that recommendation will be until Zinke reports to the boss. He didn’t say while in Oregon.

But he did drop some hints.

Most intriguing of all: Zinke says he can’t find anyone at the Department of Interior willing to admit to having set the boundaries of last year’s expansion, or who can explain how the decision was reached.

That’s interesting. If the administrative state within the Interior Department accepts that the biodiversity of the region is so unique that it deserves special protections — and Zinke is willing to accept that — it should be easy for them to explain their justification. Why these 47,000 acres in particular?

It’s an important question to ranchers who now find their private land encircled by the national monument, and who worry about their grazing allotments on what was national forestland.

Critics of the monument say they’ve seen the economic damage caused by the original designation, leading them to expect similar restrictions on grazing and logging within the expanded boundary — despite assurances to the contrary.

Zinke said any changes to the national monument would be based on science — which areas contain watersheds, plants, animals, soils and geological features that should be protected. He is also examining how the boundaries affect traditional economic uses, such as grazing and timber, as well as recreational uses, including hiking, snowmobiling and horseback riding. That makes sense.

Those who opposed the expansion can take some comfort in the fact that Zinke is a proponent of multiple-use of federal lands. That’s what supporters of the expansion are afraid of.

They should not worry. The 47,000 acres added to the Cascade-Siskiyou were public lands before the expansion, and will remain public lands should the boundaries be altered. They will enjoy the protections that have preserved them for more than a century.