FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mount Hood Wilderness Advances in US Senate

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Acts on New Wilderness Protection for Mount Hood and the Columbia Gorge

2007 Mount Hood Wilderness legislation clears a key hurdle in the US Senate.

The Roaring River watershed, part of the Mount Hood Wilderness legislation.

Conservation and outdoor-recreation groups today celebrated the “markup” of the Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act of 2007 (S. 647) by the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today.  The legislation unanimously cleared the committee, potentially setting the stage for a vote by the full Senate in the coming weeks.

“We still have some distance to travel, but the summit is in sight,” said Erik Fernandez, Wilderness Coordinator for Oregon Wild (formerly Oregon Natural Resources Council). 

This bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith, was introduced earlier this year.  It seeks to protect 125,000 acres of pristine wilderness around Mount Hood and in the Columbia Gorge, while also safeguarding 80 miles of designated Wild and Scenic Rivers.  The Senate bill builds on bipartisan Mount Hood Wilderness legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last year.  Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Greg Walden authored the House measure.

“All Oregonians who value wildlands, wildlife, and clean water should celebrate this milestone,” added Fernandez.  “By protecting some of our last pristine places around Mount Hood and in the Gorge, our elected leaders are helping to preserve the values that make Oregon a special place to live, work, and raise a family.”

“Oregon’s congressional delegation deserves credit for moving these important bipartisan protections forward,” said Peggie Schwarz of the Mazamas, the Northwest’s oldest mountaineering organization.  “The Mazamas support protecting two of Oregon’s great icons, Mount Hood and the Columbia Gorge.  This proposal would protect areas that our members have been climbing for generations.”

New Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers designations around Mount Hood and in the Columbia Gorge make sense for a variety of reasons.  Not only would they help safeguard some of the region’s last old-growth forests and pristine watersheds from logging and development, but they would also ensure future generations can continue to enjoy these areas through activities like hiking, camping, fishing, and boating.  Wilderness designation also helps combat global warming by protecting old-growth forests, nature’s most efficient system for removing carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.  Finally, Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers designations will help protect streams that provide clean drinking water to thousands of Oregonians.
 
“Protection of the Tilly Jane area on the slopes of Mount Hood is important to all of us in the Hood River Valley. These forests provide clean drinking water for our community,” stated Hood River Valley orchardist Mike McCarthy.

Additional information, maps and photos of the proposed Wilderness areas mentioned above are available from Oregon Wild -- contact Erik Fernandez at (503) 283-6343 x202 or e-mail ef@oregonwild.org.

###

###