House-passed bill includes Bentz amendment to bar funding new national monument in Malheur County

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Rep. Cliff Bentz (OR-02) said the Interior appropriations bill passed Friday by the House includes his amendment to prohibit the use of any funds in the bill for the establishment of any national monument in Malheur County.

“We don’t want a 2.5-million-acre monument promoted by Portland-based environmental groups making decisions for land they have never seen and frankly, only care about in the abstract. We must have a land management process that is based on the people who live, work, appreciate and recreate in Malheur County,” Congressman Bentz stated. 

“The Bureau of Land Management already controls 67% of our county, and a national monument designation would be damaging to the land and communities in Malheur. Our amendment sends a clear message to the President that we oppose a National Monument and that this would undermine the hard work that local groups have been doing for the better part of six years to protect this land.”           

The bill also fully funds the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program and prioritizes funding for Tribes and Wildland Fire Management. In addition, the bill provides a $2.65 billion fire suppression cap adjustment as authorized and reduces funding for nearly every other appropriation in the bill, including a $3.962 billion (39%) reduction to the EPA.