8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015
Local
Commissioners receive public lands resolution
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Baker County Com-
missioners received a
submission Tuesday from
the Baker County Repub-
lican Party, regarding the
Public Lands Resolution
that group passed 18-6 at
its last meeting, according
to the email from Chair
Suzan Ellis Jones, which
accompanied that resolu-
tion.
Commissioners Mark
Bennett and Bill Harvey
responded by thanking
Jones for the submission.
Bennett indicated that they
could now proceed to look
at the resolution as it had
been presented by a citizen
group.
The local resolution
follows in the footsteps of
another resolution already
passed by Klamath County
Commissioners as well as
the Republican National
Committee.
Two years ago, The
Baker County Republi-
cans submitted a Second
Amendment Resolution
to the County, which was
adopted as a County reso-
lution, albeit with modifi-
cations to the original. The
Republicans hope Com-
missioners, similarly, will
adopt this new resolution
on a county level.
“Utah State Representa-
tive Ken Ivory and Ameri-
can Lands Council worked
with us all the way on the
wording of this resolu-
tion,” said Chair Suzan
Ellis Jones.
Last year, Ivory came to
Baker City and gave a six-
hour seminar on Constitu-
tional Law and the history
of public lands in America.
Both Bennett and Harvey
attended and praised
Ivory’s presentation at the
time.
The return of public
lands to more local control
is also a plank in the
Oregon Republican Party’s
platform.
Last month, a Fed-
eral subcommittee was
launched to address the
subject.
The full text of the Baker
County Republican Central
Committee Resolution
number 15-01 is:
WHEREAS, the United
States government has
direct management respon-
sibility for roughly between
635 and 640 million acres
of land; and
WHEREAS, this acre-
age amounts to 28% of the
2.27 billion acres of land
contained in the United
States; and
WHEREAS, federally
controlled land is con-
centrated in the West,
comprising 62% of Alaska,
and 47% of the eleven
contiguous western states
combined; and
WHEREAS, the federal
government only manages
4% of all lands east of
Colorado; and
WHEREAS, the state-
hood enabling contracts
for all newly created states
east and west of Colorado
are the same regarding the
transfer of federal lands
within their borders; and
WHEREAS, despite the
fact that the statehood
enabling act terms regard-
ing the transfer of federal
lands are the same for all
newly created states both
east and west of Colorado,
the Federal Government
controls on average less
than 5% of the lands in
states east of Colorado;
and
WHEREAS, the federal
government has failed
to honor same statehood
terms for the transfer of
federal lands with MT, WY,
CO, NM, AZ, UT, ID, NV,
WA, OR, CA and AK and
today still controls more
than 50% of the lands in
these states and more that
80% of lands in Nevada;
and
WHEREAS, the Supreme
Court of the United States
declared these enabling act
contracts to be “solemn
compacts” with enforce-
able rights and obligations
on both sides; and
WHEREAS, the Supreme
Court of the United States
also declared in 2013 that
“the constitutional equality
of the States is essential to
the harmonious operation
of the republic” and that
our nation was, and is, a
union of states equal in
dignity, power and author-
ity”; and
WHEREAS, in 1976 the
United States Congress
purported to nullify its
nearly two hundred year
old duty of transferring
ownership of public lands
by passing the Federal
Land Policy Management
Act (FLPMA); and
WHEREAS, public lands
previously held “in trust
for the states ultimately
to be created” (Shivley
v. Bowlby, U.S. Supreme
Court) were managed for
their resource value prior
to the passage of FLPMA;
and
WHEREAS, the unani-
mous 2009 U.S. supreme
Court case Hawaii v.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
speaks to the proposition
that Congress cannot by
subsequent, unilateral
action alter or diminish
the rights conferred upon
a state in consequence of
its admission to the Union;
and
WHEREAS, after the
passage of FLPMA our
public lands are instead
being mismanaged per-
petually for their so-called
conservation value; and
with the effect that the
conservation values are
squandered rather than
preserved.
