Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008

Floor Speech

CONSOLIDATED NATURAL RESOURCES ACT OF 2008 -- (Senate - April 10, 2008)

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I wished to begin this morning by thanking Chairman Bingaman for his public assurance today that S. 2739, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, will not be the final public lands bill taken up by the Senate this year.

I know that is going to be encouraging news to the people of my home State who, in particular, want to see our treasured Mount Hood receive additional protection and want to make sure its scenic beauty will be preserved for future generations.

As the chair of the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests, I know firsthand how important these public lands bills are to folks in the States where the lands are located. There are several pieces of legislation that involve my home State. The proposals contained in this bill have all passed the House, passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and I hope they will become law.

I especially express my appreciation to the distinguished senior Senator from Washington, Mrs. Murray, who has toiled month after month after month on her extraordinarily important wild sky wilderness legislation. She, of course, is joined in that by our colleague Senator Cantwell. This is going to be something of great pride to all of us in the Pacific Northwest. I congratulate Senator Murray and Senator Cantwell on their efforts.

Today, though, as we deal with S. 2739, we also include in that legislation that I authored, referred to by Chairman Bingaman, the Park Service authority to enter into cooperative agreements to better protect the parks' natural resources. Chairman Akaka has joined me in this effort, and I commend him for all of his work to protect our treasured national parks.

The legislation also includes another bill to study the Columbia Pacific Natural Heritage Area, something that has been of great importance to local communities. It also includes important legislation for my home State to protect our water resources.

It is important to note that our work cannot be considered done with this legislation. There is another public lands package reflecting the work of many Senators in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee which also contains a number of important pieces of legislation that have strong bipartisan support. Among those bills are two measures vitally important to the people of my home State: the Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act of 2007 and the Copper Salmon Wilderness Act. That is why it is my view that the Senate should move quickly on today's legislation, S. 2739, and then, with the bipartisan leadership of Chairman Bingaman and Senator Domenici and colleagues on both sides of the aisle, go forward with other measures that have been, regrettably, stalled for much of this Congress.

I have been to the floor before to speak about the Mount Hood Wilderness Act. This is a thoroughly bipartisan piece of legislation that I and Senator Smith have worked on for many years. It passed unanimously out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Regrettably, it has been held up for many months now. Mount Hood is one of the most photographed and visited wild places in the United States. The legislation we have written to protect this icon is the result of many meetings, scores of discussions from a diverse number of Oregonians. They are anxious to see this legislation moved forward. That is why it is so important that the Senate act after the Senate passes S. 2739. Countless Oregonians and other westerners have been frustrated to see all their years' efforts to enact new wilderness protections for Mount Hood, which has passed the Senate Natural Resources Committee, get stalled here on the floor.

As I have noted in the past, the bill to protect scenic areas as Lewis and Clark first saw them has now taken longer to get through the Senate than it took Lewis and Clark to get to Oregon. Our constituents don't understand how a bill that has such strong bipartisan support is being held up. They don't want to see it held hostage, not for partisan politics or for any other reason. They also feel that Copper Salmon is a gem that deserves protection.

The bipartisan legislation to protect Mount Hood builds on existing Mount Hood wilderness but adds more wild and scenic rivers and provides a recreation area to allow diverse recreational opportunities. We would protect the lower elevation forests surrounding Mount Hood and the Columbia River gorge. The protected areas include scenic vistas, almost 126,000 acres of wilderness and, in tribute to the great river-dependent journey of Lewis and Clark, the addition of 79 miles on nine free-flowing stretchers of rivers would be added to the National Wild and Scenic River system. From what Senator Smith and I hear about our legislation and the places we have proposed for wilderness protection--and we have talked to local community leaders, to environmentalists, to timber and mining interests--we believe we have gotten this legislation right.

The bill responds to the thousands of comments I have received on both of my previous efforts to protect Mount Hood, input at public meetings held in Oregon, and letters and phone calls. I have met with over 100 community groups and local government leaders, members of our congressional delegation, the Governor and the Bush administration. Among the comments we got was a resounding cry for additional wilderness, particularly more recreational opportunities.

There are currently 189,200 acres of designated wilderness on the Mount Hood National Forest. The legislation we are talking about would increase that amount by about 126,000 new acres of wilderness. These protections, protections for such important Oregon places, should not be held up by procedural wrangling. It is one thing if there is any sense on a piece of legislation involving wilderness of significant interest groups not being consulted, not being allowed to participate. I can see every reason to hold up that kind of legislation. But when everybody feels they have been consulted, you have complete bipartisan support from the State and the Natural Resources Committee, we ought to be in a position to move forward.

I am going to repeat today what I have said before: My doors are open to every Member of the Senate on this legislation and everything else. If you want to get anything important done, you have to work with colleagues. If there are additional objections to Senator Smith and me moving forward with the Mount Hood legislation, we want anybody who has an objection to come to us, because we will meet them halfway in an effort to try to address their concerns. But we have to do what Chairman Bingaman has pledged today, and that is to have an additional package of bills that is so important. I know the distinguished chairman from New Mexico has measures that are important to him. He has brought a bill to the floor of the Senate today because he wants to help all of the communities across this country that have worked to try to address these issues. I commend Chairman Bingaman for it. Frankly, I respect his selflessness in this effort. But we have to move on after we act today.

I hope this legislation will pass quickly, that it will then be possible for the Senate to turn to the next public lands bill, and we will be able to adopt that swiftly.

I yield the floor.

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