Oregon Caves Drinking Water Protected

Known as the “The Marble Halls of Oregon,” the Oregon Caves are an iconic piece of Oregon. In 2014, KS Wild ran a successful campaign to expand the monument. In early 2016, after a decade of work, a 31,000 acre public lands grazing allotment within and surrounding the Oregon Caves was also retired.  
 
Removing cows from this public land restores high alpine meadows and botanical diversity in the Siskiyou Mountains. The buyout covers the Bigelow Lakes Basin, which serves as the park’s drinking water source. It follows on legislation that passed in 2014, which expanded the Oregon Caves from 400 to 4,000 acres and also established the cave’s River Styx as the first underground Wild and Scenic River.

 

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