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“Ecological Wonder” Moves One Step Closer To Permanent Protection

Unlikely Allies Join Together To Protect Soda Mountain In Southern Oregon

Soda Mountain moves one step closer to permanent protection after passing out of Senate committee. Companion House bill hopefully on the way.

Wilderness legislation supported by conservationists and cattle ranchers is headed to the Senate floor after unanimously passing the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources earlier today. The bill establishing the Soda Mountain Wilderness will provide protection for 23,000-acres of backcountry wildlands in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument known for their unparalleled biological diversity.

“Protecting Soda Mountain is important for protecting wildlife and recreational opportunities,” said Erik Fernandez, Wilderness Coordinator with the conservation group Oregon Wild. “This is a bill forged through a compromise that is going to protect a place that families will be able to enjoy for generations to come.”

Recent studies have shown that cattle grazing on the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument causes damage to the natural systems in the area. This legislation, sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), calls for a voluntary end to the grazing on the National Monument, while also giving Wilderness protection to the portion of the Monument with the highest ecological value.

The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is managed by the Medford District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Dave Willis, chair of the Ashland-based Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, says S.2379 would be a step in the right direction in establishing balanced management for southern Oregon wildlands. “It’s a big step on a long trail. We’re grateful to Senator Smith, Senator Wyden, and their staff for working with local conservationists and local ranchers to get the bill this far. We hope our senators will also urge Rep. Walden, Rep. DeFazio, and other key congressional colleagues to speed final passage in both the House and Senate by no later than early fall,” added Willis. “Despite decades of the ‘multiple-use’ mantra, less than one percent of all western Oregon BLM land has been protected as Wilderness.”

Soda Mountain is an ecological mulligan’s stew. Vegetation from the state's eastern desert whorls together with moist Cascadian forests, valley oak savannah, Mediterranean chaparral, and the mixed conifer forests of the more coastal and botanically diverse Siskiyous. The area is home to a spectacular variety of rare species including Roosevelt elk, cougars, black bears, golden and bald eagles, goshawks and falcons.

Along with its unique biodiversity, the Soda Mountain area serves as a spectacular welcoming point to adventurers who trek into Oregon on the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. “If you’re hiking up the PCT and one of the first things you see when you get to Oregon is a big sign that says: ‘Now Entering the Soda Mountain Wilderness,’ that would say a lot about what we value here in Oregon,” added Fernandez. “That’s a scene that would make me proud.”

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