Defending Monuments for the Next Generation

This last weekend, Oregon Wild staffer Gaby Diaz partnered with Passport Oregon to bring a group of young people outside to explore the Old Salmon River Trail. They meandered through old growth forests, talked about salmon and their role in healthy ecosystems, and pointed out the plants and animals that make this special place their home.
 
This is the second year of our partnership with Passport Oregon, and we’re excited to bring more kids out to experience the wonder of Oregon’s outdoors.  After all, our work is more than just protecting our wild places for birds, fish, and other critters, but ensuring we leave an enduring natural legacy for the next generation to enjoy. 
 
It's clear from their actions this week that our vision for the future is the opposite of that being pursued by the Trump administration. Yesterday, at the behest of dark money donors and polluting industries, President Trump announced that he would be pursuing the largest reduction of public lands protections in history. His proclamation attempts to strip millions of acres from the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, with an eye toward further reductions for Cascade-Siskiyou here in Oregon and other special places across the country. These actions place logging, mining, and fracking interests far above the values of the broader American public.
 
An alliance of conservation and recreation groups, tribes, and other public lands defenders immediately declared they would see the Trump administration in court. When the fight inevitably includes the Cascade-Siskiyou, for the sake of our next generation, we'll be there too.
Photo Credits
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument photo via BLM