Dear friend of the proposed Douglas-Fir National Monument,

This is an urgent call for action. We are asking you to express your support for Senator Ron Wyden’s (D-OR) proposed River Democracy Act (RDA; S.4449, 118th Congress). While there is no deadline, the sooner the better for you to act.

As we, the Friends of the Douglas-Fir National Monument, continue our quest to achieve a 0.5-million-acre Douglas Fir National Monument (DFNM) in the Western Cascade Range of Oregon, we are concurrently working on opportunities to afford elevated conservation status to areas and resources within the proposed DFNM. The proposed RDA would expand forty-one existing wild and scenic rivers and establish seventy-five new ones across Oregon, including seven within the boundaries of the proposed Douglas-Fir National Monument. These seven proposed new and expanded wild and scenic rivers would total 117 miles in length! Wild and scenic river status presents an extraordinary opportunity to save mature and old-growth Douglas-fir (and other) forests.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) is a cosponsor of the legislation.

The Proposed Wild and Scenic Rivers Within the Proposed Douglas-Fir National Monument

• Breitenbush Wild and Scenic River (37.9 miles proposed for protection). Outstandingly remarkable values are recreation, scenery, fish, wildlife, wildness, biological diversity, and geological. Two forks and several tributary creeks of the Breitenbush River flow off the slopes of Mt. Jefferson through a wilderness and then through a very scenic gorge. (Photo: Chandra LeGue.)

• North Santiam Wild and Scenic River (27.9 miles proposed for protection). Outstandingly remarkable values are wildness, recreation, scenery, fish, wildlife, and botanical. The North Santiam River is fed by streams and creeks flowing out of the Mt Jefferson Wilderness. The West Cascades Scenic Byway runs along the mainstem. (Photo: Dave Stone.)

• Middle Santiam Wild and Scenic River (15.2 miles proposed for protection). Outstandingly remarkable values are recreational, scenic, wildlife, fish, and geological. The Middle Santiam River flows through the heart of the Middle Santiam Wilderness. The river and its tributaries pass through numerous old-growth groves and feature pristine water vital to the fish that live in the river. (Photo: Milo Mecham.)

• South Santiam Wild and Scenic River (43.8 miles proposed for protection). Outstandingly remarkable values are recreational, scenic, fish, wildlife, botanical, geological, historical, and cultural. The South Santiam River flows past many scenic features along the Over-the-River-and-Through-the-Woods National Scenic Byway, including Iron Mountain (famous for summer wildflowers) and the Menagerie Wilderness (popular with rock climbers), and much more. (Photo: Dave Stone.)

• Crabtree Creek Wild and Scenic River (5.2 miles proposed for protection). Outstandingly remarkable values are recreational, scenic, wildlife, and ecological/biological diversity. The headwaters of Crabtree Creek is home to a virgin tract of coniferous forest containing stands of 600- to 900-year-old old-growth Douglas-fir, some of the oldest in Oregon. Shown here is Crabtree Lake. (Photo: Dave Stone.)

• Quartzville Creek Wild and Scenic River Additions (16 miles proposed for protection). Outstandingly remarkable values are wildness, recreation, scenery, fish, wildlife, geological, botanical. The lower (Bureau of Land Management) portion of Quartzville Creek was designated as a wild and scenic river in 1988. The upper, unprotected Forest Service portion is even wilder and steeper, thus with more whitewater, and farther from the road. An expanded Quartzville Creek Wild and Scenic River would also include its Yellowstone Creek tributary, an area of extraordinary old-growth forest. (Photo: Dave Stone.)

• Lava Lake Wild and Scenic River (9 miles proposed for protection). Outstandingly remarkable values are recreation, scenic, wildlife, botanical, and geological. One of its tributaries, Park Creek, was named after an extraordinarily scenic area of forests, wetlands, creeks, and meadows shown on many maps as “The Parks.” Lava Lake fills in winter and is a meadow in summer, as shown here. (Photo: Andy Kerr)

What’s Missing

Three extremely important creeks that were in Senator Wyden’s original 2021 proposed River Democracy Act are not in the 2024 version.

• Swamp Creek (2.6 miles) and Scar Creek (3.0 miles) should be added back to the proposed Middle Santiam Wild and Scenic River. Both free-flowing streams are chock full of magnificent cathedral-like stands of old-growth forest.

• Humbug Creek (6.4 miles) should be added back to the proposed Breitenbush Wild and Scenic River. Hosting native rainbow trout, Humbug Creek flows into the mainstem Breitenbush River and carries water from East Fork Humbug Creek to the mainstem Breitenbush River. Both the East Fork and mainstem are proposed for wild and scenic status in S.4449. Re-inclusion of Humbug Creek would fill an unprotected gap between the mainstem and East Fork.

Legislative Activity

Current

The Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held hearing on S.4449 on Wednesday, June 12. The next step would be “mark-up” of RDA by the full committee.

Future?

After the subcommittee hearing, the next step is for S.4449 to be marked up and favorably reported to the Senate floor by the full Energy and Natural Resources Committee. It is possible—but we won’t know until after the general election on Tuesday, November 5—that an “omnibus” package of various bills that has cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee may go to the Senate floor for a vote in a lame duck session of the 118th (2023–2024) Congress. Such legislation would likely clear the Senate and then be sent over to the US House of Representatives. Given that Republicans control the House—and that one of those Republicans is Representative Cliff Bentz (R-OR-2nd)—the prospects for S.4449 in the House are not good. Nonetheless, it’s important to advance S.4449 as far as possible in the Senate to set up action in the new 119th (2025–2026) Congress.

What We Need You to Do Now

We need you to send a personal message to Senator Wyden through his website.

1. After clicking on “SHARE YOUR OPINION ON LEGISLATION” fill in your name and contact information as directed.

2. Choose “Environment” as the message topic.

3. Type and/or paste in your message. Below is a message template that we suggest you copy and paste into an email message from you and then personalize somewhat before sending. You might personalize it by adding a sentence or two that mentions a special place/time you know/had on one or more of the proposed wild and scenic rivers. You can, if you want, go into more depth as to why wild and scenic rivers are important to you.

I write in support of you proposed “River Democracy Act” (S.4449). This legislation should become law during the 118th Congress.

While I fully support the establishment or expansion of all the stream segments found in S.4449, I most especially support the expansion of the Quartzville Creek Wild and Scenic River and the establishment of new wild and scenic rivers on the Breitenbush River, North Santiam River, Middle Santiam River, South Santiam River, Crabtree Creek, and Lava Lake.

All of these stream segments are worthy of wild and scenic river status for the benefit of this and future generations of Americans.

I also urge you to add Scar, Swamp, and Humbug Creeks back into your bill. They contain outstandingly remarkable stands of Douglas-fir old-growth forest.

Thank you.

4. If you want a response to your message, check the box at the bottom of the page.

Thank you!

David Stone, Glenn Van Cise, Milo Mecham, Andy Kerr and Stephen Sharnoff
Board of Directors
Friends of Douglas-Fir National Monument

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