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News
Blue Mountain Eagle
TIMBER
Continued from Page A1
Predicted annual timber
harvests across all three forests
combined ranged from 47-243
million board feet in the origi-
nal 2014 alternatives — though
Beverlin said the Forest Service
did not believe the alternative
representing the upper end was
sustainable. The next highest
was Alternative E at 162 mil-
lion.
Alternative E Modifi ed in-
creases the predicted annual
harvest to 205 million, while
meeting the non-declining fl ow
requirement to sustain harvest
volumes in perpetuity. Alter-
native E Modifi ed-Departure
— including a temporary sus-
pension of the non-declining
fl ow requirement — increases
the harvest to 326 million for 20
years before shrinking to about
half of that fi gure after the back-
log of dense forest is treated.
Recent average harvests,
from 2013-2015, have been 101
million annually, according to
Forest Service documents, de-
spite the fact the old plan from
1990 lists a predicted harvest
volume of 599 million, because
new rules — including a prohi-
bition on harvesting trees larger
than 21 inches in diameter —
and legal challenges drastically
reduced harvest volumes.
In the 1980s on the Malheur
National Forest, the annual
harvests were routinely great-
Forest Plan Revision timber
harvest by alternative
Malheur National Forest
timber harvest by alternative
(For Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests.
Recent harvest average, 2013-15: 101 million board feet.)
Existing
alternatives
Predicted annual
timber harvest
(milion board feet)
Timber
jobs
All
jobs*
87
47
243
162
107
650
288
2,040
1,330
838
3,737
2,822
5,413
4,496
3,909
205
326 †
—
—
—
—
B
C
D
E
F
New alternatives
E Modified
E Modified-Departure
Source: U.S. Forest Service
† For
L OCAL ARTISTS DISPLAY TALENT
16
† For
Did you know Grant County Veterans
Services Officer is available to assist
YOU in applying for all VA benefits
you may be entitled to?
See your Grant County Veteran Services
Officer today for more information,
located at Grant County Court House.
Jeff Wilcox
05172
increases, not just from the tim-
ber industry.
“We heard it from both
sides of that issue,” he said.
“We weren’t doing enough to
cope with climate change. We
weren’t doing enough to cope
with wildfi res that we’ve seen.
We weren’t doing enough to
sustain the local infrastructure.”
One goal of the proposed
increases is to improve forest
resilience, or reducing the risk
of catastrophic wildfi res and in-
sect and disease outbreaks.
Matthew Rathbone, a silvi-
culturist on the Blue Mountains
Plan Revision Team, said in
a public conference call, “We
know we have high-risk for-
ests. E Modifi ed is meant to
address that.”
Course of action
On Feb. 16, 2016, Sethan
Charles Sprague, Boquist’s
oldest son and a 31-year-old
Navy veteran, took his own
life.
Although Boquist did not
mention his son, he did talk
about the three Army veterans
under his command who took
their own lives after returning
from Iraq. He said during his
years in the House and Sen-
ate, going back to 2005, he
has kept an index card on his
desk.
“On that card are (the
names of) the people I sent to
die,” he said. “There is not a
serving general offi cer who
sent more people to die than
I have — not one,” said Bo-
quist, who leads the Senate
Veterans’ Committee.
“For 12 years, this Legis-
Alt. F
Alt. E
Alt. E
Modified Modified-
Departure
Sean Hart and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
He said E Modifi ed focused
on treating the highest densi-
ty areas most at risk. A Forest
Service newsletter states the al-
ternative would plan to increase
thinning to 33 percent of the
dense, dry upland forest within
20 years.
The departure alternative
calls for “frontloading” the har-
vest to catch up on the backlog
of growth, Rathbone said. It
would increase thinning to 70
percent of the dense, dry up-
land forest. However, Rathbone
said the harvest decline after 20
years would lead to a “boom
and bust” cycle that could have
a substantial negative impact
on local economies.
