Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2018)
A18 News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, June 27, 2018 GUNS Continued from Page A1 Several weeks ago, sup- porters of that campaign were still sanguine about their prospects to gather the need- ed signatures in time. Rev. W.J. Mark Knutson, of Portland’s Augustana Lutheran Church, who is a chief petitioner of IP 43, says supporters are still “tre- mendously” optimistic about the petition’s prospects. The Lift Every Voice cam- paign has trained 700 people to train even more people in how to properly gather signatures, Knutson said. He believes the campaign has laid the groundwork to quickly get enough signa- tures, from having a printer ready to print petitions at a moment’s notice to holding signature-gathering trainings throughout the state. And he says the political atmosphere is primed for the petition, about four months after a gunman at Marjo- ry Stoneman Douglas High School killed 17 people in Parkland, Florida, galvaniz- ing a new wave of gun con- trol activism. “It’s one of those moments in time when people are ready to act,” Knutson said of the initiative. “There’s an EO Media Group The fire danger in the John Day area was average or even below average in May and early June. WILDFIRE Continued from Page A1 Weather trends Summer temperatures in the Oregon, Washington and Idaho region, gathered by the National Climate Data Center from hundreds of reporting stations, have shown an upward trend over the past 25 years, said John Saltenberger, a fire weath- er program manager for the Predictive Services depart- ment at the Northwest Coor- dination Center in Portland. From 1950 to 1995, there were roughly the same num- ber of above-average June to August temperatures in the three-state region as there were below average, he said. “It was roughly balanced, about what you would ex- pect,” he said. “Then some- thing changed.” Since 1995, below-av- erage August temperatures were reported only in 1995, 2002 and 2010. Every other year had above-average Au- gust temperatures, and 2017 saw the warmest August on record, Saltenberger said. This May was also one of the warmest on record. The warm and dry conditions led to elevated fire danger in June for much of Oregon, Saltenberger said. Condi- tions in the John Day area, however, are not as severe yet, he said. The fire danger in the John Day area was av- erage or even below average in May and early June. “The higher elevations captured more moisture,” he said. “The fire danger is below average because of re- cent moisture.” Those conditions will change, he noted. The fire danger is expected to esca- late in July and August, with above-average temperatures continuing into September. “Every data source I look at says this,” he said. Saltenberger noted that above-average fire danger conditions existed across the region in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and he expects 2018 to be the same. Fire dangers The Oregon Department of Forestry manages fires on private forest lands in Grant County, which falls within ODF’s John Day Unit in the Central Oregon District. The district saw 114 fires in 2017, which burned near- ly 2,500 acres. The 10-year average is 11,600 acres. Sev- enty of last year’s fires were human caused, above the 10- year average of 68. State Forester Peter Daugherty declared the start of fire season in the Central Oregon District on June 1, which initiated restrictions JAIL on debris burning and some activities by industrial oper- ations. “Across the district, spring has brought limited rainfall and right now we are seeing fuel conditions drier than they were at this time last year,” District Forester Mike Shaw said in a June 1 press release. Rain which fell in late May “was really lo- calized, with very little soak- ing in due to how quickly it came down in many areas.” John Day Unit Forest- er Ryan Miller said several small fires had been reported since June 1, including four lightning-caused starts over the June 16-17 weekend. “They were all under a tenth of an acre,” he said. As of June 20, more than 200 wildfires were reported on lands protected by ODF across Oregon, burning about 200 acres. More than 80 percent of the fires were human caused. On the Malheur National Forest, seasonal restrictions on campfires began June 1 and continue through Oct. 31. Campfires must be at- tended at all times and com- pletely extinguished prior to leaving. Anyone with a campfire outside of a spec- ified developed recreation site must have a tool that serves as a shovel and one gallon of water in their pos- session. Continued from Page A5 pocket, you would open that and look in it?” DeRosier re- sponded, “Absolutely.” In closing, the defendant’s attorney argued that the jail policy “even if it was an au- thorized policy ... it’s an un- lawful policy, it’s overbroad under both the (state and fed- eral constitutions) because it does allow things such as searches of closed containers, according to Deputy DeRosi- er’s testimony.” Grant County Circuit Court Judge William D. Cra- mer Jr. ruled against the mo- tion to suppress. While he found that the search was not justified under the officer safety exception and was not a search related to the crime for which Steele was arrested, harassment, Cramer conclud- ed that the methamphetamine inevitably would have been discovered during a search of Steele’s belongings at the jail. On appeal, the defense argued that the inevitable discovery doctrine did not justify admission of the meth- amphetamine evidence “be- WOLF Continued from Page A1 In his letter to ODFW re- questing a kill permit, owner Rod Childers said the impact to his business far exceeds in- jured or missing animals. “This harassment of my cattle has caused a change in their demeanor making them more difficult to handle, nearly causing injury to myself while sorting,” Childers wrote. “Ad- ditionally, these wolf problems are causing great problems in my ability to utilize my spring range effectively.” The permit issued by ODFW extends not only to the pasture, but also an adjacent public forest allotment. It ex- pires July 10, when Childers plans to remove his cattle from the pasture. The action has stirred debate about wolf management in Or- egon at a time when ODFW is in the midst of updating its wolf plan, which was last updated in 2010. Since then, wolves were removed from the state endan- gered species list in 2015. The species remains feder- ally protected west of highways 395, 78 and 95. George Rollins, a Baker County rancher and Eastern Or- egon wolf committee chairman VETERANS APPRECIATION SHOOT July 1, 2018 at 9:00AM Grant County Shooting