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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2015)
A4 I Opinion Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, April 22, 2015 Reach out to calm fears when threats call t’s a sad state of affairs, but the threat-induced lockdown last week at Prairie City School is becoming almost a rite of spring in schools across the state and nation – an unwelcome RQHWRVD\WKHOHDVW The disturbing events began after an anonymous call threatening violence against VWXGHQWVFDPHLQWRWKHVFKRRO 2I¿FLDOVWKHUHQRWL¿HGSROLFH and set in motion procedures designed to keep students and staff safe while police moved in to LQYHVWLJDWH A lockdown at two other schools, Humbolt and Grant Union, was just a precaution, but it was warranted, given the inter- relatedness and close connections of the Prairie City and John Day FRPPXQLWLHV This phone threat, like ones reported elsewhere, coincided with the anniversary of the Virginia Tech mass shooting, the GHDGOLHVWVFKRROVKRRWLQJLQ86 KLVWRU\6LPLODUFDOOVLQ6RXWKZHVW Washington prompted lockdown and evacuations at the Long Beach Peninsula Schools that VDPHGD\ Both there and in Prairie City, police are saying the threats likely ZHUHDVLFN±DQGLOOHJDO±SUDQN But as our sister newspaper, the Chinook Observer noted, such events feel like anything but a prank to the affected students and SDUHQWV When students must be shepherded into their classrooms, told to shelter in place, and then released under the watchful eye of law enforcement, it is bound to be DVWUHVVIXOVLWXDWLRQ%XWZLWKWKH possibility of a real assault, such SUHFDXWLRQVDUHQHFHVVDU\ In Prairie City, some students didn’t think there ZDVDUHDOWKUHDWDW¿UVWEXW the reality – this was not a GULOO±VDQNLQ:KLOHLWZDV unsettling for many of the older students, the fear was particularly noticeable in some RIWKH\RXQJHUFKLOGUHQ No one wants to cause that kind RIVWUHVVZLWKRXWUHDVRQ+RZHYHU the reality of school violence seen elsewhere in recent years means no threat can be taken lightly, even KHUH6KRRWHUGULOOVDQGORFNGRZQV are as much a need in our remote corner of the world as they are in more urban and suburban FRPPXQLWLHV:HFDQ¶WLJQRUH WKUHDWVRUZLVKWKHULVNVDZD\ So what can we do? Just as the schools and police are embracing relatively new obligations – planning drills and emergency responses – parents have a new challenge to talk with their kids about these situations, unpleasant as the topic may be, and the UHDVRQIRUWKHVDIHJXDUGV7KRVH conversations, in age-appropriate terms, can help kids cope with their fears and navigate what seems at WLPHVDWURXEOLQJZRUOG The silver lining in last week’s situation was that authorities responded quickly, and the threat turned out to be one of words, QRWDFWLRQ1H[WVWHS7DNHDGHHS EUHDWKDQGKXJ\RXUNLGV±6& C OMMENTARY Collaboration, seeking balance in forestry By Dave Hannibal To the Blue Mountain Eagle Collaboration could well be the most effective tool to come along in my 30 years of work in the national IRUHVWVRIWKH1RUWKZHVW The Blue Mountains Forest Part- ners formed in John Day almost 10 years ago in an effort to end the timber wars that were strangling the local community and to deal with WKHXQKHDOWK\FRQGLWLRQRIRXUIRUHVW It has been a huge success – albeit a success that has been acknowledged regionally and nationally far more WKDQORFDOO\ I was disheartened to hear us re- ferred to as an “environmental group” during a recent meeting at the Court- KRXVH,VHHDQHHGIRUSHRSOHWRNQRZ a little more about what we do and ZKRZHDUH Our members are loggers, timber company and service contract reps, retired Forest Service employees, ranchers and others – yes, some en- YLURQPHQWDOJURXSUHSVDVZHOO$OORI these people work to move important SURMHFWV IRUZDUG ZKLFK EHQH¿W WKH SHRSOHRI*UDQW&RXQW\ This is a big change from “the old GD\V´,WFDQEHKDUGIRUDQ\RIXVWR move away from the viewpoints of our interest groups and compromise, but often it is the only way to make PHDQLQJIXOSURJUHVV While many of us have spent long hours in meetings, others have not been so involved, and some have just Who will decide? Blue Mountain EAGLE 195 N. Canyon Blvd. • John Day, OR 97845 541-575-0710 • Fax 