A12
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Fourth of a four-part series
Our federal lands
The Immutable Public Lands
Encompassing 1.9 million acres, Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument was created by
President Bill Clinton and entrusted to BLM in 1996.
1946 Sen.
Edward V.
Robertson
introduces legislation
calling for ceding
unreserved federal lands to state
control; U.S. Grazing Service and
General Land Office merge to form
the Bureau of Land Management.
Korean War
1950-53
1959 Alaska formally admitted to the
Union; Hawaii becomes 50th state.
underdeveloped federal lands to
preserve their natural condition.
1966 National Historic Preservation
Act expands protection of
prehistoric, historic properties.
1969 National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) requires all federal
agencies to assess their environmen-
tal impact.
1970 President Richard Nixon
creates the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), a non-cabinet
government agency to monitor and
enforce environmental laws.
1973 Endangered Species Act
provides federal protection to
threatened plants, animals and the
ecosystems they rely upon.
Vietnam War
1964-75 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
marks American escalation in
Vietnam conflict.
1964 Public Land Law Review
Commission is established.;
Wilderness Act extends protection to
1976 Federal Lands Policy and
Management Act requires public
lands remain in federal ownership
and maintained for multiple use;
repeals all pre-existing Homestead
Acts, phasing out homesteading.
1979 Nevada and four other western
states pass legislation calling for the
return of BLM-managed lands to the
states. The “Sagebrush Rebellion”
gains political allies in President
Ronald Reagan and Secretary of the
Interior James Watt.
1990 The
Northern Spotted
Owl is
designated a
threatened
species under
the Endangered
Species Act,
thereby affecting
timber sales on
federal land
within its range.
1996 Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument is designated as
BLM’s first national monument.
2008 BLM-managed lands are
officially designated as the National
System of Public Lands.
Today The federal government owns
and manages approximately 630
million acres, roughly 28 percent of
the 2.3 billion acres that make up the
U.S. land base.
Sources: Congressional Research Service; U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management; USDA Forest Service; The Forest History Society; EO Media Group research
The Eagle/Sean Hart
Ruby Hopper, 3, Mt. Vernon, paints with
watercolors at the community art show Saturday
at the airport in John Day. Her grandmother Joan
Hopper showed work at the event.
SHOW
Continued from Page A1
Carmen
McCormick,
Seneca, said it was her sec-
ond time showing her water-
colors at the show. She said
the show featured more art
than she expected, and she
plans to return next year.
Theresa Stinnett read
from her new novel, “A
Hero at Heart,” at the show
and said she enjoyed the
experience. She said her fa-
vorite part of being an artist
is pouring herself into her
work.
“Keep the love in it,”
she said. “Don’t get bogged
down in the details or when
you mess up. Keep doing
what you love.”
SHOOTING
other of the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge occupiers.
When law enforcement
Continued from Page A1
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On a remarkable cellphone carrying these militants, Cox
video shot by militant Shawna began recording on her phone.
Cox, Finicum can be heard re- Investigators were able to
peatedly ignoring commands sync law enforcement footage
from law enforcement to sur- with Cox’s cellphone footage.
render. He’s also heard insist-
During the press confer-
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Finicum was hit with three footage, which showed peo-
bullets in the back. Those ple in the vehicle carrying
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said.
of the Bundy brothers refus-
Oregon State Troopers ing commands by law en-
shot Finicum, an Arizona forcement to stop and get out
rancher, along Highway 395 of their vehicle.
on Jan. 26. He was en route to
At one point in the video,
a meeting in John Day, along Finicum told Oregon State
with Ammon and Ryan Bun- Police to back down. Finicum
dy, Ryan Payne, and several said he was going to meet
Grant County Sheriff Glenn
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to “go ahead and shoot me” if
they wanted stop him.
After a few minutes of
discussion inside the vehicle,
Finicum approached the road-
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Tuesday.
The Central Oregon Major
Incident team led this investi-
gation. At the request of Har-
ney County District Attorney
Tim Colahan, Malheur Coun-
ty District Attorney Daniel
Norris also reviewed the in-
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The FBI said Finicum had
a loaded 9 mm semi-automat-
ic handgun in the left inside
pocket that he reached for be-
fore being shot.
The federal investigation,
conducted by the Department
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tor General, will determine
whether a member of the
hostage rescue team failed to
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he left the truck and whether
anyone participated in a cover
up over those shots.