Post-fi re salvage guidelines
were also updated in the new
alternatives. Rathbone said, in-
stead of an arbitrary distinction
mandating 50 percent of post-
fi re source habitat to remain
unlogged, the new alternatives
would allow offi cials to base
post-fi re salvage on desired
conditions.
Rathbone said the new al-
ternatives also exclude the rule
preventing the harvest of any
live trees larger than 21 inches
in diameter, one component of
what are known as the East-
side Screens. Some large or old
trees could be removed to meet
management objectives, such
as removing fi re-prone grand
fi rs in dense stands or reducing
fuel loads in the wildland-urban
interface.
“Clearly, we’ve seen a
need to have more fl exibil-
ity with old forest manage-
ment,” he said. “The diameter
limit may be causing more
lature has struggled on what
to do about veterans’ suicides
and veterans and suicide in
general.”
According to the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention, Oregon record-
ed a suicide rate of 19.3 per
100,000 in 2016 — and it is
rising faster than the growing
national rate.
No Democrat spoke other
than Majority Leader Gin-
ny Burdick of Portland, who
closed debate and praised
Boquist for his courage and
integrity.
“By identifying signs
that a person may be suffer-
ing trauma and temporarily
separating them from their
fi rearms, we can effectively
protect veterans and others in
crisis so that they can get the
help they need,” Burdick said.
she said. “There is something
that is just not addressable
by legislation, and that is the
unpredictability of the human
mind.
“I have no doubt that this
legislation brought forth was
out of concern and caring.
But it comes down to words
on paper. I do not think it will
make any difference.”
Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Can-
by, also an Army veteran,
said the real answer is an
expansion of mental health
services.
“We are the problem be-
cause we have not solved it,”
he said. “It looks good, feels
good, but it does not help
anyone.”
Boquist said he agreed,
but he took a political beating
when he teamed up in 2013
with Senate President Peter
Courtney, D-Salem, to se-
cure more money for mental
health through higher tobac-
co taxes.
He referred to incidents in
April in Gresham and West
Linn. In the April 12 incident
in Gresham, police say the
man shot his two daughters
before taking his own life. On
April 21, West Linn police
shot a man dead in an incident
ruled as a suicide.
Days ago, the Senate
passed a bill requiring police
to undergo training in how to
avert suicide.
What opponents said
Perhaps because a fellow
Republican was its chief
manager, Republican oppo-
nents refrained from harsh
criticism.
Sen. Kim Thatcher of
Keizer, one of two Repub-
licans to oppose it in the
Senate Judiciary Committee,
complained it was too vague.
Thatcher teared up in her
closing remarks.
“I am not a veteran
(pause) but my family has
been touched by suicide,”
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Alt. E
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05573
Payments may be made at the Tax Collector’s Office at
the Grant County Courthouse in Canyon City, or the
payment may be mailed and postmarked no later than
May 15th, 2017. Please remember that delinquent taxes
accrue interest at the rate of 16% per year. If you have
any questions, please call the tax office at
575-0107 or 575-0189.
Alt. D
Source: U.S. Forest Service
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 2 PG-13
The third installment of the 2016-17
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Alt. C
20 years before reductions.
20 years before reductions.
Boquist said similar pro-
cesses already are in place in
several states, among them
Connecticut, California and
Washington, where voters in
2016 approved a ballot mea-
sure containing it. He said the
Washington law is broader
than SB 719.
Attention Grant County Veterans:
37
31
Continued from Page A1
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
84
56
GUNS
Artists Jennifer Mooney of Canyon City and Mary
Snyder of John Day look at a painting by June Shull of
Prairie City Saturday at the 11th annual Community Art
Show at the airport in John Day. The exhibit, with over
art 100 pieces on display, was open for visitors Friday
and Saturday.
87
2017 target:
75 MBF
Sean Hart and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
er than 200 million. However,
while the 1990 plan lists a pre-
dicted harvest of 234 million
for the Malheur, the average
actual harvest from 1995-2014
was only 32.8 million.
The harvest volume on the
Malheur has increased recently,
to 60 million in 2016 and to a
projected 75 million in 2017.
