Ag testifies against Owyee monument

One thing all parties could agree on at a May 23 hearing about the Owyhee Canyonlands is that it is spectacularly beautiful. But who’s to thank for that? “Today we’ve heard the words ‘iconic’ and ‘awesome’ to describe the Owyhee Canyonlands,” said Oregon Farm Bureau President Barry Bushue before the House Rural Communities Committee at the state capitol. “I say to you that this is exactly because of the people I’m here representing today, the ranchers, the farmers, the local communities, and the businesses that have worked 150 years to make this land what it is.” Bushue testified against a potential designation by President Obama to make the Owyhee Canyonlands a national monument. This designation would affect a 2.5 million-acre area in the Owyhee Canyonlands along the Oregon-Idaho-Nevada border, an area larger than the states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. It would cover about 40% of Malheur County’s total land base. Bushue beseeched the lawmakers to listen to the people who actually live and work near the canyonlands, the families whose lives would be directly impacted by a monument designation. At a ballot in March, an incredible 90% of voters in Malheur County opposed a national monument. A designation by the president without a vote by Congress would completely disregard these rural voices...more