Little Medicine Lake photo by Michael McCullough Creative Commons
There is currently an effort underway, led primarily by the Pit River Tribe to make up to 200,000 acres of the Medicine Lake Highlands a national monument. This requires petitioning President Biden and the Department of the Interior which many groups are now doing to show that many area citizens and organizations support national monument status for the area.
This mountainous area is currently a part of the Modoc National Forest although the Bureau of Reclamation does control some of the subsurface rights. It is a mountainous area of geologically recent volcanoes and lava flows and forested areas consisting of about 200,000 acres. Medicine Lake is in the caldera of the Medicine Mountain shield volcano.
This area is important to many area tribes including the Pit River and the Modoc and every summer traditional ceremonies are held in a special area there. The National Register of Historic Places has designated a 113-square-mile area as a Medicine Lake Highlands Traditional Cultural Area.
The area is under threat by multi-national corporations seeking to use the water of the area for geothermal energy development which local groups such as the Mt. Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center working with tribes and environmental groups have been fighting against for years. The area has pristine waters that could be threatened by extensive drilling and use of the cold waters that feed important streams and Shasta Lake. If fracking is involved, pollution of this water supply could easily result and be permanent. Habitat destruction of the local forests for roads and clearing for high voltage powerlines would be another detrimental effect.
The state California Native Plant Society, which was very involved in working toward Walker Ridge (Molok Yuluk) being included as an expansion of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument contacted SEA to get involved in this important preservation effort which also ties in with California’s 30/30 plan. The SEA board has voted to send a letter of support for national monument status to President Biden.
Currently, the Pit River Tribe is leading the effort. For more information and to sign the petition, go to the Pit River Tribe petition on Medicine Lake here and the Mt. Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center here.