Smith said ranching is an important part of the area's tradition, and he wants it locked into any final agreement. We want to be sure that our monument is both a natural one and a human one. The wilderness designation could be among the toughest issues for a compromise. Conservationists already are clashing with ranchers not only about the amount of acreage but also what activities might be permitted in a wilderness. Wilderness areas have the strongest conservation protection.
Federal law prohibits chain saws, road building and use of motorized vehicles.
About 2 million acres of federal forests in Oregon are designated as wilderness. Conservationists want 1.2 million acres of the Steens and the adjacent Alvord Desert, an area of hot springs and sand dunes, turned into a national conservation area. Grazing would be reduced by about 20 percent from current levels, future private development would be limited, and geothermal plants would be banned from tapping into the desert hot springs. Within that area, conservationists want more than 450,000 acres designated as federal wilderness, according to the proposals included in the task force report. An alternative wilderness recommendation by the ranchers' representative would designate less than 60,000 acres of wilderness.