A3
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2019
Lawmakers want more resources for Oregon fi re season
Analysis suggests
above-average risk
the state is more prepared
going into this season than
last. She said the state is
better aligned with the fed-
eral fi refi ghting resources.
Oregon will have access to
new infrared technology to
see through thick smoke.
But Brown said she
wants to see more thinning
and prescriptive burns on
federal land , steps s he can’t
directly act on.
“We are going to con-
tinue to advocate — I am
going to continue to work
with my governors, Repub-
lican and Democrat in the
West — to continue to push
for more resources on the
local level,” Brown said.
By AUBREY WIEBER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Saturday
marked the offi cial start of
Oregon’s wildfi re season,
but without new resources,
the state is only incremen-
tally more prepared to com-
bat fi re this summer than in
past years.
Over consecutive sum-
mers, fi re ripped through
iconic landscapes, endan-
gered communities and
choked towns with blan-
kets of smoke. The state
has already seen more than
1,000 acres burn this year.
In a winter where prior-
ities abound, wildfi re pre-
paredness has not come out
a winner.
“In this biennium, we
need a lifeline for our com-
munities,” said state Rep.
Pam Marsh, R-Ashland.
Marsh’s district was ablaze
through much of the sum-
mer, with fi re coming dan-
gerously close to structures.
In addition to putting the
community in danger, wild-
fi res had massive economic
impacts. The famous Ore-
gon Shakespeare F estival
had to cancel events, cost-
ing an estimated $2 million.
Firefi ghters
checked
the wildfi res, Marsh said,
but the scorched town of
Paradise, California , is a
reminder that Ashland may
not always be so lucky.
Marsh said that’s why
Gov. Kate Brown’s pro-
posed budget “set off” her
constituents. It included
resources to staff a wild-
fi re council, which Brown
created through execu-
tive action this winter, but
that council won’t have
any impact until the fall at
Long-term changes
Oregon Department of Forestry
Some state lawmakers want more resources to fi ght fi res.
the earliest. Then, fund-
ing would still need to
be acquired to carry out
recommendations.
Brown proposed no addi-
tional funding to bolster the
state’s response to this sum-
mer’s fi res.
“It didn’t have any imme-
diate relief for the commu-
nity,” Marsh said. “What
it had was a wildfi re coun-
cil. People were upset that
there seemed to be long-
term thinking but nothing to
provide something for this
season.”
Despite a strong snow-
pack, a state analysis pre-
dicts another above-aver-
age fi re season. It’s what’s
referred to as “the new
normal.”
That’s why Marsh is
working to get $6.8 million
for wildfi re mitigation and
suppression before the 2019
legislative session ends.
The package would give the
Oregon Department of For-
estry more resources to fi ght
fi res, help communities
implement smoke shelters
to shield vulnerable people
when heavy smoke billows
into town and provide more
resources to the front lines
to stop fi res from growing.
The plan is endorsed by
several lawmakers, includ-
ing Rep. Tiffi ny Mitchell,
D-Astoria, and Rep. Brad
Witt, D-Clatskanie .
It’s a stopgap measure,
Marsh said, but a much-
needed one. Marsh supports
Brown’s wildfi re council,
which she hopes will push
the state to a more proac-
tive approach that includes
better land management,
prescribed burns and more
resources.
“We are coming into this
session having just experi-
enced the two most expen-
sive fi re seasons in our
state’s history,” Marsh said.
Last summer’s season cost
$514 million.
Marsh is hoping to get
the money in June through
agency budgets rather than
a bill.
Signals from Brown
She has wide sup-
port, but she’s lacking an
endorsement from Brown.
The governor has signaled
to lawmakers that she wants
the council to come up with
recommendations fi rst, then
get money.
It’s what Rep. Paul
Evans, D-Monmouth, the
chairman of the House Vet-
erans and Emergency Pre-
paredness
Committee,
called a “measure twice, cut
once,” approach.
Evans is also pushing
a proposal. He introduced
HB 3439, which seeks to
simplify the state disaster
response process. It would
also make it easier to make
EO Media Group to purchase La Grande, Baker City papers
Company owns
The Astorian
East Oregonian
SALEM — EO Media
Group’s presence in Oregon
is set to get even stronger.
