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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2019)
A18 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, August 21, 2019 Fire staff using new technology to manage fire Ordinance Continued from Page A1 language for the ordinance on the second draft. Most importantly, the ordi- nance needed to be con- sistent with all state and federal laws, he said. Commissioner Sam Palmer stressed the impor- tance of invoking coordi- nation. It was like sign- ing a contract, binding the federal government to an agreement. The days of handshakes are over, he said. Blue Mountain Eagle Dave Hannibal Eva Harris Jim Sproul King Williams Last minute email Mark Webb, a former Grant County judge and executive director of the Blue Mountains Forest Part- ners collaborative group, emailed the county court the night before the hear- ing with additional com- ments. He was neither for or against the ordinance, and his comments appeared to be clarifications or sug- gested improvements. Several citations in the ordinance were to fed- eral regulations that were repealed or were irrele- vant to coordination in land management con- texts, Webb said. He also recommended adding cita- tions to Oregon regulations to provide a state statutory framework. Webb also suggested replacing the phrase “to the satisfaction of Grant County” in Objective 8 with “in a manner consistent with state and federal laws,” and he expressed concerns about the section establishing a natural resource advisory committee. “I encourage you to clar- ify what role this commit- tee will play, since fed- eral agencies are required by law to coordinate their land management plans with county plans, not pub- lic comments submitted by advisory committees — even county advisory com- mittees,” Webb said. Jim Spell Concerns and issues Several people at the public hearing also expressed concerns about the natural resource advi- sory committee. Eva Har- ris said the language in the ordinance “muddies the water.” Harris also questioned references to the coun- ty’s “custom and culture,” which she said changes over time as new peo- ple move in and out of the county and as younger gen- erations bring forward new ideas. The county’s cus- toms and culture can’t be “locked in,” she said. Harris said she wasn’t opposed to the idea of gov- ernments coordinating for natural resource plan- ning, but she believed it was already taking place. The new ordinance would “just clutter up the clerk’s office,” and she suggested rewriting it. Jim Spell said he was neutral on the idea of coor- dination but wondered if the ordinance was needed at all. He wanted clarifi- Leave Continued from Page A1 In response to the Eagle’s ini- tial records request April 5, Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer said the records may be exempt from Frances Preston Billie Jo George cation on what it meant to “invoke coordination.” Dave Hannibal, base manager for Grayback For- estry Inc., said he was glad the county was not taking an extremist position on coordination, as could eas- ily be found online. The timber wars are over, Hannibal said, and progress is being made in the timber industry, with more proj- ects that improve the for- est conditions. He said he wasn’t sure if the ordinance was needed and didn’t want to see the county take an obstructionist role. King Williams, a con- sultant with Iron Triangle, said he supported the idea of coordination but wasn’t sure if invoking it in an ordinance was necessary. He also was concerned about language calling for a natural resource advisory committee without defining its exact role. In support Jim Sproul said he was glad to see the county invoking coordination. It’s disclosure under state statutes that shield information about a “person- nel investigation of a public safety employee” and “investigatory infor- mation compiled for criminal law purposes.” However, neither exemp- tion applies if “the public interest been a long time coming and was sorely needed, he said. The county needed to dispel the myths that the county intended to run roughshod over the federal government. If the government doesn’t agree with the county, then it must explain why, Sproul said. He also said it was “mandatory” to have a natural resource advisory committee. The court doesn’t have the time to do all the needed work to make coordination effec- tive, he said. Billie Jo George said she supported the ordinance. Everyone will be able to get the information they need through coordination, not just a select few, she said. Frances Preston also expressed her support for the ordinance. Court positions For clarification, Myers noted that the ordinance didn’t specifically refer to an existing county ordi- nance describing custom and culture but instead to requires disclosure in the particular instance.” On Aug. 14, Palmer announced his intention to resign as sheriff in a few months. The Eagle continues to pursue its records request for other public doc- uments to explain the situation. its meaning in general. He also noted that nat- ural resource advisory committees in other East- ern Oregon counties have been successful. The court needed to be careful in making appointments to the committee and remove anyone who didn’t repre- sent the county. Myers agreed that great progress was being made in relations between the county and the Forest Service, but he wasn’t sure if the ordinance would make things better or worse. Hamsher noted that the court doesn’t want to push for outdated science. He said he wants to see more timber sales on the Malheur National Forest and the pace of restoration projects sped up. He said he wasn’t sure if it was necessary to invoke coordination, but he didn’t think doing so would harm the county’s relationship with the Forest Service. He emphasized that he wanted to see the role of the natural resource advisory committee well defined. Lack of a good definition is a problem he’s seen with other county committees, and Hamsher asked to put the matter on the court’s next agenda. Palmer said it was important to include lan- guage for a natural resource advisory committee in the ordinance because the make-up of the county court can easily change after each election. In April, county officials declined to comment because it was a per- sonnel issue. Abigail Mobley, Zach Mob- ley, Palmer and the members of the Grant County Court did not respond to requests for comment emailed Friday afternoon. The 3-acre Cow Fire on the Prairie City Ranger Dis- trict started Aug. 9 as a result of multiple lightning storms that moved across the forest. The fire is burning in the remote high elevation area within the Gla- cier (1998) and Sheep Mountain (1990) fire scars. Fire management staff are utilizing a new tool to monitor the Cow Fire called the Remote Autonomous Observation Sys- tem. The system includes two cameras observing the fire. One is focused on a specific sec- tion, and one is providing a pan- oramic view of fire area. RAOS will allow for 24-hour observa- tion and can be viewed by sev- eral fire managers from multi- ple devices including laptops and tablets. Computer model- ing is also being employed to help anticipate fire spread. The latest modeling has shown low potential for rapid or significant growth. Some of the factors fire management staff have taken into consideration in determin- ing growth of the Cow Fire include past fire scars, fuel con- ditions and the position of the fire on the slope. The observed fire behavior to date has been very low intensity smoldering and creeping. Fire management staff will utilize the Remote Autonomous Observation System, aircraft, ground crews and computer modeling to monitor the fire. As long as conditions are favorable the Cow Fire will be allowed to continue to func- tion in its natural role on the landscape. Smoke is expected to be seen from the area over the next few weeks as temperatures remain warm and fuels dry out. Vis- itors to the area are reminded to be prepared for smoke and increased fire traffic. Fire danger is high across the forest, which is in Phase A of public use restrictions and at Industrial Fire Precaution Level II. For more information on this incident, visit Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/inci- dent/6526. 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