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Hood River News Editorial
December 6, 2006
This space has been used before to call
for Congressional support of the Mount Hood Wilderness Legacy Act,
proposed this summer by U.S. Representatives Greg Walden and Earl
Blumenauer. We do so again.
Since the Nov. 7 flood, the public focus has been on the flood damage
near some of the same portions of the mountain that the Act seeks to
protect. Now, the Act is in danger of sliding into a political ravine.
We urge Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith to heed the plea of Dec. 4
by Walden and Blumenauer to pass legislation that somehow includes
elements of the Walden-Blumenauer proposal.
The hour is late, but forward action is still possible. As the
Walden-Blumenauer letter states, “failure of the Senate to act this
year would be a failure of leadership and a failure for all of
Oregon.”
In the Senators’ hands lies the best plan to designate new wilderness
land on Mount Hood for the first time in 27 years.
A rare thing should compel the Senators: in July, the House vote on
the Legacy Act was unanimous.
What better year-end gift to the entire state, and future generations,
than to enact a comprehensive Mount Hood bill to enhance protection of
our rivers and forests. It would be a gift not under the tree, but of
the trees. |
