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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2016)
A4 Opinion Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, January 13, 2016 G UEST C OMMENT Speaking out for rural Oregon By Rep. Greg Walden For the Blue Mountain Eagle In recent weeks, the people of Harney County have become no stranger to national headlines. On Jan. 3 a group of armed protesters over- took a federal facility in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Two days later Dwight and Steve Hammond — father and son ranchers from Harney County who were convicted of arson IRUVHWWLQJDEDFN¿UHWKDWEXUQHG acres of federal land — reported to prison to serve the remainder of a PDQGDWRU\¿YH\HDUVHQWHQFH While these stories played out across every major media outlet, it’s important to understand what is driv- ing this anger and what steps we can take to improve the situation. The thread that ties the Hammond family’s case together with the calls of those who took over the refuge is decades of frustration, arrogance and betrayal that has contributed to the mistrust of the federal government. While I understand their passion, I cannot condone the actions of the armed protesters, led largely by people who are not from our state. They’ve made their point loud and clear, and local community leaders, including many ranchers, have asked them to leave. They should do so. The day after the Hammonds went to prison, I went to the U.S. +RXVH ÀRRU LQWHQGLQJ WR JLYH D ¿YHPLQXWHVSHHFKRQZKDWZDVXQ- folding in Harney County. But when decades of my own pent-up frustra- tion with the federal government’s treatment of rural Oregonians came to the surface, I spoke before my col- leagues for nearly half an hour. (You can watch my full speech at www. walden.house.gov/speech). In my years representing the peo- ple of Oregon’s 2nd District, I have worked with local ranchers and the citizens of eastern Oregon to resolve GLVSXWHV WR ¿QG VROXWLRQV DQG WR create a more cooperative spirit and partnership with the federal agen- cies. After all, more than half the 2nd District is under Federal man- agement, or lack thereof. The Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Act is a prime example of those cumulative efforts. But after it was signed into law in 2000, little by little, the agencies decided to reinterpret it and follow it at their own convenience, or ignore the law altogether. At the suggestion of local ranchers, the law created the ¿UVWFRZIUHHZLOGHUQHVVLQWKH8QLWHG States, but the tradeoff was a legal re- quirement for the federal government to provide the fencing. And yet bureau- crats within the Bureau of Land Man- agement wouldn’t listen and wouldn’t follow the law. They told ranchers they had to build the fence. When I pointed out their error, they ba- sically told me to stuff it. When I provided them with the documentation from more than a de- cade before that proved Rep. the intent of Congress, Greg they doubled down. Fi- Walden nally, when I got Con- gress to pass a restate- ment of the original intent, they said they’d review it. A similar experience is taking place across the West through so- called travel management plans. Originally intended to minimize dam- age from off-road vehicles, it quickly became a powerful tool to close roads and shut people out of their forests. What happened in the Wal- lowa-Whitman National Forest is a classic case in point. After years of community meetings, public work- shops and incredible efforts to up- date the government’s faulty maps, a forest supervisor decided she knew better. Her choice of a management plan was such an affront that more WKDQ SHRSOH SDFNHG D PHHWLQJ in La Grande in protest. I, too, was incensed and called upon the Forest Service to withdraw the plan, and they did. But the damage was done. How can people be expected to have faith in a public process when they see outcomes like these? Meanwhile, other threats loom on these same people. From the onerous “waters of the United States” rules, to threats of more national monuments, the federal government is aggressive- ly trying to get cattle off the range and people off their public lands. The Hammonds were tried and convicted under a law written after the Oklahoma City bombing. The presiding judge in the case made clear that its penalties when applied WRD¿UHRQWKHKLJKGHVHUWRIHDVWHUQ Oregon didn’t make sense. But a court found he lacked the authority to invoke a lesser sentence. :H QHHG WR UHYLVLW WKH ODZ that landed the Hammonds with a punishment disproportionate to the severity of the crime. I’m working with my colleagues to do just that. We need to have the president un- derstand that more monuments may bring cheers from certain companies and communities, but in reality they leave behind more mistrust and mis- management. And those not familiar with the high desert of the West need to under- stand what we face before they quickly condemn the frustration and anger that is so evident. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden rep- resents Oregon’s Second Congres- sional District, which includes 20 counties in central, southern and eastern Oregon. L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR Court member should apologize for comments To the Editor: In the Wednesday, Dec. 30, Blue Mountain Eagle Letters to the Ed- itor on page A4, there is a letter titled “County Court decision per- plexing,” written by Ron Ballard, Mt. Vernon. I, Frances M. Preston, request two things from Grant County Court as a result of this posting: 1. To make known publicly who the “member” of the county gov- ernment was by name and position who indicated to Mr. Ballard that if someone retired from the Forest Service “they have fed at the trough too long” and intimated their opin- ion had no credibility. 