Tell Congress to Support Legislation to Protect Wild Public Lands
Tell your Senators to support the Roadless Area Conservation Act and the Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act ahead of next week’s committee hearing.
Two important bills to protect millions of acres of public lands in Oregon (and across the nation!) are receiving a hearing in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Tuesday, December 2nd. These bills are the Roadless Area Conservation Act (S. 2042) and the Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act (S. 888).
A committee hearing is a critical step in the process of advancing and passing these bills through Congress. We need to make sure our Senators hear from us ahead of the hearing so that they know there is significant public support for protecting these wild landscapes and public lands.
The Roadless Area Conservation Act (RACA) would provide lasting safeguards for nearly 60 million acres of America’s wild, intact, and roadless National Forest lands, which are currently at risk of losing protections from the Trump administration’s effort to repeal the Roadless Rule. Thanks to your advocacy, most of Oregon’s Congressional Delegation has signed on to support RACA. The only holdouts are Val Hoyle and Cliff Bentz.
In Oregon, the Roadless Rule currently protects beloved landscapes like the Cascade Lakes in central Oregon, Lost Lake on Mount Hood, the Oregon Dunes, Joseph Canyon in northeast Oregon, Hardesty Mountain outside Eugene, Larch Mountain in the Gorge, and so many others.
But without Congressional action, these natural treasures are threatened and remain vulnerable to political attacks. The Roadless Area Conservation Act would ensure these lands continue to benefit people, wildlife, and future generations.
The Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act (ORE Act) would provide important, long-awaited protections for Oregon’s renowned Wild Rogue Wilderness, Rough and Ready Creek and other ecosystems in southwest Oregon, and the Molalla River watershed. Despite its celebrated status, the Wild Rogue and its surrounding wildlands face ongoing mining and logging threats while this legislation waits in Congress.
These historic bills would designate lasting protections for some of Oregon’s–and the nation’s–most iconic landscapes, safeguarding them from the Trump administration’s attacks on our public lands.
Reach out to your Senators today and let them know you support RACA, the ORE Act, and increasing protections for public lands!
