By Rick Attig
The Bulletin

The Bend City Commission Wednesday unanimously endorsed a proposal to have the Badlands east of the city designated a wilderness area.

The commission passed a resolution in support of the proposal following a 15-minute slide show by Alice Elshoff, a Bend woman who has led the effort to preserve the Badlands.

The Badlands, about 32,000 acres of desert, lava rocks and juniper trees 14 miles east of Bend, is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

The city commission has no role in designating the area as a wilderness area, but agreed to support the effort of Elshoff and other who are lobbying the BLM for the change.

Elshoff said the wilderness designation would protect the area from off-road vehicle use, overgrazing, illegal woodcutting and trash dumping.

In a colorful slide presentation, Elshoff showed the variety of animals, birds and plants that live in the Badlands, which is known for its lava outcroppings, wide-open vistas and ancient Indian rock paintings.
A second speaker at the commission meeting, Gail Root of Bend, said he opposed the wilderness designation because it would prohibit all motor vehicle use in the area.

Root said he agreed the Badlands is a very “beautiful and unusual”
place, but he said existing restriction are adequate.

He said prohibiting motor vehicles in the area would effectively close the rugged area to use by anyone other that “strong hikers,” and that elderly persons, children and less experienced hikers would not be able to see much of it.