FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 11
Local
Pie auction and dinner
raises $3K for fair
• TYLER BROWN HIGH
BIDDER OF A $300 PIE,
FAIR FAMILY
ANNOUNCED
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
On Tuesday evening,
over 70 people came to-
gether in the Event Hall at
the Baker County Confer-
ence & Event Center, to
attend the 2015 Baker
County Fair Pie Auction
and Dinner, donations for
which generated just over
$3,000 from the event.
At 6 p.m., a lively social
hour began with com-
munity members present,
including former County
Commissioner Fred War-
ner, Jr., and current County
Commissioners Bill Har-
vey and Tim Kerns.
Tyler Brown, of Bar-
ley Brown’s Brew Pub,
provided and served two
types of beer during the
event, Coyote Peak Wheat
and Pallet Jack IPA, and
Dan Warnock, Jr. and
other volunteers outside
barbecued the beef for the
dinner, which also included
salad, baked beans, and
refreshments.
Ron Rowan, Baker
County Fair Board Chair-
man, introduced Fair
Manager Angie Turner, and
Rochelle Adams, Assistant
Manager. Fair Board
Members includes Dean
Defrees, Vice Chairman,
Christina Smith, Michelle
Kaseberg, Mark Johnson,
Cynthia Norton, and Cliff
Schoeningh. Staff Mem-
bers includes Bruce Smith,
Maintenance/Janito-
rial. Fair Advisory Board
Members includes Terri
Siddoway, Janice Cowan,
Rob Ellingson, and County
Commissioner Mark Ben-
nett.
Rowan said, “Once
again, so much of this is
volunteer, giving from the
community, donating every
year, so, I’d like to give
a big round of applause,”
followed by enthusiastic
applause from those pres-
ent. He also thanked other
volunteers, including War-
nock, Jr., for their efforts,
and for the many dona-
tions over the past years to
Friends of the Fair.
Rowan introduced Kari
Borgen, publisher, who
said, “Baker City Herald is
proud to sponsor the Fair
Family of the Year. We’ve
been sponsoring the Fair
Family since 2001 (she
displayed copies of news-
papers showcasing the Fair
Families from previous
years on the wall behind
her). Congratulations
to everybody…Without
further ado, I would like to
introduce Chuck Buchan-
an. Chuck’s was one of
the dominating letters, and
Chuck, let us know why
this year’s fair family is
special.”
Buchanan, who is
also a reporter for The
Baker County Press, talked
about how he and his
wife, Cheryl, decided to
nominate this year’s Fair
Family, Dan, Haley, Drew
and Morgan Morris, and
he read their nomination
letter:
“To whom it may con-
cern, We are delighted to
nominate Dan and Haley
Morris to be the 2015
Baker County Fair Family.
“The Morrises were both
born in Baker County, and
as a result, they know what
family support for kids’
activities is all about. The
extended Morris family has
always made their presence
know at any event that
Drew and Morgan, Dan’s
kids, were involved in.
“When Haley joined the
family, she brought not
only her own enthusiasm,
but her parents and grand-
parents became the ulti-
mate cheerleading squad
for Drew and Morgan.
“Together, the group
makes an incredibly strong
support unit for not only
the Morris kids, but for
all of Baker County’s 4-H
and FFA kids. Dan served
on the Baker County
Fair Board for a number
of years, and was Swine
Chairman for the Baker
County Fair, even after
Drew graduated from high
The Morris Family is 2015’s Fair Family.
school, and Morgan opted
for a beef project.
“At the same time, Haley
was Dan’s right-hand
woman, lending her as-
sistance to any and every
volunteer job that Dan
takes on.
“Whether it be for live-
stock judging, or preparing
a meal, Haley is always
there and always smiling.
A true fair family is there
for the kids. Not just their
own kids, but all the other
kids in the livestock barns.
A true fair family is there
to volunteer, and is there to
cheer on not just their own
kids, but all the kids. And
because of Dan and Haley,
Drew and Morgan, and for
that matter, a lot of other
kids who they’re not even
related to, have had a shin-
ing example of just what
that true fair family is.
“Drew and Morgan
graduated high school and
began lives of their own,
but you’ll still see Dan
and Haley stepping up and
helping at the fair, all the
while cheering on your
own nieces and nephews…
And, for the above reasons,
we believe that Dan and
Haley Morris should be
chosen as the 2015 Baker
County Fair Family.”
Buchanan congratulated
the Morrises, and Bor-
gen presented them with
awards sponsored by the
Fair Board. Dan’s par-
ents, Larry and Rochelle
(“Rocky”) Morris, were
also seated with the family.
Warner, Jr., and his
brother, Scott, provided
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
some lively entertainment
as auctioneers during the
pie auction. Brown was
the high bidder of the eve-
ning, purchasing a peach
and huckleberry pie for
$300.
Previous Fair Families
of the Year included:
Markgraf family (2001);
Barr family (2002); Bunch
family (2003); Wendt
family (2004); Cockram
family (2005); Rohner
family (2006); Jacobs fam-
ily (2007); Phillips family
(2008); Gerald and Bonnie
Colton (2009); Coomer
family (2010); Crabill fam-
ily (2011); Rob and Dianne
Ellington (2012); Warner
family (2013); and Sid-
doway family (2014).
