W EDNESDAY , M AY 10, 2017
The
• N O . 19
• 18 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
INTERNATIONAL
COLLABORATION
Experts from around the world learn about
restoration, collaboration on the Malheur
Bob Hassmiller
of the Forest
Service
elaborates
on the
interconnected
natural
systems on the
Camp Creek
restoration
project while Tito
Prabadi, center,
and Erick Conde
listen during a
May 4 tour.
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
red tailed hawk screeches at the gathered mass of
people below.
It’s nest is nearby and the group of roughly two
dozen is making it nervous.
To Sialisi Rasalato, it sounds much like the Fiji
goshawk he is familiar with.
Rasalato is an environment manager at Ahura Resorts in
Fiji and is visiting the Malheur National Forest along with
land management experts from 10 other countries including
Nepal, Kenya and Morocco.
For the third consecutive year, the Malheur hosted the In-
ternational Seminar on Forest Landscape Restoration, a pro-
gram by U.S. Forest Service International Programs and the
A
Eagle photos
Rylan Boggs
See EXPERTS, Page A18
What is the collaborative?
The history, organization,
process, funding,
expenses and results
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountains Forest Partners, the
local collaborative group, has been in
existence for more than a decade, but
people still have questions about the or-
ganization.
In response to records requests and
questions from the Eagle, Executive
Director Mark Webb clarifi ed what the
Malheur National Forest Su-
pervisor Steve Beverlin said the
Forest Service uses a variety of
nonexclusive methods to en-
gage with the public. He said
the agency simultaneously uses
collaboration, coordination and
cooperation, and anyone can
submit public comments on
projects. Each process is based
on legal defi nitions and frame-
works.
Collaboration is when a group
of stakeholders meet to develop
solutions to problems on which
they can all agree. The Forest
Service is required to work with
these groups but is not bound by
any collaborative agreements.
Coordination requires the
Forest Service to work with re-
questing offi cial agencies, such
as the Grant County Court, to
address discrepancies between
federal and local planning doc-
uments, such as cultural or nat-
ural resource plans. The Forest
Service must respond to the
discrepancies but is not bound
to follow the local plans.
Cooperation is a status afford-
ed to offi cial agencies, such as
the Grant County Court. As a
cooperating agency, the entity
is entitled to review documents
during the planning process
before they are released to the
public.
The Forest Service is required
to solicit public comments on
proposed projects. During the
comment period, anyone can
submit comments, all of which
are read and considered. Sub-
stantive comments — those
that provide “relevant and new
information with suffi cient de-
tail and rationale” — can be
used to inform the fi nal plans.
People who submit substantive
comments can object to the fi -
nal plans during an objection
period.
Mark Webb
See COLLABORATIVE, Page A18
John Day buying 53-acre Oregon Pine property
T
See PROPERTY, Page A5
Valley View Drive
Existing city property
N.E. Seventh St.
Road
he city of John Day is purchasing a 53-
acre property from DR Johnson Lumber
to improve city connectivity, create a new
wastewater treatment facility and open the doors
for a number of possible improvement projects.
The $519,000 purchase of the Oregon Pine
property was expected to be fi nalized past press
time during Tuesday’s John Day City Council
meeting.
John Day City Manager Nick Green said the
property was competitively priced and “a scream-
ing good deal.” While the real market value of the
property is $383,720, the city is paying 23 cents
per square foot for the property, compared to
37 cents per square foot for the Industrial Park,
Green said.
The 53 acres is adjacent to the 30-acre plot
housing the city’s current wastewater treatment
plant and extends west to Patterson Bridge Road
and across the river to Highway 26.
N.W. Seventh
Street extension
John Da y River
New trail
J O H N D AY
W. Main Street
N
Third Ave.
N.W.
26
500 feet
New property
John Day
Innovation Gateway
26
The city of John Day is purchasing 50 acres of
property to open a trail along the river and to
integrate community, technology, education
and commerce in a single complex.
Source: City of John Day
S. Canyon Blvd.
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
Patterson Bridge
$519,000 investment opens
new options for the city
N.W. Bridge Street
Page A9
treat people with respect in addressing
disagreements.
Before the collaborative, environ-
mental lawsuits slowed the pace of
timber harvest and forest restoration.
Webb said the collaborative provided
a way to address concerns before court
orders stopped projects, which worked,
as no recent litigation has been fi led. In
the decade before the collaborative, the
average timber harvest was 32.7 million
board feet, according to Forest Service
data. Last year, the harvest was 60 mil-
lion, and this year, it is projected to be
75 million.
How to
interact
I NNOVATION G ATEWAY
Inside
Grant Union
sweeps Elgin
collaborative is, what it does, how it’s
funded and how it spends money.
Formally organized in 2006, the col-
laborative is comprised of a “diverse
group” of people, including members
of the timber industry and environmen-
talists, who work together to develop
“zones of agreement” about forest proj-
ects based on science, Webb said.
Anyone is welcome to join the group
as well, he said, provided they meet
minimum participation requirements
and sign a declaration of commitment to
the mission — “to create and implement
a shared vision to improve the resilience
and well-being of forests and communi-
ties in the Blue Mountains” — and to
Bob Hassmiller of the
Forest Service tells land
management experts from
11 different countries about
the importance of beavers in
Oregon.
Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
The view of the John Day River from the Bridge Street bridge. The city of John Day is
purchasing the roughly 50-acre Oregon Pine property (see map above for location), which
will allow a mile-long trail to be opened on the north side of the river to Patterson Bridge
Road, as well as the extension of Seventh Street and a site for a new wastewater treatment
facility out of the flood plain.