2. Said “member” of county government provide a public apol- ogy to that Forest Service “retiree.” Respectfully submitted, Frances M. Preston Prairie City Editor’s note: Preston read this letter at the Jan. 6 Grant County Court Meeting. County Judge Scott Myers said he made the comment to a friend as a joke in a private conversation outside of his county duties. He said he did not believe an apology was necessary for the joke. An apology to Judge Myers To the Editor: I would like to formally apol- ogize to Judge Myers for the is- sue that took place in the Grant County Courthouse. I understand a gentleman came to the court- house asking for a copy of the resolution asking Grant County residents if they wanted to enter into direct coordination with the Forest Service. Instead of sim- ply directing the man on how to get the resolution, the judge pro- ceeded in attacking the writer as dim-wittted and having “fed at the trough” of the federal gov- ernment as an employee. I un- derstand now he was exercising his First Amendment rights. I feel responsible for that set of re- marks, so I want to set the record straight. Frances Preston is my aunt, I’m very proud to say that. She served as a Forest Service em- ployee for over 40 years through- out the West in various admin- istrative positions, and in that career she strived to serve the public. The reason I’m apologizing is this: If in any way I caused Judge Myers to feel that his re- sponse was an appropriate one, while conducting his duties as the Grant County Judge, while in the courthouse, I apologize. I realize I’ve caused folks to speak out on these issues and not always to the liking of the County Court. Judge Myers was asked for an apology in Court on Jan. 6, he re- fused, and noted he has his first amendment right, which I com- pletely agree with. I’m just sorry the pressures of the job caused him to speak his personal mind in an official capacity, as he is the voice of Grant County. As we have learned, personal attacks are getting us nowhere. And if local leadership would simply listen to the residents on these issues, things would not get to this point. John D. George Bates Federal land managers’ agenda to lock up the West To the Editor: The big blow up in Harney County with the BLM over pub- lic lands is not just about the Hammonds or even the Bundy takeover of the National Wildlife Refuge below Burns. It is about heavy handed control of people on public lands that is happening to all of the east side of Oregon and beyond and throughout the West. The abuse of power by federal land managers — taking water rights, forcing grazers off the Public Lands, closing roads and stalling for years and years mining plans of operations — has become onerous at best. It is the government’s answer to tak- ing from the public and giving it to the environmentalists. Where else but in America could the environmentalists sue the feder- al government and make money doing it? It’s kind of like orga- nized crime except legal. In Baker and surrounding counties, it’s the sage grouse lock up on BLM and an attempt for a proposed major lock up by the Forest Service with a new forest plan. At the Forest Service proposed Blue Mountain Forest Revision planning meetings, people were mad at this insane lock down of our forests and expressed it. The proposed ex- panded roadless areas, more pro- posed national monuments, more roadless de facto wilderness and proposed game corridors has no benefit except to lock it up for the environmentalists. Still the Forest Service is going on with their plan to lock out the pub- lic by proposing to shut down and decommission almost 1,300 miles of roads on the WWNF. We have used these roads since they were built to harvest the tim- ber. These roads are historic and are used by the public to gather natural resources and recreate and fight wild fires. The Forest Service has mis- managed the forest so badly, you can’t walk through them because of the undergrowth and downfall, and now the catastrophic fires burn hundreds of thousands of acres. Here in Baker County, two fires joined to burn over 100,000 acres. The Forest Service has committed to logging 500 acres of that burn — really, guys, come on! The environmentalists fight every logging sale and sue and get paid to sue to stop logging sales just to watch it burn a few years later. Environmentalists are not Oregon’s friend. I and most Oregonians do not support the Bundy takeover of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge ex- cept for the fact it brought before America the criminal abuse by the heavy handed land managers with a definite agenda to lock up the West for the environmentalists. Chuck Chase Baker City Agencies should ansZer ¿re Tuestions To the Editor: I would like to commend Nicky Sprauve on his last two letters to the editor. They were very well written and did not include threats, insults or the hyperbole of many of the past letters on this subject. Refreshing. He asked two questions that need honest answers. 1. Why wasn’t the &DQ\RQ&UHHN&RPSOH[¿UHFRQVLG- ered a legal disaster area? 2. Why wasn’t an objective criminal inves- WLJDWLRQ RQ WKH ¿UH FRQWURO GRQH DW an early stage? These questions need answers from the agencies involved. John Aasness John Day Constitutionalists’ boondoggles To the Editor: I feel outraged that one of the truly remarkable, federally pro- tected places in the West has been taken over by a band of armed criminals. And just like some of Grant County’s right-wing radi- cals, they think they are the only ones that can interpret our coun- try’s Constitution. Here locally, our sheriff has even declared he is the single authority in Consti- tutional matters. I suspect that the only thing that has kept him and some of his newly appointed spe- cial deputies from publicly giving their support to the Malheur (Na- tional Wildlife) Refuge boondog- gle is that it is not their Malheur National Forest boondoggle. Where is Janet Reno when we need her? Terry Steele Ritter L 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. We must limit all contributors to one letter per person per month. 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