These volumes actually exceed
most of the predicted amounts
from the original alternatives.
Where Alternative E’s predict-
ed harvest for the Malheur was
56 million, the new Alternative
E Modifi ed is 84 million, and
Alternative E Modifi ed-Depar-
ture is 134 million.
Beverlin said the chang-
es were in response to many
comments received calling for
134 †
(Predicted annual harvest, million board feet)
Alt. B
*Jobs from timber, range and ecosystem restoration.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
office.
Sonshine Chmistian School 521 E Main Stmeet, John Day
(541) 575-1895
PUBLICATION FOR SONSHINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
problems than it’s actually
solving.”
Tom Montoya, supervisor
for the Wallowa-Whitman Na-
tional Forest, said on the call
the predicted harvest levels are
not commitments or targets but
desires and goals. He said actu-
al harvest levels will depend on
many factors, some of which,
such as budgets, are beyond
Forest Service control.
Montoya said, while the plan
will provide management guid-
ance on a broad level, site-spe-
cifi c projects with separate pub-
lic comment periods will move
the forest toward the desired
conditions. After the fi nal en-
vironmental impact statement
has been released, Montoya
said Pacifi c Northwest Regional
Forester Jim Pena will make the
fi nal decision on the plan, which
may include any combination of
the alternatives.
The Forest Service respond-
ed to many comments with the
new alternatives, he said, in-
cluding removing “designated
routes” from the plan entirely
and removing the 21-inch rule.
“For those that have been
following the forest planning
process ... you know better
than anybody that forest plans
are very complex documents,”
Montoya said. “We have been
listening to you. ... As we
move forward, we will roll out
that (fi nal environmental im-
pact statement), and hopefully
you’ll see that your voices were
heard.”
“That is unfortunately the
training we have given them:
Show up, talk the guy down,
and if it doesn’t work, use
your Glock,” Boquist said.
“But that is not what we
need to be doing in this state.”
Reaction from groups
The bill drew expected
criticism and praise from the
usual interest groups.
The National Rifl e Asso-
ciation’s Institute for Legis-
lative Action called the bill
“unnecessary and goes far
beyond existing law,” but
avoided personal references
to Boquist.
Oregon Firearms Feder-
ation, which bills itself as a
no-compromise group, de-
scribed Boquist as a “former-
ly pro-gun Republican” and
SB 719 as “one of the most
dangerous pieces of legisla-
tion the anti-gunners have
ever dreamed of.”
There were other views.
“Today the Oregon Senate
took an important, biparti-
san step to making Oregon
safer from gun violence,”
said Jenn Lynch, president
of the Oregon Alliance for
Gun Safety. “Oregonians can
work together to fi nd effec-
tive solutions to make our
communities safer.”
Americans for Respon-
sible Solutions, the gun vi-
olence prevention group
co-founded by former Ari-
zona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
and her husband Mark Kelly,
offered this statement from
Multnomah County Sheriff
Mike Reese, member of the
advisory committee for Or-
egon Coalition for Common
Sense:
Reese said: “Throughout
my career, I have seen how
guns in the hands of individ-
uals who are at risk of harm-
ing themselves or others can
lead to tragedy. Today’s vote
by the Oregon Senate is a
positive step towards giving
law enforcement the tools we
need to help people in crisis
and make our state a safer
place to live.”
Sonshine Christian School will be accepting pre-registrations for the
2017/2018 school year. Registration fee for students is $75.00.
Pre School students must be 3 years of age before September 1 of the
school year and able to attend to toileting without staff assistance.
Their classes will be offered 2 days a week from 9-11am.
Pre-Kindergarten students must be 4 years of age before September 1 of the school year.
Their classes will be offered 3 days a week from 9-11:30am.
05534
Registration packets can be picked up at the church office, 521 E Main Street, John Day.
The office is open Tuesday-Thursday 9am-3pm. For information call (541) 575-1895
or e-mail Trace at the church e-mail address, judy@johndaynazarene.com
541-523-6377
541-963-6577
541-573-6377
541-523-6377
05370