skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

New Wilderness – Lost in Congress?

play audio
Play

Monday, November 19, 2012   

JOHN DAY, Ore. - It's looking unlikely that the U.S. Senate will pass a collection of bills to protect public lands, including Wilderness designations in five states. In Oregon, that means plans for the areas known as Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven are on hold again. A few lawmakers in Congress want to add their states' pet projects to any Wilderness legislation in order to gain their votes - while others have committed to voting "no" on any bill they see as "tying up" more land.

Brent Fenty, who heads the Oregon Natural Desert Association, says there should have been smooth sailing for the Oregon bill, which has broad local support.

"There isn't the kind of civility that used to exist in the Senate, where you can get a voice vote and move bills through that are non-controversial. Instead, all bills are being held. And therefore, it forces a collection of bills to come together and be passed as an omnibus."

Expansion of the Oregon Caves National Monument is also among the proposals that are stalled. Fenty says the bills hung up in the stalemate do not include major costs or tie up significant mineral or oil and gas rights.

In the next session of Congress, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is considered a likely candidate to chair the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Rancher Matt Smith is a cattleman whose Cherry Creek Ranch borders the proposed Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven wilderness areas in central Oregon. He thinks Wyden would be a good choice, and might even help break the deadlock.

"He listens, and he comes up with plausible and pragmatic solutions to all kinds of stuff that affect a part of the state that's usually just neglected - and a part of the state that's very Republican, and he's very much not. He's a team player."

Designating the Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven areas as Wilderness would allow more public access to a popular stretch of the wild-and-scenic John Day River. Smith thinks others could learn from the collaboration it took to hammer out the proposal.

"The process that we've begun here with Horse Heaven and Cathedral Rock, I hope it sets a precedent for how to do this. It addresses all of the concerns from all sides of the table. That's the way the process should go."

If the legislation does not make it through Congress this time, Smith says they will try again next year. If a package of bills cannot be passed, this will be the first Congress since the 1960s to designate no new federal Wilderness.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021