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Blue Mountain Eagle
FIREWISE
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project list and the documents
go to Salem and the National
Fire Protection Association
for approval.
Jerome approves funding
for community projects, which
could include improving ac-
cess by strengthening bridges
or brushing roadways, im-
proving emergency commu-
nication by setting up phone
trees or gathering contact in-
formation, helping elderly or
disabled neighbors with resi-
dential projects or providing
improved mapping.
Kyle Sullivan at the Grant
County Soil and Water Con-
servation District was hired
for the map work, combining
topography with county asses-
sor data and other information.
Jerome noted that the county
provided important map in-
formation to the incident com-
mander during the 2015 Can-
yon Creek Complex fire.
The Firewise program has
seen some notable success-
es: Cleanup work around the
Pine Creek Firewise commu-
nity reduced impacts from
the Canyon Creek Complex
fire, Jerome said. Getting ad-
ditional areas interested in be-
coming Firewise communities
Eagle file photo
A Firewise sign in the Pine Creek area outside of John
Day. Dayville community members have also expressed
interest in becoming a Firewise community, and a risk
assessment was completed last year.
might require new approaches,
however. Jerome, for example,
is considering having local
school students help spread
the word through social media.
Public lands
In some places, communi-
ties want the federal govern-
ment to do its part in reducing
fire threats on nearby public
lands. Jerome noted that de-
veloping Forest Service proj-
ects is hampered by National
Environmental Policy Act re-
quirements. A categorical ex-
clusion to NEPA requirements
limits projects to 70 acres,
which is not adequate for
most fire projects, she said.
Talks nonetheless are un-
derway for a fire project on
the Malheur National Forest
near the Laycock Creek area,
which is in the process of
being designated a Firewise
community, Jerome said. A
proposal also has been made
for a project on the Umatilla
National Forest near Monu-
ment, she said.
Jerome said she has trav-
eled to Granite several times
and met with the city council
without successfully estab-
lishing a Firewise communi-
ty. Granite is a “vulnerable
community,” she said, but
good news is on the horizon.
The Ten Cent Community
Wildfire Protection Project
for lands on the Umatilla and
Wallowa-Whitman national
forests surrounding Granite
was recently approved fol-
lowing a lengthy NEPA pro-
cess.
The purpose of the project
is to “reduce the risks of large
and severe wildfires” and to
protect firefighters by reduc-
ing ladder fuels and stand
densities. The 37,800-acre
project lies within the Granite
Creek watershed and encom-
passes the communities of
Granite and Greenhorn.
The multi-year project
calls for commercial har-
vesting, small tree thinning,
mechanical fuel treatments,
landscape burning and road-
side hazard tree removal. The
project design also consid-
ered objectives identified in
the Grant County Communi-
ty Wildfire Protection Plan,
which identified the Granite
zone as a high-risk area.
According to Andrew
Stinchfield at the North Fork
John Day Ranger District, the
Vinegar Fire in 2013 burned
1,200-1,300 acres west of
Greenhorn. Blowing embers
are the main threat, he said.
Stinchfield said the Forest
Service hopes to sign off one
TAX
BENTZ
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Timber
investments
Bruce Daucsavage, pres-
ident of Ochoco Lumber
Co., the parent company of
Malheur Lumber Co. in John
Day, told the Eagle he ex-
pects to see several positive
opportunities in the new tax
bill.
“We’re constantly doing
tax planning,” he said.
As a limited partnership,
Ochoco Lumber will not re-
alize the advantages of the
corporate tax rate reduction
from 35 percent to 21 per-
cent, and the company is
too large to benefit from the
first-ever 20 percent tax de-
duction allowed for small
businesses, Daucsavage said.
But there were other ben-
efits in the bill, he said — es-
pecially the accelerated de-
preciation deduction, which
will allow companies to
write off investments in new
equipment in one year rather
than over seven to 10 years.
