NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
BRIEFLY
Elliott Forest sale moves forward
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
126
ORE.
Area in
detail
Florence
101
Elliott
State
Forest
er
th Riv
Smi
Reedsport U
mpq
ua
R.
Lakeside
cif
ic O
cean
38
Pa
SALEM — At odds with the
governor, the Oregon treasurer and
secretary of state voted Tuesday to
go ahead with a plan to sell a hotly
debated swath of coastal forest to
a partnership between a timber
company and a Native American
tribe — albeit with some changes.
At issue is the sale of an
approximately 80,000-acre parcel
of the Elliott State Forest in Coos
and Douglas counties. Environ-
mental groups have fought for
keeping the land in public hands.
The State Land Board — the
governor, treasurer and secretary
of state — oversees certain state-
owned lands. Treasurer Tobias
Read and Secretary of State
Dennis Richardson endorsed
moving forward with the sale over
Gov. Kate Brown’s objection.
Read proposed an amended
version of the original sale
protocol that he says includes
“enhanced recreation and conser-
vation measures.”
Brown, over Richardson’s
objections, directed the state lands
department to come up with a
proposal for public ownership of
the forest. The department reports
to Brown.
The sale of the Elliott is a
complex issue, in part because
the land in question is essentially
a trust — the state must collect
money from harvesting timber
or other activities for the state’s
Common School Fund and the
land board is the fi duciary of that
fund.
In 2015, the land board — then
Treasurer Read. Native Ameri-
cans were systematically removed
from their ancestral lands as
the United States and Oregon
took shape — a truth especially
poignant on the state’s 158th
birthday Tuesday.
Brown said the requirements
for the sale were too stringent.
The state set the price at
$220.8 million, and required
bidders to have detailed plans for
employment on the forest and
maintaining certain features, such
as old forest stands and riparian
areas. Several public agencies had
expressed interest in the property,
but none ended up submitting an
acquisition proposal.
Brown wants not only to keep
the land public, but decouple some
or all the land from the Common
School Fund.
Brown wants to use $100
million of the state’s bonding
capacity to purchase especially
sensitive habitat areas in the
forest, such as steep slopes. She
also wants to negotiate a new
habitat conservation plan with
federal agencies on the rest of
the land, while also providing an
opportunity for tribes to exercise
ownership.
Prior to the vote Tuesday, the
Oregon Senate President, Peter
Courtney, D-Salem, suggested
using revenue bonds payable from
revenues generated by the forest.
Courtney, although he believes
the land should stay in public
ownership, said he wanted to
help the board, regardless of its
decision.
Read, the state treasurer, said
he was reluctant to sell the forest
N. Bend
s
Coo
Coos Bay
N
Rive
r
101
Capital Press graphic
comprised of Brown, then-Trea-
surer Ted Wheeler and then-Sec-
retary of State Jeanne Atkins, all
Democrats — voted to go ahead
with a multi-step sale protocol
that included an assessment of the
land’s value and a set of criteria
for the sale.
Over a year later, only one
group, a timber company out
of Roseburg called Lone Rock
Resources — in partnership with
the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua
Tribe of Indians — submitted
a proposal for acquiring the
forest. The Confederated Tribes
of Coos, Lower Umpqua and
Siuslaw Indians would, under
that proposal, hold a conservation
easement.
In light of the tribes’ involve-
ment, the sale of the Elliott also
now raises questions about the
government’s duty to “right some
historic wrongs,” in the words of
UO considers raising
tuition 10.6 percent
but felt that the state had to meet
its fi duciary responsibilities fi rst.
“I think it is the best and most
realistic proposal we have in front
of us,” Read said of the protocol,
before proposing some changes.
The
amendments
Read
proposed include: allowing the
state to buy back up to $25 million
worth of acreage in high-value
areas; having the department’s
negotiations include certain
conservation principles; clarifying
plans to protect old forest stands;
and include a right of fi rst refusal
for the fi ve federally recognized
Native American tribes in Western
Oregon, should any part of the
land be put up for sale again after
it is sold to the LLC proposed by
the Cow Creek Band and Lone
Rock.
