There’s more waiting to see if the stunning Owyhee Canyonlands in Eastern Oregon will ever be granted federal protection.

On Dec. 20, in a voice vote, the U.S. Senate passed Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden’s Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act, as OPB reported.

We would like to be optimistic about the bill passing the Senate. Wyden is. He said it “tees up” passage through the House of Representatives next year.

Well, that doesn’t seem likely. At least, in its current form.

The key legislator on the House side is Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario. He opposes Wyden’s bill. He has come up with his own alternative with less protection. Some conservation groups are decidedly less than happy with the Bentz version.

President Biden did not seem to make protection for the Owyhee a priority. Should we expect President Trump to be much different when it comes to putting new restrictions on federal lands?

Bentz and Wyden did issue a joint statement, which says in part: “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. So we want Oregonians to hear us loud and clear: We will continue in 2025 to push for legislation that accomplishes those objectives until they are the law of the land.”

That’s the bipartisan approach that will be needed if more protection for the Owyhee has any chance of happening in the next four years.