30,000 Acres Of ATV-less Freedom

Badlands Near Bend Declared Wilderness Area

By Joseph Friedrichs, 5-27-08

A Common Sign In Bend.

A 30,000-acre parcel of land east of Bend will officially be declared as a wilderness area in the coming weeks, bringing joy to those who have spent years pushing for the federal designation, and disgust to those who would like to use the area for off road vehicle recreation.

Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., traveled Tuesday to Central Oregon’s Badlands, as the area is known, to announce that he will introduce legislation that will designate the area as a national wilderness. Wyden said the wilderness bill will be officially introduced when he returns to Washington.

During the past several years thousands of Central Oregonians, including more than two hundred local businesses, have strived to designate the Badlands as a wilderness area. It’s impressive that locals concerned with protecting Central Oregon are not only focused on the Cascades and other lands already within the millions of acres of national forest near Bend.

Wyden’s wilderness bill will follow the boundary of the Bureau of Land Management’s Wilderness Study Area, under which the land is currently operated.  However, for all those saddened by the wilderness designation should remember that there are approximately 450,000 acres adjacent to the Badlands open for off road vehicle recreation.

The Deschutes County Commission has been hesitant for years to declare the Badlands near Bend as a wilderness area because, well, no one is really sure why. Likely it had something to do with opposition from those who feared potential closure of public access in the Badlands, or use of some or all of the area. Nonetheless, don’t expect to find any ATV use in the Badlands for a long, long time. 

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