FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Local
— Editorial —
Supporting
Sheriff
Hanlin
In the wake of the Umpqua Com-
munity College shootings, KGW-TV’s
big story this week was an attack
piece on Douglas County Sheriff John
Hanlin, vilifying him for items he’d
shared on his personal Facebook page
without any grasp of how or why he’d
shared them.
Hanlin, an outspoken Second
Amendment supporter, much like
many sheriffs and law enforcement
officers across Oregon, found himself
the focal point of several such attacks
in the Portland media this past week—
primarily because he opposed nonsen-
sical gun control laws that would have
taken guns away from law-abiding
citizens following other mass shoot-
ings.
Considering that Hanlin was in
the center of a huge multi-agency
response, handling a tragedy with
multiple layers of responsibility, we
hope he wasn’t aware of the Portland
media’s efforts to discredit him while
he was in the midst of executing his
job.
Not only would this poor excuse for
media coverage have been a distrac-
tion for Hanlin, but it diverted atten-
tion from the facts at hand for those in
the public who might actually want to
know the who, what, where, when and
why of events.
Hanlin’s personal beliefs on a myriad
of issues have nothing whatsoever to
do with the Roseburg shootings. Some
of us out here in MediaLand get that.
—The Baker County Press Editorial Board
— Letters to the Editor —
Ignore Obama’s Executive
Orders
To the Editor:
Unless you are a federal employee,
federal Executive Orders (EOs) do not
automatically apply to you. They can only
become your “law” when you knowingly
locate yourself within a federal territo-
rial zone, or, sign a treasonous private
contract/agreement that subjects you to
federal jurisdiction.
EOs should mean nothing to us unless
the county sheriff has signed some private
federal agreement or contract which in
substance voids his obligation to protect
the people’s rights, including the right to
self-defense.
The White House has confirmed that
Mr. Obama is preparing “executive ac-
tions” to control our guns. Last century,
tyrant dictators confiscated guns prior to
murdering 122 million innocent people.
The reputed “killings” at Sandy Hook
is an example of a totally fabricated and
highly-publicized event, complete with
actors and script, at an abandoned school
building. Yet it accomplished its socialis-
tic purpose, and we all know what that is.
To further the objective of destabiliz-
ing our personal security, federal agencies
have been shown to create a terrorist event
to justify stricter gun laws. What they
can’t pass through congress, Obama de-
ceptively tries to make into “law” by EOs.
As some feds continue to create these ter-
rorist events and target schools to inten-
tionally warp the psyche of young people
and accomplish the socialist goal of dis-
arming our population, we must recognize
these situations as acts of war. What else
would you call them? And what are you
going to do about these treasonous acts?
Educating yourselves about the true limits
of federal authority is a good place to
start.
YouTube has some excellent videos.
Take a look. Overcome your lifetime of
brainwashing by the public school system,
the media, and the entertainment industry.
Consider becoming an OathKeeper. Take
a stand against all that is wrong!
I was dismayed to watch a YouTube
video of a “constitutional” sheriff telling
of his confusion with Obama’s Execu-
tive Orders, trying to decide which ones
were within the purview of his local
authority. He did not seem to understand
that none of them are! His education is
lacking. Federal authority and jurisdiction
are clearly limited and enumerated in the
federal constitution.
Jim Iler
Baker City
Co-sleeping deaths are
absolutely preventable
To the Editor:
My only purpose as Baker County Medi-
cal Examiner is to try and prevent deaths
from occurring in this county. I wrote a
letter several years ago after we had three
Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker
County Press reserves the right not to pub-
lish letters containing factual falsehoods or
incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or
detracting from specific for-profit business-
es will not be published. Word limit is 375
words per letter. Letters are limited to one
every other week per author. Letters should
be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty-
Press.com.
Advertising and Opinion Page Dis-
claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest
infant co-sleeping deaths in a short period
of time. This letter urged readers to avoid
co-sleeping with infants. Some people
thought this was an unnecessary intrusion
into family affairs.
