GRANT UNION ON FOUR-GAME WIN STREAK – PAGE B1
The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , M AY 3, 2017
• N O . 18
• 20 P AGES
• $1.00
Senate
passes bill
to allow
removal
of guns
ALTERNATIVE
FACTS
By Peter Wong
Capital Bureau
Forest Service
releases predicted
timber harvests for
new alternatives
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
I
n response to public comments calling for in-
creased timber harvests and pace and scale of
forest restoration, the Forest Service developed
two new alternatives that will be included in the
forthcoming Blue Mountains Forest Plan revision fi nal
environmental impact statement.
The plans are intended to be up-
dated every 10-15 years, with the
last update occurring in 1990, and
the Blue Mountains plan covers the
Malheur, Wallowa-Whitman and
Umatilla national forests.
Although some of the details of
the new alternatives will not be re-
leased until the environmental im-
pact statement is fi nalized, which is Steve Beverlin
expected near the end of June, the
Forest Service has released timber harvest volume esti-
mates for the new alternatives.
Alternative E Modifi ed and Alternative E Modi-
fi ed-Departure each increase the pace and scale of res-
toration, and timber harvests, beyond Alternative E,
which was released with fi ve other alternatives in the
draft environmental impact statement in 2014.
After the original alternatives were released, about
1,000 people provided feedback, some acrimoniously,
at public meetings. The Forest Service received 1,000
letters with 4,000 comments from people upset about
the agency’s proposed plan to manage public lands.
Malheur National Forest Supervisor Steve Bever-
lin said, after the fi rst round of soliciting comments
in 2014 — and hearing from people, “You didn’t hear
what we were saying” — the Forest Service hosted 24
more meetings throughout 2015 to assess more com-
ments on grazing, access, wilderness, pace and scale of
restoration and timber volumes.
“The unique part of this plan was that we basically
spent that year to re-engage,” Beverlin said. “We used
responses we got in that, plus the comments we got in
2014 to craft two new alternatives. ... We think those
two new alternatives much more accurately refl ect the
concerns that were raised, the needs and desires of the
local public, and still appropriately manage the resourc-
es in a sustainable way for future generations.”
The Malheur Lumber Co. mill in John Day May 1. Two new alternatives in
the U.S. Forest Service’s Blue Mountains Forest Plan revision address
comments from the public to increase the pace and scale of restoration
for forest resilience and the flow of forest products to mills.
New alternative harvest volumes
(For Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests.)
Alternative E Modified-Departure includes a temporary suspen-
sion of a National Forest Management Act "non-declining flow"
requirement to limit harvests to a volume that can be harvested
annually in perpetuity.
(Predicted annual harvest, million board feet)
326
320
205
207
101
101
Alt. E Modified-Departure
Alternative E Modified
Recent average, 2013-15
210
208
155
150
101
101
206
163
101
Down 50% from the 10-year annual average harvest
10 years
www.MyEagleNews.com
20 years
Source: U.S. Forest Service
30 years
40 years
50 years
Sean Hart and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
See TIMBER, Page A10
Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs
The Malheur Lumber Co. mill.
People deemed at “immi-
nent risk” of killing them-
selves or injuring others could
have their guns taken away
under a bill the Oregon Senate
passed Monday.
Senate Bill 719, which
goes to the House, was ap-
proved largely along party
lines, 17-11.
But 16 Democrats were
joined in support by Repub-
lican Brian Boquist of Dal-
las, who lost his oldest son
and Navy veteran to suicide
more than a year ago — and
three soldiers under his Army
command to suicide after they
returned from the Iraq War
more than a decade ago.
Ten Republicans were
joined in opposition by Dem-
ocrat Betsy Johnson of Scap-
poose. Two others were ab-
sent.
“Everyone wants to pro-
mote this as a gun bill. It’s
not,” said Boquist, the bill’s
main fl oor manager.
“We want to make sure in-
dividuals do not lose their gun
rights. We are trying to help
family members help those
individuals.”
The bill allows mem-
bers of a person’s immediate
household — or police at their
request — to seek an “ex-
treme risk protection order”
from a judge to deny posses-
sion of fi rearms if the person
is at imminent risk of suicide
or a danger to others.
The judge would have to
decide on the request that day
or the next judicial day, but
the petitioner would have to
present “clear and convincing
evidence” to justify the order.
A person would have 30 days
to request a hearing to rescind
an order.
“We are targeting only
those individuals who want
to commit suicide and un-
fortunately may murder their
spouse, their children or their
roommate in the house,” Bo-
quist said. “This is not some
broad, sweeping confi sca-
tion like you see in Breitbart
News.”
His reference was to the
website formerly run by Steve
Bannon, now chief strategist
for President Donald Trump.
See GUNS, Page A10
City manager proposes solution to housing woes
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountian Eagle
When Nick and Harmony Piazza
moved to Grant County, they couldn’t
fi nd a house.
Try as they might, everything was
either outside of their price range
or too small to raise a family. Nick
had graduated from Grant Union
and moved back to work at Blue
Mountain Hospital. Despite having a
steady job, he was unable to find a
desirable house in John Day to buy
or rent.
Former John Day city councilman
Louis Provencher said he faced the
same problem when he moved to John
Day in the 1980s.
The continuing problem is also af-
fecting local businesses.
“I’ve lost two manager candidates
after the interview process because of
this,” Blue Mountain Hospital CEO
Derek Daly said. “They would have
accepted the job and would have
Former city councilor Louis
Provencher
A for sale sign in John Day.
moved here but simply couldn’t fi nd
housing.”
John Day City Manager Nick
Green presented a proposal to fi x the
housing problem and boost the city’s
tax base during a April 25 city council
meeting.
Potential John Day residents are
presented with smaller, older homes
and depressed market values for new
homes, Green said. He suggested re-
ducing regulations and fees for new
homes, incentivizing buyers with cash
and making home construction more
cost effective by building multiple
homes simultaneously.
While the proposal was generally
well received, there was some hesita-
tion and push-back from city council
members and the public at the meeting.
Provencher said he was not in support
of using city dollars for private homes.
Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs
He said fi nancial lending should be
left to experts and established lending
institutions.
Councilor Paul Smith said the idea
was fi ne conceptually, but he had res-
ervations about using city funds as
cash incentives for home builders. He
said maintaining the city’s infrastruc-
ture and foundation was a priority.
See HOUSING, Page A8