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