Owyhee Bill Passes U.S. Senate
On Dec. 20, the U.S. Senate passed U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s bill to preserve over 1 million acres of wilderness in the Owyhee Canyon Lands in Eastern Oregon. The bill, which passed with unanimous consent, will also introduce more flexibility into the area’s established grazing management system.
“The holiday celebrations can start a few days early with tonight’s historic and huge victory for the Eastern Oregon ranchers, Tribal leaders, conservationists and recreation lovers who worked with me to design this landmark legislation for one of America’s most spectacular landscapes,” Wyden wrote in a press release.
On Dec. 19, prior to the passage of the bill, Wyden and U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz weighed in on their work with a joint statement. “You cannot get an acre of wilderness, an ounce of Tribal protection, or any meaningful grazing reforms for ranchers in the Owyhee without black-letter law passed by Congress.”
—Julianna LaFollette
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$80 per ounce
The price of Oregon’s cheapest-in-the-nation cannabis, from the Smoke Signals column, “Cannabis News for the New Year”
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—Cris Jacobs at Sisters Folk Festival’s Americana Song Academy, from the Sound story, “Who’s Teaching Who?”
This article appears in The Source Weekly January 2, 2025.
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