H.R. 6777 — Oregon Owyhee Wilderness and Community Protection Act

This section defines terms used in the Act, including (1) Bureau (Bureau of Land Management); (2) County (Malheur County, Oregon); (3) Federal land (land in the County managed by the Bureau); (4) Secretary (Secretary of the Interior); (5) State (State of Oregon); (6) State lands (lands owned by the State); (7) Malheur C.E.O. Group (group established by section 3(b)); (8) Private lands (privately owned land not owned by local, State, or Federal government or agency); (9) Operational flexibility (seasonal livestock positioning adjustments or water source placements for grazing on Federal land with written notice); and (10) Program (Malheur County Grazing Management Program authorized under section 2(a)).

This section establishes the Malheur County Grazing Management Program on federal lands to provide operational flexibility to authorized grazing permittees and lessees. The program requires the Secretary of the Interior, at a permittee's or lessee's request during permit or lease renewal, to develop and analyze at least one alternative under the National Environmental Policy Act providing such flexibility; allows interim variances to existing permit or lease terms—upon adoption of a cooperative rangeland monitoring plan and permittee/lessee request—for changes in weather, forage, fire, drought, or other conditions, including (1) adjusting season-of-use dates by up to 14 days (not earlier than 14 days before the specified start or later than 14 days after the specified end) with 2 business days' written notice to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); (2) adjusting pasture rotation dates by up to 14 days with 2 business days' notice; and (3) adjusting placement of existing livestock or wildlife water structures (not within 100 yards of roads and subject to water rights laws) with 2 business days' notice, with variances effective immediately as final agency action without BLM rangeland standards conformance review (43 C.F.R. part 4100, subpart 4160) or NEPA analysis. Monitoring plans, based on Natural Resources Conservation Service ecological site descriptions, evaluate forage utilization, ecological conditions and trends, rangeland health standards progress, and livestock management objectives, and include utilization standards, protocols, schedules, third-party data provisions, adjustment criteria, and annual reporting to inform management changes. If a flexible alternative is the preferred option, the Secretary must incorporate it, along with monitoring plans, into permit or lease terms and conditions.

This section establishes the Malheur C.E.O. Group—consisting of 8 voting members appointed by the Secretary of the Interior (3 representatives of grazing permittees and lessees in Malheur County, 3 representatives of other county businesses or conservation organizations with at least 2 county residents, 1 representative of the Burns Paiute Tribe, and 1 representative of the Fort McDermott Tribe)—to propose and facilitate eligible ecological, range, habitat, and related projects on federal and non-federal lands and waters in the county. (1) Eligible projects must comply with applicable law and relate to ecological restoration; range improvements for livestock, fish, wildlife, or habitat; invasive species management; springs and water infrastructure restoration; cultural site conservation; economic development or recreation management; or research, monitoring, or analysis. (2) Projects on federal lands or using federal funds require approval by the relevant federal agency head (e.g., Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or Natural Resources Conservation Service), with written reasons required if denied within 14 business days; projects lacking consensus after 3 votes may proceed by quorum vote but cannot use federal lands or funds. (3) The group may accept donations into a trust fund for projects (including on federal lands or with federal funds if agency-approved) and must apply a 75% maximum federal cost share (with non-federal share allowable as in-kind contributions); all funding recommendations require consensus, and priorities favor voluntary habitat, range, and ecosystem restoration for long-term ecological health. Federal agencies must provide technical assistance to the group as practicable; group meetings must comply with open meeting and public participation laws; initial appointments occur within 180 days of enactment via county court selection from applications, with 3-year terms and reappointment eligibility.

This section designates two Special Management Areas on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in the county totaling approximately 40,874 acres—Keeney Creek (23,431 acres) and Clark Ranch (17,443 acres)—to be managed for invasive species control, fire suppression, livestock production, and Tribal cultural access, while prohibiting new permanent roads and new rights-of-way and withdrawing the areas from public land disposal, mining, and mineral/geothermal leasing (subject to valid existing rights). The Special Management Areas allow motorized/mechanized vehicle use on existing roads/trails for administrative, emergency, fire, defense, rangeland health, habitat, livestock, and infrastructure purposes and continue livestock grazing under the Taylor Grazing Act (43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.). This section designates approximately 924,440 acres of federal land in the county as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), including (1) Fifteenmile Creek Wilderness (50,357 acres), (2) Oregon Canyon Mountains Wilderness (42,035 acres), (3) Twelvemile Creek Wilderness (28,123 acres), (4) Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness (93,199 acres), (5) Lookout Butte Wilderness (66,242 acres), (6) Mary Gautreaux Owyhee River Canyon Wilderness (195,197 acres), and (7) Jordan Craters Wilderness (29,255 acres), among others as depicted on specified maps. The Secretary shall prepare maps and legal descriptions for both designations, adjusting Special Management Area boundaries to align with existing grazing allotments.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to (1) accept title to and hold in trust for the Burns Paiute Tribe, as soon as practicable after enactment, approximately 21,548 acres of federal land and 6,686 acres of Tribe-owned private land associated with Jonesboro Ranch (located approximately 6 miles east of Juntura, Oregon) and approximately 4,137 acres of state land in Road Gulch and Black Canyon if conveyed to the United States by or on behalf of the Tribe; administer the trust land under generally applicable Indian trust laws; prepare a map of the trust land; and, not later than three years after enactment, seek a land exchange agreement with the state for the state-owned parcels; and (2) hold in trust approximately 2,500 acres of federal land in the Castle Rock Wilderness Study Area (as depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Wilderness Malheur County” and dated June 7, 2023), with the Bureau of Land Management continuing to manage existing grazing under applicable law (which the Tribe may cancel at its discretion, triggering Bureau cancellation procedures, Tribe payment to permittees of market value for cancelled animal unit months, and Tribe fencing of the trust land at its expense). This section further directs the Secretary to enter into a memorandum of understanding, as soon as practicable after enactment, with the Tribe for co-stewardship of the Castle Rock Co-Stewardship Area (as depicted on the map entitled “Proposed Wilderness Malheur County” and dated June 7, 2023) that considers Tribal interests; protects cultural, archaeological, and culturally significant natural resources; and maintains livestock grazing entitlements under applicable law, including the Taylor Grazing Act.

This section declares congressional findings that wildfire protection, invasive species control, and livestock production are essential and compatible uses on federal lands designated as wilderness under section 4(c)(1), as a special management area under section 4(b), or undesignated under section 4. It authorizes the Secretary to use motorized vehicles, helicopters, or airplanes to control wildfires and eradicate invasive species on such lands; permits livestock management on wilderness and special management area lands; prohibits the Secretary from abridging, restricting, or terminating grazing authorizations existing as of enactment on undesignated federal lands; and requires grazing and necessary associated activities (e.g., range improvements, wildfire control) on such undesignated lands to be managed under the Taylor Grazing Act (43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.), section 402 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1752), and other applicable laws. (Thus, the provision preserves existing 10-year grazing permits—or shorter terms where specified under current law—and first renewal priority for compliant permittees on undesignated lands.)