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Tue Jul 21 2009 1:30 PM --  Curry County Hearing July 21 on Gravel Mining in Elk River Close-up of Gorse, north of Bandon on Mile 109. 4/19/2007 photo. Tidewater Sand and Gravel proposes to mine 12,000 cubic yards of gravel from four different gravel bars on the Elk River in Curry County, based on a 1987 county permit to the Wagner family. Tidewater's permit application to the Army Corps of Engineers for the mining is still pending. However, Curry County has decided to open up the old Wagner conditional use permit permit to a hearing. In 2006 the Curry County Planning Commission had decided that the Wagner permit did not require regular re-submission to the county unless there were complaints about it. So the permit has had no review of any kind for years. The hearing before the Curry County Board of Commissioners will be July 21, 2009 at 1:30 PM in the Curry County Courthouse Annex, Commissioners' Hearing Room. The address is: 94235 Moore St., Gold Beach, OR 97444. This will be an open hearing; anyone may testify, and any issues related to gravel mining on the Elk under this permit may be discussed. Should instream gravel mining be allowed on the Elk at all? If so, is 12,000 cubic yards too much? Should this particular site on the Elk be mined? As the Elk has the strongest run of federally Threatened Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) coho on the south coast, and is one of the most pristine rivers left on the entire coast, there will be a lot of concerns. Furthermore, the gorse infestation on the lower Elk means that gravel mining could harm not only water quality and salmon habitat, but also the native vegetation in the riparian area. To avoid the spread of gorse, the current permit requires the 'cooking' of gravel to high temperatures to kill gorse seed. This is an important hearing for the future of the lower Elk River — the first hearing in years about the gravel mining permit issued in 1987. No mining has taken place under this permit for many years, so the Elk has long flowed undisturbed. If you are concerned about the Elk, please consider submitting testimony, or attending this hearing. For more information: 3/27/2009, Corps of Engineers Notice of application for permit 2/12/2009, Background on the Wagner/Tidewater sites Articles on topic 'Curry: Gravel Mining':  Sep 5 2011    Oregon Shores Seeks Again to Protect Rogue from Mining  May 5 2011    Efforts to Block Tidewater’s Gravel Mining Succeed  Feb 10 2011    Curry Planning Commission Turns Down Gravel Mining  Jul 28 2010    Efforts to Protect the Lower Rogue From Gravel Mining Continue  Apr 5 2010    Gravel Mining Continues to Threaten Chetco River, Rogue Estuary  Feb 15 2010    LUBA: Tidewater May Apply for Wedderburn In-stream Mining  Oct 28 2009    South Coast Rivers: Gravel Mining Continues  Jul 23 2009    Results of Hearing on Gravel Mining on Elk  Jul 21 2009    Curry County Hearing July 21 on Gravel Mining in Elk River  Jun 6 2009    Two More Victories on Gravel Mining on the Rogue  May 28 2009    Third Hearing Scheduled on Gravel Mining near Old Mill Site  Apr 23 2009    Tidewater Requests "Interpretation" of Estuary Boundaries  Apr 1 2009    ACOE Solicits Comments on Tidewater Application on Elk River  Sep 24 2008    Two Victories on Gravel Mining on the Rogue  Sep 23 2008    New Guide to Permitting for Instream Gravel Mining   New Guide to Permitting for Instream Gravel Mining  Aug 7 2008    Gravel Mining on the Rogue  Nov 1 2007    Chetco River Gravel Mining  Nov 1 2007    Rogue River Gravel Mining ©2013 Oregon Shores •  CONTACT US