Amador County – Amador County Supervisors discussed the Wild & Scenic designation proposed for the Mokelumne River on Tuesday, hearing from both sides before deciding not to support the designation.

Executive Director Chris Wright said the Foothill Conservancy added a portion to the designation land area, to stretch it from just below the Salt Springs Reservoir to the upper pool of Pardee Lake. He said the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management also added to the footprint in their respective land plans.

Wright said it would not include lower tributaries or power plants, and would only affect public land, and “stop any new dams or diversions on that river.”

Supervisors John Plasse and Chairman Brian Oneto said the designation would put the land under National Park Service control, but Wright said it would not have that affect.

Supervisor Richard Forster said he has worked with the Conservancy on the designation, but issues such as that showed the need for third party involvement in discussions. He said he would like to get county consultant John Hofmann involved in future discussions.

Forster said right now, he did not support Wild & Scenic designation. Supervisor Louis Boitano said he has been on the Conservancy’s board, and said he would not support the designation until the Conservancy won the support of Elton Rodman and Roaring Camp mine. Boitano said that was still true.

Dennis Rodman said the designation bill “sounds really great unless you read the document, then it scares you,” and “gives away your rights.” He said a quarter-mile easement is taken in the designation. It allows landowners to “do what you do now, but if you change, you have to go get permission.”

Plasse agreed, saying all mining activities are subject to approval by the Secretary of the Interior, or the National Parks.

Rodman said: “It’s the beginning of the end for Roaring Camp. It may take a few years, but we’re done.”

He said “Dan Lungren called my father and said: ‘Elton, we thought you all liked this?’ So somebody out there is telling people we like this, and believe me, we don’t.”

Rodman said: “This feels like poison to me.” About six property owners along the river spoke against the designation, including Carol Cuneo and Mike Boitano, and a woman who would lose property under the East Bay Municipal Utility District 2040 Plan.

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