The politics of O & C:
Wyden optimistic on
O&C; coy on elections
EGG-STRA EFFORT -- Youngsters flocked to Jubilee
Park Sunday afternoon, April 8 to race for eggs and
goodies at the I.V. Lions Easter Egg Hunt. See page 10
for more photos. ( Photo by Michelle Binker/ ‘IVN’)
County Republicans elect to support public safety levy
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
The Josephine County
Republican Central Com-
mittee voted unanimously to
support the county’s pro-
posed May 15 public safety
levy during its Thursday,
April 5 meeting in Grants
Pass.
The vote came after
Commissioner Dwight Ellis
gave a presentation on the
county’s budget in relation
to federal O&C funds, given
in lieu of declining timber
receipts.
Commissioner Dave
Toler gave a similar presen-
tation to the Josephine
County Democrat Central
Committee on March 22.
The Democrats also voted to
support the levy, meaning
that it has the backing of the
local chapters of both major
political parties.
Ellis began by stating
that the county passed a jail
levy of 78-cents per $1,000
of assessed property value
earlier this decade. That levy
met the state’s double ma-
jority requirement, which
states that more than 50
percent of registered voters
must turn out and approve a
measure for it to pass.
Around 56 percent of
the county’s voters partici-
pated in that election, with
52 percent voting in favor of
the jail levy.
Discontinued federal
funds will cause a 57 per-
cent reduction in the
county’s general fund, Ellis
said, a loss of slightly more
than $12 million.
Ellis said that monies
collected from the levy
would go toward replacing
the lost federal funds.
“It’s not additional
money,” Ellis said.
There are 17 taxing
districts in the county, Ellis
said, including fire, water,
sewer and school districts.
For every dollar that resi-
dents pay in property taxes,
8.4-cents goes toward run-
ning county government.
Those figures will add up to
a total of $3 million this
year, Ellis said.
Ellis said that the Jose-
phine County Sheriff’s Of-
fice requires $9 million in
funding, and that laying off
all county employees still
wouldn’t cover the $12 mil-
lion loss.
The statewide median
property tax rate is $2.80 per
$1,000 of assessed property
value. Ellis said that Jose-
phine County commission-
ers have spoken with the
area’s state legislators about
bringing counties with lower
tax rates up to that median.
Ellis said that if federal
funds are approved, the
county will reduce the levy
amount collected dollar for
dollar, as per a Feb. 14 reso-
lution passed by the com-
missioners.
“That’s our promise to
the voters of Josephine
County,” Ellis said.
The O&C funds are
currently attached to an
emergency spending bill
(Continued on page 12)
Council approves requests
from housing developers
Remote and steep terrain slowed recovery efforts.
(‘Illinois Valley News’ photo)
Illinois River claims life
52-year old woman found near McCaleb Ranch
The body of a woman
who is an apparent drown-
ing victim was pulled from
Illinois River Thursday af-
ternoon, April 5, just above
the swinging bridge at
McCaleb Scout Ranch.
Illinois Valley Fire Dis-
trict, American Medical
Response and Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office
(JCSO) responded to the
scene some 18 miles from
Redwood Hwy. out Illinois
River Road from Selma.
Witnesses phoned 911
at 4:39 p.m. and said that
they heard a woman
screaming, and later found
the body floating near shore,
said JCSO.
The victim, identified as
52-year-old Joanne Lynn
Stevens, of Ashland, had
parked her black Audi up-
stream and had been walk-
ing the shoreline, according
to witnesses. She presuma-
bly slipped, causing a head
injury, and drowned in the
turbulent water downstream,
said JCSO.
Witnesses who pulled
Stevens from the river at-
tempted CPR, but were un-
able to resuscitate her. She
was pronounced dead at the
scene.
Steep terrain and hot
weather slowed recovery
efforts. County Search And
Rescue Mountain Rescue
Team assisted with recovery
of the body.
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
The Cave Junction City
Council agreed to grant re-
quests by a couple of devel-
opers at its Monday, April 9
meeting.
Developer Larry
Osborn had asked the coun-
cil to modify a condition of
approval for a Master
Planned Development
(MPD) tentative plan for the
Southridge at Laurel Pines
subdivision. He made the
request in writing on March
30, according to city docu-
ments.
The tentative plan
called for Osborn to
“provide a notarized agree-
ment with the owner of the
(River Valley Village) mo-
bile home park and other
intervening property owners
until access is gained to a
public right-of-way for use
of Ollis Road as emergency
access.”
But at the council meet-
ing, Osborn said there was a
need for “correct language”
in the agreement, due to a
dispute between himself and
the mobile home park’s
owners.
“They don’t even own
the land,” Osborn said.
Ollis Road, located off
of Sawyer Avenue, goes
through Osborn’s develop-
ment property and River
Valley Village.
