Ron Wyden

The Senator is in sync with the people of Oregon as the result of his continued work to promote protections for old-growth forests.

We applaud the Senator's continued efforts to recognize the call for the protection of mature and old growth forests.

We want to thank Senator Wyden for demonstrating such strong leadership in his efforts to permanently protect the public lands surrounding Mt. Hood.

We commend Senator Wyden's strong, constant efforts to permanently protect the northwest's old growth forests.

We applaud the Senator's efforts to recognize the call for the protection of mature and old growth forests.

Senator Wyden and his staff have devoted much time and energy to engage local elected officials, business leaders, recreational users, and environmental organizations.

The Wilderness Society strongly supports Senator Wyden's proposal to designate 177,000 acres of wilderness additions.

I wish to extend not only my heartfelt thanks that Senator Wyden has introduced such bold legislation

I want each one of you to know that we will continue to work with you to try, with a delegation, to get a balanced bill.

If you have the demonstration project, next step it will be to unravel the Wilderness Act.

So your overall evaluation is that there will be plenty of opportunities for snowmobiling, even with this legislation?

We will work closely with you.

With all due respect, my judgment is, we're just not going to increase logging on Federal lands in the Mount Hood Wilderness Area.

I think the reality is, is people are not going to increase logging up on Federal lands on Mount Hood.

This is a logic-free zone in Washington.

I would like to commend Senator Wyden for his acknowledgment of this and recognizing it by including over 120 miles of mountain-bike trails within this wilderness designation.

Well, we will work with you on that. I can just tell you--Senator Smith knows--there is just a ton of economic hurt out there.

We're going to work with all the stakeholders. As I say, what I've tried to do since the original legislation is to incorporate all of the concerns we heard from the folks in the area.

Would you like me to remove the thinning provisions that I put in, from my legislation?

Now, there's concern by the administration and others that a wilderness area in the gorge would be inconsistent with the Gorge Act.

The bill creates a local contracting preference so as to try to keep jobs associated with the area in Clackamas and Hood River Counties.

It's a common misunderstanding that the only areas suitable for wilderness are those that are pristine, never touched by man.

The first thing Senator Smith and I hear whenever anything comes up is, 'Oh, my goodness, if you have a wilderness area, there's no way you can manage it to curtail the possibility of wildfire or disease outbreak.'

Are we protecting Mount Hood for the people or from the people?

I held two open public meetings in Portland and in Hood River.