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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2019)
A12 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Hammonds Continued from Page A1 In July, U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued an injunction that reduced how much grass the Ham- monds’ cattle can consume and restricting which areas they could graze. The environmental plain- tiffs have now filed a motion for summary judgment, ask- ing the judge to vacate the Hammonds’ grazing per- mits because their presiden- tial pardons “did not alter the conduct, acts and behav- ior” that led up to the denial of their grazing permits. “BLM’s permit nonre- newal decision did not rely upon the Hammonds’ arson convictions alone; it also relied upon conduct under- lying the other counts for which the Hammonds did not meet the criminal stan- dard of guilt but could be held civilly liable,” accord- ing to the environmentalists. The plaintiffs argue that BLM’s reinstatement of the grazing permits vio- lated the Federal Land Pol- icy and Management Act, or FLPMA, which requires “satisfactory record of per- formance and substantial compliance with federal regulations” that the Ham- monds lack. The agency also violated the National Environmen- tal Policy Act, or NEPA, by granting a “categori- cal exclusion” — known as a CX — that exempted the permit renewals from an environmental assessment or a more thorough envi- ronmental impact statement, according to the plaintiffs. “The agency’s unsup- ported conclusion that there are no potentially signif- icant impacts to ecologi- cally significant areas can- not justify use of the CX,” Wednesday, October 2, 2019 the motion said. The BLM should have analyzed the effects of renewed grazing on the greater sage grouse, range- land health standards, inva- sive weeds and fire prob- lems, the groups argue. “Vacatur of an unlaw- ful NEPA decision is vital because it forces the agency to make a new decision, after a public comment process, properly informed by full disclosure of the environ- mental baseline and effects of the proposed action,” the motion said. EO Media Group was unable to reach Dwight or Steven Hammond, or the attorney representing the federal government in the lawsuit, as of press time. In 2012, a federal jury convicted both the ranch- ers for igniting a 2001 fire that burned about 140 acres, while Steven Hammond was also found guilty of setting a 2006 fire that spread onto an acre of federal property. The federal judge over- seeing the case determined that the mandatory mini- mum five-year sentences for arson would be “grossly dis- proportionate to the sever- ity of the offenses here” and ordered Steven Hammond to spend one year behind bars, while his father was sen- tenced to three months. After the Hammonds had completed their prison terms, however, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled they should have been sentenced to the full five-year minimum terms. When the ranchers reported back to prison in January 2016, protests against the decision cul- minated in the occupation and standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that attracted nationwide attention. Airport Continued from Page A1 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Audrey Colson leaps into fun at Gleason Pool June 12. Pool Continued from Page A1 come up with the right amount of loot, I guess you would say the value plus what they are willing to contribute, and put that towards design and feasibility for the relocation,” Lundbom said. M.G. Devereux, deputy director of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, planned to visit John Day Oct. 1 to look at the property and con- tinue negotiations. The 2020 season will mark the end of the pool-operating contract with John Day-Canyon City Parks & Rec. Parks & Rec representatives said they are still interested in the pool and want to be involved, but board member Russ Young clarified the cur- rent responsibility the organization has. “We’re just management of the pool, wherever the current location is or isn’t,” said Young. “(Parks & Rec is) not in negotiation for the failure or savior of the pool just because we need to renego- tiate a 20-year-old contract.” Young said Parks & Rec is willing to manage a new pool, but a new contract will need to be negotiated. Grant County Court will give the final approval on what plan voters will see next year. The pavement is unrav- eling at the north apron, which is causing rock peb- bles to be blown toward hangers when single engine airtankers go to refill on retardant during fire operations. “Those SEAT planes come in right in front of my hangar and turn and throw their nasty rocks,” said Eva Harris, a hangar owner at the airport. “They go right under and through my han- gar. ... Sometimes there’s an inch or two of gravel stacked up in front of (the hangar doors).” While the grant will go toward reconstructing the apron that is for pub- lic use, the Federal Avia- tion Administration deemed around 800 square yards just past the driveway of the hangars as private use. The airport budget will provide $10,273 for the required match for the $950,000 grant. The county also agreed to provide $40,000 from the general contingency fund to pay for the reconstruction of the pri- vate property that does not qualify for the grant. The north apron project will begin during the con- struction season of 2020 and Eagle file photo Airport Manager Haley Walker is expected to take no more than 30 days depending on the weather, Walker said. The north apron is one of two big projects ongo- ing at the airport, which also received a separate federal grant of $6.25 million to decouple the two runways from DOT with no match money needed. This grant will be awarded in April 2020. 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