A8
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
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By Hillary Borrud
Capital Bureau
SALEM ² 2f¿ cials at the
2regon Department of Forestry
are getting anxious, as the state
heads into ¿ re season without
the wild¿ re insurance policy
the state has traditionally pur-
chased.
Forest landowners, law-
makers and other state of¿ cials
are mulling over a proposal
that would more than double
2regon’s wild¿ re insurance
deductible, from $20 million to
$50 million.
“As far as the Department of
Forestry is concerned, if there’s
going to be a policy, we’d like
to see it in place as soon as pos-
sible because the last two years
we’ve seen ¿ res early in the
season,” said Rod Nichols, a
File photo/Grant County Sheriff’s Department
Lloyd’s of London has offered the state wildfire
insurance coverage with substantially higher
premiums and deductibles.
spokesman for the 2regon De-
partment of Forestry. “Because
of the dry, warm conditions,
we could see ¿ res early on be
substantial. This is the ¿ fth year
now of drought in the Northwest
and 2regon.”
The state usually has a pol-
POT
Continued from Page A1
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“Relying on a third party’s
consent should be approached
with caution,” he said in clos-
ing.
In response to the decision,
Deputy District Attorney Matt
Ipson ¿ led a motion to dismiss
all three marijuana cases late
Thursday, and Cramer issued
that judgment the same day.
Ipson said that without the
evidence from the search, there
was no basis to continue the
prosecution.
He also said he has no in-
tention of appealing Cramer’s
ruling on the search evidence.
PLAN
Continued from Page A1
As for any involvement
by the Partners, he said,
“It’s my understanding
they are not interested in
icy in place by April, but the
past two costly wild¿ re seasons
caused insurers to reconsider
whether to issue coverage to the
state. The state “sent a contin-
gent to London” earlier this year
to present a case for Lloyd’s to
continue insuring the state, said
Tim Keith, administrator of the
Emergency Fire Cost Commit-
tee that oversees money raised
through fees paid by forest land-
owners. 2regon State Forester
Doug Decker is currently dis-
cussing the proposal with law-
makers and the other of¿ cials
who will decide whether to pur-
chase a policy this year.
“He’s talking with them be-
cause it is a major budgeting de-
cision,” Nichols said.
For several decades, the
state has used money from for-
est landowners and the general
fund to purchase a policy from
Lloyd’s, the London insurance
market. 2regon is the only
state in the nation to purchase
a wild¿ re insurance policy. Se-
vere wild¿ res in 201 and 201
caused the company to increase
the cost of the policy this year.
Nichols said there is no hard
deadline for the state to decide
whether to purchase the policy,
but state lawmakers must pass a
budget by June 0.
This year, Lloyd’s said it
would issue a policy with $25
million in coverage, which
would kick in after the state
spends at least $50 million
on wild¿ re suppression. The
premium would be $.5
million. Last year, the state
paid a premium of $2 million
and received $25 million in
coverage, after it had spent
“I understand and respect
Judge Cramer’s ruling,” Ipson
said. “It’s time to move on.”
Supporters of Graves called
it a victory for the right to use
cannabis for medicinal and
health bene¿ ts. In an Internet
post, Mindi Grif¿ ths said that
even as they awaited the of-
¿ cial dismissal by the court,
“celebrations have already be-
gun.”
Robert Raschio, attorney
for Martin, said his client is
pleased to have the case end.
“Being charged with a
crime for exercising his sin-
cerely held religious beliefs
was excruciating for him,”
Raschio said. “The court made
a decision applying the law
around search and seizure, and
protected all of our rights to be
free of unwanted government
intrusion unless a warrant is
obtained ¿ rst, as reTuired by
the Constitution.”
The case arose as the legal
landscape for marijuana took
a signi¿ cant shift in 2regon,
with voters last fall approving
a measure to make recreational
marijuana legal, expanding on
an already robust medical mar-
ijuana program.
In this case, however, rec-
reational use was not an issue.
Defense attorneys contended
the marijuana was a religious
sacrament, and Graves testi¿ ed
early on that she is the leader of
a branch of a Native American
church that uses cannabis in
healing rites.
taking on that task on our
behalf.”
Members of the Part-
ners have said the group
acts independently and is
not interested in working
for the county government.
They plan to continue their
work focused on vegeta-
tion management – timber
and restoration – projects.
The group, which in-
cludes representatives of
the timber industry as well
as conservation communi-
ty, also plans to continue
providing input on the for-
est plan revision.
Asked a second time at
last week’s meeting about
the $20,000, Myers said,
“We did not pay Blue
Mountains Forest Partners
$20,000, and we will not.
The discussion has gone no
farther.”
Britton was not at the
meeting last week. Con-
tacted later, he said the idea
of tapping the expertise of
the Partners seemed like a
good idea, but it was “just
a concept.” He had hoped
the group would take it on,
with or without help with
the costs, but he acknowl-
edged that apparently they
are not interested.
“In retrospect, I think
it’s wise for them not to
take the county’s money,”
Britton said.
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Grange in saying
farewell and best
wishes to Gene and
Barb Brady on their
new adventure. They
will be missed.
Mt. Vernon Grange Hall on
April 24 th beginning at 4 pm.
Finger food and cake will be available.
01686
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$20 million on ¿ re¿ ghting .
Nichols said it could raise
Tuestions for some people that
the state would consider an in-
surance policy with a deductible
twice the amount of the cover-
age, but the state’s situation is
different than many conven-
tional purchasers such as an in-
dividual who buys homeowners
insurance. That is because the
state views the $50 million de-
ductible as its spending budget
for ¿ re protection. Nichols said
that during severe ¿ re seasons,
the insurance policy is a buffer
that prevents ¿ re¿ ghting costs
from eating into the state gener-
al fund and taking money away
from other programs.
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Continued from Page A1
Several in the audience
raised earlier reTuests that
the Court give the Forest
Service a written notice to
comply with the county’s
public lands access ordi-
nance, which reTuires clo-
sures be approved by the
Court and the sheriff.
Myers said the Court al-
ready has asked the Forest
Service to present its clo-
sure plans, and the Court
is reviewing them “as we
speak.”
Asked if they were ap-
proving or disapproving the
proposals, Commissioner
Chris Lahbart pointed to a
stack of forest documents
several inches thick, and
said the Court still has a lot
of reading to do.
“We do have standing,”
Myers added. “We will
object if we do find some-
thing to object to.”
Myers deferred some
Tuestions, noting the full
Court is scheduled to hear
from Sproul and the private
group, Citizens for Public
Access, at this Wednes-
day’s meeting. Commis-
sioner Boyd Britton was
absent last week.
Sproul said the Court
should be aware that any
road that’s been open 10
years or more is a county
road, so the county has ju-
risdiction over them.
Mark Pengelly asked
the Court what it is doing
to restore membership in
the county’s public access
board. Five members of the
board resigned earlier this
year, citing a lack of sup-
port from the Court.
With just two members
– Pengally and Steve Par-
sons – remaining on the
board, there isn’t a Tuorum
to meet.
Myers indicated no
movement in that area.
“We haven’t had that
discussion, either formally
or casually,” he said.
Pengelly suggested the
Court had a legal respon-
sibility to put the board
together, but Myers said
advisory groups are not
reTuired unless they are
“statutory.”
Ron Phillips reminded
the Court they were elected
“to represent us.”
“It should be obvious
we do not want our roads
closed or access curtailed at
all,” he said.
Howard Geiger urged the
Court to remember the im-
portance of communication
as it reviews forest plans.
“Don’t leave us out,” he
said. “Let us know what
you’re talking about.”