ODFW and RMEF celebrate the establishment of the Minam River Wildlife Area
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, June 25th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
MINAM – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), in collaboration with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and Manulife, recently hosted a celebratory tour (June 21st) of the newly established Minam River Wildlife Area (WA). The new wildlife area currently comprises 15,573 acres, with a third phase of the project set to additional 1,097 acres later this fall, pushing the final size of the wildlife area to 16,670 acres. In commenting on the completion of the project, Jennifer Doherty, Managing Director of Mission Operations for the RMEF, stated:
“This landscape has been something that people and wildlife organizations have needed to conserve for future generations, and it finally came to fruition. So, stopping and celebrating that together and recognizing the collaborative nature of getting something like this done is really important to the Elk Foundation and really important to the other entities involved in this project.”
The land itself was originally managed by Manulife, with the RMEF helping facilitate its purchase by, and transition to, ODFW, with the RMEF also contributing over $600,000 to the sale. Now managed by ODFW and constituting the fifth largest wildlife area in the state, the land will serve as an essential protected habitat for the species within its borders. Reflecting on the drive to preserve Oregon’s wildlife, Doherty elaborated:
“I think that it stems from recognizing the landscape’s potential and its ability to host amazing arrangements of wildlife and species, from the mountaintops to the river bottoms. Hosting wildlife that is meaningful to local economies, that’s meaningful to hunting heritage or anglers and for future generations, that’s where this project stems from.”
Another component of the project is the potential for interconnectivity with neighboring landscapes. The Minam River Wildlife Area directly borders the Eagle Cap wilderness and the Wallowa Whitman National Forest, with a proposed trail head near Highway 82 allowing for easy on-foot access between both regions.
Ease of access isn’t strictly related to simple crossover from one wilderness area to another, however, as all organizations involved in the establishment of the area have promoted its continued public access. Now overseen by the state of Oregon directly, the hope is that the lack of private obligations will allow for long term and free access to the lands for the public. As part of this mission, over 6,350 acres of previously inaccessible land from the Wallowa Whitman National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands are now open to public access in the wildlife area. As put again by Doherty:
“Whether you’re camping with your family or backpacking and fishing or hunting, it can be difficult to find a place to go and to access. The Minam River area is very accessible. The perpetual ownership that has been created through the acquisition into the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s hands creates the mandate that this is available to be utilized by the public for responsible recreation and in a way that provides a quality experience, which is what we’re really all looking for out there.”
