Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
Monday • June 21, 2021
Fires rage as spring turns to summer
Warm Springs, Klamath County blazes threaten structures
Bulletin staff and wire reports
A fire on the Warm Springs Indian Reser-
vation grew to 4,300 acres by late Saturday
night.
The S-503 Fire caused the Wasco County
Sheriff’s Office to issue Level 3 “go now” evac-
uations orders for some residents of the com-
munity of Pine Grove on Saturday night.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office de-
ployed a structure protection team to the
area, according to the Warm Springs Fire De-
partment.
In Klamath County, a wildfire reported Sat-
urday afternoon was threatening 120 struc-
tures in Southern Oregon, authorities say.
The Cutoff Fire is burning on Bureau of
Land Management property about 6 miles
north of Bonanza, a small town in Klamath
County.
The fire was about 1,000 acres and growing
SUMMER SWOOPS IN
quickly, heading to the east toward the Wren
subdivision, according to a joint press release
from Klamath County Emergency Manage-
ment, Oregon Department of Forestry and
BLM Lakeview District.
Klamath County Emergency Management
officials issued various levels of evacuations
orders for nearby residents.
Klamath County sheriff’s deputies and
search and rescue volunteers are assisting
evacuees. An evacuation point is being set up
at Bonanza High School, 31601 Mission St.
The cause of fire is under investigation.
The Oregonian
The S-503 Fire is burning on the north end of the Warm
Springs Indian Reservation.
a paraglider passes in front of the rising moon while flying high above Pine Mountain
just before the sun dips below the horizon Saturday. Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
THE EFFORT TO MOVE
OREGON’S BORDER
These rural
Oregonians
‘no longer
recognize’
their state
By doUGLaS PERRy
The Oregonian
Thousands of people in East-
ern and Southern Oregon want to
leave the state — so long as they
don’t have to pack up and go any-
where.
In May, five rural counties —
Baker, Grant, Lake, Malheur and
Sherman — voted to study mov-
ing the border so they would be-
come part of neighboring Idaho.
They joined Jefferson and Union
counties, both of which voted in
November to look into switching
to the Gem State.
The reasons for this unlikely
secession movement, laughed off
by political observers a year ago
but now being given grudging
respect, are not as straightfor-
ward as they might appear at first
glance.
Rural Oregonians, who tend
to be politically conservative, un-
questionably feel ill-treated by the
state’s city dwellers, who skew to
the political left and whose num-
bers now mean perennial Dem-
ocratic majorities in the Oregon
Legislature.
“The majority party constantly
wants its ideals imposed on rural
areas, and the people in those
rural areas have had it,” former
Oregon Senate Minority Leader
Herman Baertschiger Jr. said.
“They want to leave.”
Baertschiger, a Republican who
is now a Josephine County com-
missioner, added:
“When I was in the
Legislature, I was always
jumping up and down about the
urban-rural divide. It’s two very
different lifestyles, two different
ways of life.”
For those Oregonians looking
to Republican-dominated Idaho
as their ideological promised land,
a famous saying from the late
President Ronald Reagan reso-
nates: “The nine most terrifying
words in the English language are:
‘I’m from the government, and
I’m here to help.’”
They believe less government
regulation means more personal
freedom. They say there should be
greater economic opportunity and
fewer handouts.
Democrats in the Legislature
“have no idea the values we have
out here, the work ethic,” said
Sandie Gilson, who runs a title
company in Grant County with
her husband.
“We take care of ourselves and
our neighbors,” she said. “I’ll al-
ways jump in to help someone
whose house has burned down,
but I’m reluctant to help people
who won’t help themselves.”
TODAY’S
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