Wilderness News

October 31 may be a day of fun and dress up, but for conservationists and rangers at the Mojave National Preserve, Halloween is the anniversary of a day that changed the California desert forever.

Commissioners in Beaverhead and Madison counties were surprised when U.S. Sen. Max Baucus signed on as a co-sponsor to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester's wilderness bill.

Commissioners from both southwestern Montana counties said they thought they had an agreement with Baucus that he would not voice any support for the bill until local governments were comfortable with it.

In part, the bill would set aside 505,000 acres of land as wilderness and require the U.S. Forest Service to harvest at least 7,000 acres of timber per year for 10 years.

Bills to create a wilderness area in southern Oregon and give greater protections to the Molalla River passed out of a House committee today.

The Devil's Staircase proposal, championed by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., would designate 29,650 acres of Coast Range forest as wilderness, the highest level of protection for federal lands.

And a bill from Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., would grant greater protections to a 21-mile section of the Molalla River under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

ANTELOPE, Ore. -- A swap involving land at the site of the former Rajneeshee commune could lead to the creation of two new wilderness areas in Central Oregon.

The Bulletin newspaper of Bend reports that a Christian-based summer camp is working on the exchange that would also make roughly 15,000 acres of popular hunting grounds accessible to the public.

The trade would need to be approved by Congress.

TELLURIDE - Three months after unveiling draft legislation that would protect large swaths of public lands in San Miguel, San Juan and Ouray Counties at the request of local governments and conservation groups, U.S. Rep John Salazar introduced the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Bill to the U.S. House of Representatives last week.

U.S. REP. John Salazar is to be credited for introducing legislation last week to protect about 60,000 acres as wilderness in western Colorado.

The 3rd District Democrat's San Juan Mountains Wilderness Bill would cover stretches of U.S. Forest and Bureau of Land Management land in San Miguel, Ouray and San Juan counties at the request of those local governments. Among the lands are Mount Sneffels and WilsonPeak, two of Colorado's "fourteeners" - mountains at least 14,000 feet high.

AVON - Colorado mountaineer Aron Ralston, famous for a bouldering mishap in Utah which he survived by amputating his own forearm, has been touring the state with other recreation proponents pushing for a huge new wilderness proposal called Hidden Gems.

Sen. John Tester started his day in Missoula with good news from fellow Sen. Max Baucus: The senior member of Montana's congressional delegation had co-signed the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.

He followed that with a packed open house, at the Doubletree Hotel, on the draft legislation. Rather than have the audience address the room at large, Tester's staff set up tables and people delivered their comments one-on-one. About 150 people attended.

Montana Senator Jon Tester is still seeking support and input on his Forest Jobs and Recreation Bill which was introduced back in July.

The measure seems to be gaining momentum but still faces hurdles such as getting the forest service on board.

The legislation is based on proposals offered by hunters, backcountry men, motorized recreation groups and loggers.

Tester sees the bill as a way to solve the wildfire threat to Montana communities from pine beetle killed forests.     

The modest wilderness bill introduced by 3rd District Congressman John Salazar has several things in its favor.

First, it applies to areas in Salazar's own congressional district. Unlike the over-reaching wilderness bill introduced by Denver Congresswoman Diana DeGette earlier this year, Salazar didn't attempt to reach into other congressional districts to designate wilderness areas in them. Nor did he include highly controversial areas with few acres of real wilderness - such as the Roan Plateau - in his bill.