Years - and an administration - have passed since we hosted a local coalition of sports fishermen and environmentalists for an editorial board meeting. They were advocating for protection of the Copper Mountain Wilderness, contending its clear splashing waters and clean green forests were among the last wild places where you could land a salmon that had never known a hatchery.

They were disappointed time and again.

And as Portland and its environs and Bend have moved ever close to the magnificence that is Mount Hood and the Three Sisters Wilderness area, we wondered if those vistas would soon be lost.

Now, after long years of almost-there, followed by denial, we thank the members of our Oregon delegation who worked so long to bring us Wednesday's passage (by a vote of 285 to 140) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.

It adds more than 2 million acres of wilderness across nine states, from California to Virginia. In Oregon, it adds 204,300 acres: 13,700 acres of old-growth forest in Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest, more than 128,000 acres of national forest on Mount Hood; 23,000 acres in southwestern Oregon's Soda Mountain region; 31,000 acres of wilderness in the Badlands just east of Bend; and 8,600 acres of wilderness overlooking the John Day Wild and Scenic River.

We applaud Sen. Ron Wyden for writing seven measures related to the bill: The Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act of 2007, The Copper Salmon Wilderness Act, The Oregon Badlands Wilderness Act of 2008, The Cascade Siskiyou National Monument Voluntary and Equitable Grazing Conflict Resolution Act, The Spring Basin Wilderness Act of 2008, The Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act of 2008 and The Watershed Restoration and Enhancement Agreements Act of 2007.

The act does more than provide invaluable watershed and wilderness protections to these prized lands. They also are protection to fisheries and to the increasingly tourism-based economies of cities in those areas that rely on quality businesses that arise from guided tours, river rafting expeditions, rentals and tourism in adjacent towns.

As Rep. Peter DeFazio noted in a press release Wednesday, "the landmark legislation combines more than 160 individual measures which were introduced in the previous Congress by both Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate. The bill includes new wilderness designations, wild and scenic rivers, National Park units, hiking trails, heritage areas, water projects, and historic preservation initiatives.

"This bill's final passage is long overdue. The measure is vital to preserving our precious landscapes, educating generations and supporting local communities, especially in Oregon," DeFazio said.

We've noted in our reporting in recent years that interest in outdoor activities in wilderness areas has fallen off as more people become sedentary or stay close to home to save money.

As our cool spring weather warms toward summer, we're hoping that more Oregonians will pack up and visit these treasures in our own back yard.