“We can now write off
the entire amount and put the
saved dollars back into our
business,” he said. “That will
help the logging industry. It
will spur equipment sales,
and it could attract foreign
investment.”
Daucsavage said Ochoco
Lumber likely will invest in
new pollution control and
sawmill equipment as part of
a plan to expand production
in John Day.
“This is expensive equip-
ment,” he said. “Expanding
production will mean modi-
fying the existing facility.”
The plans are not new, but
the tax changes “pushed the
plan ahead sooner,” he said.
The lumber industry is
capital intensive, Daucsav-
age said, and the timber
supply has changed over
the years to smaller-yielding
logs. About 10 percent of the
timber brought to the mill in
John Day was once small-di-
ameter logs. Now it’s about
70 percent, he said.
That means less of each
Eagle file photo
Blue Mountain Hospital CEO Derek Daly said hospitals
expect to see increasing uncompensated care costs as
the uninsured population rises as a result of the repeal of
the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance mandate in
the new federal tax legislation recently passed.
log ends up as lumber, but
the sawdust, chips and shav-
ings are sold to different cus-
tomers, while the bark and
other waste is burned in the
mill’s boilers, he said. The
company also produces pel-
lets, but the market for these
non-lumber products is a
“roller-coaster ride,” he said.
Daucsavage said the new
tax bill has improved the op-
portunity to retain existing
jobs. He noted that company
employees will benefit from
the doubling of the standard
deduction and child tax cred-
it and the lowering of indi-
vidual tax rates.
“They’ll get a raise in
2018, maybe by their second
paycheck,” he said.
Once withholding tables
are adjusted, less money will
be withheld in paychecks,
he said. That’s money em-
ployees could spend or sock
away for retirement. Over-
all, a lower corporate tax
rate could improve the stock
market, which in turn could
improve the performance of
401(k) retirement plans, he
added.
“It’s a trickle-down ef-
fect,” Daucsavage said, not-
ing that this would depend on
how corporations use their
tax savings.
Health care
impacts
Derek Daly, CEO of the
Blue Mountain Hospital Dis-
trict, told the Eagle the new
A TTENTION G RANT
C OUNTY
Jones, a rancher and Bak-
er County Republican Party
chairwoman from Bridgeport,
did not participate in the inter-
view process.
Bentz and Wattenburg faced
complex questions from the
commissioners during the inter-
view process and were allowed
only a few minutes to respond
to each question.
Grant County Commis-
sioner Boyd Britton asked the
candidates how they would
address the growing financial
problem with the state’s Public
Employees Retirement System.
Calling the PERS short-
fall an “economic anchor,”
Bentz described his efforts in
the House to address the prob-
lem. He noted that PERS is a
“contractual obligation” and
the state “needs to figure out
how to pay it back.” He said he
spoke to union leaders sever-
al times, and he cited a city in
Rhode Island that had declared
bankruptcy because of retire-
ment fund obligations.
“The party in power doesn’t
want to do anything until after
the election, but there’s always
another election,” Bentz said.
Wattenburg agreed that the
state needs to honor its con-
tracts, and he blamed the prob-
V ETERANS :
Did you know a service-connected
disabled veteran is entitled to
FREE use of Oregon State Parks?
tax bill could have negative
impacts on hospitals, how-
ever.
“Hospitals really are not
expecting to benefit from
these tax cuts in the same
manner that other organiza-
tions and individuals will,” he
said. “Part of this is due to the
fact that most hospitals, clin-
ics or health systems are non-
profit corporations or gov-
ernment-related entities for
which the corporate tax rate
or business-deduction chang-
es will not be applicable.
“The other aspect is that
the bill as currently present-
ed repeals the Affordable
Care Act’s individual insur-
ance mandate, which will
lessen the insured popula-
tion. If anything, hospitals
will expect to see increasing
uncompensated care costs
as the uninsured population
rises.”
In a Dec. 20 press re-
lease, Gov. Kate Brown also
expressed concerns about
potential impacts to health-
care.