“The county’s investigation
also indicated that, in between
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OSP troopers, one, and possi-
bly two, additional shots were
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Mr. Finicum was exiting the
vehicle after hitting the snow
bank,” U.S. Attorney Billy
Williams said. “The question
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not been resolved.”
SESSION
sion to wait on the proposal
until the 2017 session, Clem
said.
that plan, and it will force
PacifiCorp to stop buying
out-of-state coal power to
serve Oregon customers.
The bill requires Pacif-
iCorp, Portland General
Electric and any new mu-
nicipal electric utilities to
get 50 percent of their power
from renewable sources such
as wind and solar by 2040.
Representatives of Portland
General Electric and a re-
newable energy advocacy
group said during a hear-
ing last month this means
the biggest impact of the
bill could be to discourage
utilities from replacing coal
with natural gas, although
utilities will still need new
natural gas facilities to pro-
vide reliable power when the
wind is not blowing and the
sun is not shining.
I’ll guarantee you it’s the
most important vote we’re
going to cast today to the
Continued from Page A1
hundreds of thousands of
the possibility those groups Oregonians who need the
would recruit primary chal- real help in their lives that
lengers, and the March 8 can- this bill will provide,” said
GLGDWH¿OLQJGHDGOLQHORRPHG Senate President Pro Tem
over the session.
Diane Rosenbaum.
Courtney said he did his
Senate Bill 1532 sets dif-
best to ease tensions in the ferent minimums in each of
Senate, and that included the three regions according to a
decision not to ask the state county’s population, median
police to track down missing income and cost of living.
Republicans. “I didn’t want By 2022, wages will reach
to call out the state police,” $14.75 in the Portland area,
Courtney said. “Lord, I $12.50 in rural and coast-
didn’t want to do that. ”
al counties with struggling
economies and $13.50 in the
Minimum wage
rest of the state by 2022.
Both chambers passed
The first pay bump starts
unprecedented
minimum in July, from $9.25 to $9.75
wage legislation last month statewide.
that gives significant raise
Reps. Brian Clem, D-Sa-
over a seven-year period and lem, and John Davis, R-Wil-
customizes the increases to sonville, tried to come up
regional population density, with a last-ditch effort to
income and other economic give tax credits to offset
factors. Gov. Kate Brown the cost of the increases to
signed the bill Wednesday.
farmers and small business-
“It is my belief this bill es owners who expressed
is the most important vote fear that the expense could
we’ll cast this session, and drive them out of business.
Concerns about how those
limited tax credits would be
divided up put a wrench in
the bill and forced a deci-
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Renewable energy
Another top priority for
legislative Democrats this
session was a controver-
sial bill to double Oregon’s
existing renewable energy
mandate and stop the state’s
two largest utilities from
paying for coal power. The
bill also greatly expands
incentives for power plants
that burn garbage and wood.
The Senate passed the bill
on Wednesday on a near par-
ty line vote, with Sen. Bet-
sy Johnson, D-Scappoose,
joining Republicans to vote
“no” on the bill. Since the
House already passed the
legislation, it goes next to
the governor for her signa-
ture. Brown has suggested
that she supports the bill, but
has not said publicly wheth-
er she will sign it.
Portland General Electric
already plans to close Ore-
gon’s only coal power plant
in Boardman by 2020 and
stop purchasing coal power
from out of state. But the bill
will ensure Portland General
Electric follows through on
A MAN
WAKES
UP in the
morning
after sleeping on...
an advertised bed, in advertised
pajamas.
He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR,
have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an
ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his
ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an
ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person
hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his
non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE.
Then it’s too late.
AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK?
DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE
Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it!
Blue Mountain Eagle
MyEagleNews.com
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710
Housing
House Democrats early
in the session negotiated a
deal with affordable hous-
ing advocates, real estate
lobbyists and builders on
a plan to help increase the
state’s stock of affordable
housing while making some
concessions to developers.
The deal yielded a bill to
end the state’s 17-year ban
on requiring developers to
include affordable housing
in their plans, a measure
to prohibit rent increases
in the first year of month-
to-month tenancies and
increase notice for rent in-
creases from 30 to 90 days,
a pilot affordable housing
program for smaller com-
munities and controversial
measure to allow annexa-
tions without going to the
people for a vote.
House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, said
lawmakers would work to
address the housing crisis
again in 2017.
By the end of the ses-
sion, however, Republicans
agreed to up the tempo, af-
ter Democrats made some
concessions in the interest
of wrapping up before the
weekend.