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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2020)
2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2020 BUSINESS & AG Ranchers accuse federal government of burning $9 million in property By Mateusz Perkowski “When the government does something worse, it gets away with it.” EO Media Group WOLF CREK, Mont. — Two ranches in Western Montana claim they’re owed nearly $9 million because the federal govern- ment burned their range- land while trying to control a wildfi re. McDonough Family Land and Ingersoll Ranch of Wolf Creek, Montana, have fi led a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Forest Service of inten- tionally igniting their prop- erty for “burnout and back- fi ring operations” to steer the spread of the 2017 Alice Creek Fire. Such techniques allow fi refi ghters to burn fuels to alter the wildfi re’s path and reduce its intensity along containment lines. The wildfi re was started by a lightning storm in late July 2017 and the Forest Service used these methods on the affected properties more than a month later, the complaint said. If not for the agency’s activities, “the ranches would have suffered no material or substantial damage as a result of the naturally ignited Alice Creek Fire,” according to the lawsuit. Though the backfi re and OPENING Continued from Page 1B Murdock said Friday, adding that there is a fi ne line between protecting public health and pre- serving citizens’ rights. However, the gover- nor’s proposed guidelines for personal service busi- nesses would have that requirement. Such busi- nesses would need to col- lect that client information and retain it for at least 60 days. In addition, the overall draft guidance for Oregon employers still retains the provision: “Consider Brian Gregg, an attorney with the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which advocates for property rights burnout operations were intended to affect the direc- tion and rate of the wild- fi re’s spread, the plaintiffs claim the Forest Service had “safe and effective alternatives” to suppress the fi re. “Instead it chose to manage the Alice Creek Fire with land management goals primarily in mind rather than fi re suppres- sion,” the complaint alleges. Specifi cally, the plain- tiffs claim the federal agency wanted to reduce fuel loads while improving timber stand health, wild- life habitat and water- shed quality in the 1.8 mil- lion-acre Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. Damages from the loss of forage, timber, fences, water sources and other property came to $7.5 mil- lion for McDonough Family Land and $1.3 million for Ingersoll Ranch, according to the lawsuit, which was fi led in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Wash- ington, D.C. The ranches have a unique “history and legacy,” as the current owners descend from the original homesteaders of the prop- erty, the complaint said. The lawsuit doesn’t specify how many acres of the ranches were burned in the fi re. “The USFS actions appropriated a benefi t to it at the expense of the ranches and pre-empted their right to enjoy their property for an extended period of time,” the com- plaint said. “The taking also substantially diminished the fair market value of real property owned by the ranches and deprived them of its use.” The Forest Service’s management activities forced fi nancial burdens on the two ranches that “in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole,” amounting to a gov- ernment taking or physical invasion of property that should be compensated, the complaint said. The EO Media Group was unable to reach a repre- sentative of the Forest Ser- vice as of press time. The lawsuit illustrates the “complete double stan- dard” applied to the gov- ernment compared to pri- vate landowners, such as Steven and Dwight Ham- mond, two Oregon ranchers keeping a record of name, contact information and date/time of visit for cus- tomers/visitors for pur- poses of contract tracing if needed.” The state has been working on draft guide- lines for health care ser- vices, transit, retail, restau- rants, personal services, child care and early child- hood education, and out- door education. They also are looking at providing meeting guidelines for faith-based organizations and support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Legislators have been told that the Governor’s offi ce might formally release the main Phase One guidelines on Thursday. Brown is scheduled to con- tinue her calls with county offi cials on Wednesday. The reopening guide- lines are being developed by Brown and her staff in consultation with other agencies, medical and busi- ness advisory groups and local offi cials. Brown has said some counties with few COVID-19 cases might be able to reopen certain businesses and facilities as soon as May 15, once granted approval by the governor. The fi ve-and-half-page draft for personal services includes these requirements for providers: • Limit the number of occupants and keep everyone at least six feet apart except when neces- sary for a provider to give a client such services as a haircut or massage. • Serve only clients who make appointments. Have clients wait in their cars or elsewhere until it is their turn. • Contact clients before their appointments to ensure they are not showing COVID-19 symptoms. • Wear face coverings when providing direct client services. • Wear a clean smock for each client and, if appli- cable, drape each client in a clean cape. • Wash hands between clients; ask clients to wash hands before receiving the service; and wash hands after using the phone, com- puter, cash register or credit card machine. • Remove “unnecessary items” from the premises, such as magazines, news- papers, service menus, paper products, snacks and beverages. • Follow specifi c regula- tions on training and sani- tation, as spelled out in the guidelines. Customers also would be encouraged to wear face coverings. The draft states: Associate Press fi le photo Two ranches in Montana seek $9 million from the federal government for allegedly burn- ing their timber and rangeland. who served time in prison for setting fi res to fed- eral rangeland, said Brian Gregg, an attorney with the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which advo- cates for property rights. “When the government does something worse, it gets away with it,” Gregg said. Suing the federal gov- ernment for an unjust taking is an “uphill battle” and often requires showing the property was com- pletely destroyed and for- ever unusable, he said. While judges and law- yers have recently pushed for more government accountability, courts have traditionally given the gov- ernment the benefi t of the doubt — particularly in emergency situations, Gregg said. “Over the course of two centuries, the defi nition of taking has become narrow,” he said. “Courts are often more deferential to the government.” “Some services may not require the client to wear face covering; for example, a client does not need to wear a face covering when face-down on a massage table. Some services, such as mustache or beard trims, may require the cloth, paper or disposable face covering to be temporarily removed.” The guidelines also sug- gest that employees change clothes between clients “if providing services that require extended close client contact such as mas- sage therapy and tattoo art- istry” and when leaving the business at the end of the day. Lose Weight Now Lose what took years to gain—in weeks... 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