Canyonlands Proposal Foes Get Green Light in Malheur County

VALE — It’s full steam ahead for the committee opposing a wilderness or monument designation in Malheur County.

Malheur County Court members voted November 24 to direct the Task Force in Opposition to the Wilderness/Monument Proposal of the Owyhee Canyonlands Coalition to continue its work fighting both designations.

The court also agree to move ahead with an advisory vote on the wilderness/monument proposal tentatively planned for March 8, 2016. The filing deadline is December 9.

The task force, chaired by County Commissioner Larry Wilson, has been busy gathering signatures on petitions in opposition, getting letters of support from other counties in Oregon, plus letters from cities and businesses.

Wilson said 18 counties are supporting Malheur County’s position.

Task force members are seeking face-to-face meetings with the secretary of interior, both Oregon U.S. senators and the White House before a monument decision is made.

John Blake, task force co-chair, said he has not been able to set up a meeting with either senator.

“We need to get anyone and everyone involved [in the opposition],” Commissioner Don Hodge said. “It’s a big deal.”

While a wilderness area has to be created by Congress, a monument can be declared by the president under the Antiquities Act.

Oregon Natural Desert Association, which is part of the Owyhee Canyon Coalition, is proposing a national conservation area of about 2.5 million acres, most to become a wilderness area in central and southern Malheur County.

Other members of the coalition are seeking a monument designation for the area.

“This proposal for a monument/wilderness area is a gross overreach and misuse of existing laws and policies, which we cannot influence very effectively,” task force member Andy Bentz said.

“If made a monument or wilderness area, the health of the land will suffer greatly due to the progress just started on addressing the invasive species [being]stopped or made cost-prohibitive.” Bentz continued.

“A monument of wilderness area this size will greatly impact the economic future of our industries, tribes, businesses, disabled veterans, senior citizens, communities, schools [and]children’s future,” he said.

ONDA and other coalition members maintain that local industries, particularly ranching, will not be affected by wilderness or monument designations. They also say that the area belongs to everyone, not just the residents of Malheur County.

Bentz addressed the latter issue before the County Court.

“Those of us that live in the environment and open space of southeast Oregon, share the belief that it is not land just to visit on vacation,” Bentz said. “For all of us, it represents our culture, our customs. It’s spiritual, it’s our economics, it’s our livelihood, it’s our home, while others see this land as only a place to occasionally recreate.”

The recreation that occurs in the canyonlands does not have the economic benefit that supporters of a monument or wilderness keep promising, Bentz said.

The County Court had three options Wednesday, including urging the committee to keep fighting the designation. The other options included doing nothing or have the task force set up a meeting with the members of the Owyhee Canyonlands Coalition.

The third option was not a negotiation, but a listening meeting, Bentz explained.

The County Court will send a letter to U.S. Sen. Jeff-Merkley, D-Oregon, and U.S. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, covering many of the same points that Bentz gave and urging the lawmakers to support language approved by the U.S. House in July prohibiting funds for a national monument declaration through the end of the fiscal year.

That language was included in an appropriations bill in the House. The court is requesting the senators support its inclusion in a Senate appropriations bill.