In 2000, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acquired 44,000 acres of land along the North Fork John Day River upstream of Monument.  Through a land exchange, this area was placed in public ownership in order to protect fish and wildlife, and for recreation.  It is adjacent to a large expanse of roadless forest service land.  Together, these lands comprise a vast and diverse landscape that ranges from sagebrush steppe to rich forests of ponderosa pine.  The North Fork John Day River provides one of the last remaining strongholds of spawning habitat for threatened summer steelhead.

Throughout 2007, the BLM will revise the land management plan for the entire John Day Basin, with special emphasis on the North Fork John Day lands.  Throughout this planning process, the BLM will accept public comments on how to manage these special lands.  ONDA is participating in the ongoing public comment period, and we encourage members of the public to comment as well.  ONDA has asked the BLM to protect important habitat for threatened steelhead and bull trout, as well as other sensitive species, by not allowing grazing in the area and limiting motorized travel.  We would also like to see the BLM protect wilderness characteristics found throughout these lands, as well as consider the  potential for Wild and Scenic River designation for the section of the North Fork John Day that flows through this area.

 For more information about the John Day Basin Resource Management Plan, or to submit comments to the BLM, please visit:

http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/johnday.htm