If the measure of a good compromise is an equal amount of opposition from either side of the issue, Montana Sen. Jon Tester seems to have struck a good one with his recently proposed forest-management bill.

The proposal would designate as wilderness some 670,000 acres of public roadless lands in Montana. That would normally be a call to arms to those in the timber industry who depend on who depend on public forest lands for a steady supply of logs.

I have welcomed several promising signs coming out of the Obama Administration, from the president's push for clean energy to Interior Secretary Salazar's efforts to block oil and gas leasing near some of Utah's most stunning landscapes.

But there is still something I am waiting to see: a bold new vision for preserving America's wilderness.

Sen. Tester (center) announces
Forest Jobs and Recreation Act

It's time to get Montanans back to work in the woods.

It's time to create jobs by ensuring smart timber harvest, by protecting our clean water, and by safeguarding Montana's hunting and fishing habitat - so we can enjoy our unique way of life for generations to come.

And it's time to protect Montana's forest communities from catastrophic wildfire, by thinning dead and dying forests that have fallen victim to pine beetles. Right now, unprecedented numbers of beetle-killed trees are dead, waiting to burn.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, is proposing to build on the foundation of recent wilderness additions in Riverside County and protect more than 21,000 acres of chaparral, canyons and forest next door in northern San Diego County from development and vehicles.

Issa has drafted preliminary language for federal legislation that would designate 13,635 acres of additional wilderness in the Beauty Mountain area north of Warner Springs and 7,796 acres of wilderness in the Palomar Mountain area east of Fallbrook, Frederick Hill, a spokesman for the congressman, said by telephone Friday.

AMONG things Washingtonians can celebrate this holiday weekend is something our congressional delegation did 25 years ago today. The Washington State Wilderness Act was enacted July 3, 1984, giving the strongest possible protection as wilderness areas to more than 1 million acres of national forest lands across our state.

Rising above Bellingham, the bulk of Mount Baker was protected in a 118,000-acre wilderness area. Areas nearly that large were added to the already established Glacier Peak Wilderness.