Oregon Public Broadcasting

A proposal to expand federal protection for three pristine areas of Oregon moved out of a House subcommittee Thursday.

The so-called “Oregon Treasures” package would expand the Mt. Hood Wilderness, protect tributaries in the Rogue River watershed, and expand the size of the Oregon Caves National Monument.

Erik Fernandez is with Oregon Wild, one of the conservation groups pushing Congress to pass the legislation this year.

Erik Fernandez: “Fortunately, protecting Mt. Hood and the Rogue River and places like that isn’t very controversial, so we’re hoping that the lack of controversy helps move this, these protections forward quickly this year.”

Fernandez says it’s taken about four years to fine tune this legislation so that it can win bipartisan support.

The next step for the current proposal is for the House Natural Resources Committee to send the legislation to the full House for a vote.