Local Control and Perspective Needed

In early March Oregon’s Malheur County had a special advisory vote in which they asked county residents what they thought of the possible national monument designation of the Owyhee Canyonlands — all 2.5 million acres of the proposal. Resoundingly the county’s citizens rejected the idea of a national monument. Elias Eiguren, a Jordan Valley Rancher and treasurer of the Owhyee Basin Stewardship Coalition shares more details
Eiguren: “The survey was requesting the voters of Malheur County opinion on whether or not they thought there should be any type of further designation on public lands of Malheur County. With 54 percent turn out, 90 percent of Malheur County voters voted against any further monument designation, wilderness, or other federal designation on these public lands.”
Eiguren shares additional results from an Oregonwide survey
Eiguren: “A poll done by the public affairs organization who has been hired to help us oppose this monument designation said 80 percent of Oregonians think that there should be local voice involved in what happens on local lands. The president shouldn’t be able to act unilaterally on this and with a single stroke of a pen be able to designate this as a national monument with only the special interest groups involved in it.”
Regardless of where you live, if you too agree that it local people should have a say when what happens in their area, sign the petition at www.ourlandourvoice.com.