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The Battle for The Badlands
Feb. 16, 2000
By Kyla Merwin
the Source Weekly
Stretching 34,000 acres through the desert, 10 miles southeast of
Bend, are The Badlands ¬one of the most fascinating and rare geological
sites in Eastern Oregon. Entering through the dry and prickly
vegetation, which is a signature of the high desert, into a soft-muted
and wild arena, the land begins to reveal secrets. Canyons are carved
in stony seclusion. Rock cauldrons, stirred from water and stones, hold
precious desert water and a rare perspective on time. It’s a hard
scrabble land with the surprise of soft airy sand, green mossy rocks,
and grandfather junipers standing through the centuries.
This area is very important to hikers, bikers, ranchers, horseback
riders, and off-road vehicle enthusiasts. And there’s a fight on over
it.
The Stakeholders
There are many players in this game of
use and ownership. The land belongs to the public, managed by the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is charged with the task of
managing its recreational use, resource value (grazing) and natural
characteristics. Off-road vehicle users want access to its trails, for
weekend recreation and the freedom wrought in speed and wide open
spaces. Federal permits are held by local ranchers which allow them
rights to graze their cattle on it.
The Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) is a non-profit
environmental organization waging a holy war to get cattle grazing off
of it. Finally there are several adjacent land owners who want to see
off-road vehicles restricted or banned from it. This conflict has
spawned an unusual alliance between two factions typically on opposite
sides of the ‘public lands’ fence. The Oregon Natural Desert
Association is working with local rancher Ray Clarno, who is passionate
about the restriction of motorized vehicles in the Badlands.
Clarno has gathered signatures of neighboring landowners about the
nuisance and destruction caused by OHV use and is strategizing with
ONDA on the matter. ONDA sees the elimination of OHV’s as a strong step
in preserving the Badlands as wilderness, in additional to removing
cows from the area. Toward that end, ONDA is seeking the permanent,
voluntary retirement of grazing permits in the Badlands.
Currently, if a rancher wants to retire his or her public lands
grazing permit, the BLM will re¬issue that permit to another rancher.
The Oregon Natural Desert Association is working with Senator Wyden on
legislation which will require the BLM to honor a rancher’s request to
either sell or donate their permit to a land conservancy, or retire it
into the government’s hands.
Clarno has created a unique situation, which ONDA is very excited
about, because as one of the permittees in The Badlands, he wants to be
able to retire his grazing permits. Said Clarno, “With fair and
adequate compensation I would move my cattle out of the area.” However,
Clarno says that the federal government or a land conservancy would
have to compensate a permit holder in order for them to remove their
cattle. “I would need to buy enough water to irrigate tillable land in
order to maintain the same number of cattle elsewhere.”
There’s some back scratching going on. The Oregon Natural Desert
Association wants the cattle off. The landowners want the vehicles out.
Clarno is willing to retire his grazing permits in The Badlands in
return for ONDA’s help in getting legislation passed that would
designate The Badlands as a Wilderness Area and thereby eliminate the
presence of any motorized vehicles.
The Land:
Larry Chitwood, Geologist for the United States
Forest Service, has done extensive research on the volcanic rock
formations in The Badlands. While the Forest Service has no direct role
in managing The Badlands, Chitwood is an expert on the geology of the
area. “I became very interested in and excited about the particular
type of lava in The Badlands,” said Chitwood. “It’s what I call
inflated lava.” There was virtually nothing written about this type of
lava when Chitwood began his research. “When fluid lava flows over
gentle instead of steep landscapes, unique features develop. Badlands
have extraordinary examples of land formation, particularly Badlands
Rock and The Castle.”
During the Ice Age, in the Pleistocene era, a prehistoric river cut
a canyon 300 feet deep into The Badlands, now known as Dry River
Canyon. “This created wonderful features related to the old river
channel,” said Chitwood. “Water-worn rocks, little canyons, and
pictographs – Indian paintings… add to the sensitivity of the area and
its unique qualities.” Chitwood supports the notion of eliminating
motorized vehicle use in The Badlands. “You bet it’s a good thing,”
stated Chitwood. “The Badlands is a Wilderness Study Area under the
BLM. That’s very important.”
For Chitwood, The Badlands are no place for ATV’s. “One thing is
clear. In the case of The Badlands, the existing roads are still open
and you can still drive through there. But you’re not supposed to be
off the road. This helps maintain as much of its wilderness
characteristics as possible. It’s a very fragile environment.” Two main
geological features make up The Badlands, according to Chitwood. “It’s
a shield volcano,” explained Chitwood, “made up of basaltic lava flows.
