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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2015)
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3 FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2015 Business & Ag Baker County working with Fred Kelly Grant to protect local lands BY BRIAN ADDISON Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com Chair of the Baker County Board of Com- missioners Bill Harvey is constructing a strategy to protect local lands as federal and state agencies enact new land manage- ment policies. Harvey has enlisted the help of land use lawyer Fred Kelly Grant in his quest to exer- cise local control on lands within the county. Grant is a well-respected land use expert and carries an impressive resume’. He is an author, public speak- er, has worked as council for two Idaho Governors, is an associate working as American counsel to Lloyds of London, was president of Stewards of the Range and American Stewards of Liberty, CEO of Trademark America, and since 2008 has worked as expert consultant to local governments, and private party ranchers and farmers to help protect local assets and the heritage and liveli- hood of the western United States.. Grant has yet to begin his work in Baker County but has been placed on retainer. Grant’s guidance may begin once the Baker County Commissioners have made a final decision based on the recommenda- tions compiled in the Baker County Natural Resource Plan, a project currently undertaken by the county’s Natural Resource Advisory Committee (NRAC). Harvey thinks the rec- ommendations from the NRAC may reach the desk of the three commission- ers in about one month. At that time, commissioners will make the decision on whether to accept the recommendations and then finalize the new natural resource plan. It is at that point that Grant could begin his work to help Baker County enter the process of coordination with the federal and state land management agencies. Grant has long been an advocate of local control on local lands through a legal process referred to as “coordination”. Coordina- tion, written into federal laws, mandates the federal and state land manage- ment agencies to remain consistent with local land use policy and has been used by local governments to protect local interests and assets within lands managed under federal and state authority. Once the county’s Natural Resource Plan is finished, Harvey expects to enlist the services of Grant to enter into the coordina- tion process with federal and state land managers. Baker County has an ordinance requiring the coordination process, in place since 2001 and that ordinance was reaffirmed by the county commission- ers through a coordination resolution passed in 2009. While the law requiring coordination exists within county ordinance it has not been fully used by county officials. Harvey plans to change that. Topping the list of Harvey’s priorities is the formation of a joint effort between the county and City of Baker City to work with federal land manag- ers to address what Harvey calls “a huge, unrealistic fire load,” in the Baker City watershed. Harvey wants to gain the support of his fellow Friday, July 3, 2015 — Eastern Oregon Prices trended generally steady compared to the same quality last week. Trade activity increased a little this week, however many producers were still busy in the field with the new crop. Most producers have not yet begun selling new crop hay. All prices are in dollars per ton and FOB unless otherwise stated. Sales: Tons Price Range Wtd Avg Submitted Photo. Fred Kelly Grant. Baker County Commis- sioners Tim Kerns and Mark Bennett. Once able to move forward, Harvey said a letter denoting Baker County’s intent to coor- dinate would be sent to Environmental Protection Agency, the Oregon De- partment of Environmental Quality, the Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Forest Service, Unit- ed States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. “Once we have a Natural Resource Plan in place, we’ll go to the BLM and Forest Service to see how their plans work with the county’s plan,” Harvey said. Forester sets the record straight at ‘First Friday’ meeting CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 This month’s meeting was held on Monday, July 6, since the Baker County Courthouse was closed on Friday, July 3, in obser- vance of Independence Day. Joining County Com- mission Chair Bill Harvey were Craig and Doni Bruland, Andersen, Tork and Wanda Ballard, Debi Bainter, Marshall Mc- Comb, Chuck Chase, and Bobbie Danser. During last month’s meeting, Andersen made some comments regarding his opinion concerning the transfer of public forest lands from federal to state or county control and management, since people in the local community have asked him about this subject, he said. Andersen, a member of the Baker County Repub- licans, was part of that party’s natural resources subcommittee, which drafted a resolution in favor of the transfer of public lands. That resolu- tion was submitted to the County Commissioners. During this week’s pub- lic meeting, Andersen took the floor to publicly clarify his stance, which he main- tains doesn’t line up at all with what was reported last month. The Record Courier published the following on June 11, 2015, in an article titled “Public Lands Resolution 15-01 is Heated Discussion Topic at June 5 Meeting,” written by Em- ily