541-575-1244 Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper USPS 226-340 John Day, Oregon MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION P UBLISHER E DITOR A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT E DITORIAL A SSISTANT C OMMUNITY N EWS S PORTS M ARKETING R EP C USTOMER S ERVICE R EP Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com Scotta Callister, editor@bmeagle.com Kristina Kreger, kristina@bmeagle.com Cheryl Hoefler, cheryl@bmeagle.com Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com Lindsay Bullock office@bmeagle.com PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY: EO Media Group 3HULRGLFDOV3RVWDJH3DLGDW-RKQ'D\DQGDGGLWLRQDOPDLOLQJRI¿FHV SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access) Grant County Elsewhere in Oregon Continental U.S., Outside Oregon Outside Continental U.S. 1 year $40.00 $48.00 $55.00 $60.00 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery See the Blue Mountain Eagle on the Internet www.MyEagleNews.com POSTMASTER — send address changes to Blue Mountain Eagle 195 N. Canyon Blvd. John Day, OR 97845-1187 Copyright © 2015 Blue Mountain Eagle All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means — graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping or information storage and retrieval systems — without written permission of the publisher. RSHQ,YRWHGIRUZKDWPHWWKHPRVW needs and made the best sense on the JURXQG Evaluating roads at the project OHYHO\LHOGVWKHPRVWVLWHVSHFL¿FDQG UHDOLVWLF RXWFRPHV 7KH EURDG EUXVK of national, or even forestwide, direc- tives can be ineffective or inappropri- DWHLQDQ\JLYHQSURMHFW6RPHURDGV may have been built in a bad location long ago or are just no longer appro- priate, while others may need to be built to maintain the access many of XVHQMR\1HZHUPHPEHUVUHSUHVHQW- ing “access” groups could be of great help evaluating these with us, and are ZHOFRPHDWWKHWDEOH In all of our collaboration to date, road closures amounted to a very small SHUFHQWRIWKHWRWDOURDGVLQDQ\SURMHFW As an avid off-roader, I like my roads and trails and I spend a lot of WLPH LQ WKH IRUHVW %XW , GR QRW EX\ LQWRWKHFXUUHQW¿JKWWKDW¶VEUHZLQJ and the hype that we are being locked RXW RI WKH IRUHVW , ZLOO QRW ¿JKW WR save every foot of road ever made on the Malheur, but rather do my best to help wisely manage the forest and maintain the recreational opportuni- ties so many of us enjoy, while tak- ing into account the myriad of laws, UXOHVDQGLQWHUHVWJURXSVLQYROYHG The BMFP meets at the Grant County Regional Airport the third 7KXUVGD\ RI HDFK PRQWK DW SP DQGDOODUHZHOFRPH Dave Hannibal is a board member of the Blue Mountains Forest Part- ners. L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR To the Editor: The county ordinance pertaining to public road closures states “all roads, trails … across public lands within Grant County shall remain open unless otherwise authorized for closure by the Grant County Court DQGWKH*UDQW&RXQW\6KHULII´ This ordinance was only signed E\WKH&RXQW\&RXUWDQGWKH6KHULII None of the managers of the impact- ed “public lands” had a place to sign, nor is there any guidance included in the ordinance on how it might be ³HQIRUFHG´ Here are some facts that might be of interest: 7KH$UWLFOH,9FODXVHRIWKH 86 &RQVWLWXWLRQ KDV EHHQ FRQVLV- WHQWO\ LQWHUSUHWHG E\ WKH 86 6X- preme Court “that state laws that FRQÀLFWZLWKIHGHUDOODZDUHZLWKRXW HIIHFW´0DU\ODQGY/RXLVLDQD 86 $OVRLQ$UWLFOH,9RIWKH86 Constitution it states “The Congress shall have the power to dispose of and make all needful rules and reg- ulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the Unit- HG6WDWHV´ My fear is that if local people continue to advocate that the Grant County Court “enforce” our local road closure ordinance, the road clo- sure issue will end up being decided by parties outside Grant County! I believe that if all interested lo- cal parties were to start working to- gether they could have a much better chance of “deciding what is best for Grant County” rather then trying to “enforce” a local ordinance that has YHU\TXHVWLRQDEOHOHJDOVWDQGLQJ Mike Cosgrove John Day L UHFHQWO\ FRPH WR WKH WDEOH $OO DUH welcome to