Page 6
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Prospect Mine POO views solicited
Teacher Jan Hagen with students (Photo by Christina Hill)
Alternative Center for I.V. High, middle
school feeling effect from budget cuts
By CHRISTINA HILL
Correspondent
Since 1985, valley stu-
dents who misbehave, or are
behind on credits to gradu-
ate, have been welcomed
with open arms to the Illi-
nois Valley and Lorna
Byrne Alternative Centers.
However, the welcome
at the programs -- known as
IVAC and LBAC -- is get-
ting a bit strained for the
lone teacher.
“IVAC and LBAC were
combined because of budget
problems,” said Jan Hagen,
the only teacher for both.
“As state finances get
tighter, schools are always
the first to suffer; and since
we’re at the bottom of the
list, even if schools were to
get more funding, we’d
never see any of it,” she
said.
Before starting at the
center, Hagen was a Special
Education teacher for more
than 20 years. She has been
with Three Rivers School
District for 13 years and has
been teaching at IVAC and
LBAC for the past three.
Hagen said that it’s dif-
ficult to keep the two centers
separate because they’re in
the same small room at the
I.V. Family Coalition facil-
ity. And adding to the diffi-
culty is the fact that the fo-
cus for both centers is com-
pletely different.
“LBAC generally deals
with students with behav-
ioral problems or kids who
really don’t care about
learning,” Hagen explained.
“IVAC has a totally
different focus,” she said.
“High school students are
here for a variety of reasons,
whether they're behind on
credits or don’t learn well in
a traditional high school
classroom setting and learn
better with a smaller set-up
and one-on-one tutoring.
“Most of them are
really committed to getting
their high school diploma,”
Hagen added.
To put it in a nutshell,
Hagen believes that LBAC
is discipline-orientated and
that IVAC is motivation-
oriented.
“I’m finding it harder to
serve kids’ needs and give
them one-on-one tutoring,”
she said. “I don’t get nearly
the amount of student con-
tact time that I’d like to have
because we’re so under-
staffed.
“My two assistants,
Dolores Colby and Debbie
Larson, are excellent -- and
they’ve done a good job
with what we’ve had to
work with,” Hagen praised.
However, the centers
haven’t always been com-
bined. Two decades ago,
they began as a combined
program, but separated a
few years later; and re-
mained so up until a few
years ago.
The number of teachers
and assistants was reduced,
so those remaining, Hagen
and her assistants, must pick
up the slack and do twice
the amount of work than
before, she indicated.
IVFD plans interviews to fill two positions
Interviews with candi-
dates to fill two staff posi-
tions in Illinois Valley Fire
District (IVFD) are nearing.
Chief Harry Rich told
IVFD directors Thursday
night, June 9 in administra-
tive headquarters that six
applications had been re-
ceived for the administrative
assistant job. Another ar-
rived the next day. Beth
Beards resigned from the
post May 4 due to health
reasons, the chief said.
Interviews are set for
Monday, June 27. The clos-
ing date for applications is
Wednesday, June 15.
The other position, that
of division maintenance
chief, has been revised to
maintenance captain. The
closing date is Monday,
June 20; interviews are set
for July 1.
Joe Feldhaus resigned
from the job May 11, citing
personal reasons.
Rich and Deputy Chief
Jeff Gavlik are working
with a Jacksonville firm,
BOLA Consultants, on the
testing process.
During the June 9 meet-
ing, Director Larrick Jones
volunteered to serve on the
interview board for mainte-
nance captain.
Director Don Haviland
volunteered for the adminis-
trative assistant interview
board.
In another matter, the
board adopted the 2005-06
fiscal year budget of
$3,066,709. It includes a
general fund of $946,480
with $430,012 for payroll
and $2227,800 for material
and services.
The U.S. Forest Service
is soliciting ideas, issues, and
concerns about the Prospect
Placer Mine Project.
A Plan of Operations
(POO) was submitted to the
Illinois Valley Ranger Dis-
trict in 1994 for the full-
scale mining of 5 acres.
During an office visit on
Jan. 12, 2005 the operator
agreed to submit an amend-
ment to his POO in order to
conduct an exploratory test-
ing and ore-sampling phase.
This amendment was
delivered as a POO in
March 2005 to the I.V.
Ranger District, and serves
as the basis for environ-
mental analysis.
An operator proposes
the short-term exploratory
sampling of three test holes
and testing of placer materi-
als for minerals values on
the Prospect #1 placer
claim, located approxi-
mately 4 miles from Cave
Junction. This claim is in the
Josephine Creek Watershed.
The operator plans to
use heavy earth-moving
equipment. A tracked back-
hoe would remove and lo-
cally stockpile approxi-
mately 20-60 cubic yards of
overburden. The test holes
would be approximately 2
feet by 10 feet wide. The
material located immedi-
ately above bedrock would
be tested on-site using a
gold pan.
Reclamation would in-
clude re-contouring of the
area using all stockpiled
materials. The entire project,
including reclamation, is
expected to take place dur-
ing a two-day period.
Equipment would use
Forest Service Roads 4201,
4201029, and 5300910 to
access the claim. Although
no new road construction is
planned, some cross-country
travel with a tracked hoe
would occur in order to
reach the sampling site.
Surface resources
would be disturbed. Existing
vegetation that would be
removed includes small
trees, shrubs, and plants.
Small trees (less than 8
inches in diameter) may be
removed, but the operation
would be planned to avoid
trees where possible.
The purpose of the Pro-
posed Action is to imple-
ment management direction
from the Siskiyou National
Forest Land and Manage-
ment Plan as amended by
the Northwest Forest Plan
regarding the exploration of
minerals on National Forest
lands. Forest Wide Standard
and Guideline 10-1 states:
“The prospecting, develop-
ment, and production of
mineral and energy com-
modities shall be facilitated.
Access for exploration and
development of locatable
minerals should be analyzed
in response to a proposed
operating plan. A decision
on approval of reasonable
access should be made as a
result of appropriate envi-
ronmental analysis.”
To be effective, com-
ments should be received by
Monday, June 20. They can
be sent to: District Ranger
Pam Bode, 26568 Redwood
Hwy, Cave Junction. Email
comments can be sent to
hjubas@fs.fed.us For further
information contact Howard
Jubas, minerals technician,
at (503) 471-6760.