A18
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
PLAN
Continued from Page A1
several references to the Eastern Or-
egon Counties Association, which
will also submit an objections letter
following an Aug. 23 meeting.
In the objection letter, the court
cites comments it submitted to the
Forest Service about the draft plan
in August 2014, including concerns
about using the best available sci-
ence in support of grazing practices.
The court noted the Grant Coun-
ty Road Department paid more than
$70,000 toward the Cramer Fish
Science Grazing Analysis, but the
Forest Service failed to address the
study’s findings.
The court asked that the revised
plan be withdrawn and that each of
the three national forests “work inde-
pendently with county government
and local stakeholders” to develop
separate land management plans.
Road systems on the national
forest land should be “preserved for
public safety, economic, cultural and
recreational purposes,” the court said
in the letter, and all roads should re-
main open unless specifically closed
after a comment period.
The court noted the “entirety” of
a report by the Grant County Pub-
lic Forest Commission was not ad-
dressed and should be implemented
in the plan. The commission was es-
tablished by voter initiative in 2002
and disbanded following a circuit
court ruling in 2016.
In conclusion, the court noted
that many Forest Service employees
live and work in the local commu-
nity and “are important citizens who
raise us all up and make life better
here.” The court’s criticism is fo-
cused on the general policies of the
Forest Service nationally, not on the
local Forest Service offices, the letter
said.
Other comments
In their 2014 comments, the for-
est commission said the total land
base in the forest plan was being
“whittled down by almost endless
exceptions, withdrawals and prohi-
bitions.”
Calling the draft plan “a major
departure from the 100-plus years
of management,” which ignored le-
gal and technical history, the com-
mission said combining the three
forests into one plan “sets a bad
precedent.”
Much of the science used in
EO Media Group/E.J. Harris
A multi-head radial saw cuts logs into blocks in the log utilization center at Boise Cascade’s Elgin plywood mill.
Blue Mountains Forest Plan
Revision changes under review
The U.S. Forest Service released its final environmental impact
statement for the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision in June,
selecting Alternative E-Modified as its preferred alternative.
Current Alternative
(no change) E-Modified
Item
Miles of road maintained annually
Animal unit months, grazing
Timber volume (million board feet)
Annual forest restoration* (acres)
Jobs created †
Income † (millions of dollars)
*Tree thinning, treatment
† Timber,
2,023
242,800
79
52,702
1,647
$54
2,212
294,400
205
69,200
2,820
$113.5
Percent
change
9.3%
21.3
159.5
31.3
71.2
110.2
livestock and recreation
Source: U.S. Forest Service
Capital Press graphic
the draft plan was out of date, the
commission said, and many of the
plan’s standards and guidelines
“are extremely restrictive and will
severely limit if not prohibit much
active management.”
Grant County Judge Scott My-
ers, who commented on the draft
plan in 2014 as an individual,
said he will submit objections on
his own. In his comments, Myers
said the Forest Service should not
acquire additional land because it
“struggles to manage, effectively,
the acreage in their inventory of
responsibility now,” and he called
for “a more aggressive plan” for
salvage logging.
Myers noted in his 2014 com-
ments that the Eastern Oregon
Counties Association had made
a unanimous finding that none of
the alternatives in Alternative A-E
were acceptable. “I wholeheartedly
agree,” he said.
Myers also noted that the draft
environmental impact statement
for the plan stated that it was un-
likely additional wilderness would
be needed, but the revised forest
plan presented by Regional Forest-
er James Pena in July calls for new
wilderness areas.
The revised plan calls for rec-
ommending 70,500 acres of mostly
roadless areas for designated wil-
derness.
SUICIDE
Suicide prevention resources
• Lines for Life at 800-273-8255 or text 273Talk to 839863
• Community Counseling Solutions at 541-575-1466
• David Romprey Oregon Warm Line, 1-800-698-2392
• Military Helpline: 888-457-4838 or text MIL1 to 839863
Continued from Page A1
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Dave Dalton of Lines For Life addresses a comment during a suicide forum at the John
Day Senior Center on Aug. 15 while coworker Emily Moser listens.
Firearms and jumping are
the top two means for com-
pleting suicide. Pills take
time, allowing friends or
family members an opportu-
nity to call for help. Ready
access to firearms helps ex-
plain the high suicide rate
in Oregon, a state with high
firearm ownership, and also
why men have a higher com-
pletion rate than women.
