Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek throws support behind Owyhee Canyonlands national monument

Gov. Tina Kotek threw her support behind the latest movement to establish a national monument in southeast Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands.

Kotek’s support is the latest in a chorus of voices from conservation groups and local tribes asking President Joe Biden to use the Antiquities Act to protect around 2.5 million acres of rugged canyons and rivers near the Idaho border.

“Permanent safeguards will protect the Owyhee Canyonlands against the growing threats of development, extraction, and other detrimental activities and, most importantly, will pay endless dividends for generations to come,” Kotek said in a letter to Biden .

It’s not the first time conservation groups have made the monument pitch to an outgoing Democratic president. In 2016 and early 2017, groups pressured then-President Barack Obama to establish the moment. Some reporting at the time indicated he was close to doing so, but ultimately didn’t due to opposition from Malheur County residents .

In the time since, Oregon’s Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have worked toward a legislative solution.

They authored a bill last year that would establish 1.1 million acres of wilderness in the landscape while also allowing flexibility for ranching in the region through the Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act . The bill passed the passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources but hasn't been taken up in the Senate.

Since then, numerous conservation groups have sought to pressure Wyden and Merkley to support a monument designation before Biden leaves office.

The Great Old Broads for Wilderness , for example, a grassroots movement of primarily older women who work to preserve wild lands for future generations, has been targeting Wyden’s town halls with billboards calling on the senator to support the monument.

“After years of expert study and consensus-building — and with threats to the landscape only increasing — the Owyhee cannot wait any longer,” the Great Old Broads said in a news release earlier this year.

Kotek now is the highest-profile supporter of that view.

She noted that Wyden and Merkley's legislation had a wide array of supporters, including local tribes, ranches, conservation groups and others. However, "in the event that Congress does not pass legislation this year, I ask that President Biden designate the Owyhee Canyonlands as a national monument under the Antiquities Act," she said.

In her letter, she cited support from the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation and the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe. She also cited polling , showing 73% supported presidential action for a monument, including 58% of voters in eastern Oregon.

“The Governor’s strong endorsement reaffirms what Tribal Nations and so many others have been saying: protecting the Owyhee Canyonlands is an issue that matters to Oregonians,” said Ryan Houston, executive director of the Oregon Natural Desert Association.

“The Owyhee faces real and growing threats, so there’s an urgency that Governor Kotek recognizes," Houston said. "We hope Senators Wyden and Merkley also recognize that urgency.”

Wyden's spokesman, Hank Stern, released a statement Tuesday reaffirming commitment to a legislative solution, as opposed to a monument.

"Senator Wyden has written a bill that reflects a locally based and constructive agreement that provides both protections and flexibilities to accomplish more for the Owyhee area and the people who call it home than a monument could," the statement said.

"Senator Wyden’s carefully crafted and balanced bill designates part of this natural treasure as protected wilderness, gives ranchers more grazing flexibility on rangelands and returns ancestral lands to the Burns Paiute Tribe."

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast . Urness is the author of “ Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon ” and “ Hiking Southern Oregon .” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek throws support behind Owyhee Canyonlands national monument