Jewell tells Walden she’s unaware of any Owyhee monument plans
Answering questions from Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., at a House hearing Tuesday, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said she’s unaware of any coordination between her department and the White House on a potential large national monument designation on the Owyhee Canyonlands in Malheur County.
Walden has voiced strong concerns about any such proposal, which he said has faced strong local opposition. Jewell pledged to notify Walden if such a process were to begin.
“I want to get to the issue of the monument,” Walden said. “You and I had a phone conversation about this. I know you met with (Harney County) Judge Grasty and Commissioner Runnells as well.
“The Malheur County Commission and judge there have written you expressing their opposition to any monument there. I just want to reconfirm that there’s no effort in your agency, there’s no coordination with (the Council on Environmental Quality in the White House) or the White House that you’re aware of to designate an Owyhee Canyons National Monument?” Walden asked.
Jewell replied, “The concept of Owyhee Canyons came from, I think, Keen Footwear. It’s been kicking around. It’s one of those things people have recommended to us. But we have not held any community meetings, and we haven’t had any discussions in those communities. People haven’t been actively in my office asking about it.”
Walden reiterated to Jewell the strong local opposition to such a monument proposal, and told her of concerns of a “dark of night” designation like in prior administrations.
The questioning continues Walden’s long-running efforts to oppose a rumored national monument designation in Malheur County. At 2.5 million acres, the monument could be larger than Yellowstone National Park and twice the size of Grand Canyon National Park.
Walden has repeatedly urged President Obama and top members of the Administration to back off the proposal, to ease tensions in the rural West.
Walden also touched on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation in January and long-running frustration over fencing issues on Steens Mountain.
“Now that the standoff is over at the refuge, I do hope the BLM will move rapidly on complying with federal law regarding Steens Mountain and the fencing issue up there on Steens,” the congressman said.
” Under the Steens Cooperative Management and Protection Act, which I helped author, that fencing, if it’s an issue of doing an EA or an EIS, could cooperatively be done on adjacent private land, and the land owners are open to that to facilitate this to be in compliance with the law. The BLM I think was wrong in this case in their initial analysis, and I hope you can help correct that,” Walden said.
The congressman added,: “On another note, thank you for coming out regarding the sage grouse habitat cooperative collaborative. I’m sure you’ll be disappointed to know one of the environmental groups has now sued over that.
“This is kind of the frustration that we feel very strongly, as I don’t have to tell you, in the West, when the collaboration does come together and then another group sues. It’s really, really frustrating to what we’re trying to do out there…
“As for law enforcement funding and all, because this was a federal facility, and because most of the people who were there were not from Harney County, let alone from the state of Oregon, I do hope the federal government will help figure out a way to help cover some of the local costs.”
“Thank you for your comments and particularly for your advocacy of the people of Harney County and also for the education we had in my conversation about your work on Steens Mountain. I don’t know about the reimbursement and how the process works with the FBI and so on, so that’s certainly something that we’re happy to have dialogue on, but I don’t know what the rules are,” Jewell replied.
