EnvironmentProtection for Owyhee Canyonlands dies in Congress, Oregon leaders to try again in 2025
A proposal to protect the Owyhee Canyonlands in southeast Oregon did not make it through Congress at the end of the year but members of Oregon’s delegation said they’ll try anew in 2025.
The proposed Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act would have put more than 1.1 million acres of federal public land in the canyonlands and a 15-mile stretch of the Owyhee River under the protection of the National Wilderness Preservation System and the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The bill also would have transferred 30,000 acres of federal and private land into a trust overseen by the Burns Paiute Tribe.
Oregon Owyhee Canyonlands Receives Federal Protection After Years of Negotiations and Failed Attempts
After five years of negotiations and three failed attempts, the U.S. Senate has finally received unanimous approval for federal protection of Southeast Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands.
The victory on Friday night was announced by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden who together with state Rep. Cliff Bentz has been working to protect nearly one million acres of the Owyhee Canyonlands.
Gov. Kotek makes final plea to Biden to make Owyhee Canyonlands a national monument
Gov. Tina Kotek just made one last plea to President Joe Biden to protect a stunning stretch of the state known as “Oregon’s Grand Canyon” before he leaves office.
Kotek wrote to Biden on Nov. 22, asking that he invoke the Antiquities Act of 1906 and designate more than 1 million acres of the 2.5 million acre area in southeast Oregon, including 15 miles of the Owyhee River, a national monument, a move that would limit ranching use and development. The letter is a follow-up to a similar request in August to protect the area if Congress failed to act.
Republican wilderness plan the focus of feisty hearing
Oregon Republican Rep. Cliff Bentz lobbied strongly during a House hearing Tuesday in favor of legislation to preserve large swaths of pristine federal lands in his state, despite mixed reviews from some local advocates.
The Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands hearing also included testimony from a senior Forest Service official offering general support for legislation that would increase the use of cattle and sheep grazing to reduce overgrown vegetation that helps spread wildfires.
But debate on Bentz’s bill, H.R. 10082, featured a feisty exchange between the lawmaker and Ryan Houston, executive director of the Oregon Natural Desert Association, over the conservation group’s concerns with the bill. He argued that allowing vehicular use in certain areas would be anathema to the idea of a “wilderness” designation.
Editorial: Biden and Congress should take this time to protect the Owyhee
As we write this, it looked like Donald Trump will be the next president and the U.S. Senate will be controlled by Republicans. The results for the House of Representatives were still unclear.
We were thinking about what a lame duck President Biden and the lame duck Congress should do in the next couple months.
Our prediction: They will not do much. So we know this may be more wishful thinking than the path history will take.
We would love to see Biden and Congress move forward on protecting the Owyhee Canyonlands.
That part of Eastern Oregon can be so achingly beautiful it can seem fake. It deserves more protection.
Opinion: A legacy-making moment to protect the Owyhee Canyonlands
There is broad agreement across Oregon that the unique Owyhee Canyonlands area needs protection from development, mining and other threats. However, thus far there is no final agreement on the timing and form of the protections. A similar predicament threatened the protection of the Steens Mountains 24 years ago – and provides a blueprint for how to resolve the impasse.
Rep. Bentz’s Bad-Faith Owyhee Canyonlands Proposal
Ontario, OR — Citing increased urgency, the campaign to Protect the Owyhee Canyonlands is quickly gaining momentum. Twenty thousand individuals in Oregon and beyond have now signed the online petition calling on Oregon Senators Wyden and Merkley to work with President Biden to secure national monument designation for the Owyhee before the end of 2024. Growing support for the campaign reflects the importance of climate and conservation issues among key constituencies—especially young voters—and the Owyhee Canyonlands is the largest conservation opportunity remaining in the American West.
Ron Wyden Could Ask President Biden to Protect the Owyhee Canyonlands. Why Hasn’t He?
Prominently placed billboards and a flurry of direct-mail pieces are alerting Portlanders to a hot-button Oregon political issue—almost 500 miles away in Malheur County.
The aim of the campaign, however, is to put pressure on sometime-Portland resident, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
“The largest conservation opportunity left in the American West is right here in Oregon,” reads the mailer, with an arrow pointing toward the state’s southeastern corner. “Ask Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to work with President Biden to create an Owyhee Canyonlands national monument before the end of 2024!”
Gov. Kotek asks Biden to protect Oregon’s ‘Grand Canyon’ if Congress does not
Following nearly five years of negotiations and three attempts by Oregon’s U.S. senators to get federal protection for southeast Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek is throwing her hat into the fight.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek throws support behind Owyhee Canyonlands national monument
Gov. Tina Kotek threw her support behind the latest movement to establish a national monument in southeast Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands.
