New Wilderness Designation Not Bad News for Oregon Cattle Producers

Last week, Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley introduced the Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act.  The legislation would designate more than one million acres of wilderness and protect more than 14 miles of the Owyhee River as wild and scenic.  Jerome Rosa, Executive Director of the Oregon Cattlemen Association says typically a new wilderness designation would make producers uneasy.  But he said with this legislation, Merkley and Wyden had the needs of cattle producers in mind.

"This legislation] will allow for grazing and it will allow for road access, for instance, and these are things that we want to absolutely make sure that in this new definition of what a wilderness designation will have in it, is something that will really stand up to the tests, no doubt, that will be coming down the line from conservation interests, and environmental groups.”

Rosa added several OCA member were instrumental in the drafting of this act through the Owyhee Basin Stewardship coalition.  The legislation will be a hot topic of discussion during the Oregon Cattle Convention Thursday through Saturday in Bend.

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