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Blue Mountain Eagle
Forest
nity and the resources around
the county,” he said.
Continued from Page A1
resolutions passed over the
years by counties in rural west-
ern states that called for federal
agencies to abide by their pre-
scriptive ordinances.
“While I understand some
of that, it’s really all about the
federal estate having laws and
regulations that we have to
adhere to, and if it goes counter
to the ordinance or resolutions,
we’re put in a position that we
can’t follow what the counties
would want us to do,” he said.
Casamassa said the Forest
Service recognizes the strong
attachment to the land by rural
people that goes back gen-
erations, and that the agency
should not be over-regulatory.
“We should work together,
solve problems, look at solu-
tions that are durable, that are
politically and socially dura-
ble, and that they’re in it for the
long term to sustain a commu-
A previous letter to
Congress
In August 2017, House
members from 14 states urged
President Trump to sign an
executive order requiring that
federal agencies overseeing
public lands coordinate their
planning with state and local
governments.
“Unfortunately,
under
prior administrations, fed-
eral departments and agencies
often disregarded the views
of local officials when creat-
ing management policies that
had broad sweeping impacts,”
the congressmen said. “To be
blunt, the prevailing attitude
was often ‘Washington knows
best.’”
According to their five-
page draft executive order,
coordination refers to “gov-
ernment-to-government oral
and written communications
between authorized represen-
Improve
Continued from Page A1
Lack of lighting in the parking lot
poses a safety issue, she said. Conduit has
already been run underground for power.
Winegar said she received two estimates to
install new lights ranging from $20,000 to
$25,000.
Keerins Hall has been re-roofed and
now needs siding, windows, doors and heat-
ing. Winegar noted that the OSU Extension
office could relocate to Keerins Hall once
the work is completed. An engineer could
review interior work, and rebates were pos-
sible for new heating systems, she said.
Picnic tables at the RV park also need
replacement, Winegar said. Estimates to
replace 10 tables with low-maintenance,
300-pound metal models range from $6,000
to $8,000, she said.
Code amendment
The seats were filled for a public hearing
on an emergency ordinance amending the
Grant County Land Development Code’s
language on farm and forest zoning districts.
A letter sent to affected landowners had
warned that the regulations could affect
property values, but the regulations already
existed in state law, Grant County Planning
Director Hilary McNary told the court.
The 120-page proposed ordinance
would update the county’s development
tatives of a federal agency and
the elected officials of a state or
local government or their duly
authorized representatives.”
Furthermore, the draft order
states, “Coordination means
the responsibilities of each
government entity are equal,
not subordinate, and therefore
must be harmonized for effec-
tive governance.”
The draft order speci-
fies that local or state govern-
ments must be provided a writ-
ten review document about any
federal actions before they are
presented for public comment.
The review document must
include a determination by a
state or local official stating
whether the proposed federal
action is consistent with state
or local objectives, plans, pol-
icies and programs.
Before issuing a final deci-
sion order on a proposed fed-
eral plan, policy or program,
the responsible agency must
provide state and local gov-
ernments with a document that
code and incorporate certain state regula-
tions into the code, including regulations
on youth camps, experimental forests, solar
farms and wind-generating facilities.
McNary noted cases where other coun-
ties inadvertently provided incorrect infor-
mation on allowed and conditional uses, and
when the landowners successfully appealed
the counties’ rulings, the cost of the appeal
fell on the landowners.
Updating the development code will not
only simplify the planning staff’s work – it
will also protect landowners. The county
planning commission had recommended
approval, and the court approved the
ordinance.
The court also rescinded a Dec. 19 ordi-
nance that established a 3 percent tax on
sales of recreational marijuana but hadn’t
obtained voter approval. Myers noted that
the tax ordinance was never enforced, that
the retailer collected the tax on good faith,
that the $5,050 turned in by the retailer has
been returned and it was up to the retailer to
dispose of the collected tax.
The court also approved a request from
Grant County Clerk Brenda Percy to replace
an aged microfilm machine with a new dig-
ital model valued at $12,000.
The following volunteers were
appointed: Rick Henslee, Pat Holliday,
Steve Parsons and Steven Baldwin to the
planning commission; Allison Field to the
South East Area Commission on Trans-
portation; and Bob Quinton to the budget
committee.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
describes efforts made to coor-
dinate, identifies any issues
or conflicts with state or local
plans, policies or programs,
and explains how those issues
and concerns were resolved.
Federal agencies must keep
apprised of state and local gov-
ernment’s land and resource
use plans, policies and pro-
grams and must make all rea-
sonable efforts to achieve con-
sistency between federal, state
and local objectives, plans, pol-
icies and programs, the draft
order states.
