Oregon’s biggest state park won’t go national this year

Published 11:14 pm Tuesday, February 12, 2008

SALEM, Ore. — The chief sponsor of an effort to designate Silver Falls State Park as a national park decided to table it for this year because of stronger than expected opposition.

State Sen. Fred Girod, R-Lyons, said Monday he made the decision after consulting with business and community leaders, and representatives from the agriculture and timber industries. A designation as a national park would trigger a stricter federal clean-air standard for the area around Silver Falls, potentially curbing agricultural and forestry practices such as field burning.

“What I thought would be a simple bill was one that some people did not want,” said Girod, whose district includes the park.

Some businesses and community leaders welcomed the prospect of more tourists, but some residents worried that the national-park status would attract more development around Silver Falls.

If Girod’s proposal had been approved by the Legislature, the state would have made a request to Congress to consider adding Silver Falls to the federal park system. Congress could have then directed the National Park Service to study the matter.

Silver Falls, at almost 9,000 acres, is the largest state park in Oregon. A 30-minute drive from Salem, it’s also one of the most heavily used, with nearly 1 million visits each year — roughly twice the number seen by Crater Lake National Park.

The thought of turning Silver Falls into a national park isn’t new. It was rejected in 1926 because the Silver Creek watershed had been logged. The forests have since recovered, and Girod thinks his proposal will fly: “When the time is right, we will go forward.”