Local wilderness advocates plan to take a green forest protection message back to the stark, formal halls of Congress next week.

Several sportsmen plan to ask Congress to approve the formal wilderness designation of about 12,000 acres of forestland near Port Orford - the Copper Salmon Wilderness.

The steep, mountainous Copper Salmon region includes the watershed areas for the North Fork of the Elk River and Upper Middle Fork of the Sixes River. It's adjacent to the already-protected Grassy Knob Wilderness area that was designated as such more than 20 years ago.

Together, the Copper Salmon and Grassy Knob areas could benefit some of the healthiest salmon and steelhead runs in the West. The Elk River contains sea-run cutthroat trout, winter steelhead, some coho salmon and native Chinook salmon populations.

Coos Bay resident John Ward, president of the Southwest Chapter of the Northwest Association of Salmon and Steelheaders, said many of the sportsmen in the Bay Area make the hour-long trip south to fish the Elk.

“We truly love this river,” Ward said. “This river is truly a jewel. So let's protect it.”

Portions of the river itself already are protected to varying degrees. It was designated as part of the federal National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1988. A 17-mile segment between Anvil Creek and the split between the north and south forks is classified as recreational. From the forks' confluence to 2 miles upriver to the falls on the North Fork is classified as wild.

The Elk River's beauty, health and wildness can be attributed to a combination of features. Clear water flows through the steep canyons of the lower river. Upriver, the gorge widens but still has steep, forested hillsides that drain much of the rain and snow that falls in the Siskiyou National Forest. Wild populations of black-tailed deer, black bear and cougars live in the upland forests that protected species of spotted owls and marbled murrelets also call home.

But in those waters live the fish on which sportsmen and, to an extent, local commercial fishermen, too, depend.

“The rearing conditions for juvenile salmonids are really good,” Trout Unlimited's Chief Scientist, Jack Williams, said.

Often, Chinook will spend a year in the river before moving out into the ocean, he said.

“It's a buffer against changing ocean conditions.”

The Elk River also supports a small state commercial salmon fishery in November and December. Several Port Orford salmon trollers take advantage of the late season to provide fresh Chinook to markets after federal seasons have closed.

The wilderness proposal, in the works for roughly a decade, has the support of former Curry County commissioners, several sportsmen's organizations, the city of Port Orford and other organizations.

“There is virtually no opposition to this,” Trout Unlimited spokesman Chris Hunt said Thursday. “It's a win-win.”

Supporters also said that individual conservatives, not environmental groups, are the primary backers of the current proposal.

“It's rare to ever see a bill, particularly to protect a wilderness area, to get such overwhelming Republican support,” Port Orford Chamber of Commerce President David Smith said.

Smith, Curry County Planning Commission Chairman Jim Rogers, full-time fishing guide Richard Wolfe and Trout Unlimited field coordinator Mike Beagle, among others, plan to go to Washington, D.C. next week.

Forest Service officials, noting they have yet to see the specifics of the proposal, declined to comment. The agency would take action if and when Congress requested it, said forest spokeswoman Patty Burel.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., also supports the Copper Salmon proposal and would like to see it included in the Mount Hood wilderness bill now before Congress, a spokeswoman said late Thursday.

- The Associated Press

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