Braswell: “Not everyone present at the meeting was in agree- ment with the concept of such a transfer (of public lands back to local control, stated in Resolu- tion 15-01), including Arvid Andersen, a forester and member of the Baker County Republican Central Committee who asked, — Weekly Hay Report — Comments Alfalfa — Large Square Fair/Good 180 170.00-170.00 170.00 New Crop Alfalfa/Orchard Mix — Large Square Good 150 190.00-190.00 190.00 New Crop USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov — Cattle Market Report — Wednesday, June 24, 2015 (No sale for July 1) Vale, Oregon Cattle sold through the auction: 349 Steer Calves 300-400# Bulk N/A Top N/A 400-500# Bulk 273.00 - 309.00 Top 313.00 500-600# Bulk 251.00 - 271.00 Top 278.00 Heifer Calves 300-400# Bulk N/A Top N/A 400-500# Bulk N/A Top N/A 500-600# Bulk 226.00 - 243.00 Top 247.50 Yearling Steers 600-700# Bulk 236.00 - 249.00 Top 250.50 700-800# Bulk 215.00 - 224.00 Top 228.00 800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A 900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A Yearling Heifers 600-700# Bulk 217.00 - 226.00 Top 228.00 700-800# Bulk N/A Top N/A 800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A 900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A Thin Shelly Cows 76.00 - 93.00 Butcher Cows 97.00 - 108.00 Butcher Bulls 112.00 - 128.00 Pairs BM N/A Younger Hfrts. 112.00 - 130.00 Young Pairs - N/A ProducersLivestock.com 541-473-3136 — Log Price Report — Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press Forester Arvid Andersen sports an American Lands Council T-shirt while clarify- ing his stance that transfer of public lands is possible if done right. ‘How could the county possibly take care of the Federal Lands? There‘s all the staffing, the money, and even Cliff Bentz, our Representative, said it couldn’t be done.’” During this month’s meeting, Andersen said, “I have a little bit of a concern, and I wish either Gina Perkins (editor of The Record Courier) was here, or Emily Braswell.” Braswell attended part of this month’s meeting, but was absent during the time Andersen spoke. Andersen said, “After I spoke (at last month’s meeting), they wrote an article saying that I was against the forests relin- quishing the timber sales, the timber lands, to Oregon State or Baker County. I never tried to address that, but they printed that in their paper, and I asked them to retract that. She (Perkins) said she would not.” Andersen sent an email to The Baker County Press reiterating that, “A number of Baker County residents who know me as a forester, have asked me, ‘How could the State of Oregon or a county government hold onto forest land if the USFS (U.S. Forest Service) lands were trans- ferred to state or county governments?’ “I stated with clarity that Idaho, Oregon and Wash- ington states have forestry programs where timber is cut, and yield a net profit to state general funds. I also mentioned Hood River County as it has a forestry program, and pro- vides a positive cash flow to Hood River County, of around 30 to 35% of that county’s annual budget. “I did not actually state whether I supported the transfer of BLM/USFS to State/County governments, but answered the question of whether they can. My answer was, absolutely yes, with giving examples of the local governments that are currently doing that, and doing it right.” Andersen, at this month’s meeting, cited some more examples of how timber sales programs could work, handing Harvey documents with information regard- ing the sale of timber to an Idaho saw mill, Tamarack Mill, LLC, from the Idaho Department of Lands, in McCall. The final sale informa- tion included the gross sale amount of $1,244,502 (net value of $1,165,200), for 29,631 tons of timber, from 570 acres located approximately 13.5 miles northwest of Council, Idaho. Other Items. Other topics at the monthly meeting with Har- vey included a discussion about Fred Kelly Grant, lead attorney on the Stand & Fight Club, a group dedicated to protecting the culture and economy of the rural communities in the U.S., by fighting to keep the federal government in check regarding laws and regulations. Wanda Ballard said that she’s aware that Forest Access For All (FAFA) and other entities have donated funds to the Stand & Fight Club, and Harvey said he’d spent several hours with Grant on Monday, inform- ing the attendees that Grant was hospitalized due to an injury and some health issues. Harvey said that he’s recovering well, and the two are communicating regularly, and moving forward. SEE FORESTER PAGE 7 Doug Fir is $415.00/mbf White fir is $365.00/mbf Ponderosa Pine is brought sold on diameter splits 6 to 11 inch dib $300 to $310/MBF 12 to 17 inch dib $350 to $375/MBF 18 to 23 inch dib $400 to $430/MBF 24 inch plus dib $450 to $500/MBF DIB is diameter inside bark at small end of log. MBF is thousand board feet lumber, net scale. People interested in selling logs should call and get specific quotes from saw mills. Courtesy of Arvid Andersen, Andersen Forestry Consulting — Precious Metals Report — Price per ounce, USD Gold: $1157.00 Silver: $15.05 Platinum: $1,032.45 Palladium: $655.20 Bloomberg.com — Ag Commodities — Corn: $424.50/bu/USD Wheat: $577.50/bu/USD Soybeans: $988.25/bu/USD Oats: $267.00 bu/USD Rough Rice: $11.01/cwt/USD Canola: $520.20 CAD/mwt Live Cattle: $149.10/lb./USD Feeder Cattle: $213.98/lb./USD Lean Hogs: $75.70/lb./USD Bloomberg.com