News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
RAINBOW
Public
meetings
Continued from Page A1
The Eagle/Sean Hart
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon awards a flag
flown over the Capitol to the Grant County Library
Foundation board of directors, accepted by board
president Megan Brandsma, at a town hall meeting
Sunday in John Day.
MERKLEY
Continued from Page A1
amendments before the July
4 recess would be undemo-
cratic.
Louis Provencher of
John Day asked about com-
bating polarized political
rhetoric. Merkley said the
Senate was once an exam-
ple of the “best deliberative
body.” Where senators lived
with their families in Wash-
ington, D.C., four decades
ago and had lunch and din-
ner with each other, he said,
the current Monday evening
through Thursday evening
schedule with party-based
lunches provides little
chance to interact. He said
polarized media coverage is
also problematic.
In response to a ques-
tion about transferring fed-
eral public lands to states
or private entities from
Adele Cerny of Bear Val-
ley, Merkley said, “I don’t
think there’s any realistic
chance.” He said Interior
Secretary Ryan Zinke told
him he was “absolutely
against that.”
Chris Labhart of John
Day asked about a pro-
posal in President Donald
Trump’s budget to sell Bon-
neville Power Administra-
tion’s transmission lines to
private investors. Merkley
said he was strongly op-
posed to the privatization,
citing concerns the new
owners could hold residents
“hostage” by increasing
fees.
Merkley said other as-
pects of Trump’s budget he
opposed were cutting essen-
tial air service and contract
towers for rural airports,
Community Development
Block Grants and home
grants, water infrastructure,
rural development and re-
ducing the Department of
Agriculture budget by 25
percent, while increasing
military spending by $50
million.
As a member of the
Appropriations Commit-
tee with jurisdiction over
spending, Merkley said he
was proud of several ac-
complishments in the latest
government funding bill,
including funding for Pay-
ments in Lieu of Taxes,
wildfire suppression, the
Forest Service collaborative
program, the Office of Ru-
ral Health and research for
fire-proofing and joints for
cross-laminated timber.
The event is billed as oc-
curring July 1-7, but local
public safety officials say
some may stay through the
solar eclipse in August.
Latrines will be dug, and
plans to route a nearby spring
to the main camp area are in
place. Piping the springs to
the campground is an attempt
to protect the riparian areas
around the springs, attendee
Mark Squire said. Rainbow
Family members vow to
leave the land better than they
found it.
The gathering is unautho-
rized, however. The Forest
Service requires groups of
more than 75 people to apply
for a special use permit, said
Ethan Ready, the public infor-
mation officer for the incident
management team brought in
by the agency to handle the
influx.
Attendee Adam Buxbaum
said the group cannot sign a
permit because no member
speaks for any other, and no
one is in charge. The gather-
ing is protected by the First
Amendment, he said.
Ready, who worked at last
year’s Rainbow Gathering on
his home forest in Vermont,
said if the group does not com-
plete the permit, the Forest
Service will serve the group
with an Event Design Criteria
document, an operating plan
outlining different mitigation
measures and cleanup. Last
year, the group cleaned up
the site, with the exception of
some trails that were not there
before the event, he said.
Although attendees are not
required to pay money to at-
tend, the gathering is not with-
out cost. Ready said the For-
est Service budgets $500,000
each year to manage it.
An interdisciplinary team
of forest resource experts was
at the site Friday, developing
a plan to protect the land and
marking off sensitive resourc-
es, such as streams, plants and
cultural areas. A federal inci-
dent management team has
been established with about
40 law enforcement officers
• Rainbow Gathering at-
tendees are hosting an in-
formational meeting for
residents at 6 p.m. today,
June 21, at the Canyon
City Community Hall, 129
S. Washington St., Canyon
City.
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
The main meadow area for the Rainbow Gathering on the
Malheur National Forest in Grant County Friday, June 16.
and other public information,
safety, planning, logistics and
natural resource specialists.
Beyond the forest, the in-
flux is taxing on local public
safety officials as well.
Grant County Sheriff
Glenn Palmer said his office
has been receiving a large
volume of calls from residents
and has dealt with a number
of minor thefts. He said the
gathering has forced vaca-
tions to be canceled but said
it may be a “blessing in dis-
guise” because it would help
the community test its plans
for the eclipse.
