$1,000 reward offered for Badlands juniper tree vandals
The Oregon Natural Desert Association, Friends of the Oregon Badlands Wilderness and Juniper Group of the Sierra Club said Monday they are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of those responsible for chopping down an ancient juniper tree in the Oregon Badlands Wilderness.
The tree was taken from the Flatiron Rock Trailhead of the wilderness area 16 miles east of Bend sometime during the night of Dec. 4-5, according to the Bureau of Land Management. It appears that someone backed a truck up directly behind the tree, cut it to land in the truck bed and drove away, leaving only the stump.
The federal agency manages the 30,000-acre wilderness area, designated by Congress in 2009. The tree was typical of a number of celebrated junipers in the Badlands: A gnarled beauty believed to be hundreds of years old. Chopping down trees in wilderness areas, as well as in wilderness study areas, is illegal.
“If everyone behaved this way, treasures on our public lands would soon be decimated,” said Brent Fenty, ONDA’s executive director. “The Oregon Badlands was designated as wilderness to keep its beauty and ecologically significant qualities intact for future generations.”
While junipers have expanded outside of their native range in some parts of Oregon, in places like the Badlands they are critical parts of the ecosystem, Fenty said, providing important habitat for wildlife. A number of junipers there are believed to be more than 1,000 years old.
Information about the juniper should be shared with law enforcement from the BLM Prineville District during business hours at 541-416-6700. The maximum punishment for cutting the tree is a fine of up to $100,000 and a year of jail time.
The Oregon Natural Desert Association is a Bend-based nonprofit organization that has worked to protect, defend and restore Oregon’s high desert for nearly 30 years. Learn more at ONDA.org.
