A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Forest plan hatched
in secrecy, without
solid legal basis
C
oordination among
various levels of
government is a good
concept when it comes to
managing public land. But
Sheriff Glenn Palmer has gone
about it the wrong way in his
recNless effort to create his own
forest plan. The result is not
in the best interests of Grant
County.
Palmer has not only
exceeded his authority as
sheriff, he contradicted his
public calls for openness in
the way he presented his plan
to county commissioners.
Rather than going through an
open public process, Palmer
deputized a handpicNed band
of deputies to develop a natural
resource plan. So much for
collaboration and cooperation.
What would this band of
deputies and Sheriff Palmer
have done had the U.S. Forest
Service dropped its own forest
plan at the end of a meeting
with no public input, no notice
of action and no chance to
participate? There would be
outrage. So why are Sheriff
Palmer’s actions different?
LooNing over the regulations
provided by Sheriff Palmer
in his Natural Resource Plan
he quotes 36 CFR 219.4
which states, “The responsible
of¿cial shall coordinate land
management planning with the
equivalent and related planning
efforts of federally recognized
Indian Tribes, AlasNa Native
Corporations, other Federal
agencies, and State and local
governments.” It goes on to say
“…For plan development or
revision, the responsible of¿cial
shall review the planning and
land use policies of … these
same entities including local
governments.”
The regulations constantly
refer to “Local Governments”
as the entity the Forest
Service and Bureau of Land
Management are supposed
to coordinate with. So who
is “Local Government”?
Oregon law (ORS 203) clearly
designates the county court as
the “governing body” required
to develop and revise all land
plans. ORS 215 spells out the
public process for developing
and revising these plans. Land-
use planning is not one of the
listed duties of a sheriff within
the state of Oregon (ORS 206).
It seems Sheriff Palmer
and his deputies rile against
collaboration. Yet collaboration
appears to follow many of the
concepts of coordination being
called for by Sheriff Palmer and
is achieving results.
The collaboration is taNing
place with the Blue Mountains
Forest Partners. This group
of volunteers is composed
of local people. Included are
loggers, ranchers, sawmill
representatives, business
owners, contractors, local
government representatives
and, yes, even some non-local
environmental groups.
The Forest Partners is a
diverse group – one that has
already achieved considerable
success. It has moved our
forest from selling very small
quantities of timber and
treating few acres, to selling
more timber, treating tens of
thousands of acres each year
and putting people bacN to
worN in the forest to Neep our
local economy from failing.
The citizens of Grant
County have tried and failed
in the past to get the Forest
Service to cut more timber and
build more roads. The effort
was appropriately called the
“timber wars” and we lost.
We lost because almost every
timber sale was litigated by
environmental groups who now
worN with local people to move
the forest and the communities
forward.
Collaboration may not be
perfect, and it may be painful
for some who remember the
days when a dozen mills
populated our county and
there was no need to sit at
a table with the “enemy”
and collaborate. But the
fact is we are moving in the
right direction with forest
management without litigation
since 2006.
We want a natural resources
plan, but we don’t want
plans developed illegally or
secretively. The County Court
is charged with handling plan
development, revisions and
coordination with the Forest
Service. Let’s encourage
continued coordination between
these two institutions. If we
see issues that need addressing,
bring them to the County Court.
Better yet, participate in the
current collaboration of forest
management.
We applaud those who are
passionate about what they
believe in. But we draw the
line with arguments that are not
supported by facts and efforts
that attempt to circumvent an
open public process.
W HERE TO WRITE
GRANT COUNTY
Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-
575-2248.
Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Can-
yon City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509.
Fax: 541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@
centurylink.net.
Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:?dville@ortelco.net
John Day — 450 E. Main St, John
Day, 97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax:
541-575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.
net.
/ong CreeN — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityoÀong-
creek.com.
Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monu-
ment 97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-
2025. Email: monument@oregontrail.net.
Mt 9ernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt. Ver-
non 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax:
541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie
City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax:
820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: cityseneca@centurytel.net.
SALEM
Gov .ate Brown D — 254
State Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone:
503-378-3111. Fax: 503-378-6827.
