Add to wilderness bill.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Sens. Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden are introducing legislation to protect 125,000 acres on and around Mount Hood as wilderness, greatly improving odds that this Congress will approve the first major expansion of Oregon wilderness in 20 years. The House has already approved a 77,500-acre Mount Hood wilderness bill. As long as a wilderness train is leaving the station, Congress should attach a caboose: the 12,000-acre Copper Salmon area in southwestern Oregon.

The Copper Salmon area can't be seen from downtown Portland, as is the case with Mount Hood. The Copper Salmon area includes the headwaters of the Elk River, which few Oregonians have heard of and even fewer have visited - unlike Mount Hood, a leading destination for tourism and recreation. The closest town is Port Orford, which is not an epicenter of political power.

Yet the Copper Salmon area, so called because it lies between Copper Mountain and Salmon Mountain in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, is as deserving of protection as any piece of potential wilderness in Oregon. It contains one of the nation's largest remaining stands of low-elevation old-growth forest. Together with the adjoining Grassy Knob Wilderness Area, designated in 1984, a Copper Salmon wilderness would ensure that the highly productive Elk River fishery would support future generations of sport and commercial fishermen.

The Copper Salmon area is also among the least controversial wilderness proposals in memory. South Coast residents understand that the Elk River's value to their fishery far exceeds the one-time gain that might come from logging the steep, inaccessible area. Wilderness designation is supported by the Port Orford & North Curry County Chamber of Commerce, the Curry County Board of Commissioners and the city of Port Orford. The wilderness campaign is supported by environmental organizations, but is being led by Trout Unlimited with assistance from other hunting and fishing groups.

Indeed, all that has kept the Copper Salmon area from gaining wilderness status is its low profile. In a political environment generally hostile to wilderness designations, Oregon's congressional delegation has focused its energy on a bigger prize - the Mount Hood bill. Now that a Mount Hood proposal is moving ahead, it can become a vehicle for the creation of a smaller, equally worthy and less controversial Copper Salmon wilderness area.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, whose district includes the Copper Salmon area, suggested such a pairing earlier this year. It's not too late - details of the Senate bill must still be settled, including a controversy over a proposed land swap. The Senate bill would then need to be reconciled with the House version.

The fact that Smith, a Republican, and Wyden, a Democrat have agreed on a proposal is encouraging. Their partnership mirrors the bipartisan teamwork of Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland, and Greg Walden, R-Hood River, on the House bill. The time is ripe for the first major addition to Oregon wilderness in decades, and the Copper Salmon area should not be left behind.