The Owyhee Canyonlands, located in deep southeastern Oregon, have been under recent national attention for land protection. Dubbed “Oregon’s Grand Canyon,” the 2.5 million acre swath of mostly unprotected and undeveloped land sits in the balance of congressional and presidential attention. In Congress, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) introduced the Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee (Malheur CEO) Act, which would protect 1.1 million acres of federal land in the region.
The bill passed the Senate on Dec. 20, but failed in the House of Representatives, to the disappointment of many land protection activists, like Mark Salvo. “The legislative process can be lengthy, arduous, and contentious, although in the case of the Owyhee, there was and continues to be broad public support for protecting the region,” says Salvo. Salvo serves as program director for the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), who have been pressing for Owyhee land protection for over 30 years.
Gov. Kotek wrote to former President Biden on Nov. 22 asking him to invoke the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate 1 million acres of the canyonlands as a national monument, limiting ranching and development in the area. “The devastating consequences for the future of this iconic landscape are simply too great not to act now. Please proceed with a national monument designation,” she wrote. The Antiquities Act gives the president the ability to declare historic monuments, structures, and other objects owned by the federal government to be national monuments.
Kotek scrambled for the presidential designation which doesn’t require congressional support before Biden left office, due to President Trump’s first term policy trends of supporting the natural resource industry which land protection efforts hope to repel. Salvo reflected this sentiment, noting that “our greatest challenge to protecting the Owyhee in 2025 is disinterest in Congress and anticipated opposition from President Trump.”
The expansive rugged high desert offers an important home to a unique and threatened species. California Bighorn Sheep — the largest herd in the nation — roams the Owyhee, which provides an optimal habitat. For hunters in the Owyhee, the California Bighorn is highly sought out and a literal once in a lifetime experience, since a hunter can only get the license to hunt the animal once. The canyon’s unique landscape has additionally created a habitat for over 1,200 species of plants, 28 of which are found nowhere else in the world.
Not only being naturally important, the Owyhee has a huge cultural and economic significance to the Northern Paiute, Bannock, and Shoshone nations. The wildlife, fish, and landscape still support the nations’ traditions. Wyden’s most recent proposal includes putting 30,000 acres of federal and private land in the canyonlands into a trust overseen by the Burns Paiute Tribe. The landscape brings important tourism dollars into Malheur County as well, which benefits both indigenous communities and non-indigenous communities in the region alike.
As for the future of the Owyhee in 2025, Oregon’s congressional leadership says their plans to protect the Owyhee will continue in the new year. Sen. Wyden and Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Oregon) said in a joint statement that, “We want Oregonians to hear us loud and clear: We will continue in 2025 to push for legislation that accomplishes those objectives until they are the law of the land.”