Fortunately, doctors at Eastern Oregon
Medical Associates (St. Luke’s Clinic in
Baker City) agree that there is a significant
risk of death to young infants sleeping in
the same bed with their parents. Medical
personnel at EOMA counsel every parent
of children born in Baker City to not co-
sleep with their infant children.
Two more co-sleeping deaths have
occurred in Baker City in the past four
months. This has nothing to do with
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS),
which is not a preventable cause of death.
Co-sleeping is a 100 percent preventable
cause of death. If a child is not present
in the parents’ bed, it will not die from
co-sleeping. Parents do not think that
they will roll over onto their child and
prevent it from breathing. However, an
infant lying wedged next to a parent may
not be able to lift and turn its head and
may suffocate. Parents who are sleeping
very soundly because of taking drugs or
alcohol provide an additional risk of infant
death.
There is nothing wrong with cuddling
an infant in bed or on a couch. When it
is time for the parents to sleep, the infant
needs to be put in a crib or cradle. It is
no different than using a car seat for the
child. It is what provides life-saving pro-
tection from asphyxiation.
Dr. James Davis
Baker County Medical Examiner
Baker City
ORP meeting didn’t hit on
socialist agenda
To the Editor:
I attended the (ORP) Tour last night think-
ing it was a Convention of States meeting.
To my chagrin it was regarding transpar-
ency in the Oregon legislature.
A few people attended and the tone was
pessimistic, hampered by political cor-
rectness in not stating that the People of
Oregon have been sold down the river by
Democrats, really socialist, and Republi-
cans fumble over their lack of understand-
ing and inability to assess the real situa-
tion happening not only in Oregon but the
Country on a whole!
Since I moved to Oregon in 1991, the
State government, including the judiciary,
has ramrodded the socialist agenda down
our throats with no accountability.
Even referendums are overturned by the
courts while the Republicans sit idle, si-
lence is their collusion.
I wish I had breached the Convention of
States and spoken of the ideals they stand
for. For that, I am to blame.
Paul Yackey
Baker City
Opinions or Letters to the Editor express
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Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
seeking public comments for
proposed fire salvage projects
BAKER CITY, OR – The
Whitman Ranger District
of the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest would
like to hear your concerns,
suggestions, and questions
regarding project proposals
to address roadside danger
trees and fire salvage
within the Cornet/Windy
Ridge, Eldorado, Eagle
Complex, and Dry Gulch
fire areas. Your comments
will help us identify issues
to be considered in the
environmental review of
these proposals.
Background
In August and September
of 2015, four large fires,
the Cornet/Windy Ridge,
Eldorado, Eagle Complex,
and Dry Gulch, burned
across portions of the
Whitman Ranger District
in Baker County. Col-
lectively the fires burned
just over 152,500 acres
on state and private lands,
and lands managed by the
Bureau of Land Manage-
ment and Forest Service.
Of the total acres burned,
approximately 31%, or
48,725 acres, were on
National Forest System
managed lands. The
district is considering a
variety of management op-
portunities across each of
these fire areas including
looking at salvage of fire
killed trees and removal
of hazard trees on or near
the impacted Forest Road
systems for safety of the
public and employees.
Proposed Actions
The proposed projects
will look at both opportu-
nities for salvage logging
operations and danger tree
removal across the lands
managed by the Forest
Service and impacted by
these four fires. Salvage
projects would increase the
possibility for economic
recovery of fire killed tim-
ber and reduce the poten-
tial for an insect outbreak.
The proposed danger tree
removal projects will pro-
vide for improved public
and employee safety by
felling danger trees located
along Forest Roads. These
roads are considered pri-
mary routes for public and
administrative access in
the fire areas. Felled dan-
ger trees may be removed
as timber products or left
in place depending on the
management direction for
the areas they are located
and the associated environ-
mental effects.
