Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon’s sole Republican in Congress, Greg Walden, voted in favor of the omnibus lands bill Wednesday, along with the rest of the state’s House delegation.

Walden worked for years with Portland Democrat, Earl Blumenauer, to increase Mount Hood’s wilderness areas. Several of the other newly protected areas are in Walden’s district - including the Badlands near Bend, and the Spring Basin Wilderness on the John Day River.

Walden says now he wants to get people working in areas that need thinning projects. Walden: “I mean I was in John Day and Burns, on Saturday, Ontario and Baker City on Saturday. And I’ll just tell you - people are at the end of their rope out there, and yet they’re surrounded by forests that are choked with dead, dying trees, or just choked. We need to do on-the-ground conservation now.” The federal stimulus package provides money for immediate work on projects that are ready to go.

But Walden says some areas need preliminary work - analysis and planning - before crews can go in.

Although Walden voted in favor of the wilderness bill, he says he disagrees with the parliamentary tactics the Democratic leadership used to get the bill through.