Omnibus land act includes wilderness designations

Senate next month will vote on creation of Oregon's Soda Mountain and Copper Salmon wilderness areas.

Republican Mike Beagle of Eagle Point and Independent Dave Willis of Lincoln are excited about the coming vote.

But they are looking beyond Tuesday's general election, albeit an event in which both voted and will follow closely.

They are anticipating a potential Senate lame-duck session beginning Nov. 17 in which the Senate is expected to vote on the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008, which contains two proposed wilderness areas in southwest Oregon among its more than 150 public lands, water and resources bills. If the bill passes in the Senate, the House may also act on it before the year is out.

Beagle, field coordinator for Trout Unlimited in Oregon and Washington, supports creation of the roughly 13,700-acre Copper Salmon Wilderness in the Elk River drainage near Port Orford.

Willis chairs the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, which is pushing for creation of the roughly 23,000-acre Soda Mountain Wilderness in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in the mountains east of Ashland. Willis spearheaded the creation of the monument in 2000.

Bills calling for the creation of both wilderness areas are contained in the omnibus package. In the case of the monument, the bill also would retire grazing leases in and around the monument through a buyout of willing ranchers. The buyout would be paid for through private sources.

"These are tough times for the country right now — no question about that," Beagle observed. "We have two wars. The economy is in a mess. So it's tough to get people to think of other things now. But these places are important to our heritage."

Willis agreed.

"I'm hopeful," Willis said of passage of the omnibus bill through both congressional bodies. "But my sense is that a lot of decisions are waiting until after the (general) election."

The Soda Mountain Wilderness would be on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Medford District. The Copper Salmon Wilderness would be on the western edge of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has indicated the Senate will take up the omnibus bill during the lame duck session in mid-November. U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.V., chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, said last week that he expects the House to follow suit. A letter signed by 28 House members sent last week to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urged that the omnibus bill be acted on in that chamber.

In addition to the local wilderness areas, the omnibus package includes a bill expanding the Mount Hood Wilderness by some 128,000 acres. Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, and Republican Gordon Smith support all three wilderness proposals.

Earlier this year, the BLM's Luke Johnson, the agency's deputy director, announced before the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests that the agency supported the Soda Mountain Wilderness proposal.

In his testimony favoring the wilderness, Johnson cited the rich biodiversity within the proposed wilderness, calling it a "jewel of biological variety."

The House approved a Copper Salmon Wilderness bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, last spring.

Supporters say it would protect the headwaters of the Elk River, known for its rich salmon, steelhead and trout habitat.

"Copper Salmon is truly a rare coastal Oregon gem," DeFazio said in a prepared statement when introducing the bill. "It is almost entirely intact ancient forest, which supports healthy fish runs and great elk herds, black-tailed deer, bears and other wildlife."

In addition to protecting the watershed, the bill would designate more than 11 additional miles of the river as either wild or scenic under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and protect some of the last remaining stands of Port Orford cedar in the drainage.

The proposal is backed by the Port Orford Chamber of Commerce, the mayor of Port Orford, the Curry County Board of Commissioners, more than 10 fishing and hunting groups, local businesses and Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Located about 14 miles east of Port Orford, the proposed wilderness is in the Copper Mountain roadless area between the Copper and Salmon mountains and immediately east of the 17,000-acre Grassy Knob Wilderness. That wilderness area was created in 1984 to preserve fish habitat in the Elk River.

"President Bush has said he would sign the omnibus bill if it reaches his desk," Beagle said. "Will it reach his desk? I don't know. If it doesn't, we will reboot our campaign and go back to D.C. But we'd sure like to see it happen with this Congress."

About 3.7 percent of Oregon is designated as wilderness, compared with 14.4 percent for California, 10.1 percent for Washington, 7.6 percent for Idaho and 4.9 percent for Nevada.

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