PORTLAND - Several environmental groups are pressing Oregon delegates to reach an agreement to expand and protect the Mount Hood wilderness area during the final hours of this Congress.

“The clock is ticking for Mount Hood wilderness,” Jeremiah Baumann, environmental advocate for the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, said at a press conference on Tuesday. “The reality is that if the House and Senate could agree this week on a bill, Congress could pass it during the lame-duck session.”

The lame-duck session begins Dec. 5, but there is still much work to be done to find a compromise on the long-debated issue.

Two wilderness area bills are under consideration. A Senate bill, co-sponsored by Republican Gordon Smith and Democrat Ron Wyden, would expand the Mount Hood wilderness area by more than 128,000 acres. A House plan, by Republican Greg Walden and Democrat Earl Blumenauer, would expand wilderness protection by about 77,000 acres.

A wilderness declaration, one of the most restrictive of federal land designations, would provide added protection for the new acreage.

The issue has been tied up in political debates in this Congress. And although a new Democrat-controlled Congress is on its way in and one of the politicians causing some delay is on his way out, a number of conservation groups want to act now.

The groups, including Oregon Wild and Sierra Club, say they want to capitalize on the existing bipartisan support rather than wait for a new and unknown response from the next Congress. They also said it would free politicians and environmentalists alike to move on to other concerns.

But it's unclear how politically feasible an immediate compromise might be.

Two significant issues remain - the size of land to be included and controversy over a land exchange.

Wyden has already scaled back his requests, from 160,000 acres in his first bill introduced to 128,000 acres in the current bill, which he introduced with Smith.

And the House bill, at 77,200 acres, is a compromise to get the approval of Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chairman of the House Resources Committee and a key player on any wilderness legislation.

Additionally, Undersecretary Mark Rey, who directs U.S. forest policy, said the Bush administration opposes both versions.

Rey said the administration wants 55,000 acres in new wilderness, with thousands of other acres protected under a less-restriction classification such as a national recreation area.

There is also the issue of a proposed land exchange on Mount Hood, Oregon's tallest mountain and a Pacific Northwest icon.

The exchange would be between the U.S. Forest Service, which owns 120 acres at Government Camp, and Mount Hood Meadows, which owns 769 acres near the Cooper Spur ski area.

The idea came about after Meadows announced plans to create develop the area near Cooper Spur, located on the northeastern side of the mountain. The idea behind the land exchange is to end any more development on the northeastern slope of the mountain and concentrate development on the southern side, where homes already exist.

But this was complicated by a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office that says the appraisals of the land do not justify the trade. Specifically it said the land was undervalued, which might not be a fair deal for taxpayers.

The report poses a problem because the proposed land swap is considered crucial to both the House and Senate bills.

Still, environmental groups say they believes the obstacles can be overcome before Congress goes home.

Hillary Barbour, Blumenauer's spokeswoman, said “if there is an opportunity to do something, we'd sure love to see it happen.”

But there's also some skepticism about passage of a Mount Hood wilderness bill by the lame-duck Congress.

“It remains to be seen what the prospects for passage are,” said Josh Kardon, Wyden's chief of staff. “If we don't get it done this year, we will be approaching Mount Hood with more wilderness (area) in the future.”

If passed, any new wilderness area would be the first new wilderness on Mount Hood in more than 20 years.