“To ensure that the coor-
dination process is prop-
erly completed, each federal
agency shall appoint an offi-
cial who is responsible for
ensuring that meaningful and
effective government-to-gov-
ernment coordination is com-
pleted in advance of the fed-
eral agency’s completion of the
(National Environmental Pol-
icy Act) process and the final
agency decision,” the draft
order states.
Public
Continued from Page A1
ted 56 million metric tons of green-
house gasses.
The most direct impacts for
Oregonians are expected to be in
gasoline and natural gas prices.
Northwest Natural estimated its
rates could increase by 54 percent,
while estimates show gasoline
prices could go up by 16 cents per
gallon when the program would
start in 2021. Several industry
leaders testified their costs would
go up, but because they work in
agriculture or production and com-
pete with companies in other states
or countries, they couldn’t pass
costs on to consumers.
Those in favor of the regulation
say Oregonians stand to reap huge
benefits if cap and trade is passed.
David Roland-Holst, director
of Berkeley Economic Advising
and Research, on Friday presented
research showing such a state pol-
icy would directly benefit Orego-
nians in multiple ways.
In total, the cap and trade pro-
gram would increase Oregon’s
gross domestic product by 2.5
percent, bring in 50,000 jobs and
reduce emissions by 82 percent by
2050, he said.
Coordination,
10 years ago
The county court discussed
the idea of coordination when
Dennis Reynolds served as
Grant County judge from
1995-2006. Five years after he
left office, the court asked him
to travel to a conference on the
subject and report back.
“There were a lot of inap-
propriate assumptions, which
we are still suffering from
today,” he told the Eagle.
Legal counsel, local gov-
ernment representatives and
even some federal agency per-
sonnel attended the two-day
conference at Western Wyo-
ming Community College in
Rock Springs, Wyoming, he
said.
In his report on the con-
ference to the court, Reyn-
olds recommended against
requesting coordination with
the Forest Service, based on
the information provided at the
conference.
Reynolds learned that only
Industry leaders are less keen
on the idea.
Peter Saba, vice president of
Schnitzer Steel Industries, testi-
fied that the company’s McMinn-
ville steel mill would be forced to
cut emissions in half over the next
13 years. There is no technology to
allow them to do that, Saba said,
so they would have to buy more
allowances or limit production.
Saba said the company has
already reduced emissions by
650,000 metric tons of carbon
dioxide. Saba said if Schnitzer is
forced to curtail production, com-
petitors elsewhere not subject to
such emission limits would step
in, causing a net gain in global
emissions.
“Talk about carbon leakage,”
Saba said.
Curtis Lesslie, vice president
of environmental affairs for Ash
Grove Cement Company, said his
company operates Oregon’s only
cement plant in Durkee in Eastern
Oregon. Releasing carbon diox-
ide from limestone – part of the
cement-making process – accounts
for 65 to 80 percent of the plant’s
emissions.
There is nothing they can do
about that, Lesslie said. So the
company would be forced to buy
more allowances, which would
elected officials could partic-
ipate in the public lands plan-
ning process once the county
requested coordination, and
they couldn’t provide expert
testimony. The officials could
only speak as representatives
of their constituents, Reynolds
said.
The Grant County judge
and commissioners didn’t
have the time or staff to work
with the Forest Service at that
level of involvement, Reyn-
olds said in his report. On top
of that, he said he learned that
the Forest Service could bill
the county for any time spent
coordinating with the county
in the planning process.
Reynolds said the county
cannot simply tell the federal
government what to do with
its public lands. His advice
today is that the county coor-
dinate with other counties to
lobby Congress to change
public lands management pol-
icies. He said that would be a
better use of county funds.
reduce the distance it can competi-
tively ship the cement.
Lesslie said Chinese cement
makers, who already are able to
produce cement more cheaply,
would step in and take Ash Grove’s
market share.
Chris Edwards, a former state
senator, also testified on the bill.
Edwards introduced a cap and
trade bill in the 2016 session. But
now he’s a lobbyist for the timber
industry and was arguing for more
special protection for the industry.
He said replanting trees in logged
areas provides more trees to pull
carbon from the air, lowering
greenhouse gasses.
He said the timber indus-
try would be hit by transportation
costs. Edwards said he was sur-
prised to find out the timber indus-
try wasn’t exempt from the bill, and
wanted to be involved in amending
it to be more favorable to timber
companies. Industry isn’t united
against the proposal, though.
Les Perkins, Hood River
County commissioner and man-
ager of the Farmers Irrigation Dis-
trict, said summers are getting hot-
ter and farms need more water. He
said money from selling allow-
ances could be used to improve
water storage for farmers and com-
bat wildfires on county lands.
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