Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek penned a letter to President Joe Biden and Oregon Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to endorse protecting the Owyhee Canyonlands in the state.
Kotek expressed her support of Senate bill S. 1890, the Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act, which would designate more than 1.1 million acres of public lands in the Canyonlands as a new wilderness area.
If the legislation does not pass Congress this year, Kotek requested Biden designate the canyonlands as a national monument under the Antiquities Act.
“By securing this designation, you will collectively send a powerful message that people from different perspectives and ideological persuasions can still come together to accomplish great feats,” she wrote.
