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The Badlands doesn't give up its mystique easily. On a recent field trip to survey the proposed Wilderness area east of Bend, my guide and I hiked more than an hour over dusty trails, winding through an ancient, but not necessarily, awe-inspiring juniper forest before we reached our destination - a massive lava rock formation that erupts from the sandy desert floor in jagged arches and columns.
This is Flatiron rock, one of several major geologic sites within the Badlands and one of the reasons that the Bureau of Land Management designated the Badlands as a Wilderness Study Area in 1980.
It's here that it becomes clear why - despite the presence of old jeep trails, the occasional tree stump and other tell tale signs of human impact - supporters say that the Badlands is deserving of the federal government's highest level of environmental protection.
Geologists describe Flatirons as an inflated lava feature, a product of a fissure in a lava tube that pushed molten rock to the surface of the Badlands shield volcano 80,000 years ago. It's a clue to the area's violent geologic history and the forces that shaped the surrounding region, including Bend. Today, it's an attraction for hikers who start at the trailhead about 15 miles east of Bend on Hwy. 20, and one of the reasons that Congress is looking to make Badlands only the second wilderness area east of the Cascades in Oregon.

She has a nice house in a great location. He has an attractive bank account. They care about the same things, and they court the same friends. So the Central Oregon Environmental Center and Resource, two local environmental groups, are merging. Their union should, over the long term, strengthen Bend's go-to spot for green living (Resource) and clarify the Environmental Center's somewhat nebulous mission, according to those behind the merger.
 
On July 1, the Environmental Center officially absorbs reSource. Mike Riley, who has been running Resource, will become chief of the expanded Environmental Center. Shauna Quistorff will relinquish that title to become its publicity and fund raising chief. They say that together the two organizations will more effectively and efficiently serve what had previously been overlapping missions: generally speaking, to create and sustain a healthy local environment and encourage conservation.