Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act 2023-06-08 Introduced in Senate Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act

This bill authorizes a grazing management program, designates wilderness areas, and holds land in trust for the Burns Paiute Tribe in Malheur County, Oregon.

Specifically, the Department of the Interior may carry out a grazing management program on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in Malheur County to provide increased operational flexibility to grazing permittees and lessees to improve the long-term ecological health of the land. Interior must adopt cooperative rangeland monitoring plans and rangeland health objectives and monitor and evaluate the ecological health of the land.

The bill requires the Malheur C.E.O. Group to assist in carrying out this bill and establishes requirements for membership of the group. The group is directed to propose and support implementation of projects on BLM land, including ecological restoration, rangeland improvement, invasive species management, conservation of cultural sites, economic development, or recreation management.

The bill designates various wilderness areas, including the Mary Gautreaux Owyhee River Canyon Wilderness and the Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness.

The Department of Transportation (DOT), in coordination with Interior and the county, must work with the Oregon Tourism Commission (Travel Oregon) to establish certain loop roads. DOT must seek to arrange with the county to fund safety upgrades to the Owyhee Dam Road.

Further, the bill requires Interior to take land into trust on behalf of the Burns Paiute Tribe and establish a Castle Rock Co-Stewardship Area.

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