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land to the Tribes, she said.
“The Nature Conservancy’s
mission is to conserve the lands and
waters on which all life depends,”
said Derek Johnson, Director of
Stewardship. “This is certainly not
a journey we walk alone. We’re
proud and fortunate to work with
many wonderful conservation part-
ners, like the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs, to protect
important habitat. When there is a
strong conservation partner to take
Capitol
Continued from Page A1
Courtney didn’t say out-
right that the legislation is
done for.
But
Senate
Major-
ity Leader Ginny Burdick,
D-Portland, did.
“These votes are not sud-
denly going to turn to yes,”
Burdick told reporters Tues-
day afternoon. “We are cer-
tain of that. I would call it
dead.”
Over the past few weeks,
the vote count in the Senate
has been in flux after the leg-
islation passed the House.
There are 18 Democrats. The
bill must get 16 votes to pass.
Sen. Betsy Johnson,
D-Scappoose, was a solid no.
Sen.
Arnie
Roblan,
D-Coos Bay, was leaning no,
and on Tuesday told the Ore-
gon Capital Bureau he would
vote against the bill.
Sens. Laurie Monnes
Anderson, D-Gresham, and
Elizabeth Steiner Hayward,
D-Beaverton, were heavily
courted by both sides.
Brad Reed, a spokesman
for Renew Oregon, an envi-
ronmental group that lob-
bied extensively for HB
2020, said both told him they
would vote for the bill.
As of late last week, Dem-
ocrats pushing the bill said
they weren’t certain enough
votes were there, but they
wanted to put it out for a floor
vote to see what happened.
Courtney, however, is not
a fan of voting on bills with-
out knowing they will pass.
on long-term stewardship of prop-
erty, then we work together to put
the property in the hands and capa-
ble care of that partner. This is best
for the future of the land, the water
and the partner.”
The addition brings the Tribes’
holdings in the Middle Fork area
to 3,000 acres. The Tribes have
worked for nearly a decade restor-
ing a dredge-mined section of the
river upstream from the home-
stead at their Oxbow Conservation
Area. The Tribes are also restor-
ing degraded habitat on the Forrest
property, about 10 miles upstream
from the homestead.
Burdick, a “fervent” sup-
porter of the bill, said that
Tuesday’s
announcement
wasn’t the end of the cap and
trade idea, but there was no
path left in the current ses-
sion, scheduled to end by
Sunday night.
Burdick said she wasn’t
surprised by Courtney’s
comments, but she knows
others weren’t aware of his
plan.
Renew Oregon, a coali-
tion of groups advocating for
policies to address climate
change, had already planned
a rally outside the Capitol for
Tuesday.
Thanks to the fuel from
Courtney’s
statements,
environmental
activists
were chanting outside by
11:30 a.m. and had quickly
crafted signs condemning the
Senate president.
Sen. Michael Dembrow,
a key author of the cap and
trade bill, took to the podium,
giving a barn-burner speech
out of character for the typ-
ically reserved Portland
Democrat.
“It is hard to be green,
but it is so important for us
to keep pushing and push-
ing and pushing, because the
people who organized this
walkout, who have fled the
state, are counting on us just
giving up this battle,” Dem-
brow said, eliciting boos
from the supportive crowd.
He said he would con-
tinue to fight for the con-
cept, as would the Demo-
cratic senators with him as
he spoke: Shemia Fagan and
Kathleen Taylor of Portland,
Robert Brunoe, general man-
ager of the Tribes’ Branch of Nat-
ural Resources, said the transfer
was a natural fit as The Nature
Conservancy and the Tribes
worked together in the area for
years.
“Our Oxbow and Forrest prop-
erties already represent half of the
river’s chinook salmon spawning
habitat,” Brunoe said. “The Dun-
stan adds another 10 percent.”
The Tribes will begin work on
a management plan for the prop-
erty, which should be completed
in about 18 months. The land was
never dredge-mined, but parts of
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
the river were moved when the
site was cleared for farming.
No major projects are planned,
but some of the remaining historic
Sumpter Valley Railroad grade is
blocking the floodplain, and some
rip-rap is made of basalt rock not
native to the area. The railroad
grade project will need special
approval.
A house on the preserve is
rented out, and the nearby barn has
been improved so it can be used
for special functions. There are
also some historic buildings dating
back to the early homestead era.