Kotek’s support is the latest in a chorus of voices from conservation groups and local tribes asking President Joe Biden to use the Antiquities Act to protect around 2.5 million acres of rugged canyons and rivers near the Idaho border.
Editorial: How many more years before the Owyhee Canyonlands get deserved protections?
Let’s list things that are exasperating about Congress. The lack of bipartisanship. The years it can take to do anything. And more.
This month Oregon Congressman Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, reminded people on X, formerly Twitter, about a move he made to block certain protections for the Owyhee Canyonlands.
Some will find that exasperating. It’s not, though, completely different from what Oregon Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have been advocating. There is room for bipartisanship. But we bet you can guess how this story ends.
In Case You Missed It: Bend Bulletin Endorses Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument
Ontario, OR — In an editorial published Tuesday, June 3, 2024, The Bend Bulletin declared that the “Owyhee Canyonlands deserves protection,” and that a national monument designation is likely the only path forward at this time.
New poll shows strong support for Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument
A new poll by Expedition Strategies for the Oregon League of Conservation Voters reveals 73% of Oregonians support President Biden designating the Owyhee Canyonlands as a national monument. This support spans across party lines, with 95% of Democrats, 76% of Independents, and 40% of Republicans in favor. Additionally, 58% of voters in eastern Oregon back the designation.
The secret is out: The world found the Owyhees. Advocates say it’s time to protect land
Just southwest of Boise lies one of the last vast swaths of solitude in the United States.
The Owyhee Canyonlands, with stunning red gulches, winding rivers and a moon-like landscape where a volcano with a caldera once 600 times larger than Mount St. Helens erupted, stands as the largest unprotected wilderness area in the American West.
Locals might have once seen the Owyhees as the area’s best-kept secret: national park-quality wilderness without the tourists.
There’s a push for this Boise-area landscape to become a national monument
The Owyhee Canyonlands span Idaho, Oregon and Nevada. Conservations on the Oregon side want to see protections for the rugged desert area.
New Polling Confirms Strong Majority Support for an Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument
Ontario, OR — Citing increased urgency, the campaign to Protect the Owyhee Canyonlands is quickly gaining momentum. Twenty thousand individuals in Oregon and beyond have now signed the online petition calling on Oregon Senators Wyden and Merkley to work with President Biden to secure national monument designation for the Owyhee before the end of 2024. Growing support for the campaign reflects the importance of climate and conservation issues among key constituencies—especially young voters—and the Owyhee Canyonlands is the largest conservation opportunity remaining in the American West.
What’s next for the Owyhee Canyonlands?
Long before dams were constructed on the Owyhee River, the current carved a series of deep canyons and ravines through the southeastern corner of Oregon, carrying salmon all the way to Nevada. Greater sage grouse, pronghorn, redband trout and more than 200 other species of wildlife live in the Owyhee Canyonlands today, as do 28 species of rare and endemic plants. The canyonlands’ rock spires and rolling sagebrush hills are also the ancestral homelands of the Northern Paiute, Shoshone and Bannock tribes. “That land is significant to us,” said Gary McKinney (Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute) of the People of Red Mountain, a committee of traditional knowledge keepers and descendants of the Fort McDermitt Paiute, Shoshone and Bannock tribes.
Conservationists and native tribes fight for the protection of the Owyhee Canyonlands
OREGON (KMVT/KSVT) — The Owyhee Canyonlands is one of the largest remaining unprotected areas in the contiguous United States it has more than 2.5 million acres of wellness quality lands, incredible rugged remote country, and it’s one of those just magical special places we have remaining here in our public land system that hasn’t been yet protected.
Only five percent of the Owyhee Canyonlands are permanently protected, leaving the vast majority of native species vulnerable to threats. According to Karly Foster, the Conservation Campaign Manager for Oregon Natural Desert Association, said that most people misinterpret what the word “protection” means.
Protect the Owyhee aims to secure protections for the Oregon Owyhee Canyonlands
JORDAN VALLEY, Oregon — The Owyhee Canyonlands in Oregon is a vast, rugged, and unique landscape. Protect the Owyhee hopes to get this land designated as a National Monument as legislation stalls in Congress.
Protect the Owyhee is made up of several conservation groups who are working to get protections in place, that includes Tim Davis who grew up in Adrian and founded Friends of the Owyhee.
Protect The Owyhee Canyonlands Delegation Joins National Monument Event In D.C.
On Tuesday, April 16, a delegation of Oregon activists and civic leaders—including musician, environmentalist, and drag queen Pattie Gonia— joined Tribal leaders, community advocates, and members of congress from across the West to call on President Biden to designate and expand national monuments. Nearly 45,000 petition signatures were delivered to President Biden seeking national monument status for the Owyhee Canyonlands. The event was held in Washington, D.C.