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January 15, 2016 CapitalPress.com 11 BLM creates ‘study after study’ and ‘haystacks of regulation’ in anticipation of litigation HARNEY from Page 1 Rick Bowmer/Associated Press Members of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters stand guard Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, near Burns, Ore. The group calls itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom and has sent a “demand for redress” to local, state and federal offi cials. The armed anti-government group took over the remote national wildlife refuge in Oregon as part of a decades-long fi ght over public lands in the West. ‘No, we do not approve of the armed men who took over the refuge’ NEXT from Page 1 Judging from more than 120,000 YouTube views of his speech and even-hand- ed editorial response from the largest news organiza- tions, Walden and others who represent, live in and work in the rural West ap- pear to have gained the na- tion’s attention. The message: No, we do not approve of the armed men who took over the refuge. But the underlying frustration and anger at federal land management and loss of economic op- portunity is real. So now what? Walden said he’s discussed such issues with the Republican leadership, but it’s unclear how much can be accom- plished in the current polit- ical atmosphere. On Wednesday, the House voted 253-166 to overturn the EPA’s “Waters of the U.S.” rule, which farm- ers and ranchers say gives the feds control over what Walden called “every stock pond and intermittent ditch.” Walden said the vote sends a “very clear mes- sage” to the Obama admin- istration about environ- mental “over-reach.” The Senate approved a similar measure in Novem- ber, but the White House has threatened to veto it. Congress is unlikely to as- semble the two-thirds ma- jorities required to override a veto, the Wall Street Jour- nal reported. Meanwhile, Walden said it’s unlikely federal land will be turned over to the states or counties, as many in the West favor. But he and others said a number of incremental changes would help mat- ters. For starters, the stat- ute requiring the five-year mandatory minimum sen- tence for Dwight and Ste- ven Hammond, the Harney County ranchers at the cen- ter of the issue, could be revised, Walden said. He said the statute was written after the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City and was aimed at acts of domestic terrorism that damage fed- eral property. The fires set by the Hammonds burned acreage managed by the BLM. “But in Oregon, the punishment doesn’t fit this crime,” he said. The idea received sup- port at the recent American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Orlando, Fla. Delegates approved a policy recommendation that Congress prohib- it prosecution of farmers and ranchers under feder- al anti-terrorism statutes for common agricultural practices, like setting back burns to protect their prop- erty from wildfires. If this threat isn’t neu- tralized, it will have a “chilling effect” on farm practices among growers who fear facing mandatory minimum prison sentences, said Barry Bushue, Oregon Farm Bureau president. The American Farm Bu- reau Federation has long been engaged with con- gressional leaders about problems with fire manage- ment and reduced grazing on federal lands to seek a legislative fix, Bushue said. Zippy Duvall of Geor- gia, who was elected AFBF president during the convention, said federal land management agen- cies should find common ground with ranchers in- stead of behaving like “bul- lies.” “Everybody needs to step back from it to look for solutions,” he said. “With every challenge, there should be an opportunity to find solutions.” Walden, the only Repub- lican among Oregon’s con- gressional delegation, said President Obama could defuse tension by backing away from proposals to es- tablish an Owyhee Canyon- lands national monument or wilderness area on 2.5 million acres in Malheur County, in Oregon’s south- east corner. County residents say the designation would cov- er more than 40 percent of the county, would eliminate grazing on federal land and decimate the cattle indus- try. “The community is be- side themselves,” Walden said. “They’re being told either cut a deal with the enviros or have it shoved down their throat.” Walden said he hopes to tell the president, “If you do this, it will put gas on the fire for no good rea- son.” He and others say a bar- rage of litigation against logging, ranching and min- ing is encouraged by a pro- cess that pays legal fees to environmental groups when they prevail on even a sin- gle point of a lawsuit. Walden said environ- mental groups have already shut down the timber in- dustry and now want to get cattle off the range. “It’s a pretty cold-hearted strate- gy,” he said. Walden said the admin- istration and Congress need to realize that rural poverty and inner-city poverty are quite similar, brought on by a loss of opportunity. “If they understood the rate of poverty and the rate of despair in our