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GEOTHERMAL INDUSTRY EYES MOUNT SHASTA!
by Michelle Berditschevsky, Project Coordinator

Mount Shasta has appeared on Vulcan Power Company's geothermal website as one of its "western properties." However, the website appears to be a marketing tool aimed at attracting investors. Upon checking with BLM we learned that Vulcan has filed lease applications on Forest Service land but no further action has been taken.

The next step would be a public review process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and consultations with Native Americans under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The Forest Service, the surface managing agency, would have to initiate these processes. They have assured us this is not in the works. The applications have been pending since 1995 or 1996.

In the 80's CalEnergy drilled several exploratory wells on Mount Shasta but they came up dry. CalEnergy's leases expired in the late 80's and cannot be reactivated.Vulcan applied for new leases in the same locations.

Vulcan seems to have a reputation for building up big proposals, gathering investors, and going bankrupt. Our sources indicated that they have never built a power plant nor drilled a well, in spite of the claims on their website. With that record, Vulcan would have serious credibility problems with agencies and investors alike.

Nonetheless, we are committed to further researching and monitoring this situation closely in order to prevent any secretive actions, such as those that happened early in the 1980's when geothermal leases were sold in the Medicine Lake Highlands with minimal public notification. Given the prominence of Mount Shasta and our track record, it's unlikely this would occur, but stranger things have happened!

A BOOK AND A FILM

Mount Shasta's pre-eminence among mountains cannot be disputed. As the dominant landmark of Northern California, the country's largest volcano, and a prime Native American sacred site, Shasta has been included in many books on sacred places. Most recently, Mount Shasta and the Medicine Lake Highlands have a chapter in Sacred Lands of Indian America, a beautiful large format book with photography by David Muench, slated to be published this fall by Liveoak Editions. And many people saw the August PBS broadcast of In the Light of Reverence, produced by Earth Island Institute, in which Mount Shasta is prominently featured. Yet the land managing agencies have not made a long-term commitment to preserve Mount Shasta's values.

PROTECTION NEEDED!

Public lands such as Mount Shasta are open for geothermal leasing unless the land is withdrawn from mineral entry and leasing through legislation or a special designation. The decision by BLM to issue lease applications is non-discretionary, does not involve environmental review and confers no rights.

However, this situation brings home the fact that neither the Forest Service nor the Department of the Interior (National Register of Historic Places) have yet fully acknowledged the entire Mountain's significance to Native Americans and to people the world over. You will recall that our six-year historic preservation effort, together with the Native Coalition for Cultural Restoration of Mount Shasta, culminated in the 1994 Historic District designation by the National Register, which covered the entire Mountain. Unfortunately 90% of that designation was soon rescinded under pressure by commercial and property rights groups. The Historic District now covers the area above timberline and Panther Meadows, with the Wilderness designation adding other protection. But many parts of the Mountain remain vulnerable.

Since the reduction, together with the Native Coalition, we have had several meetings with high level agency people in Washington DC to attempt to reinstate the original boundaries of the Historic District. These brought promises of new studies and reconsideration but no commitments. Also with the Native Coalition, we have made progress in drafting a Cultural and Ecological Management Plan. In the spring of this year Floyd Buckskin, Chairman of the Native Coalition, and I participated in the four-day Sacred Earth Conference held in Seattle. This conference brought together Native Americans and an interfaith community of progressive churches to broaden the coalition for the protection of sacred lands.

As everyone knows, the political climate has worsened dramatically. It is a time for laying groundwork, educating, strengthening coalitions, and getting ready for better opportunities and more favorable conditions.

Our vision continues to be a large cultural landscape linking Mount Shasta with the Medicine Lake Highlands, which are naturally connected. The National Register of Historic Places is currently working with a concept called "Ethnographic Landscapes." These are described as "Large geographic expanses that may include culturally-significant components such as horizons, unmarked spiritual corridors, places of connection between the earth surface and the upper and lower realms…and the interrelationships among other cultural and natural resources such as plants, animals, minerals, landforms, and bodies of water that give the landscape meaning through their associations with a people's history and cultural identity…." We are researching this and other types of designation for the long term. The present level of protection is clearly not sufficient to assure preservation of the Mountain's spiritual, cultural and environmental integrity. Ongoing work is needed to deter potential threats and preserve the Mountain for its sacred purpose.