Ways to Help Protect the Devil’s Staircase

by | Apr 22, 2009

Write to Congress

Write your two U.S. Senators and your Representative. Ask them to support Wilderness protection. With the recent passage of the Public Lands bill in March that provided new Wilderness protection to many areas in the U.S., now is a great time to encourage our representatives to protect other very deserving areas such as the Devil’s Staircase.

While the Forest Service and BLM lands covered by the proposed Devil’s Staircase Wilderness are not immediately threatened now, the BLM side was recently targeted under the draft version of the WOPR and this kind of threat could return in the future. The Devil’s Staircase area needs Wilderness protection so that it will permanently be off limits to logging and other intrusions and be able to stay wild. Hand written or typed letters sent via the postal service can have the most impact, but emails or calls can also be helpful. It’s not necessary for letters to be long or detailed. It’s also helpful to make your letter personal and tell them why you want the Devil’s Staircase area protected as wilderness.

Spread the word

Tell others about the area and why it’s important to protect it. Encourage them to write/email/call to protect the area.

If you live in Oregon, write a letter-to-the-editor of your local paper, supporting Wilderness designation for the Devil’s Staircase.

Talking points for the above

  1. The Devil’s Staircase area is the wildest and most remote roadless country left in the Oregon Coast Range and the largest roadless area in the Washington/Oregon coast range between the Olympic peninsula and the Rogue River. There is almost no other roadless land of 5000 acres or more remaining in the coast range.
  2. A very small percentage of the Oregon Coast Range remains unlogged. The Devil’s Staircase area is one of the largest remaining mature and old-growth forests left.
  3. Because of the above two points, the Devil’s Staircase area is an historical and ecological gem. It is one of the last and best remnant reminders of what a lot the Oregon Coast Range used to be like, and what type of fish and wildlife habitat it offered.
  4. The Devil’s Staircase area provides critical habitat for threatened northern spotted owls and is the best habitat remaining for them in the central coast range. It also provides habitat for threatened marbled murrelets, Coho salmon, and a lot of other wildlife.
  5. The old forests of the area store and sequester large amounts of carbon, an essential function that mitigates global warming. This function would be lost if they ever were logged. These older forests also provide clean, colder water needed by salmon
  6. The Devil’s Staircase is a very scenic and diverse area, with beautiful vistas, groves of huge trees, and miles of wild streams.

Phone and address contact information for Oregon Senators and Representatives:

Senator Jeff Merkley (D)
SDB-40B Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510
Phone: 202-224-3753

Senator Ron Wyden (D)
223 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-3703
Phone: (202) 224-5244

Rep. David Wu (D) – District 1
2338 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-0855

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D) – District 3
2267 Rayburn House Office Bldg.
Washington D.C. 20515-3703
202-225-4811

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D) – District 4
2134 Rayburn House Office Bldg.
Washington D.C. 20515
202-225-6416

Rep. Kurt Schrader (D) – District 5
1419 Longworth H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5711

Rep. Greg Walden (R) – District 2
2352 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
202-225-6730

Host a presentation

If you live in Oregon, be a contact person or host for a slideshow or PowerPoint presentation on the Devil’s Staircase. Help in letting more people know that this one of a kind wild gem exists and needs protection.

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