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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2016)
News Blue Mountain Eagle Malheur County voters voice resounding ‘no’ to Owyhee monument By Amanda Peacher Oregon Public Broadcasting An overwhelming majority of vot- ers in Malheur County rejected the idea Tuesday of a national monument in a corner of southeast Oregon known as WKH2Z\KHH&DQ\RQODQGV The vast and rugged area is known for its stunning red rock geology and canyons, extreme remoteness and wild- OLIH KDELWDW ,W¶V DOVR DQ LPSRUWDQW DUHD IRUFDWWOHJUD]LQJDQGKXQWLQJ The idea of an Owyhee Nation- al Monument is championed by Keen )RRWZHDU 7KH 3RUWODQGEDVHG FRPSD- ny led a petition campaign to convince President Obama to designate the mon- ument, using his executive authority WKURXJKWKH$QWLTXLWLHV$FW Malheur County leaders decided to put the idea to citizens with an advi- sory vote, and County Clerk Deborah DeLong says voter turnout was high for a special election — higher even than VRPHSULPDU\HOHFWLRQV1LQHW\SHUFHQW of voters rejected the monument propos- DO,QVRPHUXUDOSUHFLQFWVSHUFHQW RIYRWHUVYRWHGQR “It’s amazing to me that the differ- ence in the vote was 90 percent no and SHUFHQW\HV´VDLG'H/RQJ³7KDW¶VD KXJHVWDWHPHQW´ Malheur County resident Tim Davis leads the grassroots group Friends of the 2Z\KHH LQ 0DOKHXU &RXQW\ +H YRWHG yes on the monument proposal, because he said it’s important “to have areas like WKLVIRUSHRSOHWRH[SORUHDQGORYH´ “Now that the people of Malheur “ It’s amazing to me that the difference in the vote was 90 percent no and 10 percent yes. That’s a huge statement.” Deborah DeLong, Malheur County clerk County have spoken loudly and clearly DJDLQVWDPLOOLRQDFUHIHGHUDOPRQ- XPHQWLW¶VWLPHIRU*RY.DWH%URZQ DQG RXU 86 VHQDWRUV WR VSHDN RXW against it as well,” said Steve Russell, Chairman of the Owyhee Basin Stew- DUGVKLS &RDOLWLRQ LQ D VWDWHPHQW ³2U- egon already has millions of acres of SURWHFWHGODQGVULYHUVDQGRFHDQV´ Conservation proposals for wilder- ness or monument designations in the 2Z\KHHKDYHDOVRGUDZQ¿HUFHORFDORS- SRVLWLRQ GXULQJ UHFHQW SXEOLF PHHWLQJV The Oregon Natural Desert Associa- tion has been talking about wilderness in the Owyhee for years, but that can only EHGHVLJQDWHGWKURXJK&RQJUHVV President Obama has not given any indication that he plans to designate the Owyhee a national monument, as VRPHFRQVHUYDWLRQLVWVSURSRVH2EDPD has already created or expanded 19 na- WLRQDOPRQXPHQWV6HFUHWDU\RI,QWHULRU Sally Jewell said last week that she is PRQXPHQWSURSRVDO not aware of any coordination between The Malheur County vote is advisory her office and the White House on a RQO\DQGKROGVQROHJDOZHLJKW Wednesday, March 16, 2016 A7 Malheur County water situation may improve By Sean Ellis EO Media Group ONTARIO — The Owyhee Reservoir could pro- vide the 1,800 farms in East- ern Oregon and part of Idaho that depend on it for irrigation a normal water supply for the ¿UVWWLPHLQIRXU\HDUV The reservoir provides water for 118,000 irrigated acres in Malheur County in Eastern Oregon and around Homedale and Marsing in VRXWKZHVWHUQ,GDKR Snowpack levels in the Owyhee Basin, which feeds the Owyhee River and the reservoir, have been bleak the past four years and the Owyhee Irrigation District has only been able to provide the irrigators who depend on WKH UHVHUYRLU D VLJQL¿FDQWO\ reduced portion of their nor- mal 4 acre-foot allotment the SDVWWZR\HDUV 2,' SDWURQV UHFHLYHG DFUHIHHW ODVW \HDU DQG DFUHIHHWLQ As a result, farmers have left a lot of farm ground idle DQG VZLWFKHG PDQ\ ¿HOGV WR less water-intensive crops that DUHDOVROHVVOXFUDWLYH But snowpack levels were well above normal for much of this winter and the reser- YRLULV¿OOLQJIDVW ³,W¶V JRLQJ WR EH VLJQL¿- cantly better than last year,” said Oregon farmer Bruce Corn, a member of the OID’s ERDUGRIGLUHFWRUV³,WFHUWDLQ- O\ORRNVSURPLVLQJ´ Capital Press/Sean Ellis Potatoes are harvested in a field near Ontario in August. Farmers in Eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho who get their irrigation water from the Owyhee Reservoir are looking at a much better water supply this year. The