The word "unique" is the most overworked adjective in the advertising copywriter's lexicon, but in the case of Bend's Badlands area, it's justified.
The rugged 30,000-acre expanse just 20 miles northeast of town holds a combination of geological features, archaeological sites, wildlife and vegetation - including rare wildflowers and junipers that were growing before Columbus landed - that would be almost impossible to find anywhere else.
For more than a decade, the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) and other conservation groups have been trying to get the Badlands protected as wilderness by the federal government, but their efforts have been stymied in Congress. On Tuesday, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden announced that he's going to take another shot at it.
At a press conference sponsored by ONDA, Wyden said his wilderness bill will include the portion of the Badlands designated by the Bureau of Land Management as a Wilderness Study Area (WSA) plus several hundred additional acres. Creating the Oregon Badlands Wilderness, Wyden said, "will tell the world that Central Oregon is a place with an unbelievable menu of recreation, where you can ski in the morning on one side of town and enjoy the solitude of high desert wilderness in the afternoon on the other."