Website: www.governor.state.or.us/
governor.html.
State Rep CliII Bent] R-Ontario
(District: 60), Room H-475, State
Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., Salem OR
97301. Phone: 503-986-1460. Email:
rep.cliffbentz@state.or.us. Website:
www.leg.state.or.us/bentz/home.htm.
State Sen Ted )errioli R — (Dis-
trict 30) Room S-223, State Capitol,
Salem 97310. Phone: 503-986-1950.
Email: sen.tedferrioli@state.or.us.
Email: TFER2@aol.com. Phone: 541-
490-6528. Website: www.leg.state.
or.us/ferrioli.
OP-ED: A meaningful seat at the
negotiating table on forest plan
By Frances M. Preston
So the debate begins over our for-
est plan and the meaning of “coordi-
nation or collaboration.”
Our county commissioners tell us
they have been cooperating and col-
laborating. Now it is time for citizens
to educate themselves on the differ-
ences of the meaning of the words and
be involved in the process.
The “coordination process,” as di-
rected by Congress, is simply a pro-
cess by which local government and
federal agencies are to meet in govern-
ment-to-government dialogue in order
to reach consistency between federal
plans and actions and local plans, or-
dinances and policies.
Congress has directed every federal
agency to engage in this process with
locally elected governments. Congress
requires that federal agencies engage
in the “coordination” process, provid-
ing local government with a meaning-
ful seat at the negotiating table with
federal and state agencies that receive
federal funding.
The meaning of three words – co-
ordinate, consistency and collabora-
tion – is important when considering
the debate going on regarding the use
of the national forest and people’s pub-
lic lands around us. Coordinate is de-
¿ned as being “equal in ranN, quality,
or signi¿cance” and “to worN Mointly
with others or together … to cooperate
with an agency or instrumentality with
which one is not immediately connect-
ed.”
Consistency means “steadfast
adherence to the principles, course,
etc.” and “agreement between parts or
things.”
The de¿nition of collaboration
clearly points out that while one is
“worNing Mointly with others,” “one is
not immediately connected.” In other
Members of Grant County Coor-
dination Committee are:
Dave Traylor: A veteran of the
Vietnam War, well known for his
public support of natural resource
management.
Brooks Smith: Retired district
ranger on the Malheur National
Forest.
Jim Sproul: A native of Grant
County, raised on the family
ranch and actively involved in
ranching, currently a real estate
agent in the county.
Mike and Elaine Smith: Long-
time citizens of the county, retired
ranchers, 29 years owners and
managers of U.S. Forest Service
grazing allotments.
Frances Preston: Retired U.S.
Forest Service administrator.
Terry and Billie Jo George:
Retired retail lumber sales and
advocates for public access of
our national forest.
Todd Smith: Independent gener-
al contractor.
Roger McKinley: Business
owner, RJ Trucking and RJ Post
and Pole.
Judy Kerr: Retired Forest
Service, public affairs and road
engineering.
words, those who taNe part in collab-
oration may or may not be affected by
their actions.
The U.S. Forest Service is charged
with coordinating the management
of forest lands with those affected by
their actions. We are to be equal in
ranN, quality, or signi¿cance.
There are many parties affected by
federal forests. Among them are those
who use forest livestocN allotments for
summer grazing, family logging Mobs
and the mills and businesses in the
community who are supported by the
ranching and logging industries.
We suffer the impact of arbitrary
road closures and various proMects that
limit our use and enMoyment of the for-
est surrounding our community.
The current group collaborating in
the county -- Blue Mountains Forest
Partners -- is talNing with and maNing
agreements with the Forest Service
and groups that don’t have a vested
interest in our local families and our
community. The decisions they have
made, implemented by the heavy hand
of the federal government, have affect-
ed the local people who use the forest
for business or recreation, and the local
economy in general.
With consistency in mind, through
coordination we could hold together a
steadfast adherence to the principles
while retaining the customs and cul-
ture of the county as de¿ned by the
Grant County Custom and Culture
Document.