Warren Brainard, chief of the
Confederated Tribes of Coos,
Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw
Indians — which under the Lone
Rock proposal would hold a
conservation easement on the land
— said that he understood that the
land board had a diffi cult decision
to make and that the tribes would
maintain an interest in the land
regardless.
Tension arose between Brown
and newly minted Richardson —
the only Republican on the land
board and an advocate of the sale.
He voted for Read’s proposal
and argued the state would other-
wise be reneging on its promises.
“I feel in a very diffi cult posi-
tion because I am not in favor of
selling the forest and I would not
have voted for it,” Richardson
said. However, he said, he felt that
the “deal” had to be abided by.
EUGENE (AP) — The University
of Oregon is considering raising
in-state undergraduate tuition by 10.6
percent in the fall to pay for increased
salaries, health care and retirement
costs for school employees.
The Register-Guard reports that
under a plan backed by UO President
Michael Schill, annual tuition for
full-time, in-state undergraduate
students would increase $945 as
of the 2017-18 academic year.
Mandatory fees would also increase
$186. Out-of-state tuition would also
increase by $945, or three percent.
An in-state undergraduate student
taking 15 credits per term would pay
$9,855 for a three-term school year
under the proposal. The student would
also pay $2,037 in fees. An out-of-
state student would pay $34,572 in
tuition and fees.
Schill said in a letter to students
and staff that the state’s fi scal
problems leave him little choice but
to accept the major tuition increase.
He said UO’s operating expenses
are rising steadily. In particular,
retirement benefi ts under the state
Public Employee Retirement System
are requiring large contributions from
the university.
La Grande entrepreneur
killed in snowmobile crash
LA GRANDE (AP) — Authorities
say a 32-year-old Eastern Oregon
man died in a snowmobile accident.
The Union County Sheriff’s Offi ce
says Cole Clemens of La Grande died
at the scene Saturday about 25 miles
southeast of Union.
Sgt. Nick Pallis says a doctor
and a veterinarian were at the scene
performing CPR before paramedics
arrived. The sheriff’s offi ce has yet
to provide details of how the crash
occurred.
The Observer newspaper of La
Grande reports that Clemens and his
brother Jeff co-founded an online/
wholesale sporting goods business.
On his Facebook page, Jeff
Clemens said he was blessed to talk
with his younger brother the night
before the crash and tell him he
loved him. He encouraged those with
siblings to do the same, because you
never know if it will be the last time
you see them.
Lawmakers consider consolidating marijuana regulation
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — State legislators
are moving toward consolidating
the state’s medical and recre-
ational marijuana industries into
one regulatory system.
The co-chairwomen of the
Joint Committee on Marijuana
Regulation have dropped several
bills that would move regulation
of medical marijuana from the
Oregon Health Authority to the
Oregon Liquor Control Commis-
sion, the regulatory agency for
recreational sales of the drug.
Another proposal would establish
a separate agency specifi cally for
cannabis regulation.
OHA has regulated the medical
marijuana program since it was
created through Ballot Measure
67 in 1998. When voters legalized
recreational cannabis use with
Measure 91 in 2014, regulation
of the new program was assigned
to the liquor commission, while
the health authority retained its
oversight of the medical program.
Health authority offi cials from
the beginning were reluctant
overseers, said Tom Burns, a
marijuana policy consultant and
former health authority adminis-
trator.
The Oregon Health Author-
ity’s tardy and ill-conceived
rollout of rules and dedication
of resources to the program was
an “unmitigated disaster,” Burns
said.
In time, it became apparent
that two separate systems made
little or no sense because of
OHA’s disinterest in regulating
the program, he said.
“The
medical
suppliers,
growers and patients said let us
get it out of OHA to somebody
who does want it and will work
with us to make a program that
works for us,” Burns said.
