This brief (12 minutes, from Green Fire Productions, grnfire@peak.org) video urges Oregon residents (and other US residents) to contact their representatives to ask them to work to establish the Copper Salmon Wilderness in the headwaters of the Elk River. The video starts out with an overview of the watershed, then walks among the big trees and small streams. Steep, inaccessable slopes and high rainfall (over 200 inches per year).
Local people and visitors testify that it is an "escape to another world," that they do not want to see "it go away," and how much they "appreciate the beauty." Sport fishers talk about protecting the recreational values for themselves and for future generations, but also about how mudslides the previous year had an economic impact. There are some good shots of otter eating salmon.
Part of the Elk River area is protected as wilderness. The headwaters were to be a priority watershed under the Clinton plan, but that protection "evaporated" with the salvage rider. A teacher describes how it can be a benchmark wilderness, with real riparian areas and wild animals. A rancher tells how the wilderness fits with her conservative values.
It is a beautiful part of the coast. It should be protected. For more information, contact: Friends of Elk River, P. O. Box 891, Port Orford, OR 97465, Internet: ema@harborside.com