On top of the lava flows the soil is made up of wind blown ash. Half
of that is Mazama ash. When Mt. Mazama erupted 7600 years ago at Crater
Lake, it left about a foot of ash all over The Badlands. These soils
are very sandy – like beach sand – similar particle sizes, which are
easily displaced. Anything growing is going to be damaged, uprooted by
[recreational] use. Even by simply stepping on it. There is no clay or
fine grain soils to help bind things together. Everything is so easily
moved.”
Alice Elshoff, who used to teach school in Alfalfa and Bend, is a
long-time desert activist and is on the Board of Directors for the
Oregon Natural Desert Association. Says Elshoff, “It’s a jewel of an
area, with year-round hiking. One always sees the tracks of numerous
different animals.” Elshoff cited elk, deer, prong horn antelope and
coyotes as well as kangaroo rats,
deer mice and ground squirrels as the mammals common to The Badlands. “It’s also a great place for solitude,” added Elshoff.
The Damage
The Badlands were designated a Wilderness
Study Area in the late 1970’s by the Federal government. Still, illegal
use of these lands continues by off-road vehicle users. In a February
2000 letter to the Deschutes County Commissioners 15 neighboring land
owners signed a letter stating that they were “… experiencing
destructive activities by individuals coming on and off The Badlands in
their vehicles, such as fence cutting and destroying gates.” Other
“common illegal activities” cited in the letter were cutting trees,
taking rock formations, dumping garbage/ furniture/ waste, campers
leaving trash, stripping stolen vehicles/leaving stripped vehicles
behind, cross country travel, bon fires and partying, trespassing onto
private property, livestock killed by arrows and bullets, and poaching.
Said Clarno, “These are individuals who want full reign to do
whatever they want, whenever they want.” Clarno says the BLM has had
difficulties controlling The Badlands and has been ineffective in
curtailing illegal activities due to a shortage of funds and regulatory
personnel. While the BLM has posted signs in the area, Clarno and other
landowners contend that the increase in population in Central Oregon
has resulted in continued illegal activities in The Badlands.
BLM Resource Area Manager Shaaron Netherton listed similar damage to
The Badlands in a letter dated May 11, 1999, and added concern about
“user-created roads that impact public resources such as soils,
riparian areas, wetlands and wildlife habitat. It is the BLM’s task she
wrote, “to manage such lands … in a manner not to impair the
suitability of such areas for preservation as Wilderness.”
Daniele McKay, Membership Coodinator for the Oregon Natural Desert
Association, says now is the time to address this issue. “Places like
this become really important in a growing urban area like central
Oregon. In five years it will be too late,” stated McKay. “There will
be too many forces lined up against keeping The Badlands natural and
wild. It’ll be another Shevlin Park. We don’t know what we have until
we lose it.”
Stu Garrett, President of the High Desert Chapter of the Native
Plant Society of Oregon, is intimately familiar with the Badlands and
understands its unique qualities and value. Said Garrett, “I know of no
better spot to see the Western Juniper at its finest. They are old and
craggy and struggling for survival in the lava. The oldest tree in
Oregon - which is over 1600 old - is located just the other side of the
road from The Badlands. There may very well be trees just as old or
older in The Badlands that we just haven’t discovered yet.” Elshoff
states, “The Badlands are way too precious to be trashed. Now is the
only time we have to save it.”
Recreational Users
Pam Falcioni, Past President of the
Central Oregon Motorcycle and ATV Club, says that The Badlands are an
inappropriate choice to be a designated wilderness area. “The Badlands
are an unusual area to be construed as wilderness because of the
historic motorized and non motorized use in that area,” said Falcioni.
“It would be real counter intuitive, according to what most users and
environmentalists would think of as a wilderness area. Some areas are
pristine and shouldn’t have use at all. But The Badlands have been used
historically for OHV (off highway vehicle) use since 1950.”
Garrett, of the Native Plant Society, says he couldn’t disagree more
about the suitability of The Badlands as wilderness. “One of the main
requirements of a wilderness designation is sense of solitude and
wilderness values,” said Garrett. “It is easy to get a strong sense of
solitude there, away from the sights and sounds of civilization. There
are no permanent marks of the impact of man. Things are the way they
were 1000 years ago. The southern most part lies on the top of an
ancient volcano. It’s young, rocky ground, not good for agriculture or
grazing – but perfect for wilderness.”
