The U.S. Senate’s passage of the Owyhee Canyonlands wilderness bill leaves advocates optimistic that protections can be enacted in 2025.

The Senate by unanimous consent Dec. 20 passed a bill introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Senate Bill 1890 would protect more than 1 million acres in eastern Oregon as wilderness and add flexibility to grazing management.

Ranchers, Malheur County business and community leaders, environmental groups and others provided input on the bill, viewed as a stakeholder-driven alternative to a national monument.

Lack of advancement in a divided Congress since the first version was introduced in late 2019 prompted calls for a monument designation that includes many elements of the bill.

Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., on Nov. 1 introduced House Resolution 10082, which also prioritizes grazing management flexibility but designates fewer acres as wilderness. No action has occurred following subcommittee hearings Nov. 19.

“We were excited and extremely pleased that the Senate unanimously passed the senator’s bill because it shows progress and bipartisan support for a legislative solution,” said Mark Dunn, who represents the Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition, which includes ranchers. “We anticipate it will head off a monument designation.”

SB 1890 was held at the House desk Dec. 24. The bill does not contain language that reflects ongoing negotiations between Wyden and Bentz, Dunn said.

New legislation would be needed in the new session of Congress, and “we hope that with the agreed-to language, the same bill will be introduced in the House and Senate and pass both bodies,” Dunn said. In that scenario, separate House and Senate bills would contain language with which Wyden and Bentz agree.

“I’m optimistic they will come to an agreement,” he said.

Also in the new Congress, Republicans retain a majority in the House and assume a majority in the Senate, where committee chairmanships change.

“One reason we’re so gratified that it passed is because the incoming chairman (of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee) had to allow that to happen,” Dunn said of Wyden’s bill.

“I’m just happy that things have been moving forward,” said Tim Davis, executive director of Friends of the Owyhee.

“I just hope the House version mirrors the Senate version,” he said. If that occurs, “we are at a really good spot for success at protection of the Owyhee Canyonlands.”

The canyonlands encompass parts of Oregon, Nevada and Idaho, where wilderness protections were enacted in 2009.

Increased visitation driven by population growth in southwest Idaho is among reasons cited in favor of wilderness designation in Oregon.

Opposing arguments include that the areas eyed for protection are difficult for cattle to access and already well cared for by most recreationists.

If President Biden declares a national monument, Wyden and Bentz “could pass legislation overturning it, with provisions they agree to,” Dunn said.

A monument designation likely would prompt Wyden to introduce a bill to put lands into a trust on behalf of the Burns Paiute Tribe, which the current bill does, Davis said.

Davis is pleased that Bentz and Wyden have been in conversation, and hopes that Bentz’s bill “matches what was negotiated with everyone at the table working with Wyden,” he said.

“Right now, things are looking positive going into 2025,” he said.

Wyden looks forward to “keeping up the bipartisan support” and working with Bentz to “get these significant wilderness protections and meaningful grazing reforms for ranchers in the Owyhee into black-letter law,” Wyden said in a release.