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Next: The ascent

If the plan to expand the Mount Hood wilderness area were a climbing expedition, Wednesday's approval by a Senate committee marked the establishment of a base camp.

There's still a long and potentially arduous climb ahead for the proposal by Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith. Their bill would extend wilderness protection to about 125,000 acres surrounding Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. It would increase existing wilderness protection on Oregon's most beloved and heavily visited mountain by roughly two thirds and would add federal wild and scenic protections to 80 miles of rivers.

But the voice vote by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee still was cause for some serious celebration. Just a few months ago, the future of the legislation was in serious doubt, primarily because of Bush administration concerns about a controversial land exchange included in the Wyden-Smith pro- posal.

Similar problems have doomed earlier attempts to expand the Mount Hood wilderness. But this time Smith, a Republican, and Wyden, a Democrat, forged an appealing and workable compromise with the administration over the land swap.

Under the proposed land swap, owners of the Mount Hood Meadows ski area would exchange 770 acres on the mountain's northeast slope for 120 acres suitable for residential development next to the resort community of Government Camp.

While the federal government would have received more acreage under the exchange, the Bush administration objected that the 770 acres include numerous roads and subdivisions and lack "national forest characteristics."

The administration also questioned the validity of appraisals of the properties involved.

Under the Wyden-Smith compromise, the land exchange would not be completed until a new appraisal was conducted - and that would have to happen within 16 months of the bill's passage.

The bill moves to the full Senate for a vote this fall and, if approved, to the House. Based on the history of Mount Hood legislation - both Senate and House proposals fell by the wayside last year - Oregon's full congressional delegation must remain focused on the daunting challenge that still lies ahead.

Wyden and Smith should make one final addition to their bill - the 12,000-acre Copper Salmon area in Southwestern Oregon.

The Copper Salmon area, which lies between Copper Mountain and Salmon Mountain in the Rogue River/Siskiyou National Forest, is simply a no-brainer for wilderness protection. It contains one the nation's largest remaining stands of low-elevation old growth forest, and its protection would help ensure that the prolific Elk River fishery would continue to support future generations of recreational and commercial fishermen.

The Copper Salmon wilderness proposal has generated little or no controversy, and it has the support of South Coast residents, the business community, the Curry County Board of Commissioners and the city of Port Orford, as well as the predictable array of environmental and recreational groups.

Unlike Mount Hood, however, the Copper Salmon area has a low profile and is unfamiliar to most Oregonians. Because of that, it has remained under the legislative radar screen for too long. By including the Copper Salmon with the Mount Hood bill, Wyden and Smith - and Rep. Peter DeFazio in the House - can ensure that it gets the protection it both deserves and needs.

Wyden and Smith deserve credit for finding a way to solve the problems that threatened to undo the Mount Hood bill. Now they, along with their colleagues in the House, need to press forward, with all the energy and focus they can muster, to the summit.