Dear Oregon State Director Jerome E. Perez:

We the undersigned anglers, sportsmen, paddlers, and businesses that serve them need your help in protecting the headwaters of the Wild and Scenic Illinois and Smith River and the Wild Rivers Coast from proposed nickel strip mines. We respectfully ask you to protect this important and beloved area.

Tourism, recreation and related business ventures are a growing industry and asset to Oregon. Our natural amenities contribute to robust, resilient economic growth, generating jobs, incomes and governmental revenues. Destructive nickel strip mining threatens these natural treasures and related local industries of southwest Oregon.

The proposed withdrawal area encompasses federal public lands belonging to all Americans. The greatest value of these lands is for conservation. The withdrawal area includes the pristine watersheds of nationally outstanding rivers and streams, including the Wild and Scenic North Fork Smith River, Rough and Ready and Baldface creeks, as well as the headwaters of Hunter Creek and the Pistol River—two cherished native salmon and steelhead streams on the Wild Rivers Coast.

The consistently underestimated consequences of industrial strip mining is well known. We believe that clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, must be protected at the present, and preserved for future generations. This high quality of life attracts new residents and creates jobs that strengthen our small businesses and local communities. We Oregonians love of our recreation areas and we don’t want or need to get stuck with clean-up costs from an industry that has a long history of leaving areas destroyed.

I ask you to support the maximum possible interim protection available while Congress considers permanent protection through legislation, such as the Southwestern Oregon Watershed and Salmon Protection Act, which I fully support.

Sincerely,