reservoir peaked at 205,000 acre-feet of usable storage water last year but was already closing in on 300,000 acre-feet as of March 8, according to OID Manager -D\&KDPEHUOLQ “We’re feeling pretty good DERXWWKHRXWORRN´KHVDLG 5HVHUYRLU LQÀRZ OHYHOV have varied between 3,000 and 5,000 cubic feet per sec- ond recently, which means the reservoir is receiving between 6,000 and 10,000 acre-feet of ZDWHUHYHU\GD\ Chamberlin said it takes more than 400,000 acre-feet in the reservoir for every OID patron to receive their full 4 DFUHIRRWDOORWPHQW The OID will hold its an- nual meeting March 22 at the Four Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario and could announce a WHQWDWLYHDOORWPHQWWKHQ Group support ban on daylight saving time falls back By Paris Achen Capital Bureau SALEM — A ballot ini- tiative to end daylight saving time in Oregon is on hold until Medford resident David Miles launched a petition drive in November to abolish WKHWUDGLWLRQE\ Miles said his force of about YROXQWHHUV ZDV LQVXI¿FLHQW WRJDWKHUWKHUHTXLUHG signatures to place the measure RQWKHEDOORWLQ1RYHPEHU$V of Sunday, the group had col- lected about 1,000 signatures, 0LOHVVDLG “We have our sights set on QH[W\HDU´0LOHVVDLG³,KDG to look at it realistically, as much as I would have loved to KDYHLWRQWKHEDOORWWKLV\HDU´ Miles said he plans to start a Go Fund Me page to raise money to hire paid petitioners QH[W\HDU The community service RI¿FHU ZLWK -DFNVRQ &RXQW\ 6KHULII¶V2I¿FHVDLGKHVWDUW- ed the initiative after feeling tired of complaining every year about losing sleep and adjusting clocks and deciding he should do something about LW Adjusting the clock for- ward in the spring may cause spikes in workplace accidents DQG WUDI¿F FUDVKHV DFFRUG- ing to multiple bodies of re- search, including one by the 8QLYHUVLW\RI&RORUDGR A University of California Berkeley study found that a two-month extension of day- light saving time in Australia during the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 failed to cur- WDLOHOHFWULFLW\GHPDQG Lawmakers in several states, including California, have proposed alternatives to daylight saving changes or asked that voters decide on ZKHWKHUWRNHHSWKHSUDFWLFH “What I would really like to see the country say is enough is enough and end daylight saving nationally,” 0LOHVVDLG He said, if more states opt to abolish the practice, there may be more momentum for DQDWLRQDOFKDQJH 2UHJRQ 6HQ .LP7KDWFK- er, R-Keizer, introduced a bill in January 2015 that would have let voters to decide whether to abolish daylight VDYLQJLQ Dozens of Oregonians tes- WL¿HGLQIDYRURIWKHPHDVXUH The legislation stalled in the Senate Rules Commit- tee because some lawmakers were concerned about being Medford resident David Miles launched a petition drive in November to abolish the tradition by 2018. Miles said his force of about 20 volunteers was insufficient to gather the required 117,578 signatures to place the measure on the ballot in November. Submitted photo out of sync with Washington and California, according to 7KDWFKHU¶VRI¿FH The country had an on- and-off-again relationship with daylight saving time until 1966 when Congress FRGL¿HG LW WR WU\ WR VLPSOL- fy a confusing patchwork of different time zones across WKH FRXQWU\ ,QGLYLGXDO VWDWHV ZHUH DOORZHG WR RSW RXW$U- L]RQD+DZDLLDQGVRPH86 territories have chosen to re- PDLQRQVWDQGDUGWLPH The No More Daylight Saving Time in Oregon ini- WLDWLYHZDVWKH¿UVWWKDW0LOHV VSRQVRUHG “I’m not upset it didn’t JHW RQ WKH EDOORW´ KH VDLG ³,OHDUQHGDORW,XQGHUVWDQG that some of my goals were XQUHDOLVWLF,W¶OOJLYHPHPRUH of an ability to be successful QH[WWLPH´ In the meantime, he main- tains a Facebook page where he’ll give supporters updates RQ WKH HIIRUW IDFHERRNFRP QRPRUHGVWLQRUHJRQ 2830 10th St., Baker City, OR 541-524-0122 EVERY OTHER TUESDAY BAKER CITY CARPET EXPRESS ATTENTION Your Professional Floor Store HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS Come in and see our great selection of: Carpet ~ Vinyl ~ Tile ~ Hardwood ~ Luxury Vinyl Flooring and Window Coverings Are you ready for the next step? 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