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repealed or were irrele-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. To report wildfires,
call 911 or John Day Interagency
Dispatch at 541-575-1321 or
Burns Interagency Communi-
cations Center at 541-573-1000.
IT’S A WAY OF
LIFE
Prairie City
162 W Front
La Grande
3 Depot Street
Hermiston
1739 N First Street
Burns
937 Oregon Ave
Baker City
2036 Broadway
Pendleton
301 Main Street
Union
539 S. Main
136846
oldwestfcu.org • 888-575-0264
John Day
650 W Main
136405
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