News
ENLARGE
One of the joys I find living in Douglas County is the beauty and wonder of the Umpqua River. Whether strolling the banks of the South Umpqua in Roseburg during a crisp, autumn evening, or hiking out along one of the many tributaries of the fog-enshrouded North Umpqua, I am always struck by how fortunate I am to live in the presence of such a mighty, awe-inspiring river.
A river is the life-blood of a community, and the Umpqua is the life-blood of Douglas County. We are fortunate that we do not have to pay for the gifts of the Umpqua, for the price would surely be beyond our means. The North Umpqua, along with feeding us yearly with wild salmon and steelhead runs, also yields some of the cleanest drinking water in the United States. We don't have to pay the river for the salmon it nurses to maturity, or for the drinking water it provides — it gives them freely, without a whimper about compensation.
The truth is no dollar value can represent the gifts we receive daily from the river. But when we knowingly receive what the river has to give, we enter into a sacred contract with that river to protect and sustain its wealth for future generations.
However, we do not always do enough to protect this great natural wealth. We often fail to uphold our side of the contract. There's a lot more we could do for our river and our wild places to show that we do not take them for granted.
Currently, only 2 percent of Douglas County is designated as wilderness, which is less than the state average of 4 percent. Oregon has less designated wilderness than both Washington, 9 percent, and California, 13 percent.
Wilderness areas are vital life-support systems that ensure the continuing health of our river, and thus of our community as well. They provide critical habitat for salmon and steelhead by cooling river temperatures and moderating stream flows. Their large, old trees sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, slowing global warming, and contributing to a larger sustained snowpack that will later feed the river in spring.
But protecting wilderness is not just about giving back to the river.
Today, the best hunting and fishing in the West is found on public land where intact habitat provides all the necessities for large populations of deer, elk and other big game. Recreation is a large source of income for communities fortunate enough to have wilderness because they draw outdoor enthusiasts looking for the best hunting, fishing, hiking and camping around.
Wilderness also entices us with the promise of an escape from our hectic daily lives, permitting us the chance to re-inhabit a landscape where there are no deadlines or schedules to keep. As John Muir wrote, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.” Wilderness — in its pristine quality — is a monument to the handiwork of God, reminding us in its silent way that there is a realm above and beyond the human, where the Spirit still speaks to man.
On Saturday, both local and regional wilderness enthusiasts are going to gather at Umpqua Community College for the free Umpqua Wilderness Conference to discuss the infinite reasons for treasuring what few truly wild places we still have left. I hope that you will join us as we begin this discussion, and that together we can start repaying the Umpqua by protecting the wilderness that sustains it.
Hudson Spivey is a member of the Wild On Wilderness Committee of Roseburg-based Umpqua Watersheds Inc. and the chairman of the upcoming Umpqua Wilderness Conference. For more information on this free event, visit www.umpqua-watersheds.org or call the UW office at (541) 672-7065.
A river is the life-blood of a community, and the Umpqua is the life-blood of Douglas County. We are fortunate that we do not have to pay for the gifts of the Umpqua, for the price would surely be beyond our means. The North Umpqua, along with feeding us yearly with wild salmon and steelhead runs, also yields some of the cleanest drinking water in the United States. We don't have to pay the river for the salmon it nurses to maturity, or for the drinking water it provides — it gives them freely, without a whimper about compensation.
The truth is no dollar value can represent the gifts we receive daily from the river. But when we knowingly receive what the river has to give, we enter into a sacred contract with that river to protect and sustain its wealth for future generations.
However, we do not always do enough to protect this great natural wealth. We often fail to uphold our side of the contract. There's a lot more we could do for our river and our wild places to show that we do not take them for granted.
Currently, only 2 percent of Douglas County is designated as wilderness, which is less than the state average of 4 percent. Oregon has less designated wilderness than both Washington, 9 percent, and California, 13 percent.
Wilderness areas are vital life-support systems that ensure the continuing health of our river, and thus of our community as well. They provide critical habitat for salmon and steelhead by cooling river temperatures and moderating stream flows. Their large, old trees sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, slowing global warming, and contributing to a larger sustained snowpack that will later feed the river in spring.
But protecting wilderness is not just about giving back to the river.
Today, the best hunting and fishing in the West is found on public land where intact habitat provides all the necessities for large populations of deer, elk and other big game. Recreation is a large source of income for communities fortunate enough to have wilderness because they draw outdoor enthusiasts looking for the best hunting, fishing, hiking and camping around.
Wilderness also entices us with the promise of an escape from our hectic daily lives, permitting us the chance to re-inhabit a landscape where there are no deadlines or schedules to keep. As John Muir wrote, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.” Wilderness — in its pristine quality — is a monument to the handiwork of God, reminding us in its silent way that there is a realm above and beyond the human, where the Spirit still speaks to man.
On Saturday, both local and regional wilderness enthusiasts are going to gather at Umpqua Community College for the free Umpqua Wilderness Conference to discuss the infinite reasons for treasuring what few truly wild places we still have left. I hope that you will join us as we begin this discussion, and that together we can start repaying the Umpqua by protecting the wilderness that sustains it.
Hudson Spivey is a member of the Wild On Wilderness Committee of Roseburg-based Umpqua Watersheds Inc. and the chairman of the upcoming Umpqua Wilderness Conference. For more information on this free event, visit www.umpqua-watersheds.org or call the UW office at (541) 672-7065.
