Oregon wilderness proposals clear House committee

Devil's Staircase and Molalla River both move closer to final protection

Bills to create a wilderness area in southern Oregon and give greater protections to the Molalla River passed out of a House committee today.

The Devil's Staircase proposal, championed by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., would designate 29,650 acres of Coast Range forest as wilderness, the highest level of protection for federal lands.

And a bill from Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., would grant greater protections to a 21-mile section of the Molalla River under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

"Today marks a very important step in a process that began with community leaders identifying a need, and I'm proud to have worked with them to create this solution," Schrader said in a statement.

Both bills cleared the House Committee on Natural Resources and now head for a vote of the full House.