FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5
Opinion / Local
— Guest Opinion —
Federal missteps
make case for
land transfer
By Marjorie Haun
A forest fire on national parkland in Washington
state in 2014 overtook a young black bear, seriously
burning its front paws. This little bear, which would
gain world renown, crawled on its elbows out of the
massive Carlton Complex fire on land managed by the
U.S. Forest Service.
Later named Cinder, the malnourished and horribly
burned bear was rescued and treated by wildlife of-
ficials and volunteers.
After months of medical care and physical reha-
bilitation, officials last June released Cinder into the
federally managed Black Bear Rehabilitation Center
near Boise, Idaho.
Cinder was one of the lucky ones. Millions of ani-
mals of all kinds, including privately owned livestock,
have been burned and killed in massive wildfires on
federal lands in recent years.
With forests overgrown and piling up with under-
brush and dead and dying trees, some would argue
that releasing Cinder into a federal preserve carried a
degree of risk to the tough little bear. Federal “no-
logging” policies, it seems, are turning America’s
national forests into kindling.
A growing number of state organizations seek to
remedy what they consider negligent policies and
shoddy oversight of public land on the part of federal
agencies.
Under the umbrella name “Transfer of Public
Lands,” the movement offers a solution to the prob-
lem that is simple in concept: transfer ownership and
management of public lands administered by federal
agencies to equivalent state agencies. These agen-
cies, being accountable to governors, state legislators
and citizens, will manage the public lands in a more
conscientious, cost-effective way.
According to a report by the Property and Environ-
ment Research Center, a think tank focused on prop-
erty rights, federal management results in a net loss of
revenue but state management produces a net gain.
Unlike states east of the Continental Divide, public
lands in Western states such as Washington and Idaho
predominantly are owned by the federal government.
They are under the management of the Interior De-
partment and a plethora of subagencies, including the
Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and
the Fish and Wildlife Service.
A Growing Movement
Utah is at the forefront of the Transfer of Public
Lands movement. In 2012, the Utah state legislature
passed legislation that lays down the foundation for
transferring public lands to state ownership.
National parks, national monuments, tribal lands
and Defense Department property are excluded from
the transfer. Called the “Transfer of Public Lands Act
and Related Study,” it was signed into law by Gov.
Richard Herbert, a Republican.
The American Lands Council has been tireless in
making the legal and moral case for transferring pub-
lic lands in the West to the states.
“Public lands stay public,” says Ken Ivory, council
spokesman, “and our national treasures will be well
protected and preserved.”
In late October, The Los Angeles Times published
an article noting that seven Republican candidates for
president had expressed support for devolving federal
jurisdiction to the Western states.
Bungling, overreach and overreactions by the fed-
eral government may make the strongest case of all.
Within such instances of federal mismanagement are
stories of human suffering and environmental degra-
dation.
In November 2008, Rose Backhaus, a 54-year-old
Colorado woman, was hiking in Utah’s federally man-
aged Little Wild Horse Canyon. She became lost in
the canyon when she took a wrong turn on the trail.
She likely wandered for days, eventually succumbing
to exposure. Her body was found by hikers the follow-
ing April.
The local office of the Bureau of Land Management,
which is responsible for the property, had received
requests from locals for years to place a sign in the
canyon directing hikers to the proper trail. The federal
agency failed to act, arguing that such a sign would
be too expensive and have an adverse impact on the
“wilderness experience.”
More recently, a woman in Josephine County, Ore.,
feared for her life as her ex-boyfriend broke into her
home. She called 911 and was told there was no one
available to help her because of budget cuts. The local
sheriff’s office, lacking the resources to pay deputies
and staff, failed to respond to the woman’s pleas. Al-
though the dispatcher remained on the phone with the
woman, the intruder later sexually assaulted her.
Josephine County was built on the logging industry.
