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Wild Rogue Wilderness Proposal
The Zane Grey BLM roadless area is the largest of its kind in the nation. This southwest Oregon wildland encompasses the famous Rogue River but is threatened with destruction from bulldozers and chainsaws.
Pristine Wildlands and Waterways Need Permanent Protection
UPDATE: 12.15.11 Legislation to protect the world class Rogue River Wilderness introduced by Wyden and Merkley. 10.6.11 Governor Kitzhaber nominates the Wild Rogue to be included on national list of 'crown jewels'. Nomination letter, more info.
The Wild Rogue area is one of Oregon’s most pristine, scenic, and rugged landscapes. Located in Southern Oregon and nestled in the Siskiyou Mountain Range, the Wild Rogue area is home to the famous Rogue River. The area is one of the state’s premier recreational spots, attracting tens of thousands of visitors every year and contributing millions of dollars to the local economy. The Wild Rogue also provides important salmon and steelhead spawning and rearing habitat, providing the backbone for one of Oregon’s most important sport and commercial fisheries.
Rogue River recreation accounts for 445 full time jobs and 225 part time jobs and serves as an economic engine for a region that is transitioning into a more sustainable economy.
But the Wild Rogue is threatened.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had threatened to turn bulldozers and chainsaws loose in pristine old-growth forests in a portion of the Wild Rogue area called the Zane Grey Roadless Area. The BLM's reckless logging scheme, called the Kelsey-Whisky project (click here for pdf map), would have built new roads into the roadless area and allow loggers to clear-cut hundreds of acres of pristine wildlands. Fortunately we were successful in preventing this project from moving forward, for now.
That's why Oregon Wild is part of the Save the Wild Rogue Coalition, a diverse group of conservation organizations and recreation-based businesses working to a secure permanent protection for one of Oregon's wildest, most scenic, and most enjoyed landscapes. We're proposing approximately 58,000 acres of new Wilderness areas and 93 miles of new Wild and Scenic Rivers. This map (1mb pdf), created by Oregon Wild, shows the areas proposed for protection.
Take Action!
Please take a moment to urge your Congressional representatives to "Save the Wild Rogue."
Links- Wild Rogue image gallery
- For background on the fight to save the spectacular Wild Rogue/Zane Grey Roadless Area, explore this link.
- Read Backpacker Magazine's article on Zane Grey and the Bush administration's plan to log Oregon's heritage old-growth forests.
- Read the Eugene Weekly's cover story about the campaign to "Save the Wild Rogue".
- Map of Wild Rogue Proposed Wilderness and Elk Management Areas
- Map of Wild Rogue Proposed Wilderness and Steelhead, Salmon Habitat (USFS Data)
Photos courtesy of Dang Ngo and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center