At this time it is antici-
pated that these projects
can be categorically
excluded from documenta-
tion in an environmental
assessment or environ-
mental impact statement.
A project file will be
prepared to document the
environmental effects of
these projects. Submitting
written comments during
this scoping period would
establish eligibility to ob-
ject to these projects under
36 CFR 218.5, should an
environmental assessment
or environmental impact
statement be prepared.
How to Participate and
Submit Comments
You are invited to com-
ment on the proposed
actions and your comments
will help identify issues to
be considered in the envi-
ronmental review. Please
submit your written com-
ments by October 16, 2015
so they can be considered
in the analysis. Imple-
mentation is expected to
begin in Fall 2015. Any
comments received will be
placed in the project file
and shall become a matter
of the public record (36
CFR 215.6 (b) (2)).
Please submit your com-
ments to:
Jeff Tomac, Whitman
District Ranger, 1550
Dewey Ave, Suite A
Baker City, OR 97814
Ph: 541-523-1350
FAX: 541-523-6394
Those submitting hand-
delivered comments may
do so during the regular
office hours of 7:45 to 4:30
Monday through Friday
except legal holidays.
Please be sure to include
Whitman Fires Danger
Tree Removal and Salvage
as the subject for your
written comments.
Electronic comments
must be submitted in a for-
mat such as an email mes-
sage, rich text format (.rtf),
Adobe Portable Document
Format (pdf), or Microsoft
Word to comments-pacific-
northwest-wallowa-whit-
man- whitmanunit@fs.fed.
us. Comments received,
including the names and
addresses of those who
comment, will be con-
sidered part of the public
record for these proposals
and will be available for
public inspection (Author-
ity: 40 CFR 1501.7 and
1508.22; Forest Service
Handbook 1909.15, Sec-
tion 21).
If you have any ques-
tions, additional informa-
tion can be provided by
contacting Melissa Shelley,
Environmental Coordina-
tor at (541) 523-1350.
Dry Gulch fire reimbursement
meetings scheduled in Halfway
If you had expenses from
the Dry Gulch Fire and are
an eligible agency and you
want reimbursement for
expenses you should attend
the meeting.
What: FEMA Fire Man-
agement Assistance Grant
(FMAG) kick off meetings
When: Tuesday October 13
Time: 10:00 a.m. and 4:00
p.m.
Location: Halfway City
Hall
For those eligible agen-
cies (Any county, city,
village, town, district, or
other political subdivision
of any State and includes
any rural community,
unincorporated town or vil-
lage, or other public entity
for which an application
for assistance is made by a
State or political subdivi-
sion thereof.
Other State and local po-
litical subdivisions may be
eligible if they are formed
in accordance with State
law as a separate entity
and have taxing authority.
These include, but are not
limited to, school districts,
irrigation districts, fire dis-
tricts, and utility districts)
— Contact Us —
that had expenses from the
Dry Gulch Fire.
Oregon Department of
Forestry personnel will
present information regard-
ing the FEMA FMAG
program, eligibility, and
eligible expenses.
All you need to bring
are your questions, your
agency Tax ID number
and your agency’s DUNS
number (if you do not
have a DUNS, you will be
provided information at
the meeting on how to get
one).
YOUR ELECTED
OFFICIALS
The Baker County Press
President Barack Obama
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Phone: 541.519.0572
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202.456.1414
Whitehouse.gov/contact
US Sen. Jeff Merkley
503.326.3386
503.326.2900 fax
Merkley.Senate.gov
US Sen. Ron Wyden
541.962.7691
Wyden.Senate.gov
US Rep. Greg Walden
Kerry McQuisten, Publisher
Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Wendee Morrissey, Advertising and Sales
Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com
David Conn, Advertising and Sales
David@TheBakerCountyPress.com
541.624.2400
541.624.2402 fax
Walden.House.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown
503.378.3111
Governor.Oregon.gov
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