Residents and conservationists disagree over what should be done to protect the Owyhee region in southeastern Oregon.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Far away from city lights, this remote corner of Southeast Oregon provides great views of the night sky.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Rancher Bob Skinner says the Owyhee is already protected, by its isolation and remoteness. "If we get a big influx of people coming in here because they shine a spotlight on it with a monument, that is what’s going to be the problem," Skinner said.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Leslie Gulch in Southeastern Oregon features sheer rock walls and red rock formations.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Cheatgrass dominates the landscape in the Owyhee. The invasive species is a problem in much of Eastern Oregon.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Giant red rock formations protrude from grassy, rolling hills. Although the Owyhee is known for its canyons, the majority of the land mass in the area is high desert sagebrush country.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Voters in Malheur County will decide Tuesday whether they want a national monument in the Owyhee Canyonlands in southeast Oregon.
Malheur County commissioners oppose a monument, so they wanted to put the idea to citizens.
The ballot measure asks voters if they think two-and-a-half million acres of the Owyhee should be designated as a national monument.
Related: Interior Department Not Working On Owyhee Wilderness Designation
Tim Davis leads the grassroots group Friends of the Owyhee in Malheur County. He’s voting in favor of a monument. "There’s not a lot of areas like this left in the United States to where you can get out and be away from Wi-Fi signals and cell phone signals and hear nothing but quiet," Davis said.
Conservation proposals for wilderness or monument designations in the Owyhee have also drawn fierce local opposition during recent public meetings.
President Obama has not given any indication that he in fact plans to designate the Owyhee a national monument, as some conservationists propose. Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell said last week that she is not aware of any coordination between her office and the White House on a monument proposal.