The Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Act of 2009 (H.R. 2888)
October 28, 2009 Full Committee Markup

Reporting H.R. 2888 out of Committee (View Roll Call Vote)
The Devil's Staircase Wilderness Act of 2009 would designate over 29,000 acres of federal land in Oregon as wilderness. Wilderness is the most restrictive land use designation, eliminating the use of mechanized recreation and prohibits timber harvest. While a large portion of the proposed acreage is already managed in a restrictive manner, it still falls short of the intent of the Wilderness Act because there are at least 24 miles of roads crossing this area and at least 3,000 acres were open to harvest until the 1980’s.

Rep. Bishop offered an amendment that would have required the Secretary of the Interior to identify suitable lands to replace the value of the timber harvesting opportunities lost due to the Wilderness designation. The majority opposed the amendment and blocked it from being voted upon.

* For complete legislative action for the October 28, 2009 Full Committee Markup, click here.