BUSINESS: Quail Crossing Studio opens in
Haines. PAGE 3
The
LOCAL: Powder River Pavilion opens with
ribbon-cutting, music in the park. PAGE 5
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Friday, September 11, 2015 • Volume 2, Issue 37
Obama land-grab means
‘monumental’ grazing loss
• 2.5-MILLION-
ACRE MONUMENT
PLANNED FOR
MALHEUR COUNTY
WOULD AFFECT
LOCAL LIVESTOCK
PRODUCERS
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
On July 10th of this
year, President Barack
Obama designated three
new national monuments,
Berryessa Snow Mountain
in California, Waco Mam-
moth in Texas, and Basin
and Range in Nevada, for a
total of at least 19 created
or expanded monuments
during his term so far.
The new monuments
sparked a fi restorm of divi-
sion in the nation among
politicians and others re-
garding the original intent
of the Antiquities Act of
1906 and its ever-expand-
ing modern reach.
Now the Owyhee Can-
yonlands in central and
southern Malheur County
in Oregon are the next
proposed designation,
covering 2.5 million acres,
in the sights of the Obama
Administration.
The Antiquities Act,
passed by Congress and
signed into law on June
8, 1906, by President
Theodore Roosevelt, was
originally intended to pro-
tect small archaeological
sites from looting.
However, the Act—only
four paragraphs long—has
since been interpreted
to give presidents the
unilateral power, without
Congressional approval,
to designate a virtually un-
limited number of federal
parcels of land, currently
totaling over 260 million
acres, as national monu-
ments with restrictions on
logging, hunting, grazing
and mining.
SEE OWYHEE PAGE 4
The proposed Owyhee wilderness area.
Submitted Photo.
Langrell, Kee,
VandenBos
meet over
double sewer,
water rates
BY GINA K. SWARTZ
Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Early Wednesday afternoon, City Councilor Richard
Langrell accompanied Glen VandenBos, who leased
property from the Bootsmas on Windmill Road, to what
turned out to be a brief closed-door meeting with City
Manager Mike Kee.
VandenBos says that a similar agreement to Langrell’s
own annexation agreement, requiring him to pay double
water and sewer rates on the property was in effect while
he leased the property and operated Eagle Valley Feed
and Seed at 2295 Windmill Road from 2000-2011.
SEE VANDENBOS MEETING PAGE 2
Brian Addison / The Baker County Press
$402K suit
Forester surveys aftermath against City,
Baker Loves
of the Cornet Creek fire
Bikes settled
Forester Arvid Andersen locates a pine tree next to the forest road felled by fi re crews for safety reasons.
He explains the value of timber after the fi re. This tree was badly burned, but inside the bark the wood is
unblemished by the fi re and retains near full value.
• ELVIN CARTER REMEMBERS THE END OF
AN INDUSTRY
• INSURANCE COMPANY FOR BAKER
LOVES BIKES NONPROFIT COMES TO
AGREEMENT WITH WOMAN STRUCK BY
BICYCLE DURING ELKHORN CLASSIC
BY BRIAN ADDISON
Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com
A quick tour through the Dooley Mountain area proves
a sobering and awe-inspiring experience as the once
beautiful green landscape has been replaced with 100,000
acres of blackness and, in many places, total forest fi re
devastation. The once intoxicating aroma of pine has
been replaced with the smell of burned wood and decom-
posing animal carcasses wafting on the breeze.
“When will we ever learn,” professional forester Arvid
Andersen mutters to himself, shaking his head as he sur-
veys the aftermath of the 103,000-acre Cornet Creek Fire.
Andersen has worked in the woods most of his life and
demonstrated his vast knowledge of forest ecology when,
this past February, he made a grave prediction during an
interview and fi eld trip for an article that ran in The Baker
County Press. At the time, he predicted a catastrophic
forest fi re.
During that February fi eld trip and interview, Andersen
pinpointed within a mile to where, on August 12, the
catastrophic Cornet Creek Fire started.
SEE CORNET FIRE AFTERMATH PAGE 8
Friday
Sunny and warm with temperatures in the high
80s. Clear and cooler at night. Lows in the
upper 40s.
Saturday
Sunny and hot with temperatures peaking into
the 90s. Clear and mild at night, lows near 50.
Sunday
Sunny and cooler with highs only reaching into
the mid 80s. Clear and cooler at night with lows
in the mid 40s.
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press
The south side of Dooley Mountain resembles a
grayscale moonscape.
Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County.
Our forecast made possible by this
generous sponsor:
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
A year-long litigation process between Joyce Elaine
McDannel of Pinal, Arizona vs. the City of Baker City
and the nonprofi t organization, Baker Loves Bikes, came
to an end on August 19th.
On Monday morning, City Manager Mike Kee said via
email, “Riverport Insurance, which represented Baker
Loves Bikes and indemnifi ed the City settled with her
(McDannel) during a mediation and before the City had
the opportunity to be heard in a motion to dismiss.”
On June 11, 2014, McDannel fi led a $402,000 personal
injury lawsuit against the two entities, after stepping off a
sidewalk and being struck by a fast-moving bicycle.
SEE BICYCLE LAWSUIT PAGE 5
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Public Arts: vinyl wraps ahead
Durkee man dies in crash
Homemade Goodness: apples!
City Council meeting disagreement
Huntington car show
Sumpter Flea Market
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