WHEREAS, the National
Association of Forest Ser-
vice retirees recently issued
a paper describing the
un-sustainability of current
federal forest management
practices; and
WHEREAS, the resulting
increase in catastrophic
wildfires is needlessly
killing millions of animals
and destroying habitat and
watersheds for decades;
and
WHEREAS, western
states are incurring inordi-
nate expenses to suppress
forest fires related to failed
federal forest policies; and
WHEREAS, local, state
and national economies
are all being adversely im-
pacted by the loss of use of
the natural resources thus
being managed; and
WHEREAS, The Forest
Service and the Bureau of
Land Management lose $2
billion each year managing
public lands. States con-
sistently generate positive
financial returns. The four
states we examined – Ari-
zona, Idaho, New Mexico
and Montana earn an av-
erage of $14.51 for every
dollar they spend on land
management; the Feds lose
27 cents. These states earn
on average seven times
more for every dollar spent
that the federal agencies
on timber and energy de-
velopment, 35 times more
on grazing, and 25 times
more on recreation. In
New Mexico this amounted
to nearly $817 million in
2014, enough to pay the
salaries of 17,000 teachers
according to the state land
office; and
WHEREAS, Payment in
Lieu of Taxes (PILT), Se-
cure Rural Schools (SRS),
and other federal trans-
fer payments are merely
offsets for federal restric-
tions on the ability of local
and state governments to
generate revenues from
the productive use and
stewardship of the lands
and resources within their
boundaries; and
WHEREAS, these trans-
fer payments have been
unreliably funded and are
financially inadequate to
compensate Baker County
or the State of Oregon for
federal breach of their Or-
egon’s Enabling Act; and
WHEREAS, PILT, SRS
and other federal offset
payments foster the politi-
cal exploitation of western
states that are compelled
to accept political “bar-
gains” in Washington each
year to secure funding and
payment of these offset
payments (for example,
members of Congress from
western States had to agree
to $200 billion in addi-
tional Food Stamp funding
in the 2014 Farm Bill to
secure $400 million in
PILT payments); and
WHEREAS, under the
guise of “sequestration”
to cut federal expense,
the federal government is
cutting western states rev-
enues in the form of PILT,
SRS and FML (Federal
Mineral Lease) through
cutbacks, thereby causing
an economic hardship on
the State of Oregon and
Baker County; and
WHEREAS, states east of
Colorado pay billions each
year to subsidize western
states to not use their lands
and resources to educate
their own children and
care for their own commu-
nities; and
WHEREAS, western
states already manage mil-
lions of acres of state lands
generating more revenue
with less expense and less
environmental damage
in general than federally
managed public lands; and
WHEREAS, the federal
government discourages
capital investment and job
creation by taking 10 times
longer to approve energy
and mineral development
permits than states where
the federal government
honored the promise to
transfer title to the public
lands to the states; and
WHEREAS, the institute
for Energy Research dis-
covered in 2013 that there
is more than $150 trillion
in mineral value locked
up in federally controlled
lands; and
WHEREAS, Baker Coun-
ty is a political subdivision
of the State of Oregon; and
WHEREAS, nearly 53%
of the total land within
the state of Oregon and
52% in Baker County is
managed by the federal
government; and
WHEREAS, in June
1857, without enabling
legislation from Congress,
Oregonians voted to hold
a constitutional convention
and drafted a governing
constitutional document;
and
WHEREAS, it was mod-
eled after the United States
Constitution and the Bill of
Rights and closely follows
the constitution of Iowa,
Indiana, and Michigan;
and
WHEREAS, the federal
government promised all
states that it would transfer
title to the public lands
within the newly created
states; and
WHEREAS, Baker
County, a subdivision
of the State of Oregon,
as well as other western
states are still waiting for
the federal government
to keep the same promise
to them that it made and
kept with all states east of
Colorado; and
WHEREAS, the “west-
ern states” of 1828 (as
the states east of Colo-
rado called themselves
at the time) succeeded in
compelling the federal
government to transfer
their public lands because
they understood the duty
of the federal government
to dispose of the lands and
they joined together and
now have these sustaining