John Day Police Depart-
ment Sgt. Damon Rand said
the largest incident was a man
trying to steal a 12-pack of
beer from Chester’s Thrift-
way. Rand said the police
department has also received
a number of calls from con-
cerned citizens, some wor-
ried about strangers camping
where not allowed. He ad-
vised residents to keep their
homes and vehicles locked
and to keep valuables out of
sight for the entire summer.
Forest Service Law En-
forcement Officer Brandon
Robinson said this will be
his fifth Rainbow Gathering.
He said often it’s the people
coming before and after the
gathering who cause prob-
lems. July 4, the pinnacle of
the gathering, is often the
most calm because it is a day
of prayer, he said.
Robinson warned of petty
theft, aggressive panhandling
and abandoned dogs and ve-
hicles. He said impacts to the
site of the gathering could in-
clude compacted soil, degrad-
ed water quality, damage to
archaeological sites and pos-
sible human-caused wildfires.
Sexual assault, fugitives
and juvenile runaways have
all been present at past camps,
and Robinson said they have
dealt with one runaway linked
to the gathering already this
week. He warned of a wide
range of drugs likely to be
present at the gathering and
said interagency cooperation
would be needed to keep ev-
eryone safe.
“We can’t do this on our
own,” Robinson said. “It
takes everybody.”
Without leadership or se-
curity at the gathering, the
Rainbow Family relies on a
system called “shanta sena”
to keep the peace. Attendee
Karin Zrik said, if an incident
occurs, “shanta sena” is called
out, and everyone within ear-
shot who is willing and able
to respond does so. The goal
is to form a circle and begin a
discussion about the incident
and try to reach a solution.
However, Zirk admits
sometimes shanta sena is not
enough to solve all issues — a
stabbing occurred at a Rain-
bow gathering meeting June
10 during a shanta sena re-
sponse — and members of the
group said they are willing to
work with law enforcement.
Agency
Administrator
Ryan Nehl said the Forest
Service is aware of political
differences between the Rain-
bow Family and Grant Coun-
ty residents but recommended
people not be confrontational.
He said Forest Service law
• The Forest Service is
hosting a public meeting
from 5-6:30 p.m. Friday,
June 23, at the Malheur Na-
tional Forest Headquarters,
431 Patterson Bridge Road,
John Day.
The Forest Service has
established a public infor-
mation line people can call
with questions or concerns:
541-575-3131.
enforcement officers are lim-
ited to forest issues, so people
would have to contact Oregon
State Police, Grant County
Sheriff’s Office or John Day
Police Department for issues
arising outside the forest. The
number of visitors will also
spread local resources thin, he
said.
“The county is 7,500 peo-
ple, and we’re expecting an
influx of 20,000,” he said.
“The amount of burden on re-
sources will be high.”
Rebekah Rand, director
of Emergency Medical Ser-
vices and the Hospital Emer-
gency Preparedness Program
for Blue Mountain Hospital
District, said plans for extra
coverage are in place. She
said the goal is to avoid any
delays in ambulance service
to provide “the very best EMS
coverage” for the community.
She said people should also
be generally aware.
“When there’s increased
traffic, there’s an increased
volume of people, so just
make sure to lock your vehi-
cles and be mindful of your
surroundings,” she said. “And
if there’s any concern, it’s
better to be safe than sorry. If
you’re concerned about some-
thing, whether that’s medical
or fire or police, never hesitate
to call us.”
2017
Bank of Eastern Oregon
Coordinating Advisory Council
DP Home Entertainment
J & L Shelk Foundation
JD Auto Parts
Les Schwab
Mobile Glass
Oregon Telephone
Corporation
Oregon Trail Electric Company
Umpqua Bank
Erik Rook
Ethan Haney
GU Boys Basketball
GU Art Trip
Hailie Wright
Katrina Randleas
Kaylee Wright
Kristen Walz
Jessica Madden
Steph Charette
Russ Comer
Advantage Dental
Blue Mt. Ambulance
Chester’s Elves
DHS
Families First
Grant-Harney CASA
Heart of Grant County
Intermountain ESD – EI/ECSE
John Day Police
Kam Wah Chung
Len’s
Malheur National Forest
ROCCOs
Strawberry Wilderness Clinic
Safe Communities Coalition
Blue Mt. Eagle
Clark’s Disposal
ER Printing & Graphics
Grant ESD
KJDY
THANK YOU!
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