Sens. Wyden, Merkley reintroduce wilderness protection bills

Sens. Wyden, Merkley reintroduce wilderness protection bills

By The Associated Press 
on February 14, 2013 at 7:16 PM, updated February 14, 2013 at 8:31 PM

Print

Email

View full sizeA ranger shines his flashlight and leads the way through The Oregon Caves National Monument. At left is the Styx, an underground river.The Oregonian/2008 

GRANTS PASS -- Longstanding proposals to protect rivers and forests in Oregon as wilderness areas were reintroduced in Congress on Thursday by Oregon's two senators.

Democratic Sens. Ron Wydenand Jeff Merkley co-sponsored the proposals.

Wyden said that as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee he hopes to break the gridlock that has held them up in the past.

"These areas provide habitats to countless species of plants and animals, economic benefits to surrounding communities and recreational opportunities for Oregonians and visitors throughout the nation," Wyden said in a statement.

Merkley said in a statement the bills were an important step toward protecting treasured terrain so surrounding areas have healthy salmon runs, recreation and tourism for their local economies.

The measures face an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled House, where Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., has been working on legislation to increase logging in national forests.

"Chairman Hastings considers wilderness bills on an individual basis, but is concerned about the restrictions they place on public access to public lands," said committee aide Spencer Pederson said.

Steve Pedery, conservation director for the environmental group Oregon Wild, said he was confident Wyden would be able to broker a public lands deal with Republicans interested in energy development that would result in adding the areas to the nation's wilderness areas, as he has done in the past.

The bills would expand the Oregon Caves National Monument and Wild Rogue Wilderness in southwestern Oregon, create new wilderness along the John Day River in Central Oregon, and create the Devil's Staircase Wilderness to protect old growth forest in the Coast Range on the Siuslaw National Forest. They also would elevate Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protections for the Chetco River in southwestern Oregon, and the Molalla River south of Portland.

Pedery said wilderness measures take a long time to build enough support to gain approval by Congress. He said the Devil's Staircase proposal goes back 30 years.

The bills cover areas similar to those that would be protected as wilderness in a proposal to increase federal logging revenues for Oregon timber counties.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., a co-sponsor of the timber counties proposal, urged Wyden to hold a Senate hearing on the issue, which could take up the wilderness areas as well.
-- The Associated Press

Two bills would expand Rogue wilderness

Wyden, Merkley wrote Senate bill; Walden's House bill has timber industry backing

March 23, 2012

By Paul Fattig

Mail Tribune

Testifying before a Senate subcommittee in Washington, D.C. on a bill that would increase protection of the lower Rogue River, Grants Pass native Dave Strahan said the watershed enriches lives and livelihoods.

"The Rogue and its watersheds provided my family and me countless hours of outdoor recreation and enjoyment — family camping, fishing, hunting and boating was what we did when I was growing up," he testified Thursday morning before the subcommittee on public lands and forest chaired by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

"When I die, I hope to leave a Rogue River that my kids, my grandkids and their peers can continue to build memories around for generations to come," said Strahan, a 1972 graduate of Grants Pass High School who now sells recreational equipment.

Strahan was testifying in support of the Rogue Wilderness Area Expansion Act of 2011, submitted late last year by Wyden and fellow U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. The bill would expand the existing wilderness area by some 60,000 acres, place 93 miles of the river's tributaries under wild and scenic protection and withdraw some 50 miles of tributaries from mining activity.

But on the same day that Strahan testified, the American Forest Resource Council, a timber industry coalition based in Portland, announced its opposition to the Senate bill. In 2010, the coalition had dropped its opposition to additional wilderness designation in the area following negotiations between it and environmental groups.

On Thursday, however, council President Tom Partin said the group supports a bill in the House which also would set aside the additional wilderness and provide "real certainty for local governments and industries" dependent on timber dollars. That bill has been introduced by Oregon representatives Greg Walden, a Republican, and Democrats Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader.

"We cannot support additional restrictions on federal forests in Western Oregon unless they are part of a broader resolution to the real threats facing our rural communities," Partin said in a prepared statement.

"The time for partial solutions that meet the needs of single-interest groups is past," he added. "We need a comprehensive solution that considers both the economic and environmental contributions we deserve from our federal forests."

Both bills would officially create a wilderness out of the nearly 60,000-acre Zane Grey tract, a largely roadless area immediately upstream from the 35,800-acre Wild Rogue Wilderness in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. The Zane Grey area, named for the famous writer who fished the Lower Rogue from World War I into the early 1930s, is on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Medford District.

