By Keith Chu and Patrick Cliff / The Bulletin

WASHINGTON — The Badlands Wilderness Act nearly finished its long and twisty path to becoming law on Wednesday, when it overwhelmingly passed the U.S. House.

With Wednesday’s vote and the president’s expected signature, Central Oregonians can be certain there always will be wilderness close to the cities, said Linda Swearingen, a former Deschutes County commissioner who has lobbied on behalf of Central Oregon destination resorts. With the recent growth in the region, Swearingen said, it was critical that some areas be protected from development.

“The benefit to the community is this natural treasure is preserved for generations, and there’s some certainty now that this property will never be exchanged and never developed,” Swearingen said. “It will retain its wilderness characteristic.”

The bill, part of a package of more than 150 public lands proposals, goes to President Barack Obama after passing 285-140. Obama has said he will sign the bill.

People move to Central Oregon in part because of the easy access to the outdoors, said Gena Goodman-Campbell, the wilderness coordinator with the Oregon Natural Desert Association. Protecting the area is key to maintaining that draw, she said.

“The bigger our city gets, the more important it is to have some reminders of that natural heritage that makes our area special,” Goodman-Campbell said.

ONDA has lobbied for years to create a Badlands wilderness area from about 30,000 acres of High Desert less than 20 miles from Bend. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., first proposed the Badlands wilderness legislation last year.

The area provides habitat for yellow-bellied marmots, bobcat, mule deer, elk and pronghorn, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

New mining, pipelines, roads and other developments are banned in wilderness areas, but hiking, hunting and existing grazing allotments are allowed under federal law.

Not everyone agrees with this way of protecting the Badlands, though. Joani Dufourd is a consultant with RecConnect, a Bend firm that develops and advocates for off-highway vehicle trails.

Dufourd said closing the Badlands to motorized vehicles will shut the area off for people who aren’t able to hike long distances.

Those people, Dufourd said, need a motorized vehicle to get deep into the wilderness.

“Why does preservation always have to mean closure? That’s the part I’ve never understood,” Dufourd said.

In Washington, D.C., the mood was mostly one of elation among members of Oregon’s congressional delegation. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland, celebrated the bill’s passage at a news conference with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and several other House members.

“By preserving special places for future generations, wild and scenic areas … all of these things, I think really do bring us together,” Blumenauer said, while Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., held up a large poster of Mount Hood behind him.

The package of bills also includes a measure that authorizes the Tumalo Irrigation District’s project to replace a section of the open Tumalo Feed Canal with pipe. Authorization is the first step in a process that can lead to federal funding.

In a telephone interview, Wyden joined in the celebration.

“It was really exhilarating,” Wyden said. “We’re looking forward to a presidential signature.”

Wyden said he intends to “bird-dog” the implementation process from his seat as chairman of the Senate’s Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee.

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, said he’d received generally positive feedback on the wilderness areas in his district, which includes Central, Eastern and most of Southern Oregon. He partnered with Blumenauer on the Mount Hood wilderness bill years ago, but wasn’t included in the latest version of the legislation. Walden, like all of Oregon’s House members, voted for the bill Wednesday.

“Are they exactly the way I would’ve written them? Maybe not, but it certainly shows over time, most of the issues will work out,” he said.