Statistical trends
The federal Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
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or e-mail hr@eomediagroup.com.
tion now regards suicide an
epidemic, Moser said.
Experts have found some
patterns in suicide numbers.
Suicide attempts tend to
peak on Mondays and fall
away through the rest of the
week, Dalton said, but major
national events such as the
9/11 terrorist attack seem to
temporarily pause suicidal
ideation while family mem-
bers and friends across the
country reconnect.
Discussing the statistics
leaves a “pit in my stom-
ach,” Moser said. Both she
and Dalton have experienced
suicide by family members.
So did several members in
the audience, which also
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While the highest suicide
rate in the United States is
among middle-aged white
men, in Oregon suicide is
the second leading cause of
death among youths aged
10-24. Factors in youth sui-
cides include prior attempts,
depression, family discord,
substance abuse, relation-
ship problems, discipline or
legal problems and access to
firearms.
According to the 2017 Or-
egon Health Teens Survey,
which combined results for
Grant and Harney counties,
9.4 percent of eighth-graders
and 6.6 percent of 11th-grad-
ers reported attempting sui-
cide at least once.
Suicide statistics help
professionals understand cir-
cumstances behind suicide
ideation, attempts and suc-
cessful completions, Lines
For Life counselors Dave
Dalton and Emily Moser
told the forum participants.
This includes 23,580 acres for
a new McClellan Mountain wil-
derness area, accessed by Fields
Creek Road southeast of Dayville,
and 2,990 additional acres for the
Strawberry Mountain Wilderness.
A recommendation to es-
tablish a 6,139-acre Greenhorn
Mountain wilderness area was
withdrawn.
According to the draft re-
cord of decision, the revised for-
est plan also calls for increas-
ing potential employment from
1,647 jobs currently to an esti-
mated 2,820 jobs, increasing the
timber sale program quantity
from the recent average of 101
million board-feet per year to 205
million, thinning up to 33 per-
cent of overstocked dry-upland
forest types during the planning
period, along with other treat-
ments, and maintaining the cur-
rent level of about $4.5 million
in income from recreation-related
jobs.
included three local pastors
and numerous mental health
professionals wanting to
learn more.
Two in the audience said
they had attempted suicide, a
woman said her son commit-
ted suicide, another woman
said her father committed
suicide when she was 7 and
another woman said her hus-
band had committed suicide.
One of the messages
Moser and Dalton had was to
look to the positive. Even in
their darkest hours, people
contemplating suicide can
be reminded of bright spots
in their past, even small
ones, Dalton said.
Ninety percent of people
who have attempted suicide
end up dying later in life
of something else entire-
ly, Moser said. Talking to
people about their suicidal
thoughts will not make the
situation worse, Dalton said
— a third of the people who
call Lines for Life are call-
ing for other people.
Warning
signs
The timespan from rec-
ognizing warning signs to a
suicide attempt can be very
short, Dalton said. Signs in-
clude loss of a job, spouse or
close friends. A person con-
templating suicide might talk
about unbearable physical or
psychological pain or severe
anguish. Some have already
been diagnosed for depres-
sion or have alcohol or drug
abuse problems.
A person contemplating
suicide might make terminal
statements such as “I won’t
be around much longer” or “I
don’t know if I can deal with
this any longer.”
When asked about a per-
son who cries wolf, making
terminal statements but not
doing anything for a long
time, Moser noted that Lines
for Life takes every call se-
riously.
Other signs include peo-
ple who start giving things
away and putting their house
in order, or a change in be-
havior across the board. That
could include sleeping more
or increased agitation, a per-
son who doesn’t show up at
work, even a messy teenag-
er who suddenly cleans his
room, Moser said.
“Don’t discount a gut feel-
ing,” she said.
Friends or family mem-
bers who recognize these
signs need to lean in and
communicate, but they will
need to overcome the stig-
ma associated with suicide.
A person might feel shame
or failure and be unwilling to
talk, while a community that
shuns a suicidal person can
make the situation worse.
It’s best to focus on posi-
tive things, Dalton and Moser
said — the strengths of an in-
dividual and their surrounding
community.
A TTENTION G RANT C OUNTY
V ETERANS :
Are you using or interested in learning
about Choice Card Medical Care?
Katee
See your Grant County Veteran Services Hoffman
Officer today for more information.
Monday through Friday 10 am – 4 pm.
Call 541-620-8057 for an appointment
530 E. Main, Ste. 5, John Day, OR.
71661