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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2020)
LOCAL TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 THE OBSERVER — 5A WOUNDS Continued from Page 1A representatives of the timber industry reached out to Brown and sat down for a meeting with her staff on Jan. 9. They requested the governor moderate a discussion between industry leaders and the environmental community on mov- ing forward as partners rather than adversaries. The governor agreed, mediating four meetings from Monday, Jan. 27 to Wednesday, Feb. 5 in Portland and in Salem. Representatives from both sides aired long-standing grievances, explained their views and then considered how they might proceed together. What emerged was a memoran- dum of agreement signed by 13 of the most reputable Oregon com- panies and organizations on either side of the debate. It also means both sides will drop dueling sets of proposed ballot initiatives, which seemed destined for an expensive clash in November. The agreement — somewhere between a handshake deal and legally-binding agreement —incor- porates three key pieces. The fi rst outlines the two sides will come together to create a habitat conservation plan that rules more than 30 million acres WILDFIRE Continued from Page 1A encourage homeowners near forests to harden their homes against fi re. •Creatingnewpositions within the state Offi ce of Emergency Management to administer new mitigation and recovery efforts. •Mitigatingthehealth effects of smoke by helping homeowners in smoke-prone areas retrofi t their homes with fi ltration systems. •Establishingminimum standards of defensible space Sam Stites/Oregon Capital Bureau Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, and Sen. Herman Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants Pass, both sit on the Senate’s committee on wildfi re, but have different takes on what the agreement between timber interests and environmental groups means for Oregon. of public and private timberlands throughout the state, protecting endangered species and updating timber practices. The second calls for all parties to support legislation to protect forest watersheds by restricting aerial spraying of pesticides and herbicides. The bill also outlines implementation of a state-of-the- art system to notify neighbors of aerial spraying. Lastly, it widens buffer zones for streams within the Rogue-Siskiyou region of southern Oregon. around homes. •Settingagoaltoannu- ally treat 300,000 acres of forest and remove fuels to prevent fi res from growing too large. •DevelopingOregon’s forestry workforce. •Requiringthestatefire marshal and state forester to help local jurisdictions, landowners, businesses and individuals create new wildfi re service districts, or expand and adjust current ones, as well as providing fi nancial help. It’s unclear just how VOLUNTEERS Continued from Page 1A “I had the easy job,” he said. Smith said moving the dirt was a taxing experience. “I’m pretty sore today,” Smith said Sunday afternoon. Cooper said the experience was a good one for his twin sons, who also did extensive shoveling. “It is great for them to learn how to serve others,” Cooper said. The scene would have been even worse if a camper on the property had not been in a position to defl ect part of the torrent of water from the couple’s home, Panike said. Still, the house did not escape unscathed. Water reached 15 feet into the interior and mud poured into the hot tub room. The volunteers from La Grande succeeded in removing all of this mud. A number of people from the group of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints New legislation also would ex- pand stream buffers along salmon, steelhead, and bull trout streams to bring forest practices into line with the rest of western Oregon. The deal is predicated on the idea that both sides agreeing to what is the best science to use for decisions. Agreeing to the deal were Hampton Lumber, Weyerhaueser, Roseburg Forest Products, Sen- eca Sawmill Company, Hancock Natural Resource Group, Stimson Lumber, Greenwood Resources, Campbell Global, Pope Resources, much the bill would cost or where that money would come from. The Legislature’s budget committee’s fi scal impact statement found the proposal needs further work. The governor’s council estimated the cost at ap- proximately $4 billion over the next 20 years, or about $200 million a year. It’s a robust approach to many aspects of the conver- sation the Governor’s Coun- cil and legislators continue to have around reducing the impact of wildfi re. But a party-line vote in the Senate Wildfi re Committee last week to send both bills into the budget committee indi- cates Republicans might not have the appetite to tackle the entire plan now. The bill has a lot of mov- ing pieces, and the version passed by the committee includes everything but one provision on land use. House Bill 4054, sponsored by Rep. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, creates an advisory committee within the De- partment of Land Conser- vation and Development to review land use policies volunteers are planning on making return trips to Umatilla County to help others hit by fl ood damage, Panike said. Stan Cox and his sons Tim and Michael and brothers Will and Wes Steinbruegge, members of Union’s branch of the Latter-day Saints, also joined the relief effort in Milton- Freewater. They helped the residents of two homes Saturday. At the fi rst home, the group cleaned mud and water out of a cellar, a barn and a shop. At the second home, the fi ve volunteers cleared thick mud off a driveway and out from under and around a car in a garage so the owners would be able to back it out, said Tim Cox. Much of the work the Union group did involved intense manual labor. “We used buckets and shovels,” Cox said. He said that all members of the cleanup unit played a valuable role in helping the fl ood victims. “When you have a lot of hands working at once,” he said, “it goes a lot faster.” HAY already told me there’s not a lot of money, so I want some- thing we can get through the process,” he said. “I don’t want something that dies at the end of the session stuck in Ways and mMeans. That’s my bottom line.” Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ash- land, is more optimistic. “We’re talking about signifi cant dollars, and of course, the wildfi re council’s even talking about a lot more money over time, but I think all this work we’ve been doing makes for a pretty strategic launch,” he said. Coming Soon T H E N E X T S TO P O N O U R A DV E N T U R E I S I S L A N D C I T Y Who are we? We are a credit union that has been rooted in Northern Idaho since our organization in April of 1938. We have proven our strength and stability through the years as we have grown and expanded our footprint to a larger population of folks all over the Pacific Northwest. That includes right here in Union County. We are searching for the right candidates for: Branch Manager & Member Service Representatives Island City, OR Located within Walmart Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group Debby Hendrickson, left, watches as members of the Tollgate Off-road & Recovery Club load her truck with hay in Athena. TORC helped to facilitate the donation and delivery of 70 tons of hay for fl ood victims follow- ing the fl oods earlier this month. ranch hand in Rieth; and Tygh Campbell of Campbell Livestock in Athena. “When disaster strikes anywhere in Eastern Oregon, people come out of the wood- work to help,” O’Dai said. “We are small-town people. We are close-knit communities.” Volunteers and members of the off-road club worked into the night Thursday making the fi rst deliveries to 25 ranches along the Uma- tilla and South Fork Walla Walla rivers, O’Dai said. She was confi dent they would receive another 50 tons of hay through the weekend. “We are still looking for donors,” O’Dai said. “We’re still looking for more people who are willing to help in any step of the line.” 10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City If you are interested in this opportunity, please visit our website at www.p1fcu.org/careers for a more detailed job description and application. EOE. Requires background and drug screening. Drug Free Workplace. Potlatch No. 1 Financial Credit Union Federally Insured by NCUA An Independent Insurance Agency Reed & Associates for excellent service LOCALLY! Nicole Cathey related to wildfi re. Sen. Herman Baertsch- iger, Jr., R-Grants Pass, com- mittee vice-chair and Senate Republican leader, failed in his attempts to amend the bill to drop several sections. Baertschiger said he’s concerned the bill does too much at once and needs more discussion on certain policy and funding aspects. He pointed out that he’s not attempting to derail the effort but be realistic about what’s feasible, especially at the budget committee. “Ways and Means has Now Hiring Continued from Page 1A everything from giving them a ride, dropping off donations or picking up donations,” Quintal said. They also knew livestock had not been fed in several of the locations they visited, prompting the call for hay to feed the animals. Valerie O’Dai, who lives in Elgin and serves as a disaster relief coordinator for the nonprofi t Emergency Equipment Solutions, con- nected with the club over social media and took on coordinating hay donations, storage and delivery. Donations have included 22.5 tons from Burns rancher Steve Doverspike, as well as multiple com- mitments from Hermiston businesses. Three Umatilla County farms have also vol- unteered their operations to drop off and store hay until it is ready to be delivered — Kyle Snow of Snow Farms in Echo; David Dunn, a Port Blakely and the Oregon Small Woodlands Association. In the environmental camp, Oregon Wild, Wild Salmon Center, Oregon Stream Protection Coalition, Beyond Toxics, Audubon Society of Portland, Cascadia Wildlands, Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Pacifi c Coast Federation of Fisher- men’s Associations, Trout Unlimited, Northwest Guides and Anglers As- sociation and the Oregon League of Conservation voters all signed. According to Casey Roscoe, vice president for public affairs for Seneca, this agreement is a step to see if there’s a shared vision between the two sides for the future of forest practices, which accounts for sustain- ability and Oregon’s ecosystem. She’s cautiously optimistic this deal repre- sents a fresh start for both sides. “That vision is of healthy trees. It’s of thriving wildlife. It’s of cool, clean water and world-class recreation. It’s of renewable build- ing materials and other wood products,” Roscoe said. “That is our vision. What we’re hoping is perhaps that can be their vision too, and if that’s true, if we do have, in fact, shared vision, then maybe we can come to the table and talk about how to make that happen and work toward it, because we’re all on the same planet.” Bob Rees, executive director of the Northwest Guides and Anglers Association, said the deal shows good faith by the timber industry to hear out conservationists. “The pesticide application on these lands and waterways is of course of great concern to us. The real punch in the MOU is if the timber interests agreed to formu- late this habitat conservation plan that’s on the table,” Rees said. “It’s a good thing, and the science is already developed, but we haven’t implemented these practices on state or private lands.” 541-975-1364 Toll Free 1-866-282-1925 Medicare, Auto, Home insurance and Annuities www.reed-insurance.net Kevin Reed
