Owyhee Canyonlands Changes

[larrie]

There are currently two changes being proposed in congress for the Owyhee Canyonlands. The first changes the Wilderness Study Areas. Some of the areas will removed from the WSA designation (orange slashed on the map) and others changed to wilderness (brown on the map). More info can be found at Wild Owyhee.

The second creates the Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument. From what I have been told by the Oregon Natural Desert Association the monument boundaries will be approximately the same as the new wilderness designated areas (brown on the map). More info can be found at ONDA.

[vandiesel]

That would really be disappointing if it all gets locked up.

[lchukar]

Originally Posted by vandiesel

That would really be disappointing if it all gets locked up.

I understand your concern, but not to worry. For those who just want to drive around in their SMB there will be no noticeable change. Virtually all the roads now open to travel will remain open. If you want to drive horribly rough two track roads and get mired in the Owyhee gumbo mud out where there is no cell signal there will still be vast areas to do so. Areas now closed to motorized traffic might become official wilderness areas, but no one was supposed to be driving in them anyway. 99% of recreational visitors will never know anything happened other than some new signs will go up.

[shenrie]

^^^ glad to hear.

We don’t play in these areas much during the summer months, but we definitely spend time in those areas pre and post “camping seasons”.

The amount of damage done in the succor creek area alone is getting pretty bad. Morons think they are going to find things to burn for camp fires out there (it’s a desert duh, you need to bring firewood). There is nothing legal to burn out there whatsoever. Unfortunately people don’t care since there is no one regulating so they cut/tear down the very few living trees available.

As many years as we’ve been active in the area I’ve never seen any authority figure of any kind, not even fish & game. It’s only a matter of time before they realize the amount of damage that’s happening and shut down camping outside of the actual campground like they did down in Leslie gulch. Sad to say it’s gotta be primarily Idahoans doing the damage too. If it’s an area you want to camp in, do it sooner than later. It really is a neat area along the creek corridor.

[arctictraveller]

I’m always suspicious when land managers start changing designations around, create new wilderness areas, closing historic trails, eliminate disbursed camping etc. so many places are having huge amounts of public land closed to all but horses and hikers, that it’s hard to keep informed. It can also be difficult to truly understand the real ramifications of land use legislation, so I’m a lifetime member of CORVA (California off road vehicle association) and the Blue ribbon coalition. These organizations have full time professionals on staff that monitor new legislation, lobby for the off road community, and challenge closures in court. They can do a far better job than I ever could and keep me informed about pending public land closures. I’ll look into their take on this situation.

[arctictraveller]

This looks like another huge land grab I would encourage folks to check out the link below.

https://www.sharetrails.org/?s=Owyhee+

“Senator Wyden of Oregon has proposed a bill, S. 1890, which will designate 1,134,292 acres as Wilderness completely restricted from motorized and mechanized use in the south eastern corner of Oregon and into Idaho. That is larger than the entire state of Rhode Island...”

[Orv]

Everything is bigger than Rhode Island.

[doublevan2]

Orv -- got any constructive comments on issues affecting anyone wanting to head that way with their SMB ? I've never been out to Owyhee Canyonlands or southeastern oregon and Idaho ? I'd like to see some of these land restrictions short circuited somehow. How about you ?

[Orv]

Earlier comments in this thread suggested the land restrictions won't affect any roads that SMBs are likely to drive on. Do you have information to the contrary, or are you just opposed to wilderness preservation on general principle?

[vandiesel]

Originally Posted by Orv

Earlier comments in this thread suggested the land restrictions won't affect any roads that SMBs are likely to drive on. Do you have information to the contrary, or are you just opposed to wilderness preservation on general principle?

I've been all over SE Oregon and seen first hand the closures happen when the designations start coming like "study area". The issue isn't necessarily that the van can still go but it's motorcycles that suffer. I ride and have a van and like to use the van as a base camp. SE Oregon represents one of the greatest backcountry riding experiences on earth. The prevailing thought by non riders is that riders just rip all over and ruin the landscape. The reality in SE Or is very different and leaving roads and trails on a bike leads to remote injuries quickly. The broad brush comes and takes away all uses with a motor instead of a managed approach. Idaho has a really different approach and still holds the old maxim "land of many uses". These designations have jaded me and so many others so that all I ever read in NO MORE. I'm resigned to being grossly outnumbered and in the minority thinking riding motorcycles or any motorized thing in the backcountry is OK. I guess it's complex and there is just too many people.