Gov. Kotek makes final plea to Biden to make Owyhee Canyonlands a national monument

By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- 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. 

While Congress can protect areas under the National Wilderness Preservation System and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Antiquities Act allows the president to designate areas national monuments if they hold cultural, natural or historical significance. 

Despite years of proposals from Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, and a recent proposal from Oregon’s U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, a Republican representing the state’s 2nd District, both houses of Congress have failed to vote on preserving the Owyhee Canyonlands in perpetuity.

Bentz’s proposal, introduced in early November, stands little chance of passing before Congress adjourns at the end of the year. Wyden and Merkley’s proposal, which could still pass and has been years in the making, has so far only cleared the Senate Natural Resources Committee and has not been voted on in the full Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives.

“The landscape of this area is a national treasure with stunning geological features and culturally significant sites that reflect the deep history and heritage of this part of Oregon,” Kotek wrote the president. “The devastating consequences for the future of this iconic landscape are simply too great not to act now. Please proceed with a national monument designation.”

The canyonlands have significant health, economic and cultural value to the Northern Paiute, Bannock and Shoshone tribes, are a source of tourism dollars in Malheur County and are home to threatened sage grouse, as well as bighorn sheep, elk and deer. The animals and their habitats face growing risks from wildfire due to invasive grasses and juniper and Owyhee River fish face threats from poorly preserved riparian areas and cattle grazing. 

Wyden and Merkley have proposed protecting the area three times in the last five years, including their first attempt in 2019 following prolonged debate among ranchers, conservationists, tribes, hunting and fishing groups and government officials over how to preserve parts of the canyonlands. 

Wyden is “still pulling out all the stops” to pass his and Merkley’s most recent proposal, according to Hank Stern, a spokesperson for Wyden. Their proposal also includes putting 30,000 acres of federal and private land in the canyonlands into a trust overseen by the Burns Paiute Tribe.

“The legislative route has bipartisan momentum in the House and Senate. And a bill remains the best path to protect wilderness, provide ranchers more grazing flexibility and return ancestral lands to the Burns Paiute Tribe rather than a monument that the incoming administration would likely move to undo at a moment’s notice,” Stern said in an email.

Bentz’s proposal, introduced in November, has so far only gotten hearings in the House Natural Resources Committee, but has not received a vote. It’s most likely, according to Ryan Houston, executive director of the Oregon Natural Desert Association, up to the state’s U.S. senators or the president in the next three to four weeks.

“As the clock ticks on 2024, all eyes are now focused on President Biden and Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley as Oregonians are depending on them to take the decisive steps necessary to protect the Owyhee Canyonlands before the end of the year,” Houston said in an email.