Maine monument’s creation concerns Malheur County ranchers

The president’s recent creation of a national monument in Maine, despite local opposition, has Malheur County residents concerned. Ranchers and other Malheur County residents formed the Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition this year to fight a proposed 2.5-million acre national monument in an area of the county known as the Owyhee Canyonlands. Malheur County residents voted 9-1 earlier this year in opposition to the proposal, which is being pushed by the Oregon Natural Desert Association, an environmental group in Bend, and Portland’s Keen Footwear. Monument opponents believe supporters will ask President Barack Obama to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to create the Malheur County monument. On Aug 24, Obama declared 87,500 acres of land in northeast Maine as the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Residents who live near that site also opposed that plan, as did the state’s governor, legislature and congressional delegation, according to the Washington Post. “It does heighten the concern he’s going to do it,” Jordan Valley rancher Mark Mackenzie said about the Maine declaration...more