Owyhee Canyonlands

— filed under: Wilderness

The Owyhee Canyonlands are the first new wilderness areas to be protected in Idaho in the last three decades.

We are proud to have been part of the Owyhee Initiative, which included ranchers, county officials, the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes and off-road vehicle users.

After years of hard work, the Owyhee work group put together an agreement that led to the protection of the first new Idaho wilderness areas in over 29 years. In 2009, Idaho's list of Wilderness areas grew by one.

Here's some of what the Owyhee Public Lands Management Act does for Idaho and the nation:

Designated 517,000 acres of new wilderness
Protects 316 miles of wild and scenic rivers
Improves regulation and enforcement of illegal off-road vehicle use in Owyhee County

View a map of the newly protected wilderness areas and rivers.