Future funding will be needed for
Oregon Capital Bureau/Claire Withycombe
Gov. Kate Brown speaks to supporters of House Bill 2020
at a rally outside the Capitol after Senate President Peter
Courtney announced the cap and trade climate legislation
lacked the votes to pass Tuesday.
Floyd Prozanski and James
Manning Jr. of Eugene, Sara
Gelser of Corvallis, Jeff
Golden of Ashland and Rob
Wagner of Lake Oswego.
“We are looking at a cou-
ple of very difficult days
ahead of us,” Dembrow said.
“And I need to know that
everyone who is here around
me is committed to this
struggle. Are you? Because,
speaking for the people who
are behind me, we are.”
Gov. Kate Brown, emerg-
ing from her office after
Courtney’s speech, declined
to speak with a reporter,
power walking toward the
rally on the Capitol steps to
urge lawmakers to pass the
climate bill.
“Let me make this per-
fectly clear: The Republi-
cans are not standing against
climate change,” Brown told
the crowd. “They’re standing
against democracy.”
“We need to make sure
that the legislative branch
operates, and we need to
make sure that Republicans
come back to do their jobs,”
Brown said.
She asked the crowd if
they had the “passion” and
“persistence” needed to pass
the bill — cheers. She raised
her fist, then turned on her
heel and stepped back into
the Capitol.
Republican senators dis-
appeared after talks with
Democratic counterparts last
Wednesday didn’t produce a
deal.
Republicans wanted the
environmental
legislation
amended, including stripping
out an emergency clause so
the matter could be referred
to voters through petition.
Supporters of HB 2020
say Oregonians voted Demo-
crats into office to enact cli-
mate change policies.
fish monitoring, boundary fenc-
ing, weed control and signage for
visitors.
The BPA, which will provide
some funding for the preserve,
spends $250-$300 million each
year in on-the-ground fish miti-
gation projects, including acquir-
ing land, restoring streams, water
transactions to preserve instream
flows, funding fish screens and
working with irrigators.
Representatives from the Warm
Springs Tribes, The Nature Con-
servancy and the BPA held a cel-
ebratory event at the homestead in
June.
Opponents of the bill are
planning a Thursday morn-
ing rally.
A spokeswoman for Sen-
ate Republicans said Court-
ney’s remarks will “ramp
up” negotiations between the
Senate president and Sen-
ate Minority Leader Herman
Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants
Pass.
Republicans didn’t seem
to be in any hurry to get back
to Salem.
“This is good news,”
Baertschiger said in a state-
ment. “However, we are still
trying to sort out the pro-
cess. The bill itself has been
second read and a vote will
have to take place. Republi-
cans must be assured that the
vote or motion will guaran-
tee the bill’s complete end.
We need to have further con-
versations so that the Repub-
licans feel comfortable with
the process.”
Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stay-
ton,
said
Courtney’s
announcement was “won-
derful,” and he thinks there
will be further negotiations
between Democrats and
Republicans, but he wants
more concessions before he’s
willing to return.
Burdick said the apparent
failure of HB 2020 wasn’t
a win for Republicans, and
their actions have frayed
already poor relationships
between the parties.
“This is not helping any-
one in our caucus, it’s not
helping anyone in the Leg-
islature and it’s not helping
anyone in Oregon,” Burdick
said. “This is an act of — I
don’t know what to call it
— I want to call it terrorism.
They are not doing their job
and it’s fractured the entire
institution.”
Burdick said Democrats
aren’t negotiating on any
bills with Republicans at this
point.
“You cannot negotiate
with someone who is not
here,” she said.
Several Republican sen-
ators have fled to Idaho,
including Sen. Cliff Bentz,
R-Ontario, who lives near the
Idaho state line.
Bentz told the Malheur
Enterprise Tuesday that he’s
not sure how Republicans
will proceed after Courtney’s
announcement. He was non-
committal about returning to
Oregon.
“I don’t know what it
means,” Bentz told the
Enterprise.
Girod said he and his
wife are in Texas, although
he declined to say exactly
where. Even if Republicans
agree to end their boycott,
he’s not sure there is time for
all of them to return and com-
plete the Legislature’s work.
Still, Girod added, “I
think that we’re a lot closer
than we were before the day
started.”
Baertschiger and Sens.
Brian Boquist of Dallas, Bill
Hansell of Athena, Dallas
Heard of Roseburg, Dennis
Linthicum of Klamath Falls,
Alan Olsen of Canby, Kim
Thatcher of Keizer and Chuck
Thomsen of Hood River
didn’t respond to requests for
comment Tuesday.
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