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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2015)
A4 Opinion Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, August 12, 2015 Corps gives plaintiffs a hand on WOTUS P laintiffs who haYe ¿led suit to blocN the implementation of new rules from the EnYironmental Protection Agency and the Corps of Engineers de¿ning “waters of the United States” that can be regulated under the Clean Water Act got a big boost last weeN And it looNs as though they can thanN the EPA EPA and the corps haYe been worNing on the rule for a couple of years now in the hopes of reconciling two separate Supreme Court decisions on cases inYolYing the Clean Water Act Since the beginning, farm and ranch groups haYe said the new rule would expand the EPA’s authority to coYer eYerything up to and including muddy hoof prints So they and the attorneys general of seYeral states haYe ¿led separate lawsuits to stop the implementation of the recently released draft rule Turns out the Army Corps of Engineers doesn’t thinN much of the rules, either, at least not the way the EPA wrote them In memos written by the corps to the EPA before the rule was released, the corps alleges: • That in writing the rule the EPA ignored sound science, and ignored the corps’ input to such an extent that it doesn’t consider the rule the collaboration the published draft claims to be • That the rule remoYes Clean Water Act protection from some bodies of water where it is now enforced That’s because the rule limits coYerage to laNes, ponds and other waterways that are within 4,000 feet of a naYigable water or tributary The corps says there’s no scienti¿c basis for the limit and no legal authority for the agencies to abandon its current Murisdiction • That because the EPA acNnowledged that abandoning Murisdiction could create “signi¿cant adYerse effects on the human enYironment,” the National EnYironmental Policy Act requires the corps to perform an enYironmental impact statement • That while the rule enYisions the agencies extending regulation to isolated bodies of water that haYe a “signi¿cant nexus” with naYigable waters of the United States, the de¿nitions of such bodies as haYing “no hydrological connection with naYigable waters” maNes it unliNely the agencies will be able to establish a nexus that will withstand a court challenge The corps, it seems, has found that the EPA doesn’t listen to anyone and does whateYer it wants What a surprise It will taNe awhile for all this to play out in the courts, and it’s unclear what impact the corps’ memos will haYe on the cases But it can only be a good thing for plaintiffs when one of the defendants maNes their case )orest of¿cials will hear public concerns Listening sessions set for next week Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — Malheur National )orest SerYice of¿cials will hold three more Blue Mountains )orest Plan Community WorNshops Here’s the schedule: • Pace and Scale of Restoration WorNshop, 6 to 9 pm Monday, Aug 17, at the Grant County Regional Air- port in John Day • Pace and Scale of Restoration WorN- shop, 6 to 9 pm Tuesday, Aug 1, at the Burns Community Center in Burns • Grazing, and Pace and Scale WorN- shop, 6 to 9 pm Wednesday, Aug 19, at the Long CreeN Community Hall in Long CreeN The meetings will giYe the public an opportunity talN to forest serYice of¿cials who are worNing on the Blue Mountains )orest Plan ReYision, which includes Malheur, Umatilla and Wal- lowa-Whitman National )orests — the Blue Mountains National )orests To see the complete list, and to see the forest serYice meeting notes, Yisit http://wwwfsusdagoY/detail/wal- lowa-whitman/landmanagement/plan- ning/"cid stelprdb524744 online 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 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 Merkley to conduct town halls Town Halls scheduled Aug. 12, 13 in Summerville, Joseph, Long Creek PORTLAND — Oregon Sen Jeff MerNley will hold town halls in Union, Wallowa and Grant counties this weeN MerNley will update constituents on his worN in Washington, DC, an- swer their questions and inYite their suggestions about how to tacNle the challenges facing Oregon and America “There are huge issues facing Oregonians, and the best way for me to effectiYely adYocate for Or- egon’s families and businesses is as a US Senator • Union County Town Hall Wednesday, Aug 12, 12:30 pm Pleasant GroYe Grange Hall, 6721 Hunter Road, SummerYille • Wallowa County Town Hall Wednesday, Aug 12, 4 pm Joseph Charter School cafeteria, 400 E Williams AYe, Joseph • Grant County Town Hall Thursday, Aug 13, 9:30 am Long CreeN Community Cen- ter, 210 West Second St, Long CreeN &DPS¿UHVUHVWULFWHGLQVWDWH SALEM ² Camp¿re restrictions are in place in seYeral Oregon state parNs The restrictions include the Co- lumbia Gorge, middle and southern portions of the Willamette Valley, on southern Oregon coastal beaches and a few locations east of the Cas- cades • Columbia Gorge: Ainsworth, Viento, Memaloose, Deschutes RiY- er State Recreation Area and all day- use parNs No camp¿res or charcoal briquettes Gas stoYes are OK • Willamette Valley: Detroit LaNe, Mongold, Cascadia, EliMah Bristow, Lowell, Jasper and all parNs around Help make a difference )all CreeN ReserYoir No camp¿res or charcoal briquettes Gas stoYes are OK • East of the Cascades: Remote camping locations around PrineYille ReserYoir deYeloped campgrounds at PrineYille State ParN and Jasper Point not restricted No camp¿res or charcoal briquettes Gas stoYes are OK Cottonwood Canyon: No camp- ¿res Charcoal briquettes and gas stoYes are OK in campgrounds, gas stoYes only outside of camp- grounds • Southern Oregon Coastal Beaches: All