On August 13, 2024, the Biden-Harris administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced the latest in their series of National Wildlife Refuge expansions, known as the Willamette Valley Conservation Area in Western Oregon.
The Land Protection Plan (LPP) released for the Conservation Area states they will acquire 22,650 acres of mostly private lands through fee-title and conservation easements (https://www.fws.gov/media/willamette-valley-conservation-area-land-protection-planfinal-2022 ).
In addition, the LPP has a “concept” map that encircles 2.4 million acres, “almost all of which is in private ownership,” in which they state the reason for the Conservation Area being larger than the acquisition acreage cap of 22,650 acres is that it is “required for the overall acreage objective to be achieved.”
However, they also reveal that this acreage is only half of what the federal government must permanently control to fulfill their mission for this unit. “Protecting 22,650 acres is one-half of the area needed to meet habitat objectives of the Willamette Valley Conservation Study (USFWS 2017) that are not yet protected.” (LPP FONSI-2)
The Service has effectively placed an encumbrance on 2.4 million acres in the six Oregon counties of Yamhill, Polk, Marion, Linn, Benton, and Lane. The area encompasses the vital Willamette River watershed, a key resource for agriculture.
The Service claims this is a “locally led” project created by a “diverse consortium of federal, state, and local agencies, tribes, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and non-governmental organizations including watershed councils and land trusts” organized to form the Willamette Valley Oak and Prairie Cooperative.
A similar situation is unfolding in Texas over the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge expansion where the Service is attempting to expand the Muleshoe Refuge from 6,440 acres to 700,000 from an acquisition area of seven-million acres.
The Service has drawn a map around 15 counties in Texas and five in New Mexico without ever notifying any of the county governments or municipalities of their plan to remove hundreds of thousands of private acres from the tax base destroying the economies of the region.
The first massive Refuge expansion plan by the Service was released in the fall of 2022. The Service has encumbered 5.8 million acres in Montana, where they plan to acquire 250,000 acres, known as the Missouri-Headwaters Conservation Area.
National Wildlife Refuges are created by Congress or Presidential Proclamation. On occasion, Congress has authorized acquisition area boundaries around Refuges. But the Biden-Harris Administration is not seeking Congressional approval. They are claiming they have the administrative authority to place vital private lands under permanent protection of the federal government. It is necessary for them to achieve the Biden-Harris “America the Beautiful” project, better known as their 30×30 Land Grab.
