Testimony before Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests of the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. - Thursday, September 20,
2007

Chairman Wyden and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to testify today. My name is Jim Auborn, and I am the mayor,
City of Port Orford. I am here today in strong support of S.2034, the
Copper Salmon Wilderness Act. I am a native Oregonian and a long term
Republican, born and raised in the Portland area who retired to Port
Orford after a career in the U.S. Navy/U.S. Navy Reserve and Bell
Laboratories. I served as an engineering officer on nuclear submarines
while on active duty and managed research programs for the Office of
Naval Research in the reserves where I retired at the rank of Captain. I
retired from Bell Laboratories as Director of the Government
Communications Laboratory and served as Vice President of Research for
Terrabeam Corporation for two years before moving to Port Orford in 1999
and becoming involved in local government.

Port Orford is a small community on the Southern Oregon Coast, situated
in northern Curry County along U.S. Hwy. 101, truly a "blue highway" in
Oregon. The population of Curry County was estimated at 21,365 in 2006
with the majority of the population located in the southern portion of
the county. The population of the City of Port Orford was estimated at
1,225 last year. The percentage living below the poverty level exceeds
the national average. The principal industry is commercial fishing which
directly or indirectly employs 100-150 people. The other significant
portion of our economy is based on tourism, which is dependent to a
large extent on recreational fishing. A social and economic analysis of
fisheries resources for Port Orford was conducted in 2005. I have
attached this analysis to my testimony. . This document has also been
made part of the Comprehensive Plan for the City of Port Orford.

The Copper Salmon Wilderness Act would protect the critical spawning
habitat for Elk River salmon and steelhead. The ocean fishery at the
mouth of the Elk River is important to Port Orford for both commercial
and sports fishing. Recreational fishing in the Elk River itself is
significant for tourism.

The proposed Copper Salmon Wilderness has a large amount of community
support. The Board of Curry County Commissioners passed a resolution in
support of wilderness designation for this area in 1999. This resolution
remains in effect to this day as our commissioners have expressed
repeatedly.

As mayor of the City of Port Orford, I personally visited the Capitol in
April 2006 to meet with our Oregon congressional delegation in support
of Copper Salmon Wilderness.. The delegation asked about the position of
the local business community. The Port Orford and North Curry County
Chamber of Commerce voted their support in 2003 with a vote of 23 to 3.
The president of our Chamber of Commerce followed up on my visit to the
Capitol later in the Spring last year to express the support of the
business community for the Copper Salmon Wilderness. The Chamber board
met last week and reiterated their support by voting in favor of the
proposed legislation by Senator Wyden and Representative DeFazio. I have
attached a letter of support from the chamber for this specific
legislation to my testimony.

The Port Orford Ocean Resource Team (POORT), an organization of local
fishers and community members concerned with ensuring the long term
sustainability of our fishing resources and the social system dependent
on it, has written in support of this specific legislation. I have
attached a copy of their letter to my testimony.

Additionally, the City of Port Orford has long supported the creation of
the Copper Salmon Wilderness. Earlier this week, the Common Council of
the City of Port Orford passed Resolution 2008-05 supporting the
proposed Copper Salmon Wilderness Bill. A copy of this resolution is
also attached.. We thank Senator Wyden for introducing this important
legislation and encourage the Subcommittee and the entire U.S. Senate to
enact it as soon as possible. Our community will benefit from this
legislation for generations to come.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I welcome any
questions that you may have.