While Senators and the White House determine a path forward on infrastructure and other climate-related bills, efforts to expand protections for wildlands and wildlife continue on the side with Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon. 

On October 19th, the Senate subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests & Mining held a hearing that included two bills of benefit to southwest Oregon. Senate Bill 1589 - The Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act - expands the Wild Rogue Wilderness by another 50,000+ acres, creates two new recreation areas in Oregon, including one along the Rogue Canyon near Galice, and also permanently protects the Rough & Ready, Baldface, and Hunter Creek watersheds from hardrock mining and exploratory drilling. KS Wild has been advocating for Wild Rogue expansion for the past decade, and just a few years ago, we were part of a coalition of organizations and residents in SW Oregon that advocated for, and secured, a temporary ban on strip mining for 100,000 acres of federal land adjacent to the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. This bill helps make those temporary provisions permanent. More than 70 businesses and a dozen conservation and fishing organizations signed onto KS Wild's letter of support. Thank you to our business supporters and partners for speaking up! 

In addition to the Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act, KS Wild worked with partners from the Smith River Alliance to also provide support for S. 1538 - The Smith River National Recreation Area Expansion Act. This bill was introduced by Senator Merkley, is supported by Senator Wyden, and would complete a campaign to protect the entirety of the Smith River watershed as a National Recreation Area, which first began in the late 1980s. Senate Bill 1538 would expand the Smith River National Recreation Area into Oregon's North Fork Smith headwaters, which encompass roughly 55,000 acres. In 1990, all of California's Smith River watershed was designated a National Recreation Area in response to mining threats in that watershed too. In addition to a National Recreation Area expansion, the bill designates more than 70 miles of the North Fork Smith River's tributaries as Wild & Scenic Rivers. 

These two bills, along with Senator Wyden's River Democracy Act, provide opportunities for us to protect the outstanding water quality, salmon & steelhead spawning grounds, and recreational access for communities across Southwest Oregon. It is our goal to help secure protections during this 117th Congress, which runs to the end of next year. We appreciate Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley for advancing these measures through the Senate and encourage folks to learn more about the Southwest Oregon Watershed and Salmon Protection Act, as well as the River Democracy Act, on our blog.