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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2019)
PRAIRIE CITY BOYS WIN DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE A9 The Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 Wednesday, February 20, 2019 151st Year • No. 8 • 18 Pages • $1.00 BlueMountainEagle.com How would coordination work? Regional forester, congressmen offer insight into differing connotations By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle On Jan. 23, the Grant County Court agreed to look into the idea of “invoking coordina- tion” with federal and state agencies as a way to protect community interests during planning for projects on public lands. How the process would work has yet to be determined. In 2017, 22 members of the U.S. House of Representatives urged President Donald Trump to sign an executive order declaring that coun- ties have an “equal,” not subordinate, role in government-to-government coordination. However, Glenn Casa- massa, the new regional for- ester for the U.S. Forest Ser- vice Region 6, said the agency has its own federal laws and rules to follow that could pre- vent adhering to county plans. Glenn Commissioner Sam Casamassa Palmer, who introduced draft language showing how coordination could be invoked, has been away since then, and no more discussion on the matter has taken place, Grant County Judge Scott Myers said in a Feb. 15 email. “We don’t know if we might join another county moving forward or go it alone,” he said. “In recent discussions with other com- missioners and judges from around the state (in Salem during the Association of Oregon Coun- The Eagle/Richard Hanners The Grant County Court discussed residing and replacing windows and doors at Keerins Hall during their Feb. 13 meeting. ties meeting), there are several attempts in the works to move forward as well, and different styles of doing that.” Myers was confi dent that Grant County will look further into how to coordinate planning with federal agencies. “It may turn out that we appoint a commit- tee to carry issues forward in a manner that will be clearly understood by agencies, allowing us to break a cycle of stagnation in those relation- ships,” he said. Regional forester weighs in Casamassa, the regional forester, told the Eagle in a Feb. 11 interview that he spoke with people in Eastern Oregon about coordination when he traveled through the area last fall. “What we’re trying to do now all throughout the region really is centered on how to reset our overall approach to coordination with the coun- ties,” he said. As part of the coordination process, counties would be able to participate in earlier stages of the planning process and play a role in deter- mining outcomes, including “even our pro- grammatic or broad-scale planning efforts, like forest plans and other kinds of site-specifi c pro- posals and planning efforts, area by area plans.” When asked about the legal defi nition of coordination, Casamassa said, “It’s keeping each other informed, it’s working together, it’s establishment of a recognition that there are a lot more similarities in what the overall out- comes are, and that it’s achieving that similar outcome and purpose.” Casamassa was familiar with coordination See Forest, Page A18 BUSY FAIRGROUNDS NEEDS IMPROVEMENTS Parking lot lighting will increase public safety By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle T he Grant County Fairgrounds is a busy and import- ant community asset that needs some infrastruc- ture improvement investment, Fairgrounds Man- ager Mindy Winegar told the county court Feb. 13. The court agreed to move forward on replacing the parking lot lights that disappeared about three years ago. Judge Scott Myers and Commissioner Jim Hamsher, however, asked for more numbers before approving a request to upgrade Keerins Hall. Fairgrounds use The fairgrounds served about 30,000 people in 2018, Win- egar said, including serving more than 8,000 visitors to the RV park. Visitors attended yard sales, workshops, benefi t dinners, memorial services, Christmas and spring bazaars, a gun show, youth benefi ts and a quilt show. They also attended meetings of the Oregon State Snow- mobile Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Forest Service’s Forest Plan objectors. Visiting groups included the BMW Riders of Oregon, who have signed up for three more years, an antique car group, bike touring groups and mule and horse clinics. Big events at the fairgrounds included the rodeo, Queens Dance, Junior Rodeo and the demolition derby. About 13,000 people attended the 109th Grant County Fair, Winegar said. The Eagle/Richard Hanners See Improve, Page A18 The board and batten siding on Keerins Hall at the Grant County Fairgrounds is in poor shape. County offi cials are considering new siding, windows and doors. Public invited to talk cap and trade Testimony to be taken at Feb. 25 virtual hearing in Baker City By Aubrey Wieber Oregon Capital Bureau Oregon’s proposed cap and trade system will change the state’s economy, providing lucrative opportunities to some industries and potentially put- ting others out of business. Stakeholders had their say Feb. 11 as 19 people from the natural resources, manufac- turing and transportation sec- tors told the Joint Commit- tee on Carbon Reduction how they expect House Bill 2020 to impact them. Over the next two weeks, the committee will also take to the road to receive tes- Gov. Kate timony from Brown Oregonians outside the Willamette Valley. There will also be video conference hear- ing in Baker City. It will be a virtual hearing Feb. 25 in Ore- gon Trail Electric Cooperative’s public meeting room, hosted by OTEC and the Baker County Chamber of Commerce. The time is still being worked out. The cap and trade program would regulate how much cer- tain industries can pollute by charging them for their emis- sions. The goal is to push indus- CARBON REDUCTION ROADSHOW: Springfi eld: Friday, Feb. 22 – Springfi eld City Hall, Council Chamber (12 p.m. to 3 p.m.) Medford: Saturday, Feb. 23 – Central Medford High School Auditorium (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.) Remote: Monday, Feb. 25 – Remote testimony (live video feed from various rural locations, including Baker City) The Dalles: Friday, March 1 – The Dalles Civic Auditorium, Community Room (12 p.m. to 3 p.m.) Bend: Saturday, March 2 – Central Oregon Community Col- lege, Cascade Hall, Room 246-248 (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.) try to fi nd a cleaner way to do business. The money raised by charging for allowances to pol- lute would pay for transporta- tion and climate projects of all sizes. If passed, the cap would go into effect in 2021, and cover 52 million metric tons of green- house gas emissions, accord- ing to the most recent esti- mates from the offi ce of Gov. Kate Brown. Polluters in cer- tain industries emitting at least 25,000 metric tons per year would be newly regulated. That would include industrial man- ufacturers, oil companies, the forest products industry and utilities. For 2021, the state would auction off 52 million “allow- ances” with each allowance permitting one ton of emis- sions. Companies uninterested in changing their practices could buy allowances instead of reducing emissions. But available allowances would decline in coming years until 2050. Some industries would be eased in, getting a cer- tain amount of free allowances for a number of years, deter- mined by the economic impact of the new limits. The goal is to clean up Oregon’s air by reduc- ing greenhouse gas emissions to about 11 million metric tons by 2050. In 1990, Oregon emit- See Public, Page A18