But that sentiment may not
permeate the entire medical mari-
juana industry and its patients,
said Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants
Pass, a member of the legislative
marijuana regulation committee.
“I think we all realize that
there is a big push to have every-
body under OLCC,” said Wilson,
whose district covers the mari-
juana-fertile lands of Southern
Oregon.
Part of the idea of splitting up
regulation was to keep medical
costs down for patients. OLCC
instituted much more strict and
expensive regulations to report
and track product, while OHA’s
system relied largely on self-re-
porting. OHA also charges lower
fees for registration and licensing.
Hesitation in embracing the
OLCC stems largely from the
higher cost of producing mari-
juana in the recreational system,
where fees are higher for almost
everything and regulation is more
onerous.
Wilson said he would support
consolidation if lower fees were
charged medical growers and
suppliers and if medical growers
could sell into the recreational
market, which they are now
prohibited from doing.
Didn’t receive your paper? Call 1-800-522-0255
before noon Tuesday through Friday
or before 10 a.m. Saturday
for same-day redelivery
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
Offi ce hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Local home delivery Savings off cover price
EZPay
$14.50
41 percent
52 weeks
$173.67
41 percent
26 weeks
$91.86
38 percent
13 weeks
$47.77
36 percent
*EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge
www.eastoregonian.com
To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255
or go online to www.eastoregonian.com
and click on ‘Subscribe’
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday
and Dec. 25, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Single copy price:
$1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday
Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group
REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
THURSDAY
A bit of ice, then
rain
Cloudy, showers
around; warmer
39° 38°
46° 30°
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Chilly with clouds
and sun
Cloudy, a shower
or two; chilly
Mostly cloudy
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
43° 31°
40° 30°
44° 30°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
46° 31°
38° 37°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
38°
46°
66° (1898)
25°
29°
-4° (1936)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
0.34"
0.59"
1.99"
2.17"
1.97"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
29°
23°
48°
29°
65° (2011) -11° (1929)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
0.22"
0.49"
1.91"
1.34"
1.77"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Last
New
Feb 18
Feb 26
6:57 a.m.
5:22 p.m.
10:38 p.m.
9:22 a.m.
First
Full
Mar 5
41° 29°
44° 31°
Seattle
54/48
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
45° 34°
Mar 12
Today
SUNDAY
Spokane
Wenatchee
41/37
32/31
Tacoma
Moses
55/46
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 37/34
43/37
54/47
54/48
38/35
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
52/47
40/39 Lewiston
36/34
Astoria
44/39
56/47
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
51/44
Pendleton 39/35
The Dalles 38/37
39/38
40/36
La Grande
Salem
43/39
55/47
Albany
Corvallis 55/45
56/48
John Day
43/37
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
35/32
59/47
45/37
Caldwell
Burns
43/37
38/28
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
56
37
45
58
38
39
59
40
38
43
49
43
43
62
56
63
35
36
39
51
52
55
41
42
52
40
38
Lo
47
34
37
48
28
35
47
33
37
37
38
39
38
44
49
50
32
32
38
44
40
47
37
35
45
39
35
W
r
pc
r
r
r
pc
r
i
i
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
pc
i
i
r
r
r
i
r
r
r
i
Hi
50
40
46
51
41
41
51
46
46
46
46
44
42
53
52
54
42
47
46
52
49
51
44
44
52
47
47
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Lo
34
59
37
39
47
13
43
38
28
69
38
W
pc
s
sh
sh
pc
c
pc
s
s
pc
s
Lo
39
25
28
43
25
27
38
30
31
28
32
30
30
38
40
42
27
27
30
37
31
37
30
28
36
33
27
W
sh
sh
sh
sh
sh
r
sh
sh
sh
r
sh
r
r
sh
sh
sh
sh
sh
sh
sh
sh
sh
r
r
sh
r
c
Lo
24
63
31
37
46
17
39
41
32
74
44
W
c
s
sh
c
pc
pc
c
s
pc
s
s
WINDS
Medford
62/44
Klamath Falls
49/38
(in mph)
Today
Thursday
Boardman
Pendleton
VAR 2-4
SE 4-8
ESE 3-6
SE 4-8
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Breezy today with rain.