revenues (i) generating
tax revenues to educate
their children (ii) growing
their economies, and (iii)
responsibly managing their
abundant natural resourc-
es; and
WHEREAS, despite the
fact that the statehood
promise is the same to
dispose of the public lands
upon being admitted as
states, states east of Colo-
rado have less than 5%
federally controlled lands
while the Western States
(excluding Hawaii) have
more than 50% federally
controlled lands; and
WHEREAS, the State
Oregon and Baker County
have been damaged by
the inordinate cost and
substantial uncertainty
regarding the national gov-
ernment’s infringement on
the State of Oregon’s and
Baker County’s’ sovereign
control of public lands
within their borders; and
WHEREAS, withdraw-
als of public lands from
use, and economic activity,
through such federal action
as monuments, wilderness
designation, wild and sce-
nic, back country, ACEC’s,
wilderness study areas,
road closures and other
such designations constrict
the value of Oregon and
Baker County’s economic
vitality and reduce the
available property tax
revenue to Baker County
for Public Safety, county
services, and educating
our children; and
WHEREAS, Oregon State
and Baker County officials
have the constitutional
responsibility and duty
to manage our abun-
dant lands and resources
strategically and prudently
for the health, safety and
welfare of our citizens; and
WHEREAS, in 2012,
Utah passed the Trans-
fer of Public Lands Act
demanding the federal gov-
ernment work with Utah
for the orderly transfer of
federal public lands ex-
pressly excluding national
parks, military bases,
Indian reservations and
other heritage sites; and
WHEREAS, under the
Transfer of Public Lands
Act, federal public lands
will become state pub-
lic lands to be managed
through local planning for
the multiple-use (including
traditional uses like mining
and grazing, hunting, fish-
ing, recreation, timber har-
vesting and thinning, open
space, economic activity,
etc.) to be planned and
managed by each unique
county; and
WHEREAS, the Transfer
of Public Lands Act has
received broad support
from governors, attorney
generals, state legislators,
members of many Western
States Congressional del-
egations, and other public
officials located throughout
the west, and many other
and private individuals and
organizations within the
many neighboring western
states; and
WHEREAS, the imple-
mentation of the Transfer
of Public Lands Act will re-
quire the persistent and re-
lentless efforts of Oregon’s
governor, attorney general,
and legislature along with
the unwavering support
of local governments and
public and private indi-
viduals and organizations;
and
WHEREAS, legal
analyses by the Sutherland
Institute and the Federal-
ist Society conclude that
the intent of the parties,
the text, and the context
of the statehood enabling
acts, obligate the federal
government to dispose of
public lands; and
THEN BE IT RE-
SOLVED, each county will
manage their own local
resources in a sustainable
manner, exclusive of state
control.
BE IT FURTHER RE-
SOLVED, that no restric-
tive designation will be
imposed, nor can it be
encumbered or sold unless
there is full county concur-
rence with all terms of the
encumbrance, including,
but not limited to, ACEC’s,
wilderness designation,
wild and scenic, or any
restrictive road closures
or any other restrictive
designation unless there is
county concurrence of the
affected county; and
BE IT ALSO RE-
SOLVED, that the State of
Oregon and Baker County
call upon the federal
government to honor to all
willing western states the
same statehood promise to
transfer title to the public
lands that it honored to all
states east of Colorado;
and
BE IT ALSO RE-
SOLVED, that the State of
Oregon and Baker County
Republican Party call upon
all local, state and national
leaders and representatives
to exert their utmost power
and influence to urge the
imminent transfer of public
lands to all willing western
states for the benefit of
these western states and
for the economic viability
of the nation as a whole;
and
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT PROCLAIMED,
THE BAKER COUNTY
REPUBLICAN PARTY
supports the passage of a
Transfer of Public Lands
Act. Which means three
things for Oregon and
Baker County. First it
allows our citizens to
protect our land directly.
Second it permits our
citizens to manage our
lands responsibly. Third,
it leaves a legacy for
the next generation. The
American West’s abundant
natural resources must be
protected and those closest
to it will do the best job.
