Argus Observer
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz introduces bill but U.S. Sen. Merkley says ‘We need to be prepared to go on to full national monument mode’
ONTARIO — U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D – Ore., is committed to protecting the Owyhee Canyonlands, possibly through the designation of a national monument. At the same time, Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore. opposes a monument and will introduce a bill today that is similar to that of Sen. Ron Wyden and Merkley’s Malheur CEO Act.
Bentz’ bill will be heard in the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands, at on Nov. 19, according to a news release from his office on Oct. 31.
The bill is based on Wyden’s legislation.
“It is a provisional bill, but it contains those elements needed to protect the land, plants, animals and communities that rely upon that land,” said Bentz in his news release. “I want to thank the Senator for his personal involvement and for his staff’s work, and I look forward to successfully passing this bill out of the House within the next few weeks.”
In a virtual town hall hosted by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters on Oct. 22, Merkley reiterated the reason they are pushing for protection.
“We have so many kinds of endangered wildlife that is key to the canyonlands and encroaching use is continuously creating more challenges,” he said.
The group that hosted the town hall is a conservation group with an associated political action committee. Every election, the organization endorses candidates running for office and ballot measures in Oregon. In 2024, the PAC endorsed all three Democratic candidates for statewide office.
“It is now hopeful that we have essentially these two tracks,” said Merkley, referring to the proposed Malheur CEO Act and possible national monument designation.
“One can help improve the odds of the other,” he said.
Ontario City Councilor Eddie Melendrez attended the town hall and asked about the path forward if the legislation does not pass.
Merkley responded, “We either need to win the legislative battle or we need to be prepared to go on to full national monument mode.”
“There are times that you come to a recognition that you are never going to get a credible partner in terms of the House of Representatives, and then you’ve got to pursue a different path….If [the legislative path] is not credible, then we’re going to have to move to the monument strategy.”
Earlier this year, Gov. Tina Kotek joined the push for a national monument.
Support to establish a national monument in Malheur County has been growing in popularity since March of 2016. That’s when an advisory question was put on the ballot by the Malheur County Court. An advisory question on the ballot is simply making a recommendation and does not create a law, it only measures public opinion. Advisory ballots cannot be placed on the ballot through an initiative and petition and can only be asked by legislative bodies.
In that special election 54% of Malheur County voters turned out, voting 9-1 against supporting a 2.5-million-acres monument in the Owyhee Canyonlands. According to a 2016 news release from then-County Clerk Deborah DeLong, the ratio against the measure was even higher in the precincts surrounding Lake Owyhee. Only 4% of voters in rural Nyssa (precinct 9) voted yes and only 2% of voters in rural Adrian (precinct 11) voted yes.
The support from statewide Democratic officials is starkly contrasted by most of Malheur County’s Republican elected officials: Bentz, State Sen. Lynn Findley, County Judge Dan Joyce, and Commissioners Ron Jacobs and Jim Mendiola have all voiced their opposition to the monument proposal.
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