By Michael Kohn, The Bulletin
On the banks of Tumalo Creek on Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., declared the success of a grassroots campaign to designate thousands of miles of rivers and creeks in Oregon as “wild and scenic,” protecting them in perpetuity.
Surrounded by Bend-area students that nominated rivers in Central Oregon, Wyden told reporters that the process to have the River Democracy Act passed is on a “fast track.”
If passed, the legislation will add nearly 4,700 miles of rivers and streams in Oregon to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, a special designation that protects rivers in the same way that a national park protects a designated area of land.
Wyden and Oregon’s junior senator, Jeff Merkley, also a Democrat, rallied Oregonians over a year ago to nominate their favorite rivers for inclusion in the act. More than 15,000 nominations poured in for what Wyden said was one of this country’s largest grassroots campaigns.
“This is how political change starts in Oregon,” said Wyden, flanked by two seventh graders from Pacific Crest Middle School and three seniors at Bend High School. “It’s not top-down. It’s grassroots up, and these incredible people are proving it.”
