A MONUMENTAL ACCORD: STEENS MOUNTAIN COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT AREA

Steens Mountain is a spectacular place - and the four men who gathered at Roaring Springs Ranch in Harney County during the summer of 2000 would agree. But the men each had different ideas for the future of the mountain. Two hailed from environmental organizations, and two represented ranching interests. Brought together by U.S. Congressional staff, the men were attempting to reach a compromise – a solution that would protect both the Steens ecology and its ranching tradition. Clearly, the preservation of the mountain was a priority for each person. But the challenge lay in determining how to do just that.

Steens Mountain

Steens Mountain (Oregon State Archives)

As President Clinton's last term was drawing to a close, politics brought together a group of Oregonians with very different backgrounds. In 1999, President Clinton sought to leave an environmental legacy, and one way to do so was to create national monuments -- park-like protected areas that encompass landmarks with special national significance. That fall, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt visited Burns, Oregon, and proposed designating Steens Mountain, then a patchwork of public and private lands, as a national monument. However, this suggestion created an uproar in Burns, as citizens contemplated the changes this designation could bring to their land. Would the national monument title end the economic viability of ranching on Steens Mountain? Would it bring unwanted development as tourists flocked to the newly designated site? Would it change the character of the Steens? Hearing this outcry, Oregon governor John Kitzhaber, in conjunction with Oregon's congressional delegation, offered an alternative: Oregonians would write their own conservation plan.