NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
A16
Rodeo
Continued from Page A1
some people may become
lifelong friends.”
Besides
promoting
rodeo, Israel said she’ll also
represent Grant County.
In the future, she plans
to graduate from Dayville
Pot
Continued from Page A1
home. That’s a big concern,
Reyes said.
State Sen. James Man-
ning, D-Eugene, asked Reyes
if she has heard of issues in the
construction sector in places
where marijuana is legal, such
as Amsterdam. She had not.
Others testified the law
would run afoul of federal
regulation of some industries,
such as truckers who drive
with licenses regulated by
federal law and are required
to take a drug test showing
they are free from substances
including marijuana.
Rob Bovett, represent-
ing the Association of Oregon
Counties, said City County
Insurance Services estimates
more than $1 million in liti-
gation costs would arise each
year if the bill were passed as
Review
Continued from Page A1
Policy history
The federal government’s
land management policies
have varied widely over the
past two centuries, Blumm
and Fraser report in their
article. After acquiring huge
swaths of land from foreign
governments and indigenous
peoples, the government
allowed settlers to use public
lands as a grazing commons.
Impacts from overgraz-
ing led to the creation of
grazing districts under the
1934 Taylor Grazing Act.
In 1976, Congress estab-
lished public lands policies
under the Federal Lands Pol-
icy and Management Act and
the National Forest Manage-
High School with the class
of 2024 followed by attend-
ing school for equine mas-
sage — and “maybe win the
title of Miss Rodeo Oregon,
then compete in Las Vegas
for the title of Miss Rodeo
America,” she said.
Coronation party tickets
are available at the Grant
County Fairgrounds office
is.
Casey Houlihan, executive
director of the Oregon Retail-
ers of Cannabis Association,
supported the proposal, say-
ing it’s a last step to legalizing
marijuana. He said he’s open
to amendments to make the
legislation more clearly about
off-hours consumption and
impairment of marijuana.
Ricardo Lujan, a pol-
icy associate for the Ameri-
can Civil Liberties Union of
Oregon, said many people
who get drug tested at work
are working low-wage jobs.
The current policy creates a
two-tier system favoring the
wealthy, whose employers are
less likely to drug test. The
state should pass the legisla-
tion to make the use of mari-
juana equal for all, he said.
Much less time was spent
on possible interstate com-
merce of marijuana, but those
who did testify said if Ore-
ment Act. Blumm and Fraser
note that NFMA requires the
Forest Service to coordinate
land and resource manage-
ment planning with state and
local governments, but “nei-
ther NFMA nor agency reg-
ulations require the Forest
Service to conduct land plan-
ning via government-to-gov-
ernment consultation with
counties.”
They also note that “no
federal court has interpreted
the ‘coordination’ provisions
of NFMA or FLPMA” and
that “counties lack author-
ity to interpret the coordi-
nation provisions in NFMA
or FLPMA to create bind-
ing obligations on federal
agencies.”
According to Blumm and
Fraser, opposition to pas-
sage of NFMA and FLPMA
in John Day, Bar W-B in
Prairie City and the South
Fork Mini Mart in Day-
ville or call Nicole Israel at
541-620-2624.
For more informa-
tion, visit missrodeoore-
gon.com
or
follow
Israel on Instagram at
2019jmrorowdyisrael and
#jrmissrodeooregon.
gon fails to act now it could be
giving up a prosperous future
where Oregon would be the de
facto home of the marijuana
industry.
Right now, federal law pro-
hibits states where marijuana
is legal from buying or selling
to each other. But as a green
wave flows over the coun-
try, that will likely change one
day. When that happens, Ore-
gon needs to act, marijuana
industry representatives said.
The legislation just sets the
stage for granting the gover-
nor the authority to negotiate
agreements with other states.
Far more marijuana is
grown in Oregon than is
bought by consumers. In 2018,
the state said it had 1 million
pounds of surplus marijuana
in its tracking system.
The glut has cut recre-
ational prices in half and
forced growers and retailers to
cut their workforce.
in 1976 led to the Sage-
brush Rebellion in the 1970s
and the County Suprem-
acy movement in the 1990s.
Thirty Western counties
enacted ordinances assert-
ing authority over federal
lands in the early 1990s, the
authors said.
Lobbying the West
The authors point to
American Stewards as a
“major source” of the cur-
rent misunderstanding about
the meaning of coordina-
tion and say the organization
urges county governments to
invoke an “aggressive inter-
pretation of local authority.”
“In its materials urg-
ing county governments to
seek coordination, American
Stewards relies on a plain
meaning approach to define
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Grant
The Fainman Springs proj-
ect dates back to 2005. Follow-
ing the water emergency dec-
laration last year, Marciel Well
Drilling of Mt. Vernon con-
ducted tests at Fainman Springs
and found one of the three wells
produced 475 gallons per min-
ute. That was enough water to
meet the city’s demands.
