SPRING
FOR IT!
Athletes on
track for
new season
– PAGE A11
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , M ARCH 18, 2015
Malheur
supervisor
revisits
2014 road
order
Beverlin: New
orders will take
site-specific tack
By Scotta Callister
Blue Mountain Eagle
CANYON CITY – Ac-
knowledging the past pro-
cess was confusing, Malheur
National Forest Supervisor
Steve Beverlin last week an-
nounced he’s taking a new
approach to road closure en-
forcement orders.
Beverlin, meeting with
the Grant County Court
March 11, said he will re-
scind a September 2014
order signed by then-Su-
pervisor Teresa Raaf and
review decisions covered
by it, project by project. He
expects the review to look at
projects dating back at least
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He plans to produce new
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to each of the projects he re-
views, rather than taking the
omnibus approach that has
been used up to now.
Each new order will be
presented to the county for
review by the Court and
Sheriff, he said.
The September 2014 or-
der sparked protests last fall
from residents and members
of the county’s Public Ac-
cess Advisory Board, who
charged the Forest Service
was closing roads in Grant
County without bringing the
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A 2013 county ordinance
requires county involve-
ment when access changes
are proposed on the public
lands.
In response, Beverlin
pledged to review the order,
identify any roads it covered
in Grant County, and deter-
mine when they were closed.
He presented his draft re-
sults last week, including a
map with the road changes
marked. Tags attached to
the map cited project names
and National Environmen-
tal Policy Act decision
dates for each project area.
The dates ranged from 1991
to more recent large-land-
scape projects including
Jane, from a 2010 decision;
Soda Bear, from 2011; and
Marshall-Devine, 2012.
See ROAD, Page A10
• N O . 11
• 18 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
FOOD for thought
A treasure trove of ag memories for this Ag Day
less than 40 acres. Of the ag land, the
Census says 64 percent was in pasture,
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JOHN DAY – It’s not only a life- cent, crops.
style – agriculture is big business in
Livestock sales outproduced crop
Grant County.
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The numbers tell the tale.
county’s climate, terrain and soils.
Sally Bartlett, the county’s econom-
But whether local folks grow hay,
ic development coordinator, points to peaches, cattle or sheep, agriculture has
the latest Census of Agriculture avail- long been an integral part of the com-
able, for 2012, showing the county pro- munity and its economy.
ducing about $26 million in the market
Shana Northway, Oregon State
value of agricultural products sold.
University Extension Service agent
Per farm, the market value was up for the county, says in our modern
to $64,000 for that year, from about world, many people don’t realize the
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important role that agriculture plays.
Bartlett notes other key facts: The One reason: Statistics indicate that a
number of farms stayed the same in the tiny percentage of the nation’s popula-
¿YH\HDUFRPSDULVRQLQDQG tion – about 2 percent – produces food
2007. About a third were large – 110 of and other ag products for the rest.
them over 1,000 acres – but the range
“So people become disconnected,
goes down to about nine farms with in their daily lives, from where their
By Scotta Callister
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Scotta Callister
Cattle dot the winter pastures
near Prairie City, with Strawberry
Mountain as a scenic backdrop.
food comes from,” she said. “Even
here.”
In addition, many people are un-
aware of the work that rural landown-
ers do to protect and nurture the natu-
ral resources.
“People never seem to see the
stewardship that ranchers and farm-
ers do to preserve the land,” she said.
She said raising awareness in
those areas is a goal for programs of
the Extension Service.
The agency also chronicles the
challenges, accomplishments and
trends in local agriculture. For nearly
a century, the university has tasked its
county agents with annual reports that
tracks progress, contacts and more.
In recent years, Northway said,
production of these reports has gone
digital, but the old bound journals
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sure trove of ag history in the county.
In recognition of National Agri-
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publishing excerpts from those jour-
nals for its readers – as a tribute to
those who toil the land and a remind-
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bors. See Page A7.
Dancers dazzle crowd
Showcase deemed a success
By Angel Carpenter
J
Blue Mountain Eagle
OHN DAY – Dancers from varied levels of
expertise leaped into the hearts of their au-
dience at last Thursday’s Spring Showcase.
More dancers than ever participated in
the program,
and the stands were
packed at the Grant
Union Junior-Senior
High School gym.
“We had a great
evening,” said event
coordinator Shannon
Adair. “It was great to
see all the kids having
fun performing and to
see some young kids
picking up those skills.”
Dancers from the
youngest Level 1 team
to the Grant Union var-
sity team participated
with large group performances as well as small
group and solo routines.
The Grant Union Gold seniors were recognized
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Noseda, Auna Waldner, Jenny McCloskey, Carli
Gardner and manager Charli Bowden.
See DANCE, Page A10
S TUDENT A RT
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
The Level 2 dance team dancing to “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” at the Spring
Showcase. Top photo: Taking the audience to a jungle setting, the Level 3 dance
team roars onto the stage. Photo at left: Varsity dancer Jenny McCloskey takes the
stage solo at the Spring Showcase. Visit MyEagleNews.com for more photos.
Walker tops Republican straw poll
At Dorchester,
party eyes ways
to stay relevant
By Katherine Lacaze
EO Media Group
Betty Wilson
Prairie City School
Grade 4
Teacher: Sue Thompson
SEASIDE – About 300
people gathered to deliberate
the future of the Oregon Re-
publican Party at the 51st an-
nual Dorchester Conference
last weekend at the Seaside
Civic and Convention Center.
The main event was Sun-
day’s presidential straw vote,
a conference tradition where
attendees selected their top
candidate for the Republican
Party in the 2016 presidential
election.
The winner of the 2015
Dorchester straw poll was
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
with 39 votes. Former Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush was the run-
ner-up with 22 votes. Florida
Sen. Marco Rubio was third.
A few attendees, before
the vote, suggested Jeb Bush
could be a problematic can-
didate for his last name alone
See GOP, Page A10
EO Media Group/Katherine Lacaze
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., Second District,
was the keynote speaker for the 51st annual
Dorchester Conference in Seaside, held Friday
through Sunday.