HomeMy WebLinkAboutWilderness Designation Info Date: October 25, 2011
To: Board of County Commissioners
From: Erik Kropp, Interim County Administrator
Re: Wilderness Area Designation
The Board has been asked to take a position on the proposed designation of the Whychus
Wilderness Area. Commissioners have asked to have a broader discussion about wilderness
designation areas. This item is scheduled for your October 31, 2011 work session.
MEMORANDUM
FROM: Terri Hansen Payne, Senior Planner
MEMO DATE: July 29, 2011
SUBJECT: Wilderness Designations
BACKGROUND
Harney County Judge Steve Grasty has initiated a phone conference to discuss a news release
from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) inviting local governments to contact the BLM
regarding potential wilderness areas. Judge Grasty is interested in knowing which counties are
going to respond to this request and wants to discuss a strategic approach. He does not intend
this discussion to be a debate on the concept of wilderness. This memo provides some limited
background on wilderness and the areas under discussion in or adjacent to Deschutes County.
Wilderness areas are those where man and his works do not dominate, rather man is a
temporary visitor. Previous to the passage of the federal Wilderness Act in 1964, the lands
managed by the Forest Service were required to balance recreation, timber, grazing, watershed
and wildlife needs. The Wilderness Act allowed the preservation of identified untrammeled
federal lands as wilderness areas in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Originally
national forest areas with specific existing classifications were designated wilderness and a few
federal agencies were required to review other potential areas under their jurisdiction for
possible designation. In 1976 the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) required
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which had not been listed in the original legislation, to
inventory roadless areas for possible wilderness designation.
WILDERNESS AREAS
Wilderness areas are designated exclusively through an act of Congress and must be at
minimum 5,000 acres. They are managed by the federal agency controlling the lands when
designated (e.g. Forest Service or National Park Service).
Uses not permitted in wilderness areas:
Commercial enterprises
Permanent roads
Temporary roads or mechanical transport (except as required to administer the lands)
Structures or installations
Uses permitted in wilderness areas:
Public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation and
historical use
Non-motorized recreation, including hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, horseback riding
Some already established prohibited uses, with restrictions
Uses required to administer the land or for health and safety (e.g. fire or insect control)
Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan Update
2
Other specified uses, some site specific, have been added over time
State or private landholdings surrounded by wilderness
Are granted access rights
Can be traded for federal lands elsewhere in the state
Can be purchased if the owner concurs and Congress authorizes and funds the
purchase
CENTRAL OREGON WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS
BLM Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) are those lands identified by the Bureau of Land
Management as potential wilderness areas. They are generally managed to preserve
wilderness characteristics, but are not regulated as wilderness areas. The BLM is soliciting local
government input to determine which, if any, WSAs have broad local support to become
wilderness areas. WSAs with strong local support will be added to a bill the Interior Department
will propose to Congress this fall.
There appear to be three WSAs in or just outside Deschutes County. There is some interest in
adding these sites to a wilderness bill. The non-profit organization Oregon Natural Desert
Association (ONDA) has taken a leadership role in promoting one of these areas as wilderness.
Deschutes Canyon/Steelhead Falls WSA: This area is located at the border of
Deschutes and Jefferson Counties near the Crooked River Ranch. By itself, the WSA is
3,192 acres, less than the required 5,000 acres. ONDA has created a proposal to
combine this WSA with adjoining National Forest lands for a 15,234 acre wilderness
centered on the convergence of Lower Whychus Creek and the Deschutes River. ONDA
has been meeting with local landowners since 2009 to discuss this proposal and has a
community meeting set up at the Terrebonne Grange Hall on August 2 from 7-9
p.m. An editorial in the Bulletin in December, 2010 expressed some concern regarding
the proximity of the proposed wilderness to the Crooked River Ranch community and
subsequently published a guest column and a few letters to the editor in support of the
proposal.
Hampton Butte WSA/Cougar Wells WSA – two separate WSAs in Deschutes and Crook
Counties totaling 29,035 acres. ONDA recommends combining the two separate WSAs
into one protected area. There has been one letter in the Bulletin supporting this idea.
GENERAL EXPRESSIONS OF SUPPORT OR CONCERN
Support:
Preserves special lands intact for future generations
Promotes economic development through increased tourism
Provides for quiet recreation and solitude
Potentially better land management leading to a healthier ecosystem
Concerns:
Harder to access, so may limit use to the young and healthy
Limits economic development through prohibiting grazing, mining or timber cutting
Prohibits off-roading
Potentially greater fire danger because of no timber harvest
STATEWIDE WILDERNESS PROPOSALS GETTING LOCAL PRESS
Crater Lake
Various areas around the John Day