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10 CapitalPress.com December 18, 2015 Oregon Medford man seeks end to daylight saving time By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Medford resident David Miles grumbles every year about having to turn his clocks forward in the spring and back again in the fall. This year, Miles decided to respond differently by launch- ing a ballot initiative Nov. 12 to end daylight saving time in Oregon. “I complain almost every time there is a time change and do nothing about it, and I didn’t want to be that guy any- more,” he said. A month later, Miles has 20 volunteers in 15 Oregon towns and cities who have gathered nearly 1,000 signatures — a ¿UVWVWHSWRZDUGSODFLQJDQLQL- tiative on the ballot. He said he expects to hit the 1,000-signa- ture mark by mid-December. Once the volunteers pass that hurdle, they’ll need to round up a total of 117,578 signatures to send the measure to voters in November. The proposal abolishes daylight saving in 2018 and allows voters in individual counties to opt out through an election. Miles added that pro- vision with Malheur County in mind. That county already fol- lows Mountain time to be uni- form with neighboring Idaho. ³7KHIULQJHEHQH¿WLVRWKHU counties can decide to stay on daylight saving time, through general county election,” Miles said. Changing clocks back and forth is disruptive to internal body clocks, sleep patterns and can even be dangerous, he said. A 2014 study by Univer- sity of Colorado at Boulder IRXQG WKDW IDWDO WUDI¿F DF- cidents spike by 17 percent on the Monday after clocks spring forward. Daylight-saving began in the United States in 1918 to conserve electricity during WKH¿QDOGD\VRI:RUOG:DU, It became a permanent ritual in 1966 with passage of the Uniform Time Act. The fed- eral legislation was designed to end a confusing patchwork of different time zones in the country but allowed individ- ual states to opt out. Arizona, Hawaii and some U.S. terri- tories have chosen to stay on standard time. Nowadays, the time change fails to accomplish the goal of saving energy, Miles said. A University of California- Berkeley study found that a two-month extension of day- light saving time in Australia during the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 failed to cur- tail electricity demand. Earlier this year, there were proposals in several states to end time changes by either remaining on daylight saving or adhering to standard time year-round, according to WKH:DVKLQJWRQ3RVW Oregon Sen. Kim Thatch- er, R-Keizer, introduced a bill in January that would have let voters to decide whether to abolish daylight saving in 2021. Dozens of Oregonians tes- WL¿HGLQIDYRURIWKHSURSRVDO -RDQQH 'H:LWW RQH RI those who submitted testimo- ny, said daylight saving caus- es hazards while serving no purpose. “I would like to see it go the way of other old dino- VDXUV´'H:LWWVDLG The legislation stalled in the Senate Rules Committee. Some lawmakers were con- cerned about being out of sync ZLWK:DVKLQJWRQDQG&DOLIRU- nia, according to Thatcher’s RI¿FH “I think once one state does it, the others will follow, and honestly, it isn’t that big of a deal,” Miles said “I have never heard people in Arizona say, ‘I hate being off time with Utah.’ They always laugh at the rest of the country at day- light saving time.” Albany resident Carrie Da- vis, one of the volunteer pe- titioners, said she has always hated daylight saving time. Her opposition compounded when she had children. “Now that I have kids, it is apparent to me when we try to change our daily schedule even by an hour, it is so im- pactful to our whole success through the day,” Davis said. “Trying to get a toddler to go to sleep an hour later or an hour earlier is just challeng- LQJ IRU D VXSHU¿FLDO VRFLDO agreement we don’t need.” Baker County ranchers honored Heifer drive beefs up scholarship Fund swells to for sage grouse habitat work nearly $120K By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press A Baker County, Ore., cattle ranching couple who helped forge sage grouse hab- itat conservation agreements was honored during the Ore- gon Cattlemen’s Association annual conference Dec. 5-6. 0DUNDQG3DWWL%HQQHWWRI Unity, were given the 2015 Riley Freeman Award, named for a past OCA wildlife com- mittee chairman who saw the need for cooperation between private landowners and the state and federal agencies that regulate wildlife and natural resources. The award was jointly established and is present- ed annually by the OCA and 2'): In honoring the Ben- QHWWV 2'): 'LUHFWRU &XUW Melcher praised them as “model stewards” of their cattle ranch. Like many other Eastern Oregon ranchers, the Bennetts signed a voluntary conservation agreement to By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group The Umatilla County Cat- tlemen’s Association more than doubled its memorial scholarship fund in 2015 after auctioning off 37 heifers do- nated by local ranchers. 