Sponsor
Cliff Bentz
Representative · R-OR
Transfers four ~40-acre BLM parcels to Crook County and grants an 80-foot permanent right-of-way for road access to establish county-maintained fire safe zones.
Representative · R-OR
The bill improves local wildfire safety and rural connectivity by conveying and clarifying management of specific parcels and a road, but it shifts costs, reduces some federal land protections and local autonomy, and creates boundary/administrative risks that could burden county budgets and spark disputes.
Residents, homeowners, and first responders in Crook County gain county‑maintained fire‑safe zones on several parcels, reducing local wildfire risk and improving emergency response and responder safety.
Residents and travelers in Crook County get a permanent public road connection between OR‑380 and Juniper Canyon Road, improving local mobility and providing modest economic connectivity benefits.
Local government gains clearer administrative authority and fewer federal easement hurdles (including clarified roles for the Secretary/BLM), which can speed construction and management of the road and conveyed parcels.
Crook County (and ultimately local taxpayers) must pay all conveyance costs and may face ongoing maintenance liabilities, potentially diverting limited county funds from other services.
Transferring BLM land and granting rights‑of‑way reduces federally managed public land and protections and can affect private parties' existing rights, potentially limiting uses or requiring mitigation and reducing public access.
Delegating operational authority to the Secretary acting through BLM may reduce local control over how the conveyed parcels and fire‑safe zones are implemented.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To grant to Crook County, Oregon, a right-of-way for the construction of a new road in Juniper Canyon, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 21, 2026 by Cliff Bentz · Last progress May 21, 2026
Grants Crook County, Oregon a permanent 80-foot-wide public right-of-way from Oregon Route 380 to Juniper Canyon Road and directs the Bureau of Land Management (acting through the Secretary of the Interior) to convey four ~40-acre BLM parcels to the county, at the county’s request, for use as county-maintained fire safe zones. Conveyances are subject to existing valid rights, require the county to pay conveyance costs, and include a reversionary clause returning title to the United States if the land ceases to be maintained as fire safe zones.