It was announced 14 March 2008 that the Department of Energy would not renew the permit, license or easements for the observatory or most of the other entities that maintain communication equipment on the mountain. DOE instead intends to return the area to its natural conditions, citing the cultural sensitivity of the area. The removal of the observatory from Rattlesnake Mountain began in the latter part of May, 2009. Most of the work, including the removal of the telescope itself, was completed in June of the same year. In late 2012, the telescope moved into its new home at Pacific Northwest Regional Observatory in the hills near Wallula, Washington.