When the federal government began to implement
policies to “protect habitats” for threatened or endan-
gered species in the Northwest, the timber industry
imploded. Federal timber funds dried up. Broke and
beleaguered, the sheriff’s office experienced firsthand
the econom-
ic effects of
misguided
federal poli-
cies.
Two
Cases of
Overkill
In
September
2014, The
Los Angeles
Times ran a
feature story,
“A Sting in
Submitted Photo
the Desert,”
Marjorie
Haun
is
a
Colorado
detailing
resident and freelance writer who
a case of
focuses on state policies and good
massive
government.
overreac-
tion by the
Bureau of Land Management in Southeastern Utah.
A respected family man, civic leader and local phy-
sician named Jim Redd was under scrutiny by agents
with the land agency and the FBI on suspicion that he
looted nearby American Indian archaeological sites
and traded artifacts on the black market.
The Times reported that a paid, undercover infor-
mant working for the land agency and FBI, equipped
with a “button” surveillance camera, spent hundreds
of hours in Dr. Redd’s home, perusing artifacts his
family had collected for generations.
The informant, identified as Ted Gardiner, was seek-
ing evidence that would link Redd to the illegal antiq-
uities trade. Eventually Dr. Redd’s wife, Jeannie, gave
in to Gardiner’s insistence by selling him a pair of
yucca sandals. With that transaction supplying the evi-
dence they wanted, the land agency and FBI launched
a massive, military-style raid on the Redd home.
The Times reported that dozens of armed agents
dressed in body armor arrived in a convoy of SUVs
and arrested Dr. Redd, 60, at gunpoint, handcuffed
him and marched him into his garage where they
taunted and interrogated him for hours.
Dr. Redd and his wife were charged with numer-
ous felony counts and both faced decades in federal
prison. The day after the raid, Dr. Redd took his own
life.
Following the suicide, Gardiner shot and killed him-
self, witnesses said, in remorse over the raid leading
to Redd’s death.
Even if Dr. Redd were guilty, why did these federal
agencies react with such massive force to raid the
home of a beloved small town doctor who had no his-
tory of violence?
In another case, father-and-son Oregon ranchers
Dwight and Steven Hammond were convicted of
arson and sentenced in October to five years in federal
prison for setting fires that burned 140 acres owned by
the Bureau of Land Management.
A former Forest Service agent had testified on behalf
of the Hammonds, saying: “The Hammond family is
not arsonists. They are number one, top-notch. They
know their land management.”
The prosecution of the Hammonds under an antiter-
rorism law is another disquieting example of federal
overreaction to a relatively minor crime.
At times, though, federal management decisions
simply defy reason.
This past summer, while massive wildfires shot
across regions of Montana, the Forest Service—under
the direction of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack—
restricted the state from using its fleet of helicopters to
suppress the fire without justification or explanation.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, declared
a state of emergency and authorized the National
Guard to use its resources to aid fire-fighting efforts.
But under federal management, the state’s firefighting
fleet of Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters remained
grounded.
One Size Fits All?
Citizens and leaders in the West understandably are
frustrated and angry with federal overlords.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s devastat-
ing—and preventable—spill of millions of gallons
of toxic mine waste into Colorado’s Animas River
made national news in August. To many, the incident
was illustrative of the need for local and state control
over managing natural resources and preserving the
environment.
Ivory, the spokesman for the American Lands Coun-
cil, describes the problem this way:
The one-size-fits-all bureaucratic ‘solution’ is really
the problem. Wildfires resulting from overgrown and
diseased forests in the West burn millions of acres
every year. We all want clean air, water, healthy habi-
tats for wildlife, and vibrant sustainable communities
with abundant recreational opportunities. But we’ve
been told for decades that in order to have those things
our precious natural resources need to be managed by
federal bureaucrats thousands of miles away.
As the legal wrangling over the Transfer of Public
Lands movement plays out, the critical moral case for
state control of public lands within state boundaries
is being made by a growing list of federal debacles,
injustices, waste and abuse.
Reprinted with permission of and credit given to “The
Daily Signal.
