Alert: Oppose Oregon Wild’s Massive Ochoco Wilderness Plan

Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities

Members of the Crook County Court are now considering Oregon Wild’s plan to lock up wide swaths of the Ochoco National Forest and Prineville BLM District.

In addition to lobbying local officials, the group is also pressuring Congress to pass legislation to make these land set-asides permanent. Oregon Wild’s plan is to create 26,000 acres of new wilderness, and set aside an additional 286,000 acres as a “National Recreation Area,” which only brings more top-down regulation and bureaucracy from Washington, D.C.

We need your help. Please take two minutes and click here to tell the Court and your members of Congress that you oppose this wilderness and land set-aside plan. Tell them these lands should be managed for multiple uses and benefits such as wildfire mitigation and forest access, so more citizens can enjoy these lands in the future.

Oregon Wild’s plan is bad news for Central Oregon’s economy and environment. It is intended to curb sustainable forest management activities, as well as motorized and Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) access onto these lands. This means federal agencies will be further hamstrung in their efforts to reduce the threats of catastrophic wildfire to local forests, wildlife habitat and watersheds. As we’ve seen elsewhere this year, catastrophic wildfire also threatens private lands, homes and recreational opportunities.

As the Central Oregonian newspaper recently noted, the proposal would undermine local collaborative efforts to restore fire-prone forests back to health. It would also undermine the 129-mile OHV trail system the Forest Service has developed for the national forest.

If you think Central and Eastern Oregon’s federally-owned forests should be sustainably managed for economic and environmental benefits, tell elected officials that Oregon Wild’s Massive Wilderness Plan is not a wise use of our public resources.

Please visit Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities’ web site to send a message that you oppose this plan, and share this important message with your friends and family.