The Grant County Coordination
Committee is composed of citizen
volunteers with a wide range of cul-
tural and historic experience in natural
resource management see adMacent
list). Their mission is to assist Sheriff
Glenn Palmer, local governments and
public agencies to utilize the coordina-
tion process to bring federal and state
regulations into consistency with local
laws and policies.
Sheriff Palmer and ¿ve of these
members participated in a Coordina-
tion 101 Seminar given by Attorney
Fred Kelly Grant. Since 1990 Grant
has helped local governments and
landowners defend their interests
against autocratic federal agencies.
The information presented during
the seminar motivated Sheriff Palmer
to act and invoNe coordination. Please
support our efforts.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Articles were
unprofessional,
manipulate
Letter to the Editor:
Two items in last weeN’s issue
(Sheriff’s Deputies and the Blue
Mountains Forest Partners) were
unprofessional attempts to manipu-
late the public with misinformation
and failure to include interviews
given by involved parties who
do not support the paper’s family
views.
The Grant County Public Land
Resources Plan Committee is only
a representative of itself and as an
advisory committee to the Sheriff.
They are a diverse group of coun-
ty citizens who voluntarily came
together to create a resource plan
to provide a means of support for
county interests, health, and safety.
The County Court has independent-
ly created many committees at their
discretion so why is the Sheriff,
an equal of¿cial, criticized for the
same action?
The Resources Plan is a “living
document” which means it can and
is expected to be amended through
additions and explanations of poli-
cies. It does not need an attorney’s
perusal or approval. It does not sup-
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
P UBLISHER ............................... M ARISSA W ILLIAMS , MARISSA @ BMEAGLE . COM
E DITOR .................................... EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM
A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT ........ K RISTINA K REGER , KRISTINA @ BMEAGLE . COM
E DITORIAL A SSISTANT ................ C HERYL H OEFLER , CHERYL @ BMEAGLE . COM
C OMMUNITY N EWS .................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
S PORTS ................................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
M ARKETING R EP ....................... K IM K ELL , ADS @ BMEAGLE . COM
O FFICE M ANAGER ..................... L INDSAY B ULLOCK , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Committee
members
port environmental or collaborative
groups or any government agencies
but strives to provide the people of
Grant County a means to exercise
control over their public lands.
The Plan did not need prior re-
view from the Court. Sheriff Palm-
er, an elected of¿cial and lead law
enforcement of¿cer, is not subservi-
ent to the County Court, has equal
authority, and does not depend
upon approval to act in support of
the county citizens. Sheriff Palm-
er strove to provide a plan for the
citizens of Grant County as a guide
for all government agencies so that
they Nnow what Grant County ex-
pects for their Natural Resources
Management.
Other County ordinances or
plans that are “not worNing” is be-
cause of lacN of coordination with
agencies on equal footing. “Coordi-
nation” is the law.
The only evidence of true coor-
dination claimed by the Forest Ser-
vice is with their Blue Mountains
Forest Partners collaboratives. Only
with extreme arrogance and vanity
do they assume they are the only
agency of substance within Grant
County.
Judy Kerr
Canyon City
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Letter to the Editor:
I am writing this letter in hopes
it will reach the eyes and ears of our
city manager Peggy Gray, Senator Ted
Ferrioli, Greg Walden, -eff MerNley
and Ron Wyden, because of the dev-
astation caused by the Canyon CreeN
Complex ¿re, and the Àooding we are
told to expect, not only this year, but at
least the next ¿ve years.
Several agencies are worNing
hard to ease the effect it will have
on us, but we are going to need the
cooperation from the local Fish and
Wildlife Department to allow extra
time to worN in Canyon CreeN to
help relieve the worry and in some
cases damage and loss of property.
The Fish and Wildlife Department
has 320 days of the year to baby-sit
the salmon and we only get 45
days. We don’t need the worry and
anxiety this is causing.
To those who will be affected
both directly and indirectly, exer-
cise your voice and write to our rep-
resentatives today.
Denny Wise
John Day
Periodicals Postage Paid at John
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from ODFW
See LETTER, Page A5
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