Imagine standing in the open landscapes of Eastern Oregon, where wildlife moves through sagebrush country and the horizon stretches for miles. Now imagine that quiet interrupted by the relentless roar of industrial cooling fans and machinery, the kind of constant noise that can carry far beyond a data center’s walls, disrupting nearby communities and wildlife.
That’s one of the costs we risk overlooking as data center development expands. These massive facilities power the digital services and artificial intelligence tools we increasingly rely on, but they also demand enormous amounts of water and electricity, bring new industrial infrastructure into natural landscapes, and threaten the ecological values that make these places special.
And now, public lands could be part of that expansion.
A proposed data center near Hermiston could occupy more than 100 acres of federal public land in Eastern Oregon. It’s one of several projects proposed for public lands across the West, raising an important question: Should lands that belong to all of us be turned over for private data center development?
Senator Ron Wyden is taking action. He has introduced legislation that would prohibit the development, sale, or transfer of federally owned public lands for new data centers and associated infrastructure. Now Congress needs to hear from Oregonians and other public lands advocates who want to keep public lands in public hands.
Your voice matters. When lawmakers hear from constituents who care about our forests, rivers, wildlife, and public lands, they know these places are worth protecting.
Thank you for speaking up for Oregon’s wild places!
