Oregon Republican Rep. Cliff Bentz lobbied strongly during a House hearing Tuesday in favor of legislation to preserve large swaths of pristine federal lands in his state, despite mixed reviews from some local advocates.
The Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands hearing also included testimony from a senior Forest Service official offering general support for legislation that would increase the use of cattle and sheep grazing to reduce overgrown vegetation that helps spread wildfires.
But debate on Bentz’s bill, H.R. 10082, featured a feisty exchange between the lawmaker and Ryan Houston, executive director of the Oregon Natural Desert Association, over the conservation group’s concerns with the bill. He argued that allowing vehicular use in certain areas would be anathema to the idea of a “wilderness” designation.
Bentz’s “Oregon Owyhee Wilderness and Community Protection Act” would designate 16 new wilderness parcels covering 926,588 acres in the Owyhee Canyonlands on the state’s southeast side. Congressionally designated wilderness areas are generally off-limits to human activities except hiking, canoeing, and some hunting and fishing.