NRAC further
revises natural
resource plan
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
On Tuesday, the Baker
County Natural Resource
Advisory Committee
(NRAC) met to further
revise the County’s Natural
Resource Plan (NRP), a
finalized version of which
may be adopted at the
County Commission’s next
regular session, on August
5.
County Commission
Chair Bill Harvey was
joined at the meeting
by NRAC Chair Doni
Bruland, and members
Ken Anderson, Chuck
Chase, Jan Kerns, Cynthia
Long, Jan Alexander, Alice
Knapp, Eileen Gyllenberg,
Lyle Defrees, Dick Flem-
ing, and Kody Justus.
Guests included Carmel-
ita Holland, Craig Bru-
land, Wanda Ballard, and
Jorden Noyes, Rep. Greg
Walden’s Field Represen-
tative in the La Grande
office.
Bruland called the meet-
ing to order at 3 p.m., and
there were introductions
made by all those present.
She asked if there were any
public comments, as mem-
bers of the public are al-
lowed five minutes initially
to discuss topics related to
natural resources. Hearing
none, she asked Anderson
to speak next.
Anderson said, “As all of
you mining people know,
we recently had a law go
through our legislature
(Senate Bill 838) with
which, supposedly, they
think they’re going to
protect the environment.
What they’ve done, they
say you cannot mine
within 300 feet of a stream,
and this law was ill-con-
ceived by people who had
little knowledge of mining,
and no concept of what the
scope of this thing is going
to be.”
The bill, signed into law
last year by then Gover-
nor Kitzhaber, limits the
number of suction dredge
mining permits issued in
Oregon to 850 statewide,
and puts into the Gover-
nor’s control regulation
regarding how, where and
when suction dredging can
occur.
The number of miners
along a river would also be
limited to one every 500
feet, and mining would
be prohibited in salmon
spawning areas year-round.
Anderson said, “First of
all, modern mining doesn’t
create a serious impact to
the environment. It’s little
or none in the long run.
We don’t do things like
they did back in the 1900s
or so. So, it’s not really a
problem. Mining creates
more new wealth than any
other industry, per dol-
lar, that comes out of the
ground.”
He said that these and
other important points,
including the hit to the
economy of the state,
weren’t taken into consid-
eration when the bill was
drafted, and that he urged
strong objections to it from
members of the NRAC and
the County Commission-
ers.
Alexander said that,
for now, it’s the law, but
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Members of the County’s NRAC meet Tuesday to move forward with the County’s Natural Resource Plan,
a document that can be adjusted to suit future needs.
in February, legislatures
would take another look
at it, and decide whether
changes could be made.
Fleming made a sugges-
tion that individuals with
mining claims who are
affected could file lawsuits
as a class, as a way to
generate effective attention
regarding losses due to the
legislation.
Alexander said, “I say,
miners just need to be
diligent. Lawsuits cost
money. It takes ten years
or more, and then, they’re
moot, because of some-
thing else. Miners just
need to be extremely care-
ful, they need to be aware
of what this law says, and
not impact vegetation in
a manner that could risk
impact to water quality.”
Alexander and Anderson
discussed the topics of
vegetation, water quality,
and sediment impacts, and
Alexander pointed out the
issues with some small-
scale, “casual use” mining
operations, resulting in im-
pacts to the environment.
Long mentioned that
some good news recently
was heard from Bureau
of Land Management
(BLM) headquarters in
Washington, D.C., via an
instruction memorandum,
regarding Categorical Ex-
clusions (CEs) and renew-
ing mining permits.
After some discussion
about the format of the
copies of the different sec-
tions of the NRP given to
the committee members,
including some concerns
from Alexander and issues
about taking too little time
hearing from Kerns.
Harvey responded that,
“In order to start working
on plans (with government
agencies), we need to have
our plan (NRP) finished.
This is not something that
is in solid concrete. It is
going to be revisited every
year for readjustments
needed by this committee,
so we need to have a plan
in place in order to start
working with the Forest
Service, on a daily basis.”
The committee members
broke up into sub-groups
for about 45 minutes,
discussing each of the vari-
ous topics in the NRP and
making revisions, while
Noyes discussed some is-
sues with Harvey.
Harvey said that from
August 20-22 (Thursday
through Saturday), Fred
Kelly Grant will be in
Baker City with other
guests (to be determined)
to present information on
the topic of coordination
with government agencies.
The presentation is
scheduled to be at the
Baker County Conference
& Event Center, on East
Street, with lunch provided
each day.
Harvey said that, as more
details are received, they’ll
be released, including the
fee for the presentation and
the guest speakers.
He said that the public is
invited to attend the event,
and he plans to invite
Commissioners from other
counties.
Bruland informed the
group that the Baker Coun-
ty Travel Management
Committee, a separate
committee associated with
NRAC and the NRP, which
met on July 21, 2015, had
completed the revising of
the Access and Recreation
and Tourism sections of
the NRP.
Noyes stood and made
some comments to the
group about his back-
ground and current experi-
ence as the new Field Rep-
resentative in La Grande,
and discussed the status of
some bills introduced by
Walden.
The next NRAC meeting
is scheduled for Tuesday,
August 25, at 3 p.m., in the
Commission Chambers of
the Baker County Court-
house.