A scene along Wassen Creek in the Devil's Staircase area. Photo by Kristian Skybak. For more see http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristiansven
Update: Adding Press Release by Cascadia Wildlands
A bill to protect the Devil’s Staircase, and another that expands the Oregon Caves National Monument, have been approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The vote is a “milestone” according to Senators Wyden and Merkley. The bills now go before the full Senate for consideration.
Maybe it’s because my mind is fried from all the research I’m working on today, but this video from Oregon Wild is pretty amusing. It’s done Jib Jab style, with cartoon figures of Senator Wyden and Representative DeFazio hiking through the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness.
Wyden and DeFazio introduced legislation to protect the area last year, but the bill has languished on the sidelines as Congress has focused on other issues. Oregon Wild is leading a petition drive to remind them that Oregonians are still paying attention to the Devil’s Staircase and want to see the legislation passed.
A pair of bills to protect more of Oregon’s wild areas are just about unstoppable as they move through the House. Today, they were approved by the Natural Resources Committee and the next stop is a vote on the floor.
A scene along Wassen Creek in the Devil's Staircase area. Photo by Kristian Skybak. For more see http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristiansven
One bill creates a 29,600 acre Wilderness Area in the Devil’s Staircase region west of Eugene. Oregon Wild, which has been following these bills closely, says this contains one of the last old growth forests remaining in the Coastal Range. Being declared a Wilderness Area is as good as it gets when it comes to federal protection.
The other bill sets aside 21 miles of the Molalla River as a Wild and Scenic River. This will preserve that part of the Molalla for whitewater rafting, fishing and other recreational uses, according to Oregon Wild. The river also supplies drinking water for the cities of Molalla and Canby.
“It’s been encouraging and a little bit surprising to see how fast these bills have moved through Congress,” says Oregon Wild’s Erik Fernandez. “It’s a testament to how popular the Devil’s Staircase and the Molalla River are and how important all wild areas are to Oregonians.”
Just how the Senate will deal with these bills is a whole other matter. Fernandez says similar legislation has been approved by a Senate subcommittee. But as we saw last summer, it only takes a single senator to hold up important legislation.
Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn held up Oregon wilderness legislation for about a year. This included protections for areas around Mt. Hood, the Gorge, Soda Mountain and the Badlands near Bend. Eventually, several wilderness bills were merged into one and became law. Fernandez thinks it will take a similar approach to approve these new bills for the Devil’s Staircase and Molalla River.
The folks at Oregon Wild have some hopeful news from Washington, D.C. They say a pair of bills to protect wilderness areas in Oregon are getting good reviews.
A scene along Wassen Creek in the Devil's Staircase area. Photo by Kristian Skybak. For more see http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristiansven
The first bill, introduced by Rep. Kurt Schrader, would protect 21 miles of the Molalla River by declaring it a Wild and Scenic River. The other would create a 29,000 acre Wilderness area around the Devil’s Staircase in the Coast Range west of Eugene. That bill’s chief sponsor is Rep. Peter DeFazio. Reps. Blumenauer and Wu are also supporting both bills.
The bills received their first hearing before the House subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands last week. During the hearing, the bills picked up important endorsements from the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau Of Land Management
With only 4% of Oregon protected as wilderness, Oregon Wild is thrilled over the prospect of seeing that tiny percentage grow bigger.
“The Devil’s Staircase is such a unique place,” says Chandra LeGue of Oregon Wild. “You get a few hundred yards into these forests and you can see the awe on people’s faces. There just isn’t a lot of forest like this left in the Coast Range. That’s why protecting it is so important.”