Osborn said that the
mobile home park’s owners
are “encroaching” on his
property, and that an error
was made during the sur-
veying process. He said that
in a worst case scenario, he
could put a gate across the
road and resolve the dispute
in court.
“There are state statues
that cover roadways that are
private when there’s no
written agreement between
parties,” Osborn said.
Osborn said his attor-
neys are currently reviewing
those statutes, and needed
the council to approve his
request so he could give
direction to his attorneys.
Councilman Margaret
(Continued on page 2)
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
In a conference call
with news media representa-
tives on Friday, April 6,
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-
Oregon) gave an update on
his continued efforts to se-
cure federal O&C funds for
timber-dependent counties.
Wyden had spent the
previous week conducting a
series of town hall meetings
throughout the state and
visiting veterans’ health-
care centers. He claimed a
“huge, huge victory” for
O&C legislation garnering
more than 70 votes in the
Senate last month.
“I had been hoping to
get 55,” Wyden said. “It was
an extraordinary bipartisan
showing of how strong sup-
port is for communities
where the federal govern-
ment owns so much of the
land.”
The Senate plan would
provide more than $1 billion
for rural communities dur-
ing the next five years, with
the first year being fully
funded at $282 million.
“Now, I think the chal-
lenge is to have a grassroots
coalition to try and get the
House to go along with the
Senate’s position,” Wyden
said. “We just need rural
communities to have the
time they need to make the
transition.”
Wyden said that he
would like to see timber-
dependent communities en-
ter into areas like biomass
and forest thinning.
With regard to veterans’
health care, Wyden said he
learned much from his re-
cent tours of regional facili-
ties.
“My sense is that there
are an awful lot of good
doctors, hospitals, nurses
and providers, but there are
still an awful lot of veterans
falling between the cracks,”
Wyden said. “Part of the
challenge is, a lot of the sys-
tem hasn’t kept up with the
times.”
The O&C legislation is
part of an emergency appro-
priation for the U.S. military
actions in Iraq and Afghani-
stan. Congressional Democ-
rats have included a time
table for withdrawing U.S.
troops from Iraq as part of
that bill, which President
Bush has promised to veto.
As such, Wyden said,
“There’s going to be a lot of
sparring back and forth be-
tween Congress and the
president with respect to
Iraq.”
(Continued on page 6)
‘Active stewardship’ seen
by Walden as key in West
Pushing for O&C funds
and outlining the effect of
federal land management
policy on the West, Con-
gressman Greg Walden (R-
Ore.) testified last week be-
fore the House Committee
on Natural Resources.
He told the committee,
“Let us not defend a system
that is so complicated that it
takes three times longer
to remove a burned, dead
tree than to rebuild the Pen-
tagon.”
He said that an increas-
ingly urban population that
in the East is far removed
from forest realities, is part
of the problem. He added
that a “well-funded environ-
mental political industry that
aggressively opposes active
forest management” is an-
other.
Plus, he added, an inde-
cisive, if not bipolar Con-
gress, has not helped.
As chairman of the Sub-
committee on Forests and
Forest Health in the 109th
Congress, Walden led the
effort for responsible forest
management following
catastrophic events like for-
est fires.
“Yes, the West is
changing,” he said, “not just
because of changing demo-
graphics, but largely as a
result of federal policies and
judicial decisions which
keep our forest and range-
land professionals from
managing forests.
“Healthy communities,
healthy forests and healthy
rangelands go hand-in-
hand. If we are to see broad
and long-term stewardship
success, Congress must step
up to the plate and pass laws
to allow for thoughtful,
quick, and active steward-
ship of our federal lands.”
Walden also requested
that Natural Resources
Committee Chairman Nick
Rahall (D-W.VA.) give the
“earliest possible considera-
tion” to H.R. 17, the Secure
Rural Schools and Commu-
nity Self-Determination Act
(county payments). Walden
and Congressman Peter De-
Fazio sent a letter to Rahall
on Jan. 26, asking that the
committee consider H.R. 17
as quickly as possible.
(Continued on page 5)
Expected cutbacks outlined
in light of O&C funding loss
Impending loss of fed-
eral O&C funding would
affect county employment
and services -- including law
enforcement, libraries and
road maintenance -- in areas
statewide such as Josephine
County.
To put into perspective
what the loss would mean to
average citizens in Jose-
phine County, state Rep.
Dennis Richardson (R-
Central Point) provides the
following. He obtained the
data from a member of the
Josephine County Board of
Commissioners.
“The commissioner said
Josephine County is prepar-
ing for the initial loss of the
federal funds,” Richardson
related. “In recent years it
has created a contingency
fund of about $5 million.
“If the O&C replace-
ment funds end in June this
year, cuts will begin -- and
continue during the last half
of the year.
“Assuming the federal
payments will not be ex-
tended, Josephine County
voters will determine
whether or not the cuts in
county services will be re-
quired. The commissioners
have placed a levy on the
May ballot that would quad-
(Continued on page 5)