3URGXFHUV LQ 8PDWLOOD DQG Morrow counties donated the animals, which were raised on 'RXEOH 0 5DQFK LQ 6WDQ¿HOG and auctioned in September. Other farms also gave cash or Courtesy of ODFW in-kind contributions, helping Oregon ranchers Mark and Patti Bennett were honored for their the UCCA Memorial Scholar- work to balance landowner rights and sage grouse habitat conser- ship grow from $47,734 at the vation. end of 2014 to nearly $120,000 today. maintain or improve habitat viability of Eastern Oregon UCCA awards annual for greater sage grouse. Mark DQG ZRUNLQJ ODQGV´ 2'): scholarships to students who Bennett served on a rules said in a news release. graduated from high school advisory group that worked The voluntary agreements in either Umatilla or Morrow to balance the interests of in Oregon were a model for county and are pursuing an landowners and regulatory other states, and were a key agriculture-related degree in RI¿FLDOV factor in the U.S. Fish and college. The 2015 scholarships “Bennett pushed for a rea- :LOGOLIH 6HUYLFH¶V GHFLVLRQ were awarded to Tess Hamby, sonable approach to protect- in September to keep Great- RI3LORW5RFNVWXG\LQJSUHYHW ing sage grouse habitat while er sage grouse off the endan- at Eastern Oregon University, also protecting the economic gered species list. and Maggie Collins, of Hep- pner, studying agriculture and teaching at Oregon State Uni- versity. Both received schol- arships for $1,500, which were announced Saturday at Photo contributed by Darcy Sexson A group of 37 heifers were donated and auctioned off in September to support the Umatilla County Cattlemen’s Association Memorial Scholarship. the UCCA annual meeting in 3HQGOHWRQ Randy Mills, extension livestock agent for OSU, said the idea for a heifer drive start- HGODVW\HDUZLWK0LNHDQG3DW- sy Taylor of Double M Ranch and Top Cut Feedlot. They agreed to take on the addition- al cattle and raised the animals from March through October. The heifer auction was the ¿UVW PDMRU IXQGUDLVHU IRU WKH UCCA Memorial Scholarship since the fund was established in 1992. Mills said the associ- ation will now be able to offer more or larger scholarships to local students in future years. “The investment of the beef industry in this two-county area just shows how important the education of our youth is,” Mills said. More than 40 ranches, busi- nesses and individuals contrib- uted to the fundraiser, with Double M-Top Cut Feedlot listed as the premiere sponsor. UCCA has already deposited $73,859 from the heifer drive, and more is expected to come. 8&&$ 3UHVLGHQW &OLQW Sexson said the community stepped up in a big way to sup- port the scholarship. “There’s tremendous sup- port for the youth in this com- munity,” Sexson said. 0HOLQGD 3ODWW FRFKDLU- woman of the UCCA Scholar- ship Committee, said promot- ing education in agriculture sciences is near and dear to everyone who donated. The UCCA Memorial Scholarship is set up through the Oregon Community Foun- dation. For more information about the scholarship fund, or to make a donation, contact Mills at the OSU Extension 6HUYLFH RI¿FH DW 5403. )RUHVW3ODQFRXOGEH¿QDOL]HGE\HDUO\ to be updated every 15 years to UHÀHFWFKDQJHVLQWKHODQGVFDSH and science, though the current The U.S. Forest Service %OXH 0RXQWDLQV )RUHVW 3ODQ LV could finalize its revised from 1990. Forest supervisors land management plans for unveiled a draft version of the the Blue Mountains National revised plan last year, which was Forests by early 2017, fol- met with criticism. lowing a yearlong re-engage- The negative feedback was ment process with the public. so overwhelming that region- The plans will essentially DO IRUHVWHU -LP 3HxD DOORZHG guide management decisions more time in January to meet RQWKH8PDWLOOD:DOORZD:KLW- ZLWK VWDNHKROGHUV DQG ¿QG man and Malheur national for- common ground on issues in- ests for the next 10-15 years. cluding road access, wilder- :KLOHWKHGRFXPHQWVGRQRWDS- ness and commercial logging. SURYHDQ\VLWHVSHFL¿FSURMHFWV Since then, the Forest Service they do set goals and desired has held public workshops conditions on approximately 4.9 across Eastern Oregon to hear million acres of public land. new ideas and solutions. Forest plans are supposed Despite some continued By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group WATER The # # 1 Issue in the West! Capital Press Ag Weekly will focus on this most crucial resource in an award-winning special section. Publishes Feb. 5, 2016 This section will provide valuable background and an insightful look at the current water situation with a forecast of what may happen in the future. Reach our print and online readers by advertising in this special section. Ad space deadline is Jan. 8, 2016 49-2/#8 ROP-51-3-2/#13 rumblings, the supervisors say the input they’ve gathered has led them in a positive direction. “Overall, the engagement process has helped us to better understand our public,” said Tom Montoya, supervisor on WKH:DOORZD:KLWPDQ1DWLRQ- al Forest. “There’s been folks on all sides of the issue who have provided really good com- PHQWVWR¿QGVRPHEDODQFH´ However, Montoya admit- ted he was frustrated during a recent meeting Nov. 2 in La Grande, where nearly 200 peo- ple packed the Blue Mountain Conference Center. Tempers ÀDUHGDQG0RQWR\DVDLGKHODW- er heard from people who told him they felt threatened. Norm Cimon, a retired Forest Service employee of 26 years, said the discussion was not closely moderated and broke down into a free-for-all. “Given the anger that’s built up from the rhetoric that’s been thrown around, there’s going to have to be better management of these meetings,” Cimon said. Cimon, who serves on the board of directors for Oregon Rural Action, a La Grande- EDVHG HQYLURQPHQWDO QRQSUR¿W said the tone was set by a letter from state Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, accusing the Forest Service of “bureaucratic inept- ness.” Re-engaging with the public is absolutely worthwhile, Ci- mon said, but he felt Barreto’s letter didn’t help the situation. “I hate that kind of talk. I re- ally do,” Cimon said. In his letter, Barreto says “The overreaching heavy hand of government contin- ues to pursue its stranglehold on the rural parts of the state, our way of life and our pursuit of happiness.” He also wrote, “The preservationists along with you, the federal govern- ment, are teaming up to keep local people from our public lands.”