Wallowa County Commissioners ask Governors & Legislatures to discuss Greater Idaho

ENTERPRISE – Wallowa County Commissioners have issued letters to the Governors of Idaho and Oregon, as well as the legislatures of both states, asking for their respective bodies to take up the issue of Greater Idaho.  

The letters read, “On behalf of the citizens of Wallowa County, we are asking that you move this item forward to your respective bodies as soon as feasible for discussion. We, as the governing body of Wallowa County, neither support nor oppose the measure but only represent the will of the voters of Wallowa County.”

In May of 2023, Wallowa County became the twelfth county in eastern Oregon to pass a Greater Idaho measure, and they are the fifth of those counties to formally request legislators to begin border talks. Those twelve counties include: Sherman, Morrow, Wallowa, Union, Jefferson, Wheeler, Grant, Baker, Klamath, Lake, Harney and Malheur. 

Crook County is set to vote on a Greater Idaho measure this May.

The movement’s ultimate goal is to move rural eastern Oregon counties into Idaho, with proponents saying that the more rural parts of eastern Oregon are not represented by the Willamette Valley.

In 2023, The Idaho House of Representatives passed a resolution inviting the Oregon Legislature to begin discussions. The Oregon Legislature has yet to accept the invitation or begin any formal discussions in Salem.

Executive Director of Greater Idaho, Matt McCaw, applauded the move by Wallowa County commissioners: “For the last three years, the people of eastern Oregon have been voicing that they want state leaders to look into relocating the border.  We are grateful to our local county commissioners who have listened to their voters and are elevating this to the political bodies that can make a border change happen.  It’s time for the Governor and Oregon Legislature to take up the issue, hear voters out, and give this idea a fair look.”

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Elkhorn Media Group