Senators introduce bill to expand Mount Hood Wilderness

[Doondoo]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith introduced legislation Thursday to extend wilderness protection to an additional 128,600 acres surrounding Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge.

Their "Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act of 2007" would increase existing wilderness protection by almost 90 percent and add Wild and Scenic protection to nearly 80 miles of rivers.

It would create more than 34,000 acres of Mount Hood National Recreation Areas. Most of the proposed protected areas are contiguous to existing ones to reduce potential conflicts with other recreational uses, the senators said.

Wyden, a Democrat, and Smith, a Republican, introduced a bill last September to bring 128,400 acres of the Mount Hood National Forest into wilderness areas but it died as did a House version that would have expanded wilderness protection by about 77,000 acres.



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