www.roanoke.com

Mike Matz

Matz is executive director of the Campaign for America's Wilderness.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved legislation to protect portions of the Jefferson National Forest in Southwestern Virginia as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Because of concerted effort by Rep. Rick Boucher, the commonwealth scored a major victory. Those who treasure our natural heritage, with its myriad opportunities for hunting, camping, fishing, hiking, and wildlife watching, are the beneficiaries of his commitment and fine work -- as are future Virginians to whom this gift will be handed down.

This bipartisan accomplishment -- Virginia Reps. Tom Davis, Bobby Scott, Frank Wolf, Jim Moran and the late Jo Ann Davis cosponsored the bill, and Sens. John Warner and Jim Webb have authored a companion measure -- provides the latest example of Congress pressing ahead on issues that are important to people and positively affecting their lives.

The Virginia bill won because of its strong backing by a diverse batch of local folks.

The boards of supervisors in the counties of Bland, Craig, Montgomery and Smyth all passed resolutions supporting the bill. A list of almost 40 local businesses endorsed the bill.

Local elected leaders and small business owners find, as others have around the country, that wilderness is good government and good for business.

And then there is the array of groups -- surprising to some, perhaps -- that got behind this bill: The Virginia Tourism Corporation, the Garden Club of Virginia, the Virginia Council of Trout Unlimited, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, the Kiwanis Club of Lexington and the International Mountain Bicycling Association all lent their endorsements for the legislation.

House passage of the Virginia Ridge and Valley Act means that Hunting Camp Creek, next to the Garden Mountain Wilderness, may be bequeathed to a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts.

It means that horseback riders will know they can still ride up Raccoon Branch, that students from Virginia Tech can find respite on Brush Mountain and that Bear Creek will be there as habitat for its namesake.

The recent action exemplifies the manner in which Congress has gone about protecting wild public lands from the ground up and how this Congress is moving forward to protect the commonwealth's common ground -- and other wilderness around the nation.

In addition to the Virginia wilderness measure, Congress is poised to act on other broadly supported bills, such as the Wild Sky Wilderness Act for Washington state and the Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act for Oregon that could protect as a legacy for future generations more than a quarter-million acres of federal public land every one of us owns and can use -- specifically, land banked into the National Wilderness Preservation System. It's America's common ground, too.

During President Bush's time in office, Congress has sent him 12 wilderness bills and he's signed them all into law.

Will Virginia's bill make it lucky 13?

Rep. Boucher and his cosponsors have done their best. It's on to the Senate, where Sen. Warner and Sen. Webb can work their magic.