Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley have co-sponsored this bill that has the potential to add 4,700 miles of Oregon waterways to the Wild and Scenic Rivers list. This would be the length of the mighty Mississippi and Missouri combined. Yes, this would be quite a remarkable achievement, so it needs to be asked, “is this necessary?”

What more protection is needed? Our public lands, which includes these waterways, are protected by numerous government agencies that are aided by countless nongovernmental organizations. No project moves forward without an approval stamp from the NGOs. To name just a few — Nature Conservancy, Wild Earth Guardians, Oregon Natural Desert Association and Center for Biological Diversity. Just recently the Center for Biological Diversity used its weapon of relentless lawsuits to halt a project in the Ochoco National Forest. These extremist NGOs use litigation as a very effective tool of intimidation.

Access and utilization of the natural resources our public lands provide has decreased with the Wilderness Act and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. We have ridden a wave of continued land grabs under the guise of preserving natural conditions.

The River Democracy Act is one of the most abusive overrides we have witnessed, plus it’s an insult to what “wild and scenic” intended. As far as “protection and enhancement of outstanding remarkable values,” protections exist presently.

Tork Ballard

Baker City