The Rogue River was one of the first rivers in the nation protected by the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. A decade later, Congress created the Wild Rogue Wilderness.

During Thursday's hearing, Mike Pool, the BLM's deputy director, said the agency supports the bill introduced by Wyden and Merkley.

The area where protections would be expanded is the natural habitat for bald eagles, elk, bear, sturgeon, salmon and steelhead, Wyden told the committee.

"The Rogue River is part of Southern Oregon's recreational tradition attracting thousands of hikers, rafters and outdoor enthusiasts each year and pumping millions into the local economy," he said. "Preserving this land will protect the ecosystem for generations and ensure that the recreational economy in this area is allowed to thrive as well."

Strahan, who is a regional salesman for outdoor recreational equipment, agreed. He was representing 110 Oregon businesses as well as the Northwest Sports Fishing Association of some 300 outdoor businesses in the region.

A 2009 economic study estimated that economic benefits generated from fishing, hiking and white-water rafting on the Rogue exceeded more than $18.1 million each year, he said.

"The Rogue has long been an international draw for tourists and has also provided sanctuary for notable celebrities over the years," he said, noting that list includes former heavyweight champion George Foreman and writer Grey.

" 'The happiest lot of any angler would be to live somewhere along the banks of the Rogue River, the most beautiful stream in Oregon,' " Strahan said, quoting Grey.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or email him at pfattig@mailtribune.com.

U.S. Senate approves one-year extension for county payments

 By Charles Pope, The Oregonian 

Doug Beghtel/The OregonianThe Senate on Friday voted to continue the star-crossed county payments program for another year, increasing the odds that desperately needed federal funds will continue to flow to cash-starved rural counties in Oregon and nationwide.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate easily passed a one-year extension of the federal timber payments program  Thursday, giving hope of a reprieve for Oregon's economically distressed rural counties. 

Though 33 of Oregon's 36 counties have received the federal money, rural parts of the state have gained the most money and have been the most dependent on it for their services. Rural counties also have been the most desperate as payments ended this year, leading Curry County to put a sales tax on its May ballot, and the Oregon Legislature to pass a bill allowing strapped counties to use road fund reserves for sheriff's patrols. 

Thursday's lopsided 82-16 vote in the Senate was important not just for passage but for the negotiations to come with the House. 

The county payments language was attached to a transportation bill that the Senate is expected to finish next week. It then goes to the House. Differences must be resolved in a conference committee. 

Though it seems an odd mix of subject matter, attaching the program to the transportation bill gives it a strong chance of success. Congress must approve a transportation bill by the end of March because the federal government's authority to grant highway funds and collect taxes ends then. 

Negotiators supporting the timber payments are strengthened by the bipartisan vote on the amendment and the fact that the Obama administration included $294 million for the program in the budget the administration submitted last month. That budget would extend the county payments program in the next fiscal year. 

After Thursday's vote, both of Oregon's senators hailed the outcome. 

"County payments are the financial lifeline many rural counties in Oregon depend on," said Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat. "The program not only funds necessities such as roads and schools, it also provides rural counties with the fiscal security they need to get on and maintain a sound fiscal path." 

Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley called it "inexcusable" that the payments were allowed to lapse. "The federal government must keep its commitment to Oregon, and I will not let up until this bill is on the president's desk and signed into law." 

Counties and local governments faced a loss of money as early as spring for such crucial services as schools, libraries and law enforcement. The provision approved by the Senate calls for $346 million in payments for this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Of that total, Oregon would receive by far the largest share -- $102 million. 

The county payments program was created in 2000 to reimburse counties for lost income from the sale of timber on federal lands. In many of the counties, the federal government owns more than 50 percent of the land, pinching the tax base and in some cases limiting the ability of officials to develop their local economies. 

The payments were also acknowledgment that the federal government should help local governments after logging on federal land was reduced. Counties receive 25 percent of the revenue from timber sales but when logging plummeted, so did revenue. By law, the money was to be used to finance public education. 

In 2008, $250 million poured into 33 Oregon counties from the program. 

But the program has been in jeopardy for years, with some in Congress saying the money should have been only temporary relief from the timber crisis, not a long-term plan for financing local government. 

Repeatedly the counties have prepared for disaster. And repeatedly Oregon's congressional delegation has managed to get more money approved. 

-- Charles Pope