In a move to protect one of the country’s best-loved rivers from destructive logging of publicly-owned roadless forest, American Rivers called on Congress yesterday to increase protections for Oregon’s Wild and Scenic Rogue River.

The Rogue is one of the most biologically diverse watersheds in the country. It is the largest producer of Pacific salmon in Oregon, outside of the Columbia. The tributaries proposed for Wild and Scenic designation are among the most important areas in the entire lower and middle Rogue for spawning and rearing, particularly for winter and summer steelhead and coho salmon.

The proposal, supported by a coalition of conservation organizations, includes granting Wild and Scenic River protection to an additional 70 miles of tributary streams, and adding roughly 60,000 acres to the Wild Rogue Wilderness.

“Tens of thousands of visitors don’t flock to the Rogue River every year to hear chainsaws and bulldozers,” said Rob Masonis, Northwest regional director for American Rivers. “They come to hear the splash of salmon, the birdsong, the rapids, and the laughter of their friends and family. This is the experience we need to protect on the Wild and Scenic Rogue River.”

The integrity of the Wild and Scenic Rogue is threatened by the Bureau of Land Management’s plans to log hundreds of acres of old-growth forest (much of which lies along Rogue River tributary streams) in the Zane Grey Roadless Area through the Upper East Kelsey Creek and Whisky Creek timber sales.

While the Rogue itself is protected as Wild and Scenic, the management corridor set forth by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act does not apply to many important tributaries. The logging would irreversibly mar the integrity of the river, scarring forests, silting up salmon streams, and damaging what is now a world-class wilderness recreation experience.

The Wild and Scenic Rogue River is internationally known for its fishing and boating opportunities. Tourism on the Wild & Scenic section of the river contributes more than $13 million annually to the local economy.

“As we begin to feel the impacts of global warming, refuges like the Rogue are going to become even more important for salmon and steelhead,” said Masonis. “We need to keep the Rogue wild so that these fish have enough clean, cold water to thrive.”

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Original story courtesy of American Rivers .