Speak Up for Oregon’s Wilderness Study Areas

Oregon holds about 2.6 million acres of Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study Areas, most of them in the high desert and canyon country of the southeast, from the Owyhee Canyonlands to the sagebrush steppe around Steens Mountain. These are public lands held in waiting. Under a rule called the non-impairment standard, the BLM has to keep them wild enough to still qualify as wilderness until Congress decides their future. That standard is the thing that has kept roads, drilling, and development out of them for decades.

Now the BLM is reviewing the manual that sets those protections, BLM Manual 6330, and is asking whether the rules should be changed. A review can sharpen a policy or it can water it down. The public comment period is the moment to say these lands should keep their strong protections, not lose them.

We are a coast group, and these desert canyons are a long drive from Alsea Bay. But they belong to all of us, the same way the Siuslaw National Forest does, and the principle is the same one we defend at home: public land held in trust should stay wild until the people, through Congress, decide otherwise. Comments are open through August 14, 2026.