“Thousands of Orego-
nians stand to lose access
to the life-saving health-
care they rely on,” she said.
“And while Republicans
work so hard to shove this
bill through, they have still
failed to take the obvious
step to reauthorize the Chil-
dren’s Health Insurance Plan
(CHIP), which provides ac-
cess to care for over 80,000
children and pregnant wom-
en in Oregon. This is abso-
lutely unacceptable.”
Brown said she had di-
rected the Office of Eco-
nomic Analysis and Revenue
Department to provide an
analysis of how the new tax
bill will impact Oregonians.
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PADDINGTON 2 (PG)
Paddington picks up a series of odd jobs to
buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy’s
100th birthday.
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Teens discover an old video game console
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becoming the adult avatars they chose.
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Buy an entree and receive a second one
lem on changing demographics
— maturing “baby boomers”
and a large unemployment rate.
Funding formulas for PERS,
transportation and health care
were not working, and the state
needed to “start all over” and
“restructure” how these funda-
mental needs were addressed,
he said.
When asked about the
growing national movement
to deregulate marijuana, Bentz
said he has been a consistent
“no on pot bills” and his con-
stituency was against legalizing
recreational marijuana use.
“My position is clear,” he
said.
Wattenburg noted that he
can look at marijuana as a
physician and as a libertarian,
where less government regu-
lation is better. However, he
would be “more no than yes,”
he told the commissioners. He
acknowledged marijuana could
provide some medical benefits,
but many of the claims for med-
ical benefits were “overblown.”
“I haven’t seen much good
come out of recreational mar-
ijuana,” he said. “There are
more downsides than upsides.”
When asked about federal
management of public lands,
Bentz noted that he opposed
establishing the Owyhee Can-
yonlands National Monument
in southeastern Oregon. He
called on more involvement by
private interests when making
these kinds of public lands de-
cisions.
Wattenburg said a “mon-
ument should be something
special,” and he described how
the area in northern California
where he grew up had been
harmed by poor public lands
management.
“They can’t manage the
lands they have now,” he said,
calling the agency in charge
of national forests the “For-
est Circus” and adding, “They
don’t fight fires — they manage
them.”
When asked about last
year’s state transportation bill,
Bentz noted he repeatedly con-
tacted county commissioners
and his constituents over four
years as the bill developed.
The loss of the timber industry
had been a major blow to the
Eastern Oregon economy and
depleted funding for highways
and roads, he said.
“I support what the county
commissions and constituents
ask me to do,” he said.
Wattenburg agreed that
the loss of the timber industry
harmed the regional economy
and that the bill “was sorely
needed,” but he didn’t like all
the “extraneous elements” in
the bill. He said he would have
preferred a straight gas tax with
all the revenue earmarked for
transportation needs.
Other
communities
Continued from Page A1
Call 541-620-8057 for an appointment
SILVER
SPUR
CAFE
MT. VERNON • 541-932-4545
How Dayville became in-
terested in becoming a Firewise
community is an unusual sto-
ry. Following a wildfire at the
Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife
Area, the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife asked Je-
rome if Firewise money might
be available for a greenhouse
to grow plants for restoration
work in the burned areas.
Firewise funds couldn’t be
used for that purpose, but out
of that contact came interest
in making Dayville a Firewise
community.
“The risk assessment was
conducted in spring 2017. The
next step is to pull together the
community,” Jerome said. “It’s
all community driven.”
Interest in John Day grew
following a tense fire season in
2013, Jerome said. A fire above
Hillcrest Road coincided with
the Grouse Mountain Fire near
Mt. Vernon. Some time later, a
fire burned above the Charolais
Heights neighborhood, fol-
lowed by more lightning strikes
and strong winds.
“What saved the situation
was rain,” Jerome said.
John Day could be divided
by neighborhoods into sepa-
rate Firewise communities, or
the entire city could establish
a single Firewise community,
Jerome said. The latter is more
practical, “but it depends upon
what the people want to do,”
she said.
