| Owyhee Initiative |
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Location: Owyhee County, Idaho Objective: To create a consensus plan for Congressional legislation that will protect the natural resources and landscape in the Owyhee region while providing economic stability by preserving livestock grazing. Participants: The Wilderness Society, Idaho Conservation League, Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, Owyhee County Commissioners, Owyhee Borderlands Trust, Owyhee Cattlemen's Association, Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association, Owyhee County Soil Conservation Districts, Shoshone-Paiute Tribe, Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, Owyhee Farm Bureau Idaho Rivers United, Backcountry Horsemen of Idaho, and Southern Idaho Desert Racing Association. (The Bureau of Land Management, Idaho Department of Lands, and the U.S. Air Force participated as ex officio members.) History: Owyhee County, with 70 percent of its 4.9 million acres managed by the federal government, has traditionally supported a rural, ranching-based economy. But because of the population boom in nearby Boise, one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the West, more people are seeking recreation opportunities in the county's remote labyrinth of basalt canyons, sage brush steppe, and grasslands. These people range from off-road vehicle users, to whitewater rafters, to hikers and backpackers seeking solitude. The region's vast ocean of sagebrush is home to wildlife including sage grouse and antelope, while the juniper-studded uplands support bighorn sheep, elk, and deer. Several rare plants that are candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act are also found in the Owyhee. Relationships between ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have been contentious during the past two decades, as the agency has cut livestock numbers on federal grazing allotments to protect riparian areas and meet Clean Water Act requirements. At the same time, anti-grazing groups have filed numerous lawsuits, forcing the BLM to further reduce grazing. In addition, the area encompasses several Wilderness Study Areas covering nearly 700,000 acres, where ranchers haven't been allowed to build fences or stock tanks that, they say, are necessary for keeping cattle out of stream bottoms and other sensitive areas. Conservation groups have attracted attention to protecting the Owyhee. As President Clinton left office in 2001, 2.7 million acres came close to being designated a national monument - a proposal that, while supported by many at the national level, raised the ire of Owyhee County's 11,000 residents. County officials, who wanted protection for the region to occur on their own terms, organized a collaborative effort between ranchers, environmentalists, motorized users, and outfitters in July 2001. This effort, known as the Owyhee Initiative, has a goal of drafting congressional legislation that protects the natural resources and landscape, while maintaining the viability of the county's ranching economy.
In August 2002 Owyhee Cattlemen's Association voted unanimously to support a minimum wilderness proposal plus anything additional agreed to by individual ranchers who hold permits in wilderness study areas. Last August, following a year of contentious discussion and criticism from groups on both sides of the debate, Association members again voted unanimously to support the Initiative. In October 2004, after extensive debate and public feedback, the group passed on their proposal to Senator Crapo. Crapo drafted the Work Group's final Owyhee Initiative Agreement into legislation, the Owyhee Initiative Implementation Act. He then introduced this bill before Congress on two separate occasions, most recently in August of 2006. If passed, the act would designate 517,000 acres of wilderness, 55,000 of which would not be grazed. The act would also close 200 miles of ORV trails and direct funding toward the strict enforcement of ORV use. There would also be increased protection of the Shoshone-Paiute cultural sites and resources. Additionally, all future Bureau of Land Management decisions would be subject to an unbiased, scientific review, and a Board of Directors, created by the agreement itself, would oversee and enforce the act. Challenges/constraints: Several stakeholders have been excluded from the table including the Western Watersheds Project, an Idaho-based group leading a West-wide campaign to end grazing on public lands, and Idaho's Committee for the High Desert, which has been outspoken about grazing practices in Owyhee County. More than 30 environmental groups from around the West joined the Committee and Western Watersheds Project in a letter of criticism directed to the environmental groups that support the initiative. Off-road recreationists, represented by the People for the Owyhees, refused to support any proposal that did not permanently release all wilderness study areas not currently proposed for wilderness designation from possible future wilderness designation.When the other groups drew the line just under 200,000 acres (of the existing 700,000 WSA acres), the People for the Owyhees relinquished their voting rights in the otherwise-unanimous 2004 vote, and voluntarily withdrew shortly thereafter. In April 2004, Owyhee Initiative participants released a joint proposal to preserve Wilderness in Idaho's Owyhee Canyonlands. The proposal included new Wilderness designations that total more than 500,000 acres, plus more than 300 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers. These areas include some of the West's most remarkable high desert ecosystems and the finest of the region's spectacular canyons. It was the cumulative result of over four years of hard work, and it proved that overcoming differences, even between interests as diametrically opposed as those of conservationists and ranchers, is possible. Although members and supporters of the Owyhee Initiative were optimistic that the collaborative agreement would quickly be passed into law following two separate introductions, the change in control in Congress added delays while committee staffers reviewed the proposal. Then in April 2008, Senator Mike Crapo introduced the Owyhee Public Land Management Act in Congress. While the bill has continued to evolve, the substantive protections for these pristine wildlands remain firmly in place. The diverse support for Wilderness shown in this process is unprecedented. The real possibility for lasting protections has Idahoans uniting and working collaboratively like never before.
For more information see: Controversial Idaho, Utah bills return to Senate |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 April 2008 ) | |||||