Eastern and Central Oregon: A bit of ice,
then rain across the north today; rain in
central parts and near the Cascades.
Western Washington: Rain today. Rain,
some heavy tonight.
Eastern Washington: Ice, then rain toward
the Cascades today; a little rain near the
Idaho border.
Cascades: Periods of rain today.
0
1
2
1
0
0
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Northern California: Periods of rain
today, but a shower in spots in the interior
mountains.
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
Thu.
Hi
46
70
42
53
71
25
55
59
51
88
55
NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 •
fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com
• To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News:
email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at
541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers in at 541-966-0818.
• To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries:
email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian.
com/community/announcements
• To submit a Letter to the Editor: mail to Managing Editor Daniel
Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email
editor@eastoregonian.com.
• To submit sports or outdoors information or tips:
541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Thu.
WORLD CITIES
Hi
53
68
46
52
75
28
61
59
43
81
50
Classifi ed & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifi eds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
Advertising Director: Marissa Williams
541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com
Advertising Services: Laura Jensen
541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com
Multimedia Consultants:
• Terri Briggs
541-278-2678 • tbriggs@eastoregonian.com
• Elizabeth Freemantle
541-278-2683 • efreemantle@eastoregonian.com
• Jeanne Jewett
541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com
• Chris McClellan
541-966-0827 • cmcclellan@eastoregonian.com
• Stephanie Newsom
541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com
• Dayle Stinson
541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
• Audra Workman
541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com
Subscriber services:
For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
Corrections
The East Oregonian works hard to
be accurate and sincerely regrets any
errors. If you notice a mistake in the
paper, please call 541-966-0818.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Snow showers will stretch from the Great Lakes to the interior
Northeast, while rain and thunderstorms push to the southern Atlantic coast today. Rain
and wind will blast the coastal Northwest.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 84° in Hollywood, Fla.
Low -7° in Antero Reservoir, Colo.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
55
58
54
51
56
56
49
42
69
44
36
35
62
65
35
58
24
38
81
65
39
80
50
69
58
78
Lo
30
35
33
28
38
32
40
29
38
25
24
23
38
37
21
33
5
28
66
43
26
44
35
49
33
56
W
s
r
c
pc
s
pc
pc
sn
r
sf
pc
sf
s
s
sf
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
t
s
s
pc
s
Thur.
Hi
60
59
43
42
60
60
47
38
63
42
39
32
69
70
33
64
23
42
81
69
45
68
67
73
64
70
Lo
33
39
25
23
37
39
34
23
41
31
29
21
48
37
21
40
-2
31
69
49
33
38
41
54
38
57
W
s
s
pc
pc
pc
s
c
pc
s
pc
c
c
s
s
pc
s
pc
s
pc
s
pc
s
s
s
s
pc
Today
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
46
54
85
33
36
49
61
46
57
51
50
75
37
42
55
60
60
64
47
49
75
65
54
70
52
57
Lo
30
35
68
24
26
30
45
29
31
32
29
51
25
26
32
36
43
53
33
30
56
57
48
43
32
33
W
pc
pc
s
pc
c
pc
c
c
s
s
pc
s
sn
r
r
s
pc
c
s
s
s
c
r
s
pc
s
Thur.
Hi
52
62
82
35
44
58
63
37
68
64
41
75
34
37
52
66
58
61
64
56
68
64
52
74
43
70
Lo
40
43
58
29
32
39
46
26
40
37
26
54
18
21
32
36
36
50
44
36
57
52
40
49
27
38
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
pc
s
c
c
c
s
pc
pc
s
s
pc
s
sn
pc
s
s
r
r
s
pc
pc
r
sh
s
s
s