The Grant County Com-
munity Wildfire Protection
Plan was completed in 2005.
The county was one of the first
in Eastern Oregon to do so,
and the plan became a mod-
el for other counties. Jerome,
who has a bachelor’s degree
in forestry from Oregon State
University, updated the plan
in 2013 and is working on the
next update.
“It should be updated every
five years,” she said.
Jerome was invited to give
a presentation at the National
Fire Protection Association’s
conference at Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina, in 2015. This
year, she will give presenta-
tions at the OSU Extension’s
Tree School East in Baker
City and the Oregon Fire Pre-
vention Workshop.
of the project’s timber sales in
September and start thinning
projects in 2019. Funding
will be needed for the thin-
ning projects, he said, and
some firewood opportunities
are possible. Forest Service
crews will work this summer
on implementing the Ten Cent
project, he said.
POT
See your Grant County Veteran Services
Officer today for more information,
Katee
located at Grant County Courthouse. Hoffman
27382
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
“What they could do would
be to provide testimony that
the conduct of the defendant
is legal and regulated under
Oregon law, and it’s approved,
and whatever they’re doing is
entirely legal,” Wykowski said.
“That could be challenged, but
that’s the position I would ad-
vocate for them to take.”
Perry Salzhauer, a Portland
attorney and partner in the
Green Light Law Group, a law
firm specializing in the mari-
juana industry, said he wasn’t
sure whether testimony of that
nature would be deemed rele-
vant by a judge because there
are no exemptions in the fed-
eral Controlled Substances Act
for state compliance.
However, both attorneys
noted that the court of public
opinion may serve as a deter-
rent to bringing such cases be-
fore a jury in the first place.
“The best defense we have
is the political system,” Salz-
hauer said.
A similar case in Oakland,
California, where the defense
was prohibited from using
such testimony, caused a “big
uproar,” Wykowski said, and
prosecutors have since “backed
off.”
Wykowski said after the
fact, when jurors learned the
defendant was complying with
state law and licensed by the
city of Oakland, they sent a
letter to the judge in that case
saying that if they had known
that the defendant was operat-
ing legally under state law, they
would have voted differently.
In a civil asset forfeiture
case, a state or locality could
Pamplin Media Group file photo
Oregon officials say they’ll fight to protect state-
regulated cannabis businesses from federal prosecution,
but offer no strategies.
file a claim saying that the
move was detrimental to their
ability to collect taxes, as the
city of Berkeley did in a case
brought by a district U.S. At-
torney’s Office against the
Berkeley Patients Group, a
medical marijuana outlet.
Although that claim was re-
jected in the trial court, the case
was dismissed before an appeal
on the city’s complaint could
be decided, Wykowski said.
A provision in federal law,
the Rohrabacher-Farr amend-
ment — also known as the
Rohrabacher-Blumenauer
amendment — prevents the
U.S. Department of Justice
from spending money to inter-
fere with the implementation
of state medical cannabis sys-
tems, says Bear Wilner-Nu-
gent, a Portland attorney.
To an extent, Wilner-Nu-
gent says, Oregon’s medical
and recreational systems have
been integrated: medical mar-
ijuana patients can buy the
product in the same shops that
recreational marijuana con-
sumers do, although patients
are exempt from paying state
marijuana taxes.
So interfering with the sys-
tem as a whole could bolster a
state argument that the federal
government was interfering
with the medical system in a
way that’s not lawful.
“State officials could argue
that the Rohrabacher-Blume-
nauer amendment shields the
state from federal interference
in marijuana programs,” said
Wilner-Nugent.
Salzhauer said the state
could also sue the federal gov-
ernment in civil court, arguing
that the Controlled Substances
Act is unconstitutional.
The 10th Amendment,
which contains what’s called
the
“anti-commandeering
doctrine,” prohibits the fed-
eral government from requir-
ing states to enforce federal
laws.