Spearheaded by the Oregon Natural Resources Council, the group includes such diverse interests as Physicians for Social Responsibility and Patagonia, the California-based apparel company. Representatives said they would stress the value of undisturbed forests as watersheds and wildlife habitat, and as a legacy for future generations.
People are more knowledgeable of the recreation potential.
And, as we near the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition, we'd like to say to future generations that we didn't destroy everything that was here when Lewis and Clark stepped into the Cascades. Congress has protected about 2.1 million roadless forest acres in Oregon as wilderness. They include the Three Sisters, Mount Jefferson and Mount Hood, as well as Opal Creek, the most recent Oregon wilderness area, which was designated for protection four years ago. An inventory of roadless forest land owned by the U.S. Forest Service or the U.S. Bureau of Land Management found that there were nearly 5 million acres worthy of wilderness protection, the Oregon Natural Resources Council said. Without protection, that land could be changed by roads, logging, mining and other human activities, said Erin Madden, a spokeswoman for the resources council.