Also, along with federal
laws protecting and per-
taining to; right of ways,
water rights, grazing and
mining in order to hold
the federal government to
its long-overdue promise
to transfer title to public
lands to the State and
counties so as to protect
the State’s public educa-
tion system and economic
vitality, and to preserve the
important historical and
cultural contribution that
our public lands provide
to the State of Oregon
and Baker County and
the rest of the counties in
Oregon, the nation, and
the world. WE URGE THE
TIMELY AND ORDERLY
TRANSFER OF FED-
ERAL PUBLIC LANDS TO
WILLING STATES FOR
LOCAL CONTROL THAT
WILL PROVIDE BETTER
PUBLIC ACCESS, BET-
TER ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH, AND BETTER
ECONOMIC PRODUC-
TIVITY; Passed by the full
Baker County Republican
Central Committee on:
May 7, 2015.
Library schedules ‘Parents are Swim team results posted
heroes’ event across County
Baker County Library
District is hosting, “Parents
are our heroes!” events
at each of its satellite
branches the last week in
May in preparation for the
Summer Reading Program.
Parents of young children
are invited to these free
events which will feature
tips on how to be an ef-
fective Reading Partner
with kids, build other
early learning skills, and
a preview of the library’s
summer reading program.
Participants will receive
free books, refreshments
and “literacy bags.”
Event locations, dates
& times:
• Huntington Library,
May 27 3-4:30 p.m.
• Haines Library, May 28
3:30-4:30 p.m.
• Richland Library, May
30 10-11 a.m.
• Halfway Library
(meeting at the park), May
30 12:00-1 p.m.
Baker YMCA swim team
hosted their Dive & Dash
on May 2-3. 92 swimmers
represented six teams. The
following are the results
for Jared Miller, Justin
Miller, Jacob Miller and
Riana Scott, swimming for
La Grande Swim Club.
Girls 13-14 200 Yard IM 2 Scott, Riana
L; Boys 13-14 200 Yard IM 1 Miller, Justin
D; Boys 15 & Over 200 Yard IM 1 Miller,
Jared C; Girls 13-14 200 Yard Backstroke
1 Scott, Riana L; Boys 13-14 200 Yard
Backstroke 1 Miller, Justin D
Boys 15 & Over 200 Yard Backstroke 1
Miller, Jared C; Girls 13-14 100 Yard But-
terfly 1 Scott, Riana L; Boys 13-14 100 Yard
Butterfly 2 Miller, Justin D; Boys 15 & Over
100 Yard Butterfly 1 Miller, Jared C; Girls
13-14 200 Yard Breaststroke 1 Scott, Riana
L; Boys 15 & Over 200 Yard Breaststroke
1 Miller, Jared C; Girls 13-14 100 Yard
Freestyle 2 Scott, Riana L; Boys 13-14 100
Yard Freestyle 2 Miller, Justin D; Boys 15
& Over 100 Yard Freestyle 1 Miller, Jared
C; Boys 11-12 200 Yard Freestyle 5 Miller,
Jacob N; Girls 13-14 200 Yard Freestyle
1 Scott, Riana L; Boys 13-14 200 Yard
Freestyle 1 Miller, Justin D
Boys 15 & Over 200 Yard Freestyle
1 Miller, Jared C; Boys 11-12 100 Yard
Breaststroke 1 Miller, Jacob N; Girls
13-14 100 Yard Breaststroke 2 Scott, Riana
L; Boys 13-14 100 Yard Breaststroke 2
Miller, Justin D; Boys 15 & Over 100 Yard
Breaststroke 2 Miller, Jared C; Boys 11-12
50 Yard Butterfly 5 Miller, Jacob N; Boys 15
& Over 200 Yard Butterfly 1 Miller, Jared C;
Girls 13-14 100 Yard Backstroke 2 Scott,
Riana L; Boys 13-14 100 Yard Backstroke 1
Miller, Justin D
Boys 15 & Over 100 Yard Backstroke
1 Miller, Jared C; Boys 11-12 50 Yard
Freestyle 5 Miller, Jacob N; Girls 13-14 50
Yard Freestyle 1 Scott, Riana L; Boys 15
& Over 50 Yard Freestyle 2 Miller, Jared C;
Girls 13-14 500 Yard Freestyle 2 Scott,
Riana L.