South Sister Mystery Trail

[bobcat]

All right, scratch all the speculation above. By serendipity, I stumbled on the entire history of Brad's Rock Mesa "trail."

A couple of days ago, I was sipping on a Scotch toddy in the Broom Closet at the Old St. Francis School in Bend and thumbing through my copy (2nd edition) of Scott Cook's Bend Overall. On Scott's spread for the "Moraine Lake Loop Trail", he alludes to - and provides a photo of - what he calls the "pumice mining road" a.k.a. the "U.S. Pumice Co. exploratory road."

This was one of the big environmental controversies of the 1970s and early 80s, involving all of Oregon's major environmental groups and players as well as its entire congressional delegation. Here's the most complete coverage of the 20-year battle:

https://foresthistory.org/wp-content/up ... rchive.pdf

In summary, here's a timeline:

1872 - Mining Act signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant
1961 - mining claim to Rock Mesa filed by Sheldon Fay & Associates
1962 - claim transferred to the U.S. Pumice Co.; claim validated by the Forest Service
1964 - Wilderness Act signed by President Lyndon Johnson
1970 - National Environmental Policy Act signed by President Richard Nixon
1971 - Activists approach Oregon Senator Bob Packwood to gain support in fighting the claim
1974 - U.S. Pumice Co. notifies the Forest Service that it's moving heavy equipment into the Three Sisters Wilderness
1977 - a mining contest is filed to halt the company's prospecting
1981 - a judge finds 54% of the claim is invalid
1983 - the U.S. Government pays $2 million to the U.S. Pumice Co. to buy back the claim (signed off by President Ronald Reagan)

[Born2BBrad]

Wow! Quite a read. To think that area could have been destroyed is frightening.

The 1872 mining law has always bothered me. $2.50 to claim an acre, destroy the land, then you own it forever. That law needs changing, but that's not going to happen any time soon. I had a grand idea to get a bunch or Greenies together and make a whole bunch of claims to keep others from making claims.

This story illustrates why we must be vigilant in protecting our public lands. Conservationists are the true heroes in my mind.

Getting back to the mystery trail and faded double-track, there wasn't specific information on how those were made and used, but they are definitely associated with this mining claim and the pumice company.

Great detective skills!

[Aimless]

I had a grand idea to get a bunch or Greenies together and make a whole bunch of claims to keep others from making claims.

This seems like a good idea in theory. I'd like to see it tried out some time to see how well it holds up in reality. There might be problems around the need to develop a claim in order to hold it. But that "exploratory road" is an example of "developing" a claim, so maybe we could use the Mining Act as the means to develop a few new trails!

[bobcat]

there wasn't specific information on how those were made and used, but they are definitely associated with this mining claim and the pumice company.

Judging from your photos, the route up the lava flow never carried vehicles although they probably parked at the base. In the article, the mining company relates how they surveyed the claim on foot and by horseback, which would require a trail. One assumes the wandering nature of the trail is to help them prospect different sections of the flow.

[Chip Down]

By serendipity, I stumbled on the entire history of Brad's Rock Mesa "trail."

A couple of days ago, I was sipping on a Scotch toddy in the Broom Closet at the Old St. Francis School in Bend and thumbing through my copy (2nd edition) of Scott Cook's Bend Overall.

Great detective skills!

Detective skills?! He literally said he stumbled upon it as he was drinking booze.
By that criteria, most of my hikes could be characterized as detective work.

[bobcat]

Hey, I've watched enough of those Brit mysteries on PBS to know the method:

When the case is going cold and all of your wild guesses are coming to nought (a) head to a dark and cramped pub; (b) begin swilling copiously; (c) something (or someone) will, by pure happenstance, present itself and voilà.

[Don Nelsen]

Hey, I've watched enough of those Brit mysteries on PBS to know the method:

When the case is going cold and all of your wild guesses are coming to nought (a) head to a dark and cramped pub; (b) begin swilling copiously; (c) something (or someone) will, by pure happenstance, present itself and voilà.

Excellent!

[eberr]

Very glad you solved the mystery and found my history of this historic campaign!!! Very gratifying. As for "greenies" making claims for protection, no more claims can be filed in Wilderness areas as of 12/31/83 and the Forest Service withdrew this area from further claims in the mid 70's to block any new ones while the controversy continued.

Glad to see that the new explorers of this wonderful area appreciate the efforts of the earlier conservationists!!

[Aimless]

Glad to see that the new explorers of this wonderful area appreciate the efforts of the earlier conservationists!!

I'm old enough to remember the long struggle to save the French Pete area! The Wilderness Act didn't just emerge from Congress suddenly yearning to protect nature all on their own. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to the early conservationists, which run in a long continuous line going back to John Muir and similar crusaders for nature. Our big job now is to combat the climate change that is threatening to undermine or destroy the very systems all life depends upon.

[bobcat]

Very glad you solved the mystery and found my history of this historic campaign!!!

Ronald Eber, that was an excellent and most edifying article, illustrating in rather grim detail the long hard slog that these processes take. Kudos to all who devoted hours and hours to this battle. However, in the end, the truth is that the government had to buy out the company (with our money) rather than simply halt the operation.

no more claims can be filed in Wilderness areas as of 12/31/83

Not according to the Forest Service. See this statement from the horse's mouth:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 842433.pdf

I believe there are still active mining claims in some other Oregon wildernesses, e.g. Kalmiopsis and North Fork John Day. As I read it, entities are permitted to pursue mining operations in wilderness as long as they are proved profitable. In other words, you can't just make a mess of the landscape looking, you have to show that there is a worthwhile deposit. Complicating things is that the USFS is responsible for surface features, while anything under the ground is under the purview of the BLM. Any challenges to a claim must focus on its profitability, not the scenic value of the area - although you could try to prove environmental degradation. In the Rock Mesa case, as outlined in Ronald's article, such a challenge was in the works but never went to court because Oregon's congressional delegation convinced the federal government to buy out the claim.