Falcioni blames the BLM and its mis-management of The Badlands as
the source of the problem. “There’s not a lot of trails out in The
Badlands,” stated Falcioni. “Unfortunately the BLM doesn’t manage their
land as well as the Forest Service in come cases. Conflicts with users
– mountain bikers, hikers, OHV-users, horseback riders - have occurred
on BLM land since the 70’s.”
Falcioni stated that if there was a well maintained trail system in
The Badlands, there would be little or no problems. “It’s always the
same 5% arguing against OHV use in any area,” said Falcioni. “Most of
the time when you have a trail system that’s actually been designated
and is kept up, the trails are guided away from any property owners. In
those cases we have no problems with property owners.
East Fort Rock, for example. Any of those property owners will tell
you that there’s no problem because trails are routed away from their
property.” Falcioni insists that dirt bike and OHV users are not
causing damage to The Badlands. “If you study OHV users you’ll find
that typically they are upper middle class, middle aged families. They
go out for the weekend. They don’t create destruction. That type of
mis-use is caused by a younger faction. It’s not recreational use.
ATV’s and motorcycles are expensive pieces of equipment. Punks don’t
have the resources to acquire them.” Falcioni adamantly defends the
right of OHV users to access The Badlands. “Most people who don’t ride
OHV’s don’t understand – maybe because of what they see on TV. I, for
example, have asthma and allergies. Many people are retirees who go out
on weekends and it’s their way of exploring, of communing with nature.
They wouldn’t be able to do it otherwise. It’s their only way of
getting into certain places in order to enjoy wild areas.”
Greg Currie, Recreation Planner for the Prineville District BLM,
says that building more trails for OHV’s in the Badlands is not going
to happen. “It something that we’re doing,” said Currie, “although not
specifically at The Badlands. Because The Badlands are a Wilderness
Study Area, we are not going in that direction.” Most of the BLM’s
efforts in building and maintain trails have been in Millican Valley.
“There was more demand for OHV trails in that area and less so in The
Badlands,” said Currie. “We are working on putting managed and
maintained trails for OHV use in certain areas. Though we are way
behind the curve on it in terms of demand.”
The Resolution
McKay says it is a matter of fairness. The
Badlands are only 34,000 acres of land. Off-road vehicle users have
access to a half a million acres of land adjacent to The Badlands. The
Millican Valley Off Highway Vehicle Plan is just over the hill, east of
The Badlands, and stretches south to the Fort Rock District of the
Deschutes National Forest. These combined areas are wide open to OHV
use. “The Badlands are just a fraction of what [OHV users] have
available to them,” stated McKay. For Falcioni, the resolution lays
with the BLM. “Marked, maintained trail systems preserve everything,”
she states. “It allows for a great experience for users and property
owners and keeps the area in wonderful shape.”
Senator Wyden, in an August 3, 1999 letter to President Clinton,
addressed the deep commitment of Oregonians to protecting our special
natural areas, and requested Clinton’s assistance “to secure additional
protection of some extraordinary lands.” Wyden detailed the attributes
of Steens Mountain, Soda Mountain, Rough and Ready Creek, Bull Run and
The Badlands. “Conservationists view The Badlands as a unique
opportunity to restore a native high desert ecosystem in a quickly
urbanizing area where the demand for wilderness, recreation and open
space is increasing,” wrote Wyden. “Local ranchers and conservationists
are working together toward wilderness because they see it as the best
use of these lands.”
Wyden’s letter calls for “an open, inclusive process that insures
full public debate; opportunities to build consensus; and a sensitivity
to Oregon’s special rural traditions and economic needs.” Wyden
believes the process will discover a wellspring of public support for
the protection of these unique areas, and asked the full support of the
Clinton administration.
A recent poll conducted by the National BLM Wilderness Campaign
showed that 65% of those polled favored designating more wilderness on
public lands in Oregon as a way to protect open space and ease the
impact of urban sprawl. 24% of those polled opposed the idea. Cathy
Harris, Chief of Public Affairs for the BLM of Oregon & Washington,
said, “We see ourselves as champions for these areas. Our goals are to
preserve them and to work with partners and members of the local
community so everyone can benefit from them.”
The proximity of The Badlands to urban areas makes them a very
special place, according to Harris, but also makes them vulnerable to
high impact. “It has been a challenge for the BLM to maintain all the
wilderness aspects which make this area so special,” said Harris. “The
Badlands’ unique characteristic of being near an urban population area
makes it the very type of land the BLM wants to be responsive to for
the public.”