Argus Observer: House OKs prohibiting monument
July 15, 2016
ONTARIO — U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, has joined other lawmakers in adding a section to the Interior Department’s budget to prevent a national monument declaration in Malheur County.
This was a part of the appropriations bill for the Interior Department, for fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, 2017. The bill also includes full funding of payments in lieu of taxes on nontaxable federal land, money that makes up a considerable portion of Malheur County’s budget.
The bill was passed in the U.S. House Thursday by a vote of 231-196. An effort by House Democrats to remove the national monument provision was defeated by a vote of 202 to 225, according to a new release from Walden spokesman Andrew Malcolm.
“Thank goodness he has done it,” said Andy Bentz, of Ontario, and a member of the Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition, which was formed to fight a monument designation.
Environmental groups are leading the call for an Owyhee Canyonlands national monument on 2.5 million acres in southern and central Malheur County. Locals have overwhelmingly opposed the proposal.
In addition to blocking a monument in Malheur County, Section 453 of the bill would prohibit establishing monuments in Jackson and Josephine counties in Oregon as well as in several counties in seven other states.
“The people of Malheur County have already spoken on this issue and they’ve come out adamantly opposed to a proposed unilateral national monument declaration on the Owyhee River Canyon,” Walden said in statement.
Malheur County voted on the issue of a canyonlands monument in March. Ninety percent of those who voted opposed a monument designation.
Given that Oregon’s two U.S. senators have not been responsive to the opposition in the county to the monument, Bentz said, this was one of the few avenues available to locals.
“These votes send a strong message to the President that the overwhelming majority of local residents and the People’s House oppose a monument. Eastern Oregon doesn’t need another top-down solution to overregulate another part of our economy and our way of life,” Walden said.
Other provisions of the bill include $480 million for payments in lieu of taxes, which provides money for county governments to offset losses in property taxes on federal land. When the PILT program is fully funded, Malheur County receives more than $2 million a year.
“I’m tickled to death,” Malheur County Commissioner Don Hodge said about the monument and PILT provisions in the bill.
He said he would like to see the payments in lieu of taxes program stabilized so full funding could be guaranteed for up to 10 years.
The bill also delays for at least one year further action on greater sage grouse and eliminates a proposed increase on grazing fees on federal land. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in September chose not to list greater sage grouse as an endangered species.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where it may face a filibuster by Senate Democrats. Obama has threatened a veto if the bill reaches his desk in its current form, according to a story by The Associated Press.