[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 164 (Wednesday, October 3, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S6492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HARD RELEASES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREA

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, through the Wilderness Act of 1965, 
Congress reserves the authority to designate as Wilderness Areas 
certain Federal lands with remarkable natural and ecological values. 
Over the last 53 years, the Wilderness Act has been referred to as the 
gold standard of conservation, providing the highest level of 
protections for some of America's most treasured public lands. In 
addition to congressionally designated Wilderness Areas, the Wilderness 
Act gave the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 
the authority to study and evaluate the wilderness characteristics of 
public lands under their respective jurisdictions. Once identified, the 
Forest Service manages lands with wilderness potential as an 
``inventoried roadless area,'' and the Bureau of Land Management 
manages lands with wilderness potential as ``wilderness study areas.'' 
These designations are not always without controversy but are critical 
in providing a measure of interim protection for wilderness-quality 
lands while Congress deliberates on further, permanent protections.
  The Crooked River Ranch Fire Protection Act, which the Senate Energy 
and Natural Resources Committee reported yesterday, adjusts the 
boundaries of the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study 
Area in Central Oregon, removing over 600 acres of land from interim 
protection under the Wilderness Act. The Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead 
Falls Wilderness Study Areas contains cultural and historical 
artifacts, provides drinking water for thousands of Oregonians, and 
provides critical habitat for fish and wildlife species, some of which 
are threatened or endangered.
  Proponents of this legislation argue that the release of the acres 
from interim protection under the wilderness study area designation is 
necessary. According to the proponents, the ``release'' language was 
necessary to allow Federal land managers greater flexibility in 
conducting hazardous fuels reduction projects to better protect the 
adjacent community, Crooked River Ranch, from the threat of wildfires. 
In truth, hazardous fuels reduction projects technically could have 
taken place under existing land designations.
  Adding insult to injury, the Crooked River Fire Protection Act 
originally gave no direction on how the BLM should manage the released 
lands. In addition, the original bill fell short in addressing the 
wildfire concerns while allowing for the release of wilderness study 
area acreage from interim protection without any corresponding lands 
protections. This is just a lost opportunity for compromise and comity. 
In an attempt to provide local landowners some measure of certainty 
over how the released lands will be managed, I worked to clarify that 
the released lands will be managed in a way that improves fire 
resiliency and forest health, while preventing off-road recreational 
vehicle use, which could actually increase the risk of wildfires.
  While these changes do not address the future management of the 
entire Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area, it does 
provide management direction for the released lands and pushes the BLM 
to meet the goals of the legislation: to promote fire resiliency and 
forest health. I am committed to finding a path forward for a solution 
for the entire wilderness study area in line with the traditions of 
compromise and doing things the Oregon way.

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