A bill that Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., introduced Nov. 1 would designate fewer Owyhee Canyonlands acres as wilderness compared to existing legislation.

Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., in late 2019 first introduced legislation that included buy-in from environmental groups as well as Malheur County ranchers and local leaders who sought to avoid a national monument designation. Merkley is co-sponsor of Wyden’s latest proposal, SB 1890, which was introduced in 2023.

Bentz’s bill, HR 10082, would “provide for the establishment of a grazing management program on federal land in Malheur County, Ore., and for other purposes,” according to the text. It would protect 926,588 acres as wilderness compared to 1.1 million in Wyden’s bill.

The new bill “is the result of hundreds of hours of negotiation and collaboration by those who live, work and recreate in Malheur County, the Burns Paiute Tribe and many environmental organizations,” Bentz said in a news release. It is based on Wyden’s bill and “contains those elements needed to protect the land, plants, animals and communities that rely upon that land.”

Bentz said he looks forward to “successfully passing this bill out of the House within the next few weeks.”

Wyden and Bentz have been working together to pass Owyhee legislation before the end of the year, and an upcoming House subcommittee hearing “takes a significant step forward toward achieving that goal,” Wyden said in Bentz’s release.

Wyden does not support the House bill in its current form, “but very much appreciates Congressman Bentz coming to the table with such a robust effort that can lead to legislation that passes both the Senate and House,” Wyden spokesman Hank Stern told Capital Press. The House subcommittee hearing “begins the path to an end-of-the year public lands package that we’re looking to enact.”

“To get a final bill, which is what our goal is, we had to have a version of a bill in the House,” said Mark Dunn of the Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition, which includes ranchers.

The coalition is “supportive of both versions, knowing there is going to be compromise bill in the end,” Dunn said. “We’ve been working for years trying to get a bill passed, so we are excited about the possibility of actually getting something passed.”

Wilderness protection is largely unneeded, said Bob Skinner, a fifth-generation rancher near Jordan Valley, Ore. Some places proposed for protection are “impossible for cattle to get into,” he said.

While pressure from Owyhee River floaters is way up due to southwest Idaho population gains, “I don’t think those people are hurting much” if they act responsibly, he said. Floating would still be allowed.

More concerning than Bentz’s lower wilderness acreage is “what will happen with all the other land that is not designated as wilderness,” Oregon Natural Desert Association executive director Ryan Houston said. Malheur County has about 4.5 million acres of federal land, and a big issue is “what he does with the other 3.5 million.”

The bill undermines the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s ability to manage the landscape, eliminates the focus on ecological health as a guiding principle for land management and elevates the role of industry in decisions, Houston said.

Protect the Owyhee issued a statement against Bentz’s bill, saying it would eliminate existing safeguards on 1.6 million acres of public land and prevent future conservation actions on millions of acres in the county. The group in September 2023 advocated a national monument with elements of Wyden’s bill.

Threats include solar development, power transmission and lithium mining, Friends of the Owyhee executive director Tim Davis said.

Among community members, “a lot are a little hesitant for protections but are starting to understand the need for them,” he said.