11,438-Acre Qapqápa Wildlife Area Deal Stalls After Landowner Withdraws

A federally funded plan to buy 11,438 acres of timberland near La Grande collapsed after the nonprofit foundation that owned the property withdrew from the sale, ODFW and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation said in a joint press release issued March 2. The withdrawal prevented use of $22 million allocated through the Forest Legacy Program to create the proposed Qapqápa Wildlife Area.

Originally funded by the Forest Legacy Program in August 2025, the project had been promoted by ODFW and CTUIR as a top-ranked national acquisition and one backed by a diverse coalition of elected officials, sportsmen’s groups, conservation organizations and partners such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. ODFW and CTUIR wrote that they remain “grateful to the elected officials, community members and agency partners whose overwhelming support made this effort the top-ranked project in nation.”

The property sits roughly 10 miles southwest of La Grande in the Blue Mountains and was described in planning material as connecting existing portions of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Agency materials and reporting on the proposal cited migration routes for elk and mule deer across the parcel and waters that support bull trout, Chinook salmon and steelhead, with the tract characterized as part of “one of eastern Oregon’s most productive big game units.”

ODFW and CTUIR had planned to jointly manage the parcel as the Qapqápa Wildlife Area, bringing private timberland into public ownership to provide long-term wildlife habitat protection, forestry management opportunities and tribal access. The agencies said the purchase “would have permanently conserved these important resources and provided public access for future generations. It also would have restored the Tribes’ access to multiple sites of critical cultural and historic importance for CTUIR.”

Reports and the agencies’ release say the nonprofit foundation withdrew for undisclosed reasons; the identity of that foundation is not named in the release and no public explanation was provided. Because the seller pulled out, the $22 million Forest Legacy award could not be applied to a closing, and the administrative fate of those federal funds has not been specified by ODFW, CTUIR or the Forest Legacy Program.

Local stakeholders cited in planning and outreach included the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and a range of community and agency partners who had supported the application to the Forest Legacy Program. With the sale halted, ODFW and CTUIR said they will seek alternatives but provided no timetable or specific next parcel. “While it is with heartfelt regret that we share this news, we remain committed to pursuing opportunities — here or elsewhere — that benefit wildlife, habitat and public access,” the agencies wrote.

Key questions remain for Union County: the foundation’s identity and reasons for withdrawal, whether the Forest Legacy award can be redirected to another acquisition, and whether the owner will reconsider a sale or conservation easement. ODFW and CTUIR’s statement closes the chapter on the Qapqápa transaction for now while signaling officials will continue pursuing conservation and tribal access goals in eastern Oregon.