# 119-hr-6777: Oregon Owyhee Wilderness and Community Protection Act

119-hr-6777, Oregon Owyhee Wilderness and Community Protection Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Bentz, Cliff [R-OR-2] (R-OR); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6777
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-6777
- Congress: 119
- Title: Oregon Owyhee Wilderness and Community Protection Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-12-17
- Sponsor: Rep. Bentz, Cliff [R-OR-2] (R-OR)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Operational flexibility for local grazing permittees** is the bill's central aim, creating a Malheur County Grazing Management Program to allow written variances and permit alternatives while also designating large wilderness and special management areas. It couples local governance and co-stewardship with targeted land protections and management tools. - Ranchers and grazing permittees would get faster, written variances for weather, drought, fire, or forage changes to adjust season of use, shift pasture rotations by up to 14 days, or move water sources within water‑right limits. Any approved variance would be immediately effective, final agency action, and not subject to NEPA. - The Burns Paiute Tribe would receive specified lands into trust and a Castle Rock co-stewardship area of about 2,500 acres with a memorandum of understanding for joint management and protection of cultural and natural resources. The Tribe could cancel grazing in the co-stewardship area with compensation and would not obtain new water rights outside the conveyed lands. - The bill would add about 924,440 acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System and create Special Management Areas of roughly 23,431 and 17,443 acres that ban new permanent roads and are withdrawn from many mining and leasing laws. The Secretary could use motorized equipment, aircraft, and pipelines for wildfire suppression and invasive species control and allow limited management actions in wilderness as described in the Act.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Quick grazing variances for ranchers: benefit, high. If enacted, authorized grazing permittees would be able to request immediate written variances to change grazing dates, pasture rotations, or move existing water structures for the year. Variances could shift season of use up to 14 days earlier or later, allow pasture rotation changes up to 14 days…
- Local restoration group and funding: benefit, medium. If enacted, an 8-member Malheur C.E.O. Group would be created to propose and select local ecological, range, water, cultural, recreation, and economic projects. The Secretary would appoint members within 180 days and members would serve three-year terms. The group could hold donations in trust and…
- Tribal land transfers and exchanges: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Secretary would seek an agreement with the Burns Paiute Tribe to co-manage the Castle Rock area and could enter management agreements with the Tribe. The Secretary would accept title to certain lands conveyed for the Tribe and hold them in trust, prepare a map, and try to complete a…
- Protected management and wildfire control: mixed, medium. If enacted, two Special Management Areas (Keeney Creek about 23,431 acres and Clark Ranch about 17,443 acres) would be created to protect livestock production, fire suppression, invasive species work, and Tribal cultural access. The areas would bar new permanent roads and new rights-of-way and be w…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4317: PBM Reform Act of 2025
- 119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act
- 119-hr-2709: Save Our Sequoias Act
- 119-hr-1897: ESA Amendments Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9535: Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-hr-6777 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6777)

## Related
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-4317: PBM Reform Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4317)
- [119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-471)
- [119-hr-2709: Save Our Sequoias Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2709)
- [119-hr-1897: ESA Amendments Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1897)
- [119-hr-9535: Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9535)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6777 (as of 2026-04-21).