Land swap should lead to more Oregon wilderness

Oregonian editorial writer Rick Attig says yes to new desert Wilderness, hopes Oregon can make up deficit in years to come.

When most Oregonians think of wilderness, they picture towering fir trees and plunging waterfalls. But there’s beauty and unique landscapes in Oregon’s high desert, too.

Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have proposed giving federal wilderness protections to about 16,000 acres of land near the John Day River in Central Oregon. The additional protected wilderness, which would cover two separate areas, Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven, would result from a swap of thousands of acres between private landholders and the federal Bureau of Land Management.

The land exchange and the new wilderness would be great news for Oregonians. The land swap would open nearly five miles of John Day River frontage to the public. Hikers, fishermen, campers and hunters would have much more access and greater opportunities.

The land swap and wilderness proposal have been endorsed by nearby landowners, Jefferson, Wasco and Wheeler counties, local businesses and the Redmond chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association.

This small but promising wilderness proposal comes after a year in which Congress created some 200,000 acres of wilderness around Mount Hood, Soda Mountain, the Siskiyous and other areas of Oregon. This state, for all its natural beauty and public resources, has one of the lowest percentages of land protected as federal wilderness of any Western state.

Oregon's entire congressional delegation should join Merkley and Wyden and get strongly behind the Cathedral and Horse Heaven wilderness proposals.