When last inventoried in the early 1980s, roadless forest lands totalled about 4.5 million acres. Less than 1 million acres have been protected since 1984, leaving more than 3.5 million acres vulnerable to the chainsaw. Almost two decades and hundreds of thousands of log truck loads later, this roadless, uncut acreage has probably shrunk to about 3 million acres. The first step is to identify where the pieces are. In the coming months, ONRC's top campaign priority will be to coordinate an inventory of the remaining roadless forest lands for the purpose of creating a citizens' wilderness proposal.
Biologists extol big wilderness as a foundation for ensuring ecological sustainability.
The reasons are many and irrefutable. Oregon's existing forested wilderness has come to us in bits and pieces. About 627,000 acres were set aside with the passage of the original Wilderness Act in 1964. Four year later, an additional 100,000 acres were set aside in the Mt. Jefferson area. The 1970s brought protection to about 275,000 acres in the Eagle Cap and Hells Canyon areas.