participate, although it’s QRWDSURFHVVDOOZLOOHQMR\ In the early years, the extreme views of a few seemed the hardest to WDNH7KRVHYLHZSRLQWVIRUPHGIURP DQ HPRWLRQDO UDWKHU WKDQ VFLHQWL¿F standpoint, and that remains the case WRGD\7KH\ FRPH IURP ERWK IDU OHIW and far right, but anytime one person demands his ideals be heard above WKHUHVWLWFDXVHVH[WUDWLPHDQGZRUN The advantage of our process is we have almost always been able to ZRUN WKURXJK RXU FRQÀLFWV WR D UHD- VRQDEOHVROXWLRQ :H EHQH¿W E\ IXUWKHULQJ RXU knowledge of the evolution of for- estry, forest systems and related eco- QRPLFV:HVWULYHWRH[SDQGRXUXQ- derstanding by inviting top scientists WRVSHDNWRXVDQGWDNH¿HOGWRXUV:H WDONWKURXJKRXUFRQWHQWLRXVLVVXHV Our agreements have resulted in numerous large-scale projects hitting WKHJURXQG/RJVDUHPRYLQJDQGWKH local economy is in better shape than , KDYH VHHQ LQ PRUH WKDQ \HDUV The prescriptions and treatments are good for the forest and the economy, JHWWLQJEHWWHUDVZHJRDORQJ While BMFP has primarily worked on vegetation treatments, the road systems in the project areas are ORRNHGDWDVZHOO0RVWRIWKHSURMHFWV included some minor closures along with some new road construction, some temporary road construction, some open roads moving to closed, and some closed roads moving to 7KDQNVIRURI¿FHVSDFH WKH0DUFK%OXH0RXQWDLQV)RUHVW Partners meeting, Mark Webb was appointed to a position of eminence H[HFXWLYHGLUHFWRURIWKLVHQYLURQ- mentally-led and Forest Service-fed RUJDQL]DWLRQ,QWKDWPHHWLQJKHGH- rided the Grant County Ordinance 2013-01 which was designed to protect access to our lands in Grant &RXQW\,VWKDWWKHVDPHDWWLWXGHWKH Forest Partners hope to promote with their dealings to control our land, which I choose to interpret as “to hell with what people want”? More questions address the sub- ject of forest road density that has appearance of being the driving force for the Forest Service’s attempts at PDVVLYHURDGFORVXUHV How did the Forest Service deter- mine this density? Who derived the formula? Were certain areas selected as targets? Did the density include the wilderness, proposed roadless, and roadless area in the calculations? Is the data still valid after the indis- criminate, unauthorized closing of roads by various forest districts? This is a game of catch-up with reality, and I believe all levels of nationwide and local government are mired in pursuit of their own self-serving achievement in county GRPLQDQFH &RQVLGHU WKLV IURP WKH -DQ 2015 East Oregonian: “The Blue Mountains are an integral part of WKHOLIHVW\OHLQUXUDO(DVWHUQ2UHJRQ Outdoor recreation is a major draw, not only for residents but for visitors IURPDFURVVWKHFRXQWU\´ Road density This doesn’t seem to be a consid- mystery? eration of the Forest Service, which To the Editor: apparently doesn’t care about our Questions just keep coming about HFRQRP\ Judy Kerr the welfare of our county and cit- Canyon City L]HQV¶ DFFHVV WR RXU IRUHVW 'XULQJ To the Editor: We would like to express our deepest appreciation to Judge My- ers and Commissioners Britton and Labhart, and to the entire courthouse VWDIIIRUSURYLGLQJRI¿FHVSDFHWRWKH local outreach center after the ESD ¿UH Because of the gracious invitation and quick action of the Court and the ESD staff, we were able to regroup and carry on services to local college students in just a few short days, in WLPHIRUWKHEHJLQQLQJRIIDOOWHUP We owe special thanks to Hilary McNary and Shannon Springer in the Planning Department for being so welcoming and inviting to BMCC DQG(28VWXGHQWVDQGVWDII It was a great location for us and for our local students, and we en- MR\HG RXU VWD\ :H ZLOO HVSHFLDOO\ miss the fantastic Christmas potluck! $ GLI¿FXOW H[SHULHQFH ZDV PDGH much better by the kindness and gen- erous support of all of the courthouse DQG(6'VWDII Grant County is a wonderful place to live and work – and to get a college degree! Please come visit us in our beautiful new location in the rebuilt ESD, 835 South Canyon %OYG-RKQ'D\ Ashley Armichardy BMCC Center Coordinator Chris Cronin EOU Regional Center Director etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank-you letters. Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.