Landowner Withdrawal Halts Qapqápa Wildlife Area Acquisition Near Starkey

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation announced that a planned purchase to create the Qapqápa wildlife area near Starkey in Union County has stalled after the property owner pulled out. The agencies said the landowner, the Harry Merlo Foundation, “has decided to withdraw for undisclosed reasons,” despite what the press release described as full federal funding for the acquisition.

The project targeted roughly 11,438 acres about 10 miles southwest of La Grande; some media accounts rounded that figure to 11,400 acres. ODFW and CTUIR had said the parcel would be co-managed by the state and the tribes and that agencies expected to use $22 million from the federal government to complete the purchase.

The agencies’ press release described the conservation values that motivated the acquisition. “The Qapqápa wildlife area about 10 miles southwest of La Grande would have connected existing portions of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest,” the release said. The announcement added that the property “provides vital migration routes for elk and mule deer in one of Eastern Oregon’s most productive big game units, and its waters provide habitat for bull trout, chinook salmon and steelhead.”

ODFW and CTUIR also framed the project in cultural and public-access terms. The release stated that “the acquisition would have permanently conserved these important resources and provided public access for future generations,” and that “it also would have restored the Tribes’ access to multiple sites of critical cultural and historic importance for CTUIR.”

News reports that reproduced the agencies’ release noted the landowner’s withdrawal as the proximate cause of the stall but did not specify why the Harry Merlo Foundation stepped back. As of the March 2 announcement, neither the foundation nor the federal funding source was quoted with clarifying details about the withdrawal, the status of the $22 million, or contractual timelines tied to the prospective sale.

Local coverage included a visual credit: the Baker City Herald’s story carried a photo credited to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. That credit does not indicate the foundation’s involvement in the transaction, only that the image used was contributed by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The stalled acquisition leaves several open questions for Union County and regional stakeholders: whether the federal funds remain available for this land or a similar purchase, whether ODFW and CTUIR will pursue alternative sellers or reopen negotiations with the Harry Merlo Foundation, and which specific cultural sites CTUIR expected to regain access to. ODFW and the tribes released the agencies’ statement March 2, 2026; the agencies have not released additional details about next steps or the federal funding arrangement.