Americans are an important step closer to being guaranteed the opportunity to forever hike, hunt, camp, canoe, climb and pursue other recreational opportunities in two special wild places at opposite sides of the country, as the House Natural Resources Committee today approved wilderness legislation protecting public land in Oregon and West Virginia, sending them to the House floor. 

The Wild Monongahela Act (H.R. 5151), introduced by Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-WV), and Representatives Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) and Alan Mollohan (D-WV), to designate more than 37,000 acres of the wildest land left in the Monongahela National Forest, will guarantee that places like the remote and rugged Spice Run and the spectacular high-elevation plateau of Roaring Plains West, will be around for our children's children. 

The Copper-Salmon Wilderness Act (H.R. 3513), introduced by Representative Peter  DeFazio (D-OR), will ensure permanent protection of the headwaters of the Elk River on Oregon's southern coast.   A largely intact ancient forest, the Copper-Salmon is home to some of the healthiest salmon and steelhead runs on the West Coast, and is prized by hunters and anglers-who have been at the forefront of the effort to add this wild place-nearly 14,000 acres of the Siskiyou National Forest-to the National Wilderness Preservation System.

We look forward to seeing these important conservation measures move quickly through the House and Senate and on to the President's desk.