Bush opposes Mt. Hood wilderness bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bush administration said Wednesday it opposes bills to expand the Mount Hood wilderness area, even as Oregon lawmakers launched a bipartisan blitz to approve a compromise measure before the end of the year.

Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, who directs U.S. forest policy, said the administration opposes both a House and Senate version of a Mount Hood wilderness bill, as each is currently drafted.

A Senate subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday on the bills, which would expand the Mount Hood wilderness by differing amounts.

The Senate bill, co-sponsored by Oregon Sens. Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden, would expand the Mount Hood wilderness area by more than 128,000 acres, while a House plan pushed by Reps. Greg Walden and Earl Blumenauer would expand wilderness protection by about 77,000 acres.

Lawmakers said a single “Oregon solution” remains elusive, but they held out hope that a compromise bill could be approved after the November elections.

The House has approved the Walden-Blumenauer bill, while the Senate bill was introduced earlier this month. The bills would create the first new wilderness – the most restrictive of federal land designations – on the mountain since 1984.

“Mount Hood is the singular icon of our state, viewed with equal awe from the office buildings of Portland as the wheat fields of Eastern Oregon,” said Smith, a Republican. “It is my hope that in the next few weeks, we can reach an ‘Oregon solution’ that protects the mountain for the people, rather than from the people.”

But Rey said both bills were unacceptable. He said the administration would prefer a plan that creates 55,000 acres in new wilderness, with thousands more acres protected under a less restrictive classification such as a national recreation area.

“We’re about halfway there,” Rey said, in assessing chances for a compromise acceptable to all sides.

Oregon lawmakers disagreed, saying they were days away from an agreement.

“Our goal was and remains to pass a bill that honors the mountain,” said Blumenauer, a Portland Democrat.

Blumenauer and other Oregon lawmakers said they were committed to working together, to avoid the embarrassing prospect of the Senate and House each passing separate bills that never become law. Smith, Wyden, Blumenauer and Walden met for more than 30 minutes on Tuesday, and their staffs have been working together for weeks.