FBI training
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“The will be a lot of schoolwork,” said Newman. “I’ll
be completing something like 20 papers while I’m there.
There are mid-terms and finals—it’s graduate-level
coursework.”
The classes are accredited through the University of
Virginia, and graduates come out with around 19 college
credits under their belt.
Classes offered include law, behavioral science, foren-
sic science, understanding terrorism/terrorist mindsets,
leadership, communication, and health/fitness.
Lohner said, “I have an obligation to the community to
prepare new leaders in this department, who will eventu-
ally replace us as we retire out. It’s important to build that
leadership into the department, and this training is the
best of the best.”
A second aspect of the Academy—the intense physical
part of the training—isn’t lost on Newman, either. He
says he’ll be adjusting his current workout routine to be
more in line with the Academy’s. “This is something you
have to train for,” he said.
Former graduates tell tales about the “Yellow Brick
Road,” which is the final fitness test for participants.
According to the FBI, “The Yellow Brick Road is a gru-
eling 6.1-mile run through a hilly, wooded trail built by
the Marines. Along the way, the participants must climb
over walls, run through creeks, jump through simulated
windows, scale rock faces with ropes, crawl under barbed
wire in muddy water, maneuver across a cargo net, and
more. When (and if) the students complete this difficult
test, they receive an actual yellow brick to memorialize
their achievement. The course came to be known as the
Yellow Brick Road years ago, after the Marines placed
yellow bricks at various spots to show runners the way
through the wooded trail.”
Newman said he’s also looking into stories about a
Blue Brick Road, which involves swimming.
After leaving the military, Newman’s law enforcement
career began in 1999 as a Polk County Sheriff’s Reserve
Officer. He worked his way up the ranks in western
Oregon before accepting a position with the BCPD in
2014, eventually being promoted to Lieutenant in May of
2015. He said that in between his move from Polk County
to Baker City, “I wasn’t a police officer for exactly three
days.”
“I really appreciate my wife,” Newman added. “Can
I just say that? We have two kids and this will happen
when it’s not during school time, so it’s not easy.”
The expenses for the training come from the FBI’s
budget. The training will be held on the 547-acre Marine
Corps Base in Quantico. The Academy is oft referred to
as the “West Point of Law Enforcement.”
Lohner pointed out that while no one from Baker City
has attended in the past, police chiefs from both Ontario
and Pendleton have.
“I’m excited about it,” concluded Newman. “This is
just a neat opportunity.”
Two meth
arrests made
On December 30, 2015, at about 10:35 am, the Baker
City Police Department executed a narcotics related
search warrant at 1821 Estes Street in Baker City.
Two subjects were detained in the residence while
Baker City Drug Canine “Capa” was deployed by his
handler, Officer Coleton Smith.
Capa alerted at multiple locations in the residence
where drug paraphernalia and trace amounts of Metham-
phetamine were discovered.
Arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled
Substance Methamphetamine were:
• Chuck Wayne Briney (03/27/1993)
• Theresa Anne Briney (07/18/1954)
This investigation will be continuing, based on further
information gained throughout this warrant service opera-
tion.
FAFA plans
meeting to
discuss road
closures
Forest Access for All (FAFA) will hold its monthly
business meeting on Saturday, January 2nd, at Baker
City in the Sunridge Inn at 3 p.m. to discuss the matter of
proposed road closures along with other issues.
According to a press release by the group, the US For-
est Service has recommended the destruction of 1,261
miles of roads in Union, Baker, Wallowa and Northern
Grant Counties as part of the USFS’s ever-evolving Blue
Mountain Travel Management Plan.
Several maps are available at http://forestaccessforall.
org/recommended-roads-for-decommissioningdestruc-
tion.
“Wallowa County, the residents of Sumpter and Unity,
as well as users in the Eagle Creek area are probably
the hardest hit, but all areas are going to see their access
points destroyed in the name of ecological protection of
social well being,” reads the FAFA web site.