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Hood River News Editorial
July 19, 2006
The crest in the trail.
That is where stands the Mt. Hood Stewardship Legacy Act, guided in
the U.S. House by Reps. Greg Walden and Earl Blumenauer.
The bipartisan-supported legislation is scheduled to be voted out of
the Resource Committee on Wednesday, placing it at the threshold of
passage.
The three-year effort by Walden and Blumenauer is compromise
legislation, which Walden believes enhances its value because it has
the support of so many parties including bipartisan Oregon
Congressional backing.
Walden said Tuesday that the bill will probably undergo a 10th draft
before it gets “marked up” Wednesday for placement on the House floor
docket, but he anticipates speedy passage on the floor.
Further, Walden believes the bill for Mt. Hood wilderness protection
and expansion, in some form, will be ready for action by the U.S.
Senate by September or October, which means it likely will be signed
into law this fall before the November election.
The bill protects more than 77,000 additional areas of wilderness (a
figure slightly higher than in the original draft), confirms the land
exchange between the U.S. Forest Service — a huge key to protecting
watersheds on the mountain’s north and east faces — and retains
protections for all the wilderness and wild and scenic areas and
rivers cited in the original draft.
Walden and Blumenauer hiked around the mountain last summer in a
unique bipartisan excursion, to better understand the place in
question, and to understand each other’s views on wilderness
protection as well as their sense of how stakeholders felt.
Now, that legislation is on desks and doorsteps 3,000 miles away.
Those who are close to it understand the importance of this worthy and
ambitious effort to retain the mountain’s beauty and grace for
generations to come, and the time has come to express that support to
members of Congress as well as the White House.
We urge members of Congress to look upon the Mt. Hood wilderness
protection bill as something good for the nation, starting with the
banks of the Hood River and the forests and meadows of Bull of the
Woods and Eagle Creek. |
