Author: Mark Salvo, Conservation Director | Published: July 2, 2026 | Category: Essay
This article originally appeared in the Spring + Summer 2026 Desert Ramblings Newsletter.
From Steens Mountain to the Owyhee Canyonlands, creating a shared vision to protect Oregon’s high desert public lands.
Even in a region as varied and vast as Oregon’s high desert, Steens Mountain stands as one of its most breathtaking landscapes—a geologic splendor, featuring spectacular glacial gorges, shimmering aspen stands, bountiful wildflowers, rolling sagebrush grasslands, and an abundance of fish and wildlife.
Permanently protected 25 years ago, the community process that led to federal designation of Steens was as unique and complex as the mountain itself. Even the convoluted name given the new designation, the “Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area,” was a compromise among stakeholders who negotiated every last detail of the Steens Act passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 2000.
Most importantly, broad, vociferous public support for protecting Steens, led by thousands of ONDA members, both propelled those local conversations forward and ensured the effort produced lasting protections for the mountain.
A Landmark Act
The Steens Act dramatically strengthened conservation management on Steens Mountain using an array of measures that reflect both the rich diversity of the landscape and the stakeholders committed to its future. At its core, the legislation designated more than 170,000 acres as the Steens Mountain Wilderness—98,000 acres of which are livestock-free, the first and only legislated “cow-free” wilderness in the nation. The act then surrounded the wilderness area with a 500,000-acre Cooperative Management and Protection Area. To this mix, Congress added 29 miles of new Wild and Scenic Rivers and the nation’s first ever Redband Trout Reserve. Finally, the Steens legislation protected the entire region, totaling 1.1 million acres, from mining and geothermal development.
Arriving at a final, collaborative proposal for Steens wasn’t without its challenges, but the momentum for finally protecting the mountain was undeniable, fueled by unrelenting public support, leadership from Oregon’s congressional delegation, and a willingness among conservationists, ranchers, and landowners to chart a path forward for this shared landscape.
The Power of Collaborative Conservation
Steens Mountain isn’t just an achievement in conservation—it’s a blueprint. It shows that lasting protection for iconic desert landscapes doesn’t have to come through confrontation. Instead, enduring conservation can emerge when diverse stakeholders are invited to a process, when conservation proposals honor ecological integrity and wilderness and balance protections with local needs, and when legislation embeds cooperation as a core principle.
ONDA is pursuing the same strategy for protecting more than 1 million acres of wilderness in Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands. While Congress and the new administration were focused on other priorities in 2025, ONDA and our partners were continuing to broaden our coalition and build support for a comprehensive proposal to protect, manage and restore this irreplaceable landscape. This included Senator Wyden reintroducing his Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act in Congress and securing an endorsement for protecting the Owyhee from the National Congress of American Indians, which represents 250 Tribes from across the country.
Steens, Forever
As debates continue over public lands management in eastern Oregon—from the top of Steens Mountain to the rimrock of the Owyhee Canyonlands—the Steens Act stands as a testament to what’s possible: a future where natural landscapes remain wild, local communities are engaged, and conservation is a shared vision rather than a point of division.