beaches and state parN day-use sites from Coos Bay south to the California border DeYeloped campgrounds are not restricted No ¿res or charcoal briquettes Gas stoYes are OK EYen where ¿res are allowed, Yisitors need to exercise caution Build ¿res only in ¿re rings Attend all ¿res Don’t build them larger than necessary Keep a bucNet of water and shoYel nearby and douse thoroughly when ¿nished SmoNing is not permitted in state parNs ex- cept in personal Yehicles and desig- nated campsites Conditions change rapidly )or updates, checN oregon- stateparNsorg L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR An ill-advised undertaking To the Editor: There is a meeting coming up on Aug 20, 21 and 22 at the EYent &enter, 2600 East St, BaNer &ity It is probably one of the most important meetings on teaching coordination you eYer haYe had the chance to at- tend It giYes you the tools to stop the oYer-reach of the forest agencies We need to stop their benign neglect of our forest, blaming eYerything on the off-road users and other forest ac- tiYities We need to stop the shutting down of our roads because silt might get in a creeN, or a salmon that needs help or some other species in distress I Nnow 150 for a three-day con- ference is a lot of money to come up with But what we will lose if we don’t stand up and be counted is much, much more If you can’t at- tend, please donate to help offset the cost of the eYent To attend or donate, or for more information please call Lorrie at 541-519-5470, or stop by her of¿ce, open Monday through )ri- day at 3370 10th St, Suite & here in BaNer &ity We are running out of bullets, and this is the last stand to maNe a dif- ference on our public forest lands Please help maNe a difference Chuck Chase Baker City To the Editor: Labeling one person’s state- ments as opinion and claiming your own opinion as fact is an ill-ad- Yised undertaNing, especially when the ³facts´ are unsubstantiated Mr MiNe &osgroYe’s Aug 5 letter, ³)acts don’t MiYe with opin- ions e[pressed´ ³facts´ assume that all issues I haYe addressed are personal opinions Perhaps he is obliYious to the nuances of public opinion that are becoming obYious to most folNs in the county and the steps being taNen to address these issues by organi]ed groups Mr &osgroYe should educate himself on common laws that de- fuse one of his “facts” and lend doubts to the others He claimed that a letter he petitioned the County Court earlier this year for their signature was defeated by one commissioner after maNing so free with my name, why wasn’t the male commissioner/culprit named" Oregon meeting laws require a quorum maMority necessary for a decision The court quorum de- nied the petition, and the decision was supported by priYate citi]ens of Grant County that populated the meeting room )act: That is public record, not my opinion By his admission, the letter would haYe proYided support for his requesting funds to purchase toilets for proposed forest serYice biNeways The question arises as to why he would be requesting funds for priYies on a forest ser- Yice proMect that was totally un- Nnown to the public unless the forest serYice had guaranteed ap- proYal of the proMect inspite of po- tential public input The topic of my letter was the Summit CreeN Landscape Res- toration ProMect, not the cycling groups he Nept referencing that utili]e paYed highways Touting the reYenue produced by those groups has no bearing on the cross country cyclists that would utilize forest dirt and rocNy byways and, by CosgroYe’s statement, “those cyclists spend little money” It is not Must my opinion that large groups of cyclists should not be allowed to infiltrate our forest in mass to harass wildlife, and al- lowing such actiYities contradicts the forest serYice’s proclaimed stringent desire to close off the forest to protect wildlife and re- store the landscape Kudos to Dean Elliot on his letter on freedom for our country Aug 5: “What is happening to freedom in our country"” Judy Kerr Canyon City W HERE TO WRITE PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY: EO Media Group PeriodiFals Postage Paid at John Day and additional Pailing oI¿Fes SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access) Grant County Elsewhere in Oregon Continental U.S., Outside Oregon Outside Continental U.S. by getting out on the road and holding a town hall in eYery county eYery year to hear directly from Or- egonians,” said MerN- ley Since Moining Sen. Jeff the Senate in 2009, Merkley MerNley has held a town hall in each of Oregon’s 36 counties eYery year Union, Wal- lowa and Grant counties will be his 24th, 249th and 250th town halls 1 year $40.00 $51.00 $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. Grant County Grant County Court- house — 201 S Humbolt St, Suite 20, Canyon City 9720 Phone: 541-575- 0059 )ax: 541-575-224 Canyon City — PO Box 276, Canyon City 9720 Phone: 541-575- 0509 )ax: 541-575-0515 Email: tocc162#centu- rylinNnet DayYille — PO Box L 321, DayYille 9725 Phone: 541-97-21 )ax: 541-97-217 Email:"dYille#ortelco net John Day — 450 E Main St, John Day, 9745 Phone: 541-575- 002 )ax: 541-575-1721 Email: cityMd#centurytel net Long CreeN — PO Box 49, Long CreeN 9756 Phone: 541-421- 3601 )ax: 541-421-3075 Email: info#cityoÀong- creeNcom Monument — PO Box 426, Monument 9764 Phone and fax: 541-934-2025 Email: monument#oregontrail net Mt Vernon — PO Box 647, Mt Vernon 9765 Phone: 541-932- 46 )ax: 541-932-4222 Email: cmtY#ortelconet Prairie City — PO Box 370, Prairie City 9769 Phone: 541-20- 3605 )ax: 20-3566 Email: pchall#ortelco net Seneca — PO Box 20, Seneca 9773 Phone and fax: 541-542-2161 Email: cityseneca#cen- turytelnet 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.