ru- ral communities, in rural Oregon, maybe they’d go, ‘Gosh there’s a problem we need to address.’” Walden said. Retired Harney County rancher Bill Wilber said he welcomes the renewed at- tention to the area’s prob- lems and hopes federal agencies will resume a part- nership role with ranchers, loggers and others. Wilber was on a steering committee that met 39 times to hammer out greater sage grouse habitat conservation plans on private property. The Harney County agree- ments between ranchers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service became a model that kept the sage grouse off the endangered spe- cies list in 2015, and the collaboration was widely praised. But Wilber said the BLM’s subsequent sage grouse plan on land it man- ages, and on which many ranchers graze cattle, is much more restrictive than in the past. “We busted our butts and did the right thing for the bird, and get screwed in the end as if we hadn’t done anything,” he said. “I would submit the rancher is the ultimate en- vironmentalist,” Wilber said. “If they don’t take care of that ground, that grass, that water, they’ll be out of business.” The decline of Pacifi c Northwest timber industry is an old story, but rural residents point out that nothing has re- placed it, economically. The government’s role is borne out by statistics: In Oregon, the federal government manages 60 percent of the state’s forest- land but produces only 12 per- cent of annual timber harvest, according to the Oregon Forest Resources Institute. Harney County’s population stood at 7,126 in 2014, a 4 per- cent drop since the 2010 U.S. Census. Since 1980, when the population was 8,314 and the job losses began, the county has lost nearly 1,200 people. Those remaining repre- sent an aging demographic, as young people seek opportunity elsewhere. As of 2014, 22 per- cent of county residents were 65 or older, compared to 16 percent statewide. The county unemployment rate was 7.3 percent in No- vember 2015, compared to the statewide average of 5.7 percent. Bill Wilber, a retired ranch- er in Harney County, said a drumbeat of government ac- tion or proposals involving the federal EPA, BLM, state Department of Environmental Quality, sage grouse, “waters of the U.S.” and other issues is tough for residents to take. “It’s continued rules and regulations that do everything to make it more diffi cult to make a living, to pay your bills educate your kids, pay your mortgage and lead a good life.” Wilber said. State Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, whose district in- cludes Harney County, said the actions of the “Bundy bun- glers” who took over the wild- life refuge should not diminish the “incredible problems” that dog rural residents. Bentz said the Forest Ser- vice spends its budget fi ght- ing fi res instead of preparing timber sales, and the BLM creates “study after study” and Land ownership in Harney County Private: 1.6 million acres or 24.9% Bureau of Land Management: 3.97 million acres or 60.6% Sources: Harney County GIS; BLM, Burns District At more than 6.5 million acres, Harney is the largest county in Oregon. State: 197,417 acres or 3% U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: 188,160 acres or 2.9% U.S. Forest Service: 523,071 acres or 8% Other government*: 36,507 acres or 0.6% * Includes Bureau of Reclamation, Indian reservation and trust land, Northern Great Basin Experimental Range and other water bodies. Alan Kenaga/Capital Press 768 jobs, 31% of all jobs Harney County wood products employment 663, 20% (By number of jobs, percent of all jobs in county) Source: Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Alan Kenaga/Capital Press 213, 8% 1978 1988 1998 “haystacks of regulation” in anticipation of litigation. The complexity of management rules becomes “crazily exag- gerated,” he said. “Pretty soon nothing hap- pens because the land manag- ers are so busy trying to create a plan that’s bulletproof, and fail,” he said. Meanwhile, struggling ru- ral business owners are faced with such things as a state proposal to raise the minimum wage, Bentz said. Businesses operating in larger cities may be able to absorb the increase, but in rural Oregon, only busi- nesses that are part of national chains will be able to pay it. He said the small town of Halfway, in Baker County, needs $4 million to build a For more information, go to the full report: bit.ly/1Rm4y0C 13, 1% 6, 0% 2008 2014 sewage treatment plant as re- quired under the federal Clean Water Act, but has no way to afford it. Grasty, the Harney County judge, said economic problems in rural areas have ripple ef- fects that might not be noticed elsewhere. If a ranch goes out of business, for example, the local fi refi ghting association loses someone who’s out on the ground and can spot prob- lems early, he said. Grasty said he’s trying to put together an economic strategy for the county. “People are so frustrated that they’re slowly being un- dermined out of existence,” he said. “We’re not being heard. 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