Congress Considers Protecting Oregon Rivers, Even One Underground

Oregon Democrats introduced bills in Congress Wednesday to protect wild areas in Oregon. The effort would create the nation’s first wild and scenic designation for an underground river. Pete Springer reports.

The River Styx flows underground through the Oregon Caves for about a mile in the southwest part of the state.

Eric Fernandez is the wilderness coordinator for Oregon Wild.

Eric Fernandez: “You know you get your headlamp on and you can navigate through the river and walk right next to it so it’s an underground hiking adventure right next to a river.  It’s not your everyday experience, for sure.”

If Congress approves the legislation, the river would become the nation’s first subterranean wild and scenic river.

Oregon lawmakers also have a unique proposal for the Rogue River.

They want to protect 143 miles of tributaries feeding into the Rogue.

Tributaries generally are not included when a river is designated wild and scenic.

But supporters of this legislation say tributaries are vital to the overall health of the Rogue River, which supports one of the last healthy salmon runs on the west coast.