HCN’s Owyhee Initiative coverage
(HCN, 12/8/03: Riding the middle path) shows that this paper is
firmly mired in the livestock-industry myths of the Old West, and
is unwilling to see beyond the boots, buckles and he-men, to
understand that we must change how we treat our public wild lands
and waters, if native ecosystems are to endure.
The Owyhee
sagebrush rebel disciples of Wayne Hage and Helen Chenoweth are
engaged in serious business here. They are getting conservationists
to agree to a deal that gives them special power, through a series
of legislatively established overlord boards and panels, of all 3.8
million acres of public lands in Owyhee County. The initiative will
also open a flow of new taxpayer subsidies to the county and its
cowmen, including the ag conglomerate of billionaire J.R. Simplot
that grazes livestock on 1 million acres of Owyhee County public
land.
The “wilderness” of the Owyhee Initiative focuses on
the most rugged and least threatened lands. At best, it will only
include one-third of the wilderness-worthy lands in the county (0.5
of 1.5 million acres), with 200,000 acres of WSAs released or
“shaved” (parts chopped off). All the other public lands, including
the released wilderness study areas (WSAs), will face accelerated
development — like bulldozing of pipelines, or vegetation
treatments to produce cow forage.
Sen. Crapo’s
collaborative process is a cover for writing legislative language
that hijacks public lands for the benefit of shrewd special
interests. It is time for conservationists, this newspaper, and
some large funders who pay for glossy mail-in postcards that say
“Hooray for Wilderness,” to look at the costs of the monsters they
are creating. The Owyhee Canyonlands, shared with Oregon and
Nevada, deserve far better.
Katie Fite
Boise,
Idaho
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Ranchers hijacking public lands.
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