Pending court approval,
the company will be add-
ing two more newspapers to
the fold with the expected
additions of the La Grande
Observer and the Baker
City Herald, Heidi Wright,
chief operating offi cer of EO
Media Group, announced on
Tuesday.
“We’re excited to wel-
come the La Grande
Observer and Baker City
Herald into the EO Media
Group family,” Wright said.
“Our family-held company
has deep roots in Eastern
Oregon since 1908.”
The reported purchase
price was $775,000 for the
two papers. Fourth-genera-
tion EO Media Group owner
Kathryn Brown, of Pendle-
ton, said she is excited about
the purchase.
“My cousins and I are
committed to keeping local
journalism alive in the rural
communities we serve,” she
said. “We look forward to
providing credible and rel-
evant news to Union and
Baker counties for many
years to come.”
Wright said that if all
EO Media Group, the owner of The Astorian, has purchased
two papers in Eastern Oregon.
time. The company emerged
from Chapter 11 protection
in April 2012.
Earlier this year, the
motor failed on the 53-year-
old press that had long
printed the La Grande
Observer and the Baker
City Herald. Since then, the
two newspapers have been
printed on the East Orego-
nian’s press in Pendleton.
EO Media Group also
owns The Astorian and the
Seaside Signal, along with
the Chinook Observer in
Washington state.
Clatsop Post 12
goes well, the sale will be
completed July 1.
Western
Communica-
tions Inc. owns the two
Eastern Oregon newspapers,
along with the Bend Bulle-
tin and a few other publi-
cations in Oregon and Cal-
ifornia. The corporation
fi led for Chapter 11 bank-
ruptcy protection in January.
Lawyers for Western Com-
munications told the bank-
ruptcy court the plan was to
sell property and buildings,
according to court records,
and in a hearing last week
said all the newspapers had
offers.
“A few weeks ago, the
(EOMG) put in a bid to take
over ownership of the papers
in La Grande and Baker
City,” Wright said. “These
towns are in close proxim-
ity to the company’s other
publications on the east side
of Oregon, which makes
this a great opportunity to
strengthen news coverage
for all of Eastern Oregon.”
The bankruptcy court has
the fi nal say in accepting
EOMG’s offer. Wright said
the expectation is the court
is going to give the approval.
Western
Communica-
tions previously fi led for
Chapter 11 protection in
August 2011, following a
three-year dispute with the
Bank of America, the com-
pany’s largest creditor at the
STUFFED
GREEN PEPPER
DINNER
Friday
June 7 th
an emergency declaration.
Evans wants dedicated per-
sonnel assigned to vulner-
able fi re areas so they can
strike as soon as the sparks
do.
“We made decisions
through land use, and quite
frankly market economics,
that allowed for people to
build in areas where there
are great views,” Evans
said. “Unfortunately, places
where there’s a great view
are also places fi re wants to
go to most.”
At Brown’s request,
Evans isn’t pursuing his leg-
islation, but intends to bring
the concept up next session.
“There were a lot of
other issues that were on
her table, and she wanted
to give this appropriate time
and study,” Evans said. “It
was a proposal that was new
to her.”
When asked about where
her priorities lie, Brown said
Brown’s
natural
resources policy advisor,
Jason Miner, said there are
two National Guard battal-
ions in Oregon trained for
the season with a third com-
ing. The Department of For-
estry is training 600 sea-
sonal fi refi ghters, and has
230 more on the way.
Miner said the wild-
fi re council would pursue
long-term changes, as well.
Marsh and Evans say con-
stituents are uneasy after
watching the state burn year
after year.
“I don’t want to get in the
way of what the governor is
trying to do with her coun-
cil,” Evans said. “That said,
I’m very committed to reor-
ganizing, in a rational way,
our entire emergency man-
agement delivery system.
What we have right now
made sense 20 years ago.
It doesn’t make sense for
tomorrow, and it really war-
rants our attention.”
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.
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