CALIFORNIA: DIE-OFFS FLUSTER BEEKEEPERS ON EVE OF ALMOND BLOSSOM
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016
Courtesy of Washington Dept.
of Fish and Wildlife
Mule deer would be among
the species to benefi t if the
state acquired a 5,000-acre
ranch shown here in Lincoln
County, according to the
Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
WDFW
scouts for
more land
to purchase
VOLUME 89, NUMBER 5
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
The takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge jump-started the
debate over how government manages rural land, but it didn’t end it.
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
and ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
T
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Turn to LAND, Page 12
$2.00
CHANGE MAY
BE HARDER
Potential purchases
include farm and
grazing fi elds
OLYMPIA — The Wash-
ington Department of Fish
and Wildlife, which owns
or manages 1 million acres,
has identified 10 more
tracts of land it may buy.
The properties total
nearly 10,000 acres and
range from a 5,542-acre
ranch in Lincoln County in
Eastern Washington to 13
acres of wetlands in Sno-
homish County in Western
Washington. Most of the
properties have been used
for livestock grazing or
crop production.
WDFW would set the
land aside for hunting, fish-
ing, recreation and wildlife
preservation. Some land
could be leased to ranch-
ers or farmers, said Cynthia
Wilkerson, WDFW land
conservation and resto-
ration section manager.
WDFW now leases
83,763 acres for grazing
and 22,181 acres for agri-
culture statewide.
WDFW estimates the 10
properties would collective-
ly cost $13.3 million, though
the department has not yet
had the lands independently
appraised or made offers to
landowners, she said.
WDFW will take public
comments until Feb. 12 on
whether to add the proper-
ties to the 11 properties the
department already plans to
purchase in 2017-19. The
bulk of the money would
come from a state appropri-
ation or federal grants.
The 10 properties WDFW
is seeking comment are:
• Lincoln County: 5,542
acres of mostly shrub-steppe
Page 4
The Associated Press photos
A sign at the entrance to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge spells out some of the frustration Westerners have with fed-
eral agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management. BELOW: An aerial view of the refuge headquarters compound.
Area in
detail
395
Or egon showdown
Site of planned
town hall meeting
Tuesday, Jan. 26
ORE.
7
19
26
26
John Day
WHEELER
Prairie
City
26
Canyon City
MALHEUR
NATIONAL
FOREST
GRANT
CROOK
20
MALHEUR
NATIONAL
FOREST
Seneca
41 miles of
U.S. Highway 395
closed Tuesday,
Jan. 26, during
apprehension of
Ammon Bundy
and six other
militants.
395
Burns Municipal
Airport; staging
area for law
enforcement assets
Burns
Hines
HARNEY
395
78
Malheur
Lake
Crane
Harney
Lake
78
Refuge headquarters;
site of occupation by
militant group
N
Turn to CHANGE, Page 12
20
205
Wagontire
BAKER
further polarizes the
federal land debate.
Experts say the
incident is likely to
reinforce opinions
on both sides.
he showdown be-
tween federal agents
and armed militants in
Southeast Oregon will
likely further polarize
the public over the management of
federal lands, experts say.
For some, the recent killing of
an armed protester and arrests of
several others will buttress the
view they were extremist militants
with unrealistic goals.
For others, the government’s
actions and its siege of remaining
protesters occupying the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge will con-
fi rm fears of persecution by feder-
al agencies.
Whether the standoff will ul-
timately lead to changes in the
federal government’s oversight of
the West’s vast public lands is also
subject to varying interpretations.
Char Miller, an environmental
analysis professor at Pomona Col-
lege, said that Ammon Bundy and
the other armed protesters miscal-
culated the public’s reaction to the
occupation.
MALHEUR
NATIONAL
WILDLIFE
REFUGE
Frenchglen
20 miles
205
Diamond
Approximate site of
Hammond Ranch
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Owyhee Canyonlands wilderness proposal unresolved
Local opposition strong against 2.5 million-acre monument
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
The occupation of the Mal-
heur National Wildlife Refuge
may have been broken, but a
divisive wilderness proposal
remains unresolved in South-
east Oregon.
The underlying issues are
familiar: Anger over federal
land management and govern-
ment “over-reach,” and frus-
tration over loss of economic
opportunity in the rural West.
The Bend-based environ-
mental group Oregon Natural
Desert Association, backed by
the Keen Footwear compa-
ny of Portland, has proposed
a 2.5 million acre Owyhee
Canyonlands
wilderness
and conservation area.
Ranchers and other Mal-
heur County residents are dead
set against it. “Not only no, but
hell no,” prominent rancher
Bob Skinner said.
The Obama administration,
which could establish the can-
yonlands area by presidential
proclamation, has given no
sign what it will do. Many
people speculate the adminis-
tration did not want to throw
gas on the fi re while the wild-
life refuge occupation was go-
ing on.
“We don’t know where it is
in the process, there’s nobody
who knows that,” Skinner said.
The proposed area is bigger
than either the Yellowstone,
Yosemite or Grand Canyon na-
tional parks, critics point out,
and would cover 40 percent
of Malheur County. Residents
believe designation would be
accompanied by restrictions
and regulations that would
prohibit or severely compli-
cate grazing, mining, hunting
and recreation.
While proponents say tradi-
tional uses of the land will be
allowed, a local group called
Citizens in Opposition to the
Owyhee Canyonlands Monu-
ment does not believe them.
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