Sports presents a “Benny Says” - A clay target game just for US Military Veterans Fun and games for all shooters (non veterans) at normal cost Targets and 12 ga ammo provided until gone. A time to meet service men & women and friends, shoot, have lunch and visit. At the Seneca Range • 541-820-4624 Dry camp, bring water. PLAN 64069 Continued from Page A1 in new income in the forest products, livestock and rec- reation sectors compared to the current plan, according to the Forest Service. The plan could double the annual timber harvest from a recent average of EO Media Group Supporters of IP 44, a proposed ballot measure that would require gun owners to secure weapons in a lock box or by using a trigger or cable lock, say they don’t have enough time to gather signatures to get the measure on November’s ballot. anxiousness to move, not to wait.” The campaign is focusing on the weekend before Inde- pendence Day — they’re call- ing it a “signature sabbath” — as a key period in which to gather signatures. Initiative Petition 44 would have required gun owners to secure their firearms in a lock box or using a trigger or cable lock. It would also require them to report if one of their guns is stolen or lost within 24 hours of learning of the theft or loss. Failure to comply with those requirements would be considered a violation, not a crime. The measure would have also held gun owners civilly liable for five years following an incident for injuries result- ing from a failure to comply with the measure’s require- ments, except when injuries resulted from self-defense. The Oregon Supreme Court approved the ballot ti- tle for the measure June 18, despite several legal chal- lenges filed by representa- tives of groups including the National Rifle Association and the Oregon Firearms Federation. cause the Grant County Jail inventory policy impermissi- bly authorizes searches of all closed containers” — even though Steele did not have a closed container on him when searched. Citing precedent, the de- fense argued that “if any part of the inventory policy is in- valid ... then any evidence dis- covered must be suppressed as part of an unlawful inven- tory.” The state argued that the jail policy says nothing about searching closed containers. The testimony “shows that this particular deputy may have believed he was required to search all closed contain- ers,” the state argued. “That does not speak to the require- ments of the policy itself.” Writing for the appellate court, Judge Steven R. Pow- ers cited precedent that the scope of an inventory “must be limited to that — an inven- tory,” and that an inventory policy “that requires police to open all closed containers, regardless of whether they are likely to contain valuables, is overbroad.” Powers also noted that the state never raised the argu- ment during the suppression hearing that DeRosier’s tes- timony did not establish that the jail policy was overbroad. “That is, the state never attempted, by redirect exam- ination, to qualify or clari- fy DeRosier’s admission or to offer any other evidence pertaining to the policy’s prescribed procedures for in- spection of closed containers during intake,” Powers wrote. While he concurred with Powers, Presiding Judge Joel DeVore noted in his separate conclusion that the defense did not show that Steele had suffered a deprivation of a substantial right. “At least to me, to argue that defendant was harmed by an unconstitutional part of the policy that did not direct the inventory assumes too much,” he wrote. The appellate court re- versed Judge Cramer’s rul- ing and remanded the case. Following the ruling, Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter filed a motion to dismiss the possession charge, stating that he did not intend to retry the case. for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said the group is advocating wolf management zones with population targets, which would open the door to more lethal control and, possi- bly, hunting. “These management zones would be established, and with local decision making, the number of wolves can be man- aged so that we can reduce po- tential conflicts,” Rollins said. Environmental groups, however, oppose killing any wolves, arguing the overall population is still too small and fragile. Oregon had 124 offi- cially documented wolves at the end of 2017 — an 11 per- cent increase over 2016. Furthermore, Sean Stevens, executive director of Oregon Wild, said the next iteration of the wolf plan should have stronger requirements allowing non-lethal deterrents the chance to work before rushing to kill wolves. “According to ODFW’s own reports, depredations appear to have stopped af- ter non-lethal deterrents were put in place. Yet a week after the last conflict with wolves, ODFW is issuing a kill permit anyway,” Stevens said. “This permit is unnecessary. It’s the latest proof that the wolf plan needs to be strengthened, not weakened.” The Oregon Fish and Wild- life Commission indefinitely postponed its vote on the wolf plan revision earlier this year. ODFW recently hired a profes- sional mediator, Debra Nudel- man of Portland, to work with groups to reach a broader con- sensus. Those meetings have yet to be announced. In addition to manage- ment zones, Rollins said OCA wants to see at least one wolf in each pack fitted with a GPS tracking collar, and local agen- cies — such as county sheriffs — given greater control over wolf-livestock investigations. “These people investigate murders and robberies and ev- erything else,” Rollins said. “My goodness, they should be able to do a wolf investigation.” Derek Broman, state car- nivore biologist, has taken the lead on the wolf plan revision since Russ Morgan retired last year. He said the plan may be ready to present to the Fish and Wildlife Commission as early as September, and possibly ad- opted before the end of the year. “We feel like we’re in a good spot,” Broman said. “We’re still seeing increases in wolf numbers. Last year, we saw a decrease in depredations. ... We still have a pretty good plan to be working with.” 100 million board feet to 205 million board feet and maintains recent grazing levels. An additional 70,500 acres would be recommend- ed for a wilderness designa- tion. A 60-day objection-fil- ing period is scheduled to begin June 30 for people who provided substantive comments during the 2010 scoping period or the 2014 formal comment period. A 90-day objection-resolution period will follow. After resolution of the objections, Peña will sign a final record of decision for the revised plan for each forest. For more information, visit fs.usda.gov/goto/Blue- MountainsPlanRevision. The ruling