The cost of developing
Fainman Springs had been
estimated at $900,000, which
included improving the exist-
ing access road and installing
a pump station, well pump,
chlorination system, water
main and electrical power line.
But a 2008 slow-sand filtra-
tion system installed on Dixie
Creek Road had put the city $2
million in debt and made it dif-
ficult to find financing for the
Fainman Springs project.
On Dec. 6, Hamsher trav-
eled to Salem and addressed
the Business Oregon Infra-
structure Finance Authority
board. The 5-inch thick appli-
cation for financial assistance
The city expects to have the
Fainman Springs water project
completed by summer, weather
dependent. Meanwhile, work
on a $2 million city sewer proj-
ect has continued under a U.S.
Department of Agriculture-Ru-
ral Development loan and
grant.
The partial government
shutdown created problems
for the contractor installing
new pumps at the treatment
plant, but after contacting staff
at Walden’s and Merkley’s
offices, the Prairie City project
was moved up in priority once
the government reopened, and
the contractor received pay-
ments promptly, Hamsher said.
The new variable-speed
sewer pumps are expected to
reduce electrical usage by 30
percent, Hamsher said. With
installation of 1,500 feet of new
forced-main along Highway
26 delayed by winter condi-
tions, the contractor has turned
to replacing old sewer mains in
town, Hamsher said.
The city also has been in
negotiations with U.S. Cellu-
lar for a new cellphone tower
to be built on city land near the
Prairie Wood Products mill site.
The deal will generate $1,500
per month in income the city
will allocate to the water fund
for operating costs and debt
payments, Hamsher said.
In addition, the city coun-
cil has passed a resolution allo-
cating income from the Depot
RV Park to city utility funds for
debt purposes. Hamsher said
$1 per day per space will go to
the water fund and another $1
per day per space will go to the
sewer fund.
‘coordination’ in NFMA and
FLPMA,” Blumm and Fraser
said. “Relying on dictionar-
ies and irrelevant court opin-
ions — eschewing the usual
means of statutory inter-
pretation — the group pro-
claims coordination means
‘government-to-government’
consultation.”
The authors also note that
county governments that
assert novel interpretations
of their role in public land-
use planning “face a steep
uphill legal battle” because
of the Property Clause in
the U.S. Constitution. The
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in
U.S. v. Gratiot in 1840 that
Congress’ power to man-
age public lands under the
Property Clause is “without
limitation,” Blumm and Fra-
ser said.
Article IV, Section 3,
Clause 2 of the U.S. Consti-
tution states, “Congress shall
have power to dispose of
and make all needful Rules
and Regulations respecting
the Territory or other Prop-
erty belonging to the United
States; and nothing in this
Constitution shall be con-
strued as to Prejudice any
Claims of the United States,
or of any particular State.”
The authority that counties
claim in coordination ordi-
nances is reserved under fed-
eral law for indigenous tribes,
which are expressly men-
tioned in the U.S. Constitu-
tion while counties are “con-
stitutionally insignificant,”
Blumm and Fraser said.
“Many tribes have trea-
ties with the United States, but
county governments have no
authority to demand govern-
ment-to-government negotia-
tions with the federal govern-
ment,” the authors said.
Blumm and Fraser also
speculated about the conse-
quences of the federal gov-
ernment agreeing to a govern-
ment-to-government status.
Noting that “all Americans
hold an equal claim of own-
ership to federal land,” they
suggested that giving special
status to local plans would pro-
mote monopolization of natu-
ral resource use and elevate
the power of those who control
local government — “no doubt
local economic leaders.”
“The vast majority of
American citizens do not live
close to lands they own that
would be effectively monopo-
lized by local control,” Blumm
and Fraser said.
Continued from Page A1
for free, but the cost of private
haulers came to $128,393. Part
of the emergency federal grant
will go to paying for transport-
ing water.
Fainman Springs
required vast amounts of his-
torical-use data and consumed
hours of Brown’s time, Ham-
sher said. The board unani-
mously approved the $550,000
grant and $950,000 loan to
finance the Fainman Springs
project.
Hamsher had been advised
that approval of the federal
emergency grant could take
18 months or more. Complet-
ing the 4-inch thick application
was another huge undertaking
for city staff, he said. Hamsher
credited assistance from Rep.
Greg Walden, Sen. Jeff Merk-
ley, Gov. Kate Brown and
Business Oregon for getting
the $1 million federal grant
expedited.
“It’s been a long-time
dream to be able to complete
the Fainman water project for
the residents of Prairie City,”
Hamsher said. “I’d like to thank
city staff, the engineers and a
big thanks to City Recorder
Bobbie Brown for the endless
